Connellsville Councilman Aaron Zolbrod, a Republican, said Thursday he will turn in his letter of resignation at council's Tuesday meeting.
“I will release a statement at that time,” Zolbrod said Thursday afternoon when he was asked why he was resigning.
Some city officials reacted with sadness.
“This is a very disappointing announcement,” said Mayor Greg Lincoln. “Aaron and I ran together and I feel we were helping the city head in the right direction. I respect Aaron's decision, because ultimately he needs to do what is right for his family and his business. I wish him good luck in his future endeavors, and I thank him for his service to our city.”
“I'm saddened to hear Councilman Zolbrod's decision to resign,” said fellow Republican Councilman Gregory Ritch, who earlier this week announced he will remove his name from the November ballot. “I think he (Zolbrod) served the city with a lot of courage. He and I may have had our disagreements, but he put a lot of time into this city, and in my opinion, he did not have a hidden agenda.
“He took this job very seriously,” Ritch added. “It cost him business (at his insurance agency) for what he thought was right. Councilman Zolbrod worked, not to just keep the status quo, but to make it better.”
“I'm sorry to see him go,” said Councilman Tom Karpiak, a Democrat. “He's a good guy, a smart guy. I understand his priorities — family first. I'm sadder for Connellsville.
“Aaron took on a fight, and really, it shouldn't be a fight,” Karpiak added. “It made all the sense in the world. (It came) from his attempt to lift Connellsville.”
Attempts to contact Councilman Brad Geyer on Thursday were not successful.
Lincoln said there is no time to dwell on the resignation and proposed a replacement.
“We cannot dwell on this situation because legally we have 30 days to fill his vacancy,” said Lincoln. “I feel the fair thing to do to fill the remaining two years of Councilman Zolbrod's term would be to appoint Melissa Tzan. With the 62 Republican write-in votes she received in the primary, Melissa became the top vote-getter in this year's primary.”
Tzan is a Democrat.
“Connellsville is still in a volatile position,” Lincoln said. We need to have individuals on our city council that are committed to putting in the time and effort to keep the city going in the right direction, and I feel Melissa will be able to hit the ground running.”
An attempt to contact Tzan was not successful.
Zolbrod was elected to council in November 2013 and took his seat on Jan. 1, 2014.
He was council's representative on its health board and an advocate for programs to help clean up dilapidated buildings and was pushing for the development of a land bank for the Fayette County area.
Council meets 6 p.m. at City Hall.
Karl Polacek is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at kpolacek@tribweb.com or 724-626-3538.
