State representative and Council Rock School Board member Kristin Marcell has moved up her board resignation date from Feb. 16 to Feb. 9 to allow interested residents to file nominating petitions and have the seat on the primary election ballot.
Marcell, a Republican from Wrightstown, has represented Council Rock’s Region 9 for a little more than 4.5 years and was sworn in as the new state representative for Pennsylvania’s 178th Legislative District in January.
The original Feb. 16 resignation date would have been three days too late for nomination petitions to be filed and the Region 9 seat placed on the primary ballot. Instead, local Republican and Democratic Party organizations would have picked candidates to run against each other in November’s general election.
“After a clarifying call with the BOE (Board of Elections) about the requirements, I am moving up my resignation date to ensure I leave before the primary petition process begins,” Marcell wrote in an email to The Herald. She added that Council Rock’s special meeting scheduled for Feb. 9 so that the board can vote on accepting her resignation will be her last.
Marcell had announced her intention to resign at the Jan. 19 board meeting and shortly thereafter put out the Feb. 16 effective date.
“After serving on the board as a volunteer for over the past 4.5 years...it is the best decision for my family and what I promised to my incredibly supportive husband months ago,” she said at the Jan. 19 meeting.
Marcell’s continuing to hold both jobs after starting as a state representative raised concerns among many Council Rock residents. While holding both positions is legal, many felt it was a conflict of interest and that she couldn’t do full justice to either job by holding both. The concerns shifted after the announcement of the original Feb. 16 resignation date and its ramifications for the primary.
Marcell’s predecessor as state representative for the 178th, Republican Wendi Thomas, was also a Council Rock School board member but resigned from that position in March of 2018, early in her campaign for the state office.
School board President Ed Salamon declined to comment on Marcell’s pending resignation. The remaining board members will have 30 days from Feb. 9 to appoint her replacement, who will serve until the early December reorganization meeting by virtue of the appointment but would have to run and win in this year’s election to hold the seat beyond then.
Council Rock School Board member Ed Tate said he was happy to hear of the change in Marcell’s resignation date.
“When Ms. Marcell and I spoke, I expressed my appreciation for her willingness to move up the effective date of her resignation, which is in the best interest of Council Rock,” he said.
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