Polarizing Mount Carmel Township politician loses seat by 1 vote
Published: November 4, 2009
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SAM SCICCHITANO
EBY
ATLAS - One vote made the difference in the Mount Carmel Township race for three supervisors seats, according to the unofficial results of the 2009 general election Tuesday night.
Sam Scicchitano, incumbent supervisor and chairman of the board, apparently lost his position by one vote to incumbent William Eby.
Scicchitano received 349 votes while Eby pulled in 350. Because of the tightness of the race, the official count conducted by the Northumberland County Board of Elections will undoubtedly be followed with interest by the candidates.
Incumbent Reynold Scicchitano was the top vote-getter with 404 votes. Joseph A. Zanella will be the only newcomer on the board. He received 380 votes.
The last-place finisher was the former police chief, Donald Geary, with 301 of the vote. There were also four write-in votes cast.
Reynold Scicchitano, Zanella and Eby are Democrats, while Sam Scicchitano and Geary had Republican nominations.
With much tension between the board and police department, and considerable criticism from citizens about township leadership, these results complete a two-year process to reduce the number of township supervisors from five to three.
The township's other two supervisors, Thomas Sebastian and Thomas Nowroski, whose terms expire at the end of 2009, did not seek re- election. Of the five current supervisors, three were required to run.
Township voters, through a public referendum on the November 2007 ballot, opted to reduce the five-man board of supervisors to three. Even if their terms weren't expiring this year, all incumbents had to seek re- election because of the reduction.
Tension on the board and between some supervisors and the police department has led to heated debate at township meetings and in the community throughout 2009. A key issue has been overtime and other issues involving the police department.
In the tax collector race, Republican Jackie Dixon, with 362 (50.21 percent) of the votes, won against Democratic James "Jim" Bush, with 359 (49.79 percent) of the votes.
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