Council to consider nominee to fill Eighth Ward seat

Lauren Takores, The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y.
·1 min read

Feb. 16—Oneonta Mayor Mark Drnek is expected to nominate Don Mathisen to fill an anticipated vacancy on the Common Council at Tuesday's council meeting.

Current Eighth Ward Council Member Emily Falco has resigned effective Feb. 29.

As per the city charter, the mayor appoints a person to fill a council vacancy for the unfulfilled term. The appointment needs council approval, and would be effective March 1 to Dec. 31.

Mathisen, a former broadcast journalist in New York City who has written columns for The Daily Star, declined to comment Friday, saying that Drnek asked him not to speak publicly on the matter until after the council vote.

Drnek said Friday that he has known Mathisen since he moved to Oneonta.

"I have always found him to be both inquisitive and open minded," Drnek said, "and very, very engaged in discerning the details [for] whatever it might have been that he was covering."

He added that he believes Mathisen has always had "the interest of the city paramount in his mind," and that Mathisen would "form his own opinions from the facts and the courage of his convictions."