Chambersburg Borough Council goes gender-neutral: It's council members, not councilmen

CHAMBERSBURG - In borough hall, members of the Chambersburg borough council, whether they are women or men, traditionally have been called "councilmen."

But that changed Monday, when the council adopted a new gender-neutral policy saying each should be referred to as a  "council member." 

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The issue was raised two years, according to council member Herb Dolaway, after the election which put five men and five women on the board. Borough manager Jeffrey Stonehill raised it again during the council's reorganization meeting on Jan. 2, according to Doloway.  Stonehill noted that in the borough codes members of council were still referred to "councilmen." The current council is also split between men and women. 

"I sat there and I'm thinking, say the roles had been reversed and the majority of the people were councilwoman versus councilman - what would my feelings be as far as being called a councilwoman over, over and over again?" Dolaway said. 

Dolaway suggested an agenda item proposing to address council members in a more gender-neutral way. He said other institutions are doing this to be more inclusive. 

"I just said, 'it just seems to be a natural course of action here,'" he said. 

The item passed 8-2, with council members Allen Coffman and Michael Herbert voting against it. 

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Council member Alice Elia said she saw it as a way to change the council's language to fit what the state already uses, which refers to council members as "members of council." 

Coffman said he didn't see any reason to change what had been done in the past, adding that the gender-neutral term change was the "most ridiculous" agenda item he has seen during his 24 years on council. 

"It's never been an issue that I've been aware of," he said. 

Chambersburg's decision to adopt a gender-neutral policy comes more than a decade after the Greencastle borough council implemented a similar policy, according to borough manager Eden Ratliff. 

Ratliff said those on the council are referred to as "council members." Greencastle currently has all men on its council, but Ratliff said women have served in the past. 

However, Waynesboro council's vice president, Niccole Rolls, said Waynesboro has yet to adopt an official policy like this. She is the only woman on the council, and serves with five other men. 

She added that, during meetings, the other members will refer to her as "councilman." Rolls said she refers to herself as a "council person," and she refers to the others as "councilmen" because they are men.

When asked what she thought about Chambersburg's policy, Rolls said, "I think that it is unfortunate that we need a policy, however, I think that having a policy does allow for it to be consistently applied." 

Mercersburg also hasn't adopted a gender-neutral policy like Chambersburg's, but vice president of the council Jeff Main said during the meetings council members are referred to by their titles. Right now, the borough council has three women and four men. 

He added that he wouldn't refer to any woman on council as "councilman," but would instead call her "councilwoman" out of respect. 

"A woman should not be called a councilman. Period," Main said. 

Although the topic hasn't been addressed by Mercersburg, Main said he would suggest members be referred to as "councilperson" if it came up.

"It may be something we need to look at," he said. 

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