Tiny Pa. borough can't find mayor

BOSWELL, Pa. -- Maybe $45 a month isn't enough, or the job is thankless. Whatever it is, this tiny borough is having a hard time finding a mayor.

Regina Felice resigned as Boswell's part-time mayor in March, and the council has been scrambling to find a replacement to serve out the final two years of her term.

"This is a very small town. Practically everybody knows everybody," said council President Mary Ann DeLuca, who is filling in as mayor. "Maybe people don't want to hear when people complain. I don't know."

According to Felice, it's not that being mayor of this borough of 1,364 people about 60 miles southeast of Pittsburgh takes that much time; it just requires more than the 41-year-old woman can give. She's busy with her family and looking for a full-time job.

Nobody seems willing to step forward to assume the responsibilities, which include paperwork, oversight of the one-person police force, enforcing ordinances and casting the rare vote to break council ties.

Eventually, if the borough can't find a mayor, it could approach Somerset County officials, or the Court of Common Pleas, which could appoint one. That, however, may not be the answer either.

"If nobody wants it, you can't force anybody to take it," DeLuca said.