Sewickley has a new council member, officials approve separation agreement with former manager
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Sewickley officials have tapped an attorney and former space craft design engineer as their new council member and approved a settlement agreement with their former borough manager.
Brian Bozzo, 36, was appointed at a special meeting Tuesday night to fill the seat vacated by Ward 1 resident Christine Allen.
Her term is set to expire at the end of the year.
Bozzo, a registered independent, plans to run for the four-year seat in November. He expressed his excitement to work with council following the special meeting.
“I’m honored that I get to further serve my community,” Bozzo said. “I have had opportunities to serve my community as a citizen over the past year, and recognized that my engineering and legal background uniquely qualified me to serve in a more formal capacity.”
He said he wants to bring more transparency to council as well as make sure infrastructure projects such as a new water lines and other improvements are “being done in a technically sound way with respect to the taxpayers’ dollars.”
Bozzo has worked as an intellectual property and patent attorney at K&L Gates the past few years. He worked for 12 years prior to that as a space craft design engineer and project manager for Lockheed Martin, an aerospace and defense company.
Bozzo’s efforts were instrumental with the propulsion landing system for the Mars rover Curiosity, solar arrays for the International Space Station as well as other classified projects.
He lived in Philadelphia, Colorado and California’s Silicon Valley prior to moving to the borough in 2018 with his wife, Lindsay. They have two daughters.
Allen resigned from her elected post in May less than two weeks following the termination of then borough manager Marla Marcinko. Council accepted Allen’s resignation June 8.
Her replacement was appointed via 5-3 vote with council President Jeff Neff, vice president Todd Renner and Councilman Sean Figley voting for Craig Waller, another attorney who is expected to be on the November ballot for the Ward 1 seat as a Republican.
“We were very fortunate to have two highly-qualified, energetic citizens ready to help serve council,” Neff said. “It’s impressive. I wish we had room for both of them. I think they are both good guys and both (have) done some good things for the community. It’s a toss up, a win-win either way for council.”
Julie Barnes, Ed Green, Cynthia Mullins, Larry Rice and Thomas Rostek voted to appoint Bozzo.
“It’s very meaningful to even step up for this role,” Barnes said. She noted council and Bozzo had previously worked together to assist someone.
Bozzo said a homeless man had taken refuge near his home a while ago. He and borough officials were able to get the man to a local shelter and access to resources to help improve his life.
Mullins said welcomed Bozzo to the table, and told special meeting attendees that an individual’s personal politics need to be pushed aside once they are on council.
“Even when there’s an R next to somebody’s name or a D next to their name, when you get up here you’re an independent,” she said. “You have to be an independent thinker.”
Mayor George Shannon swore in Bozzo shortly after the vote. He said he interviewed the candidate and was impressed.
“He really cares about the community and is a well-qualified guy,” the mayor said. “He really wants to get involved. I think it’s always nice to have fresh ideas.”
Agreement made
Bozzo’s first official action as councilman was to abstain from a vote to approve a settlement agreement between the borough and Marcinko.
Marcinko began working as Sewickley’s top administrator in April 2019. She previously lived in the borough and spent four years working as manager for Altoona. Her last day as a borough employee was May 28.
Neff said part of the settlement agreement was council could not talk about the terms of the deal and declined further comment.
Mayor George Shannon said the manager search continues, and he looks forward to the next step in appointing a new administrative head.
“These are never pleasant experiences for either side,” Shannon said about finalizing the former manager’s departure. “It’s not something you’d like to see with any person and it’s not fun to go through the turmoil, but it happens. We’ve got to move on now and find a replacement. There are a number of candidates that sent us resumes, and the interview process is going to begin. Everything will work out fine.”
It is unclear when a new manager would be hired. Other council members did not return calls seeking comment.