The Oil City Council voted to appoint all four Oil City High School students who applied to the junior council program at their meeting this Thursday.
Rather than choosing two of the four, which was the original design for the new program, council chose to appoint all four students due to the level of interest they showed in the program and the high quality of their interviews.
Sophomore Clarice Carlson and juniors Jackson Dilks, Seth Swidorsky and Lily Szekeres were interviewed for the two junior council seats at the council’s March meeting.
Thursday, Kluck said the four junior members would all begin their terms in the fall at the start of the school year, though they have been invited to attend council meetings this summer.
Of the four, Swidorsky was the only one who attended Thursday’s meeting.
During public comment, he said he was glad council chose to appoint all four students, saying that Dilks had been better qualified than he was.
In other news from Thursday’s meeting, council accepted, with much regret, the retirement of Oil City Fire Chief Derek Long, effective June 15.
“What happens if we all vote no?” Councilman Ron Gustafson joked when the vote on Long’s retirement was called.
Long has been with the Oil City Fire Department for 21 years, the last four of which he has spent as the fire chief, a post he filled when former Fire Chief Mark Hicks retired in 2021.
Long will retire two weeks before Oil City Police Chief Dave Ragon, who retires on June 30.
Schroyer also announced at the meeting that Michelle Hoovler, the city finance officer, will become the assistant city manager in addition to her current duties, effective May 6. He noted that she would be receiving a raise to reflect her change of duties.
Hoovler accepting the assistant city manager position does not guarantee that she will be the next city manager, though she would be “in the running,” according to Schroyer, who added that when the time came, council would need to decide how they wanted to go about filling his position.
Schroyer said he would likely be retiring at the end of next year, which is when his current contract ends.
During the executive session following the council meeting, job interviews were conducted for the Oil City chief of police position.
Schroyer had previously mentioned that three current Oil City police officers had expressed interest in the position, and that the city would begin interviewing them soon.
Council also met with County Commissioners Sam Breene and Albert Abramovic during the executive session to discuss the former National Guard Armory in Hasson Heights, which both the county and the city are eyeing to acquire.
Who the property goes to will be determined at the federal level, as the government owns both the armory and the adjacent ballfield. No determination has been made as of yet.
The county has expressed interest in using the armory for a potential new location for the 911 Center, while Schroyer has previously stated that the city has an interest in both the ballfield and the building.
