DUBOIS, Pa. – DuBois, PA – The City of DuBois honored past and present elected officials and took steps to solidify consolidation at Wednesday night’s meeting.
Officials started off the meeting by recognizing those who saw the community through the consolidation process, as part of City Mayor Barry Abbott’s push for 75 Days of Positivity, the officials recognized were part of the process to consolidate the city with Sandy Township to form one municipality, a process which was started in November 2021.
“Those present at the meeting—former Mayor Ed Walsh and former council members Shannon Gabriel and Elliot Gelfand—received plaques for their service.”
The entire list of recipients, in order on the table left to right, top to bottom:
- Barry Abbott: Sandy Township supervisor and present DuBois city mayor
- Shirley Dahrouge: Current DuBois City council member
- Jennifer Jackson: Former DuBois City council member and vice-president
- Kevin Salandra: Former Sandy Township supervisor
- James Aughenbaugh: Former DuBois City council member
- Shane Dietz: Former DuBois City council member
- Sam Mollica: Sandy Township supervisor, present DuBois City council member
- Mark Sullivan: Sandy Township supervisor, present DuBois City council member
- Bill Beers: Sandy Township supervisor, present DuBois City council member
- Shannon Gabriel: Former DuBois City council member
- Mike Piccirillo: Current DuBois City council member
- Ed Walsh: Former City Mayor
- Diane Bernardo: Former DuBois City council member
- Elliot Gelfand: Former DuBois City council member
- Pat Reasinger: Former mayor
- Richard Whitaker: Sandy Township supervisor, present DuBois City council member
The consolidation efforts resulted in City of DuBois receiving the “Governor’s Award for Local Government Excellence” from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development on April 2. The current City Council wanting to recognize the work by those who made it possible.
Abbott also made a point to recognize the staff of both the former Sandy Township, former City of DuBois, and current City of DuBois. Including the managers of the municipalities:
- John “Herm” Suplizio – Former City of DuBois Manager
- Shawn Arbaugh – Former Sandy Township Manager and Former City Manager
- Chris Nasuti – Former City Manager
- Kafferlin Strategies – Current Interim City Managers, represented day to day by Ben Kafferlin and Lisa Hagberg
“It is the people of the City who deserve this award. It is the people who watched this rebirth from the City of DuBois and Sandy Township,” Abbott said.
Also at the meeting, the council voted to approve:
- Resolution 2026-036, Donation Acceptance Policy, outlining the process for the City of DuBois to receive donations.
- Resolution 2026-037, Ethics Policy, laying out the expected roles, rules of conduct for members of the city council and manager.
- Resolution 2026-038, Appointment Policy, establishing the process for how a citizen may apply for appointment to an authority, boards, or commission within the City of DuBois. It also calls for quarterly advertisements that applications are accepted and when vacancies occurred. Followed up by the four-point process that applicants will go through.
- Resolution 2026-039, Public Comment, reaffirming the rules for public comments in meetings. The resolution currently limits public comments to five minutes per person.
- Resolution 2026-040, Grant Match Policy, establishing the city’s procedures with grants that require matching funds.
- Charter Revisions, submiting the New City of DuBois’ charter to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for codification. According to Kafferlin Strategies Senior Consultant Maryann Menanno, this is mostly just the Third-Class City Optional Plan with some DuBois specific clarifications for the gray areas.
- Council Bill #013 of 2026, Pension Board, codifying the pension board resolution the City Council passed earlier this year.
- Council Bill #014 of 2026, Procurement and Contracting, codifying the procurement and contracting policies of DuBois that the City Council passed earlier this year.
Menanno explained that the three categories are distinguished by their permanence and legal weight. The Charter serves as the foundational framework for the City of DuBois, while Ordinances act as the city’s legally binding laws. In contrast, Policies serve as internal guidelines that allow for more flexibility; these can be adjusted more easily by the City Council as it evolves, as seen this year when the council updated the rules for public comment on several occasions.
This process was handled by a committee composed of Councilmember Bill Beers, Councilmember Sam Mollica, Councilmember Dick Whitaker, DuBois resident Melissa Keen, and DuBois resident Dave Lombardo.
“We had hours in this. We made sure we did right by our city going forward. It is far better than what we did have,” said Beers.
