With a tour of the city and guest speakers Tuesday, Pottsville Area school board member Scott Thomas announced that he will be running for mayor.
"I think Pottsville can be a great city again. I believe it takes the kind of youthful experience I intend to bring to the mayor's office. I believe it takes a vision of leadership, not complacency, of action, not reaction," Thomas, a Republican who turns 23 on Jan. 25, said from the front steps of Pottsville Area High School before a crowd of 25.
A 2008 graduate of Pottsville Area High School, Thomas said he will receive a bachelor's degree in public administration from Kutztown University in May. In November 2009, Thomas was elected to serve a four-year term on the Pottsville Area school board. In December, he announced he would not be seeking a second term.
He also had been working part-time as a legislative aide for state Rep. Mike Tobash, R-125.
"I resigned today to seek the mayor's position," Thomas said Tuesday.
On Monday, Mayor John D.W. Reiley, 77, a Democrat, said he won't be running for re-election.
"I'll be hanging it up at the end of the year. I'm 77 years old, and when I'll be running, I'll be 78. And if I completed another four-year term, I'd be 82. Time to get someone younger in here," Reiley said Monday.
Reiley became mayor in 2000, appointed to the post by city council. Reiley's son, the late Terrence P. "Terry" Reiley, served as mayor from 1998 until he lost a 4 1/2-year battle with leukemia in February 2000. Reiley went on to win mayoral elections in 2001, 2005 and 2009.
"I finished what I wanted to do. I wanted to complete Terry's visions, including the Elm Street Project and the intermodal center. I finished my mission," Reiley said.
City council has a democratic majority. All its members, including the mayor, are part of the Democratic party but that could change this year. Along with the mayor's seat, two city council seats are also be up for election.
The terms for council members Mark Atkinson and Lori Spotts end in December.
Spotts said Tuesday that she is not planning on running for re-election but Atkinson would not confirm his intentions.
The Pottsville City Democratic Party will reveal its slate of candidates following the mayor's State of the City address slated for 6 p.m. Feb. 21.
"We have our full team together for the city election, a complete team, but we'll announce on the 21st," city Councilman James T. Muldowney said Monday.
The State of the City address will be held at City Hall council chambers and immediately following that, the city Democrats will make their announcement at Humane Fire Company, Pottsville, Hugh Reiley, son of the mayor and chairman of the Pottsville City Democratic Party, said Tuesday.
Following Thomas on his campaign announcement tour of the city Tuesday was an entourage that included his campaign chairman, Joseph P. Muldowney, who was Pottsville mayor from 1990 to 1998; Ron Downey, chairman of the City of Pottsville Republican Committee; and Dan Daub, Republican mayor of Tower City.
Downey said that so far, the City of Pottsville Republican Committee hasn't endorsed Thomas as its candidate for mayor, and the party doesn't have any other candidates for mayor.
"I think Scott will be an asset to our city. He's very energetic," Downey said.
"It's highly unusual to be running by yourself and not have running mates running with you. We've always had a team aspect to it. Just one person is not going to change the city or improve the city. It takes a team," Hugh Reiley said Tuesday.
Thomas said the Republican candidates for city council seats will be announced in "the next couple weeks. We are planning to have a full slate."
Thomas visited four places in his tour of the city Tuesday, including Pottsville Area High School. At the other three, he offered views of issues the city has dealt with in recent times:
- The 60-foot-long section of damaged wall and railing owned by Reading and Northern Railroad Co., Port Clinton, has been an eyesore for more than three years. In October, the City of Pottsville filed a complaint to the state Public Utility Commission, Harrisburg, in an effort to have it repaired. The PUC recently referred the case to an administrative law judge, according to city officials.
"This is an example of failed leadership and of failed administration," Thomas said. When asked how he proposed the city encourage the railroad to fix the wall, Thomas said, "everybody has to sit down. It's all about communication and working together. If I'm elected mayor, I'm going to reach out to whoever I have to and sit down with whoever I have to so these things don't occur."
- The former Mootz Candies, 220-222 S. Centre St., which closed in July 2010 due to alleged damages caused by the construction of the City of Pottsville's Union Station. On Jan. 11, 2012, the owner, Joseph Edgar "Ned" Buckley, filed a $2,750,000 lawsuit in county court against three of the station's contractors. The parties have been trying to settle the case through mediation.
Thomas expressed his disapproval with the city's decision to build Union Station in the first place.
"It's an $18 million white elephant that helped shut down a Pottsville landmark. Our downtown cannot afford to lose great businesses like this. Is this bus station generating any business for our downtown? We need new ideas for a better Pottsville," Thomas said.
- The B.F. Patterson High Rise at 12th and Market streets, where he promised a group of six residents who gathered to hear him that he would listen to their concerns.
"Well, he stands up for what he believes in. It may not always be popular, and he listens to what people have to say," said Pottsville Area school board member Linda Grube.