Paul Lueken, former Athletic Director at Slippery Rock University (SRU) was appointed to Slippery Rock Borough Council for a two-year term. The appointment comes after Councilmember Dr. John Hicks secured two terms onto Borough Council, a two-year and four-year term.
Hicks recognized that he was unable to fulfill both terms and thus chose to fulfill the four-year appointment.
The Borough Council advertised the vacant term in late 2023, seeking letters of interest from the community. Those letters along with resumes needed to be submitted by Dec. 31, 2023.
Christian Laskey, the Slippery Rock Borough Manager explained that the borough received four letters of interest from individuals, Paul Lueken, Jonathan Foust, Gene Allison and Russ Karl.
All four interested parties were given an opportunity at the Jan. 2 meeting to introduce themselves to the borough and speak on the topic of community service.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the council conducted a nomination process and a ballot vote to make their selection.
Lueken, a longtime Slippery Rock resident has been active within the community since moving to Slippery Rock in 1994. In addition to being the athletic director at SRU, Lueken previously served on the SR Park District Board, and currently holds a position on the planning commission.
Lueken retired from his position at SRU after serving more than 26 years as athletic director. Since retiring, Lueken says he has more time to participate and offer time to giving back to the community.
His loyalty to his community led him to submit a letter of interest to the Borough Council.
“I want to give back to the community that has been good to me all these years.” Said Lueken.
As a councilmember, Lueken wants to help move Slippery Rock forward in attracting new businesses into the community, as well as new families into the borough. Lueken sees Slippery Rock has potential to see growth, similar to towns like Cranberry, Pa.
Something Lueken would love to see happen during his time on borough council is for a business to move into the lot of the former BP gas station, located at 127 N. Main St. Lueken believes attracting a new business to move into the closed lot would serve the community well.
For Lueken, Slippery Rock is more than just a community, it’s a place in which he’s been proud to call home for 30 years.
“Slippery Rock is my home; I raised my children here and it’s always been a family friendly place.”
Lueken hopes to help contribute to that atmosphere moving forward.
For information on when borough meetings take place, you can visit the borough website here.
