HOULTON, Maine — The Houlton Town Council is back to full strength Monday, July 26, at least temporarily, after the board appointed a new member to the group.
Mark Horvath was unanimously elected to fill a vacancy on the council created when Nate Bodenstab resigned back in May. Bodenstab was required to step down after his job necessitated a move from Houlton.
However, Houlton councilor Bill McCluskey confirmed Tuesday morning that he will be resigning from his council position, effective Aug. 23. McCluskey said that he is moving outside of the town limits, and therefore is required to step down.
McCluskey was elected to the council in November 2020 to a three-year term. While it was hinted at during Monday night’s meeting, the council has yet to officially discuss McCluskey’s departure.
Horvath was one of four people interested in the open seat. Also expressing interest were James Peters, Justin Natluk and Jonathan Buzbee. Horvath and Buzbee both attended the the meeting, while Natluk and Peters did not.
Horvath will occupy the seat until the next regular election in November. According to his resume, Horvath is a research director and analyst for Gartner Inc. of Stamford, Connecticut, where he helps companies make informed, data driven decisions and gives advice and counselling on high value projects in technology, cybersecurity and advanced computing.
He works remotely from Houlton.
Council Chairman Chris Robinson explained the process for filling a vacancy typically includes advertising the position twice, and the names of all interested candidates are brought to the board. A candidate is then nominated and if that person receives at least four affirmative votes, they are declared the winner.
Upon receiving five affirmative votes, Horvath was immediately sworn in and joined the council for the remainder of Monday’s meeting.
The move raised a question for councilor Dennis Harmon, who thought the process was unfair to the other candidates.
“I thought we were going to read through each candidate,” Harmon said. “I don’t believe in the process you can end it with just one nomination.”
Robinson said the board was following the rules set forth by the town charter for filling vacancies on the council, and once one candidate receives at least four votes, the process ends.
“It’s an unfair process,” Harmon said.
Two other prominent town officials were also absent from the council meeting as Town Manager Marian Anderson was called out of town for personal reasons and Town Clerk/Assistant Town Manager Cathy O’Leary was away on vacation.
Community Development Director Nancy Ketch filled in as the town’s administrator for the meeting.
