Judge: Canonsburg Council will be Reduced to Seven Members

Councilman Rich Russo confirmed Thursday afternoon that come next year, the borough's governing body will be reduced from

The ruling was made Thursday by Washington County Judge Katherine Emery after a group Russo and borough business owner and former councilmen Ron Cianelli spearheaded petitioned for the change.

"We were successful," Russo said, adding that members of the "9-7 Group" that filed the petition in Washington County Court advocating for the change were surprised at the quick ruling.

"We presented a nice case—it wasn't full of a lot of rhetoric," he said, adding: "We had a nice showing of support."

Two members of council—Joe McGarrey and Patty Romano—as well as former council president Joe Milioto showed up in opposition of the move, Russo added.

He said the move will put the borough in line with the rest of the communities in Washington County—none of which have more than seven representatives.

He said the reduction will become effective in the spring 2013 election, when each of the borough's wards three will elect two representatives instead of three. An at-large position will round out the seven-member board.

"Nobody had more than seven members—we were kind of out of whack," Russo said.