HONESDALE, PA — At its reorganizational meeting on Monday, January 5, the Honesdale Borough Council voted to elect a new president, putting councilor Tiffany Rogers in the role. 

Rogers takes over from councilor James Brennan, who was elected president at the start of 2024. 

Councilor William McAllister nominated Rogers for the role. McAllister had attempted to nominate Rogers in 2024, but she had declined, saying she wanted more experience before taking on the role. 

"I believe now that she's got the experience in the issues," said McAllister. 

The president of the council has the responsibility of presiding over and keeping order in borough council meetings. Over the past year, Brennan has often received prompting from fellow members of the council on making motions and conducting the meeting's business. 

Five of seven councilors voted for Rogers. Rogers herself abstained, questioning whether it was appropriate to vote for herself, and Brennan voted 'no', having previously nominated himself for the position. 

Following Roger's election, the council went to vote on nomination for vice president. 

A vote to select Brennan for vice president failed, with Brennan, McAllister and Jason Newbon voting 'yes,' and Kim Fisch, Patrick Resti, Jim Hamill and Rogers voting 'no'. 

A vote to select Resti passed, with Brennan as the lone 'no' vote. 

'Our voices all combined'

Prior to the vote, mayor Derek Williams offered some thoughts for the new year. 

Williams said he recently had the opportunity to watch the movie 'K-Pop Demon Hunters,' an animated fantasy film about a Korean pop-music trio that pairs catchy musical performances with the theatrical slaying of literal demons. 

"As I was watching that recently, one of the notes in the movie really struck me, that was—well, I'll spare you singing it, because it's more of a musical—but the line goes, 'So we're not heroes; we're survivors.' And I really appreciated that, because I think it speaks to the truth of what it is we all do here, and what it is to be a citizen in the community."

"A lot of times, it can be easy to put the work we do—and us elected officials—up on pedestals, but we're really just human," said Williams. 

He said it was helpful to conceptualize the work the council did in that way, and it helped him relate to the borough's younger citizens. 

Williams added that, as part of the council's shared work, it was not always necessary "to litigate every past wrong or to identify all the people who have maybe messed up; we can really just be looking at moving forward to the best of our ability, and trying to remove some of that baggage that gets imposed on us, especially online these days."

He said it was an opportunity for councilors to rise above the noise, and reminded councilors that they did not need to tear each other down to build each other up. "It would be wonderful if we can kind of lead by the example of a little less blame, a little less casting doubt, a little more listening, a little more accepting responsibility and a little more just helping each other out like neighbors do on a regular basis," he said. 

Williams addressed his comments to the board at large, rather than to an individual councilor. However, councilor Hamill previously came under fire from fellow councilors late in 2025 for his conduct online and in meetings, with councilors characterizing his actions as divisive and claiming his actions eroded public trust in the borough. 

Rogers had led the vote to censure Hamill, saying she hoped he could refocus his efforts on working collaboratively with the council "rather than trying to tear it all down." Speaking before the vote, Hamill referred to differences of opinion that had played out in private and in public, and said he hoped the censure did not set a precedent for how the borough handled disagreements going forward.