(Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part article on Tyrone’s new mayor, Jim Kilmartin.)
Tyrone’s new mayor wants to work with business and community leaders on some of his goals for the community.
Jim Kilmartin sat down with The Daily Herald just hours before being sworn in on Tuesday as mayor. Kilmartin took over for two-term mayor Patricia Stoner. She had decided not to seek another term in February of last year. Kilmartin announced his candidacy shortly after Stoner’s decision. He bested councilman Bill Fink in the Republican primary last spring and also garnered the most write-in votes on the Democratic side. Kilmartin also fended off a late write-in campaign by Fink in November.
In the recent interview, Kilmartin said, “I really want to work with community leaders to see a rec center present in Tyrone again.”
The downtown Tyrone area lost a main resource for recreation when the YMCA closed its doors in September of 2004.
“It doesn’t necessarily have to be a YMCA. But, I do think it would be really good to have some kind of rec center that would be a hub for the community,” said Kilmartin. “A lot of people want to see that come in. So we’ll connect with the right ones to say ‘let’s see what we can do’ to put together (the) facilities.”
Kilmartin also talked about wanting to improve Tyrone’s business climate.
“I want to work with the local businesses to continue to produce commerce,” he said. “I want to see how we can attract some business and industry.”
He termed former Mayor Stoner’s vision of a hotel a “super idea.” Kilmartin said it would be “advantageous” for Tyrone and he would continue to work with her on it.
Stoner has agreed to stay on with the borough in an unpaid position as a liaison for borough projects.
The new mayor also touched on a subject heavily promoted by his predecessor. Mayor Stoner had been instrumental in bringing Streetscape projects to Tyrone’s downtown.
“I want to continue to beautify the whole community, not just the downtown, but the whole community,” he said. “We’ve done a good job cleaning up the downtown and I want to continue to see it work outward.”
He added that he is not just concerned with “the outward appearance of things.” He said he also was concerned with infrastructure. He said the borough needed to address sewer and flood issues.
Kilmartin said he would want to work with surrounding communities in an effort to see progress.
“Hopefully, by the time I’m done as mayor, people will say and I want to say about myself that I’ll be a resourceful mayor,” said Kilmartin. “I want to pull from people’s strengths and that might mean pulling from the strength of (other) local municipalities as well.”
In a newsletter sent out to borough residents, Kilmartin announced he would have office hours at the municipal building on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to noon and on Wednesdays from 2 to 4 p.m.
