Holmesburg Civic Board unopposed in re-election

Many community organizations across the Northeast have trouble developing new leaders. That struggle, a stubborn agenda item at civic, town watch and other neighborhood meetings, was on display Tuesday night at the Holmesburg Recreation Center.

In front of 10 residents, the four-person Holmesburg Civic Association‘s executive board was re-elected unopposed for the fourth consecutive one-year term.

“I still consider myself the interim president,” Fred Moore, a 10-year veteran of the board’s chief seat, told NEast Philly with a laugh.

The rest of the board consists of the following:

• Vice President Tom Bein
• Secretary Pat Wolstenholme
• Treasurer Barbara Kleshick

Moore solicited volunteers for a more general executive committee that would supplement the board. After a few hands raised, he suggested they meet the first Tuesday of every month, preceding the general, open Holmesburg civic meetings held, like last night, each month’s second Tuesday.

During the meeting, Moore also spoke to those in attendance about recent crimes, including a murder at Decatur and Craig streets and the alleged sexual assault of a blind woman near St. Hubert’s High School, the exact neighborhood of which was debated among members, as it was widely before.

But the theme of the brief 35-minute meeting, which concluded over drinks and snacks to celebrate the coming holidays, was low-attendance and too few new faces.

“The people running for office haven’t been different in years. Tonight’s attendance was low, but when we get 30 people or so, we know them all,” Moore said. “I’m not sure what to do about that.”