Flushing View

New city council members take office, express future goals




 

 

FLUSHING — For the first time since January, Flushing City Council has a full quorum of seven members.

At Monday’s Flushing City Council meeting, Dane Miller, Danielle Smith, Eric Johnson and Dan Fralick were sworn in as new council representatives. Miller, Smith, Johnson and Fralick each won their respective races at the Aug. 4 primary to secure partial terms on the council, filling seats that were vacated by former council members Dick Bade, Lynne Black, Karianne Martus and Patrick Scanlon earlier this year.

Miller, who will represent District 2 for a partial term ending on Nov. 8, 2021, defeated Seth Neblock in the primary election.

“A huge thank you to all those that gave me your vote,” Miller said on his campaign Facebook page. “I’m honored, humbled and ready to get to work.

“I must complement my opponent, Seth Neblock, on such a positive campaign,” Miller added. “For someone new to all of this, this was a breath of fresh air.”

Miller, a technical sales manager, said that his top priorities as a council representative will be to help the city complete a new contract with the Flushing City Police Department and ensure that Flushing maintains high-level services.

Smith, a Flushing firefighter and senior pharmacy technician, defeated former Flushing City Manager Brad Barrett in the primary. She will represent District 3 for a partial term ending on Nov. 13, 2023.

Smith said that she will work to finalize a contract between the city and its police department and represent her position with fairness and transparency.

Johnson, who defeated Patrick Jones for the District 4 seat, will serve out a partial term ending on Nov. 8, 2021. He is a third-generation Flushing resident, a United States Navy veteran and owner of Gas Tank Renu since 1987.

“I’m really looking forward to working with a whole elected city council,” Johnson said. “As we move forward, I want to continue the transparency and communication with the residents that Mr. Sullivan (Mayor Pro Tem Edward Sullivan) and the mayor (Joseph Karlichek) have been doing since (they were) elected.”

Fralick, who ran unopposed at the Aug. 4 primary, is a public relations director at the Flushing Valley Golf & Country Club and a former president of the Flushing Area Chamber of Commerce. He will finish a partial term ending on Nov. 8, 2021.

“I’ve never held a public office, so when I was asked ‘why now at 71,’ my answer was this: It’s my turn to return my service to a community where I worked, played, raised family and buried a wife,” Fralick said. “I plan on doing what I think will be the right thing for our great town.”