SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — A former South Whitehall Township commissioner is back on the board.
Thomas Johns was sworn in to the township Board of Commissioners on Tuesday after being elected on Nov. 7.
Johns previously served on the board for eight years, from 2010 to 2018. He owned and operated his own business, Phoenix Construction & Development, for many years and now is partially retired.
“I think we're gonna have a good team. And I think I'm gonna have no problems with anybody, I hope.”South Whitehall Commissioner Thomas Johns
Johns thanked the residents of South Whitehall “for having their trust and faith in me to run again.”
“I'm looking forward to working with a new board, with the board behind me,” Johns said. “I think we're gonna have a good team. And I think I'm gonna have no problems with anybody, I hope.”
Johns will be the only Democrat on the five-person board. He used to be a Republican, but he said he switched parties because he does not like the direction the Republican Party is heading.
Incumbents sworn in
Commissioner Jacob Roth also was sworn in to his first elected term after being appointed to the board in December 2022.
He thanked the people of South Whitehall for voting for him and reflected on the sense of community in the township.
“The sort of small-town values that are sometimes hard to find nowadays are alive and well here in South Whitehall, even as we grow,” Roth said.
“And as we change and as people move into the township, whether your family's lived here for one year or 100 years, I found that our residents really demonstrate the best of those values.”
Board President Diane Kelly thanked township residents for electing her to a second term.
“Thank you for your trust in me,” Kelly said. “And it is certainly my honor and privilege to work with a very professional management team and staff in South Whitehall township to deliver the best services for our communities.”
The board voted unanimously to make Kelly the board's president for another year.
Former board Vice President David Kennedy recently vacated his position, and the board voted to make Commissioner Monica Hodges the new vice president.
The board is scheduled to select a candidate to fill the vacant seat left by Kennedy on Jan. 10.
Roth was selected to take Hodge’s former position as assistant secretary of the board.
