Abdella chosen to fill Belpre City Council vacancy

BELPRE -- Susan Abdella is returning to Belpre City Council.

Abdella was voted in Tuesday by the Belpre Republican Central Committee to take the At-Large Belpre City Council seat Councilman John Roth resigned from earlier this month.

Abdella had previously served on council for around 12 years until 2019. She recently retired from her position as Director of Emergency Services at the WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center and was looking to get back involved in the community.

She felt her background on council made her qualified to serve again, also having chaired council's finance committee.

''I have worked with the auditors in the past and understand the budgeting process, how the processes of city administration work as well as been the pro-tem council president so I understand those processes,'' she said during a time where each candidate present was allowed to give a presentation on why they wanted to serve on council. ''I believe I have a lot to offer at this time when (council) is going through some challenges with budgeting and a lot of new members.''

In addition to Abdella, former councilman Bill Locke and Belpre resident John Ambrozy, a Kraton retiree, also put their names up for consideration and spoke to why they wanted to serve. Committee officials said they also received applications from Mike Williams, Sue Christman and former councilman Will Neff.

The Washington County Republican Central Committee organized a meeting Tuesday for the Belpre Republican Central Committee to nominate and vote on a person to be appointed to the open seat.

Abdella and Locke were officially nominated to be voted on by the committee membership. The vote was done by secret ballot and the totals were not announced publicly.

Abdella was happy to be returning to council.

''It is very exciting and we are at a very good point in the city,'' she said. ''We are making a lot of changes and hopefully we can position ourselves to move forward in the future.

''It is an exciting time.''

She wants to help some of the new council members gain leadership experience and help guide them through many of the processes of local government, especially with how budgeting works.

''I think it is just being a voice for the community that wants to go forward,'' Abdella said of her return.

Abdella and committee member Larry Martin, who currently serves as council president, said they want more people to run and begin the process of setting up future runs for council. Martin wants both Locke and Ambrozy to run for council and to begin a process to run starting early next year to be prepared for the 2024 election cycle.

''We appreciate everybody putting their resumes in,'' Martin said, adding there were a lot of qualified people who care about the community. ''We need that kind of talent and invite you all to get involved.''

''It is important to getting people out and committed to their community," he said.

The term Abdella is serving out ends at the end of December 2023 and she is planning to run for an office and serve the community in some capacity, she said.