By Joan F. Simoneau, Community Reporter
Marlborough-The City Council will continue to function with 10 members, leaving the vacancy created by the resignation of Councilor-at-Large Patricia Pope open for the present time. The Legislative and Legal Affairs Committee made the recommendation at a meeting held July 21.
Pope left the Council after 18 years of service to assume the position of Marlborough’s Council on Aging (COA) Director, succeeding Jennifer Claro who resigned in April to become COA Director for the town of Westford.
“Instead of having disharmony in the Council, we thought it would be best to table the discussion until after the November city election,” said Joseph Delano, a member of the Legislative and Legal Affairs Committee. “We are thinking of having the Councilor-at-Large candidate elected with the highest number of votes, not already on the Council, be asked to serve immediately,” he said.
When the matter was referred to the council at its June 11 meeting, Council President Edward Clancy suggested members consider three options – to continue with the seat vacant, filling the seat by majority vote with a former City Councilor or Marlborough resident who had expressed a desire to assist the Council for the interim period and is not a candidate in the city’s biennial election; or to wait until after the election to act.
