Sewickley Hills Council fills vacancy with zoning hearing board member

A Sewickley Hills zoning hearing board member has been tapped to fill a council vacancy.

Hunter Hopkins was appointed to replace Jack Faulkner, who stepped down at the end of last year after serving on council for 35 nonconsecutive years.

Faulkner ran Red Mud Hollow Farm, also called The Kennel. Borough secretary Diana Steele said Faulkner was retiring and moving to Florida.

“We wish him certainly all the best,” said council president Joseph Hajnas. “One of the things that Jack always stressed was to bring a servant’s heart to the position. Jack was always very philosophical and sometimes long-winded, but always a pleasure to work with.”

Five residents applied to fill Faulkner’s shoes. Four of them attended at council’s Jan. 24 meeting.

After a round of brief interviews, Hopkins was appointed via 3-0 vote. Councilwoman Teresa Hartle was absent.

Faulkner was in the final year of a four-year term. Hopkins will have to run in the May primary if he wants to keep the seat next year.

He was selected over a retired nurse Dianne Meister, operator of six McDonald’s franchises Priscilla Foster and former councilwoman Cindy Phillips.

Mayor David Malarik administered the oath of office.

Council vice president Michael Lepore nominated Hopkins for the position. He said they both got on the zoning hearing board together in 2016.

“I moved up to council about a year later, so I’m more familiar with Hunter and his qualifications,” Lepore said. “He’s the best candidate for the job right now. He attends a lot of the regular council meetings.

”It doesn’t disqualify the other folks. The other folks were impressive. I’d like to see them all come back for the zoning hearing board. It would give us another difficult decision to make.”

Hopkins must resign from the zoning hearing board due to his appointment. Council plans to accept his resignation at its Feb. 14 meeting.

Those interested in serving on the zoning hearing board can submit letters of interest and resumes to the borough office, 349 Magee Road.

Hopkins, 53, has been a Sewickley Hills resident since 2007. He helps update the borough website.

Hopkins was the campus president at Kaplan Career Institute of Pittsburgh for nearly eight years and runs an IT consulting company called Triple H Solutions.

“I’m humbled to serve the community,” said Hopkins, 53. “I recognize what a critical role council serves and I want to help with various issues that come up.

“These meetings don’t tend to be real well-attended until something isn’t running quite right. Then people come and they may be upset and want to know what’s happening. Council serves as a constant through it all, and I recognize that it’s a really vital and important role.”

Hopkins has two sons in the Quaker Valley School District, one in middle school and one in high school, as well as an adult daughter.

“It’s rural, but it is a great community,” Hopkins said about Sewickley Hills. “You can walk around the neighborhood. Everybody says ‘hi.’ We know each other by first name and everybody’s incredibly kind and gracious. It’s a great community to raise your kids.”

Lepore also commended Faulkner for his service to the borough.

“Jack was a stalwart,” Lepore said. “Jack did have a servant’s heart. Jack did nothing if it wasn’t in the interest of the community. I try to follow that lead that he set for all of us, 35 years serving your community says a lot. Florida’s gain is our loss. He will be sorely missed.”