Not sure who represents you in West Chester? Find out here.
Updated Feb. 2024. I’m going to admit something. Until rather recently, I had no idea who my local representative was – and I should. I probably voted for (or against) him or her but every time I see a name mentioned in an article – I’d ask myself, now is he the one that represents me?
So I have created a cheat sheet. I broke down all seven borough wards and their representatives with pictures… and a map.
Bookmark this page. If you’re anything like me you’ll need to reference it again.
Who’s my Borough Council representative?
If you live in the Borough of West Chester you are represented by a member of Borough Council. Borough Council is made up of seven individuals – one for each of the seven voting wards.
Council directs the activities of the borough through the appointed Borough Manager, who in turn supervises all departments except the police department (the Mayor handles that one). So if you have any thoughts on how the borough is to be run (that includes parking) or where we should spend town funds, knowing who your Borough Council member could be helpful.
Wards on the East Side of Town:
There are three wards on the east side of town, one, two and four:
Ward 1: If you live north of Patton Avenue, south of Goshen Avenue, east of High Street and in the borough, you are probably in Ward 1 and you’re represented on Borough Council by newly elected Patrick McCoy.
Question for Mr. McCoy? Reach him here.
Ward 2: However, if you live south of Patton Avenue, but north of Magnolia Street and are still on the east side of High Street you are probably in Ward 2 and you are represented on Borough Council by Brian Travis.
Question for Mr. Travis? Reach him here.
Ward 4: I am not sure who was in charge of numbering the wards but they have gone in a different direction than I would have taken. So now we jump to Ward 4, which occupies the southeast corner of the borough map. If you live north of Rosedale Avenue but south of Magnolia, and are east of South Street, you are likely in the fourth ward and you are represented on Borough Council by Nicole Scimone.
Question for Ms. Scimone? Reach her here.
Wards on the West Side of Town:
Ward 5: Now, let’s skip across, in this case South Street, to the west side of town. If you live in the southwest quadrant of the borough you are likely in the fifth ward but check the border lines because a corner has been cropped from the top of this ward. If you live on New Street and you’re north of W. Nields Street, you are in the third ward. However, if you’re on the borough side of Bradford Avenue the boundary line for the fifth ward goes all the way to W. Union Street. If you were able to keep all that straight and determined you are in the fifth ward, you are represented on Borough Council by Shelia Vaccaro.
Question for Ms. Vaccaro? Email her here.
Ward 3: Ward 3 is wedged between Wards 5 and 6. It starts with High Street on the east side and continues west to Brandywine (in some places). W. Nields borders very loosely on the south and Shemlock Alley/W. Bernard Street more consistently on the north. If you live in this south central section of the borough, you are in Ward 3 and you are now represented on Borough Council by Brian McGinnis.
Question for Mr. McGinnis? Email him here.
Ward 6: Ward 6 cuts around Everhart park to Shemlock Alley/W. Bernard Street on its southern border and Hannum Avenue into Chestnut Street to the north. In its borders stands most of the downtown business district – at least that part that lies west of High street. If this describes your home location, you are in the sixth ward and you’re represented on Borough Council by Bernie Flynn.
Question for Mr. Flynn? Reach him here.
Ward 7: This final borough ward covers the northwest most corner of the borough, including those north of the Hannum/Chestnut divide and west of N. High Street except where the shifted the border over to Darlington Avenue for a few blocks. If this sounds familiar to you, you are in the seventh ward and you’re represented on Borough Council by Lisa Dorsey.
Question for Ms. Dorsey? Email her here.
Wow, that was a lot of words. These maps are not easy to describe so hopefully, this was useful and we can all accurately identify what ward we are in and who our representative is.
Now that you know who they are, how about a little more about what they do. Parking and infrastructure come up a lot so does building codes and zoning and of course, the budget. But they also decide things like are we ready to handle growth in electric vehicles and how to prioritize the surging problem of stormwater management? It was their votes that put the single-use plastic bag ban.
Plus, isn’t this a cool map of the borough? I can just picture it framed and hanging on an office wall somewhere. Not mine, but maybe someday.