As the sole candidate, Shaw takes seat left open by Collins’s resignation
By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times
Bill Shaw answers questions during City Council’s interview process.
COATESVILLE – Bill Shaw took over the vacant Fourth Ward City Council seat at a special meeting on Monday night. Council appointed him to the seat in a 5-1 vote with council member Ingrid Jones providing the sole dissenting vote.
The executive director at Life Transforming Ministries, Shaw ran uncontested with the only other applicant for the seat opting out in order to run during the regular elections. His seat, which previously belonged to David Collins, will be up for election at the end of this year.
“I want to be able to contribute to my community in a broader sense,” said Shaw.
The Octarara grad has worked in Coatesville since 2000 and lived in the city since 2004.
Shaw has previously served as president of the Western Chester County Chamber of Commerce and currently serves as treasurer. He said that these positions will allow him to bring experience and insight to city issues including balancing the 2015 budget.
“The financial status of the city, getting a handle on the budget—balancing that and the issues with taxes and the trust fund—those are issues that I really care about as a resident, so to be able to have a vote in determining some of that was pretty important to me,” he said.
In addition to balancing the budget, Shaw said that finding a permanent city manager is another near the top of his priority list that he would like to address in the near future.
