Seven candidates for vacant Front Royal Town Council seat introduce themselves

Mayor Eugene Tewalt council seat now vacant and interviews begin. Photo and video by Mark Williams, Royal Examiner.

During a work session closed meeting Monday evening, December 16, the Front Royal Town Council interviewed seven candidates for Mayor Gene Tewalt’s now-vacant council seat. Tewalt vacated his council seat to be sworn in as mayor after his November defeat of Hollis Tharpe in a two-way special election race to fill the balance of Tharpe’s term following appointed Interim Mayor Matt Tederick’s resignation to become interim town manager in the wake of Joe Waltz’s resignation.

Prior to the start of the closed session interviews Mayor Tewalt told media present there would be no announcement following the interviews. He said it likely council would announce a choice at a special meeting called for January 6. Tewalt noted that if the seat was not filled by January 10 it would go to the court for a judicial appointment to fill the vacant seat.

Royal Examiner conducted brief video interviews with those seven candidates as they waited their turns in the revolving door, 20-minutes allotted per candidate interview process beginning at 6 p.m. Monday at Town Hall, except for one candidate, Ben Raneiri who chose to do his interview post closed door interview with council. Joining Queen Consulting and Technology IT professional Raneiri in contention for the vacant council seat were retired property management professional and local activist Paul Gabbert (64); retired Raytheon manager Jim Hart (74); former federal EPA and DOD employee and current Town Planning Commission Vice-Chairman Joe McFadden (37); former private sector and Town land surveyor and current Town Planning Commissioner and Blue Ridge Heritage Project local organizer Daryl Merchant (63); former federal director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement and then senior advisor in the Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives under the Department of Health and Human Services until June 2019 Scott Lloyd (40); and long-time Warren County teacher Lori (Athey) Cockrell (53).

See the candidates introduce themselves and explain their reasons for applying for the vacant Town Council position in this exclusive Royal Examiner video: