Former mayor appointed to Reading Redevelopment Authority board
Jul. 21—Former Reading Mayor Thomas M. McMahon will serve on the board of the Reading Redevelopment Authority.
McMahon is one of two named Monday by City Council to fill vacancies on the beleaguered board.
Masonry contractor John Miller Jr., owner of Reading Bucket Service, also was named to the authority board.
McMahon's term will expire at the end of this year, and Miller's at the end of 2023.
Council is expected to make appointments to the two remaining vacancies at a future date.
The decision Monday to fill just two of the four openings was made out of respect to Council President Johanny Cepeda-Freytiz and Councilwoman Marcia Goodman-Hinnershitz, who were absent during part of the interview process this month.
"I think it's important to note that we're not excluding anyone," Councilwoman Donna Reed said of the two appointments. "We're just trying to be fair to our two councilors who were not here, that they're a part of the process."
Reed chaired Monday's meeting in the absence of Cepeda-Freytiz, who was on compassionate leave.
McMahon, a 37-year resident of the city, served two terms as mayor, from Jan. 5, 2004, to Jan. 2, 2012.
He was employed as an engineer with Gilbert Associates before founding his own firm, Entech Engineering, in 1980.
"I have been interested in this whole issue of the redevelopment authority because I think it is a mess," McMahon said during his interview this month. "I think it really is time for a reboot on this whole thing."
Asked about industrial development by Councilman Wesley Butler during the interview, McMahon said the city has several good sites that have not been marketed well.
The 50-acre former Dana Corp. property at Robeson and Weiser streets is one, McMahon said, that the redevelopment authority should seek to develop, due to the potential to create hundreds of jobs.
"We need to get after those jobs and after those companies," he said. "Bring them in here."
The authority also needs to attack the issue of vacant, blighted and distressed residential properties, McMahon said.
Miller, a 22-year city resident, also focused on vacant and blighted properties during his interview.
Misguided actions taken by the authority in the past have contributed to blight, he said, using the example of an authority-owned property on South Eighth Street. The building has been sitting vacant since 2006, when his company helped clean it out, Miller said.
Better leadership is needed to move that and other projects forward, he said.
"It seems as though things for the past 20 years have been willy-nilly," Miller said. "One moment, we are in one direction, and a new administration later, we're in a different direction."
The appointments of McMahon and Miller will allow the authority to resume meetings.
The authority board had been unable to meet and function as a governmental body since May when council removed board Chairman Ernest H. Schlegel, prompting the resignation of two other board members.
Just before his removal, Schlegel apologized for using a racial slur in an email to a top city staffer.
A week later, council accepted the resignations of Wellington Santana, vice chairman, and Thomas Caltagirone, secretary-treasurer. Caltagirone is a former state representative.
Schlegel's removal and the subsequent resignations left only Goslyn Fleming on the five-member authority board, which was already short due to the earlier resignation of board member Nate Rivera.
Candidates for the openings were required to complete an application and background check and were interviewed by council this month.
Selection was based on awarded scores.
Appointees serve as volunteers without compensation.
Created by an act of the state General Assembly in 1945, redevelopment authorities are authorized to plan and contract with private, corporate or governmental developers for the redevelopment of blighted areas.
Their powers and duties include the acquisition of property by purchase, gift or eminent domain and the leasing and selling of property.
