Sean O’Connell takes the oath of office as a borough councilman from Solicitor Ted Rosenberg at a Feb. 19 council meeting, while his wife, Jennifer O’Connell, holds the Bible.
Resolving the issue of one vacant seat – and based on the recommendation of the Burlington County Democratic party – Sean O’Connell was sworn in as a borough councilman on Feb. 18.
He took the oath of office after council – by a 3-0 vote – passed a resolution ratifying his appointment to one of the two vacancies on council.
“In Palmyra’s form of government, there are six members of council, plus the mayor, all elected at large to staggered terms,” explained Borough Administrator John Gural. “Two of the council seats were vacant after Ms. Ladonna De’Souza stepped aside on Jan. 3.”
The seat previously held by Councilwoman Dr. Laura Cloud – who resigned in October – remains open.
“Dr. Cloud was replaced by Ladonna De’Souza later that same month to temporarily fill that position until the 2025 general election this coming November, with the top vote getter permanently filling the seat until the term ends on Dec. 31, 2026,” Gural noted. “That is the position Ms. De’Souza held until she resigned on January 3, creating what we refer to as vacancy No. 1.”
Gural also explained that former Councilwoman Michelle McCann decided not to seek reelection to another three-year term on council. Her term expired on Dec. 31, and the seat was contested in the November 2024 election.
De’Souza – already on council as a temporary replacement for one vacancy – ran for the seat to serve a full, three-year term ending on Dec. 31, 2027. She was due to be sworn into office at the borough’s reorganization meeting Jan. 4.
“On Jan. 3, when Ms. De’Souza resigned from the seat she was appointed to and already held – which she was required to do anyway in order to accept the position she was elected to – vacancy No. 1 was created,” Gural continued. “This resignation was expected.
“In her resignation letter however, Ms. De’Souza also refused to accept the full, three-year position that she was elected to during the November election,” Gural said, “which she was due to be sworn into the next day. “By refusing to accept the position … it created what we refer to as vacancy No. 2.”
O’Connell was appointed to temporarily fill vacancy No. 1 on Feb. 18 and, if he seeks to complete that term, will be required to run in November, with the winner of that election completing the term ending on Dec. 31, 2026.
Filling the vacant full three-year term that De’Souza was elected to and refused is more complicated under the law, so Borough Solicitor Ted Rosenberg filed an order to show cause with the court for a determination on how the borough should proceed. A court date was scheduled for March 4.
“That seat remains vacant for now,” Gural pointed out.
In other business at the February meeting, Gural reported that the trash curbside collection “is fully performing and couldn’t be going any better,” referring to the borough taking back control of recycling and trash collection operations beginning Jan. 6.
One issue is whether or not to charge homeowners $13.50 per unit for picking up mattresses and box springs,” Gural said. “We are not charging the residents yet.”
Council President Tim Howard said everything is being picked up on time by borough employees and the trash bins are not overflowing anymore because of late collections.
“The streets look real clean,” he observed.
Council also passed eight resolutions, including appointing Michael Collins to the Shade Tree Advisory Board, authorizing Mayor Gina Ragomo Tait to execute an agreement with the county’s Department of Public Works for mosquito control and rejecting all the 2025-’26 bids for the tree service contract.
There was a conversation with engineer Joseph Gray concerning the progress of the Route 73 Development Area.
“The timelines keep getting pushed back without an explanation of what’s happening,” Howard said.
Gray responded that there were several unexpected delays, including removing a billboard and getting PSE&G to raise wires so the traffic light signalization at Route 73 and the F.C Kerbeck & Sons car dealership can be installed.
Another problem was getting the power turned on for the Tac Pal Logistics Center, a 700,000-square-foot warehouse being built by Clayco Construction at the former municipal landfill on the south side of Route 73. And it was reported that the Berkley Avenue pump station near Temple Boulevard is gone.
The next regular council meeting will be on Monday, March 17, at 6:30 p.m.
