Rostraver Township resident calls it a wrap after attending meetings for 53 years
Mark Soroka
Bill Monro has enjoyed a lifetime of attending meetings of the Rostraver Township board of commissioners.
Mark Soroka
Rostraver Township Commissioners Gary Litvany (left), Devin DeRienzo (second from left) and Raymond Iacoboni (right) thanked Rostraver Township resident Bill Monro (second from right) for attending board meetings for 53 consecutive years.
For more than half a century, one thing was a virtual certainty in Rostraver Township: when the board of commissioners met monthly, resident Bill Monro was there.
Over 53 years, he came to meetings to ask questions, get answers and remain involved in the community he called home. Now, he鈥檚 moving on.
鈥淢y wife Sandy and I wanted to live closer to one of our daughters,鈥� said Monro, 88. 鈥淲e decided to move to Allison Park, so I bid farewell to the commissioners and told them that was probably the last meeting I would be attending. I have a lot of great memories of these meetings. I learned a lot about how local governments work, and I had the chance to meet many nice people.鈥�
There wasn鈥檛 a dry eye in the house when Monro let the board know about his move out of the township earlier this month, with commissioners telling him he鈥檇 earned their respect with his insightful comments and inspiring words of encouragement.
Monro started attending Rostraver鈥檚 board meetings soon after he moved to the township in 1966.
鈥淢y wife and I built a house in Rostraver Township so we could be closer to her mother,鈥� said Monro, who grew up in McKeesport. 鈥淭here was a problem I needed to resolve so I decided to attend a meeting of the Rostraver Township commissioners. I needed to get an answer from one of the commissioners, but he left before I had a chance to address the board. I returned for the next meeting and he was able to fix the problem. It occurred to me then, that the meetings were kind of interesting, so I kept on attending.鈥�
Monro鈥檚 continued attendance caught the attention of the commissioners.
鈥淲henever meetings were about to end, one of the commissioners would say, 鈥楳r. Monro, do you have any questions before we adjourn?鈥� And I鈥檇 reply, 鈥淎s a matter of fact, I do.鈥� I always appreciated getting answers from the board.鈥�
Although he never served as a commissioner himself, Monro said several people approached him over the years and asked him to consider running for office. It wasn鈥檛 something that interested him; he said he was content to attend meetings, listen and offer feedback.
He got an honorary title anyway.
鈥�(My neighbors) knew I was a regular attendee at the meetings, so they would call me or visit me whenever they had a question about the township. I became known as the mayor of West McClain Road,鈥� he said.
Monro said he鈥檚 certain most people don鈥檛 really know what goes on at municipal meetings 鈥� until they鈥檙e impacted by something.
鈥淚 have noticed that people tend to show up in bunches whenever there is an issue that affects their own property or neighborhood,鈥� said Monro. 鈥淏ut otherwise, you don鈥檛 see too many familiar faces. It鈥檚 too bad more people don鈥檛 take an interest in their local government.鈥�
Monro, who served in the U.S. Navy in the 1950s, worked for 39 years at the Westinghouse Atomic Power Division in McKeesport. He is enjoying his retirement doing lawn work and spending time with his son, two daughters and three grandchildren.
鈥淚t won鈥檛 be the same not attending a Rostraver Township meeting the first Wednesday of each month,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd I鈥檒l miss Rostraver Township. It is one of the nicest places where you could live.鈥�