At the Jan. 18 meeting, Northampton County Council members postponed filling the vacant board seat until the Feb. 1 meeting.

Nearly two dozen residents applied to fill the ninth council seat; however, none of the applicants received the necessary five votes to take the dais across five hours of interviews and four hours of votes.

Tara Zrinski, a Democrat currently serving as county controller, had two years left in her term when she resigned in early January. Her replacement does not necessarily have to be a Democrat, but many council members felt it should.

Among the applicants were Kerry Myers, former council president; Paul Anthony, general purpose authority chairman; Deborah Hunter, teacher; William Krzemien, retired FBI special agent; and David Holland, nurse practitioner.

Myers received four votes, just shy of the required five for him to rejoin the dais. New council members Kelly Keegan and Ken Kraft felt Myers should not be chosen because his reelection campaign was unsuccessful.

Anthony received three votes, but no one had anything negative to say and felt he was qualified for the position. A few council members felt he would not be objective and that his influence may sway heavily in one direction.

Former councilman of 16 years John Cusick, who did not apply, was proposed as a late compromise, but ultimately failed to garner enough votes.

Council voted to postpone its vote until February.

See additional Northampton County story on A6.