Oak Park Heights announces new mayor, available council seat
The city of Oak Park Heights announced Wednesday that Chuck Dougherty will be taking over the position of Oak Park Heights mayor after the death of Mayor Mary McComber in May. McComber served as mayor from 2012 to 2025.
'Mayor McComber left some big shoes to fill, but in this time of transition, I am committed to providing steady leadership and ensuring continuity for our community,' Dougherty said in the announcement. 'I look forward to continuing to serve our community with dedication, working alongside our Council, staff and residents.'
Dougherty previously served as deputy mayor and has had a seat on the Oak Park Heights City Council since 2013. He and his wife also own the Water Street Inn and the Cover Park Manor Bed & Breakfast.
The city council is accepting applications for Dougherty's vacated council seat through Thursday, July 3, according to the announcement. Dougherty and the new council member will serve in these roles until November 2026, when a special election for the positions will occur.
Both special elections would be for a two-year term to finish the remaining terms of McComber and Dougherty.
Applications for Oak Park Heights City Council can be found on the city's website at cityofoakparkheights.com or at City Hall at 14168 Oak Park Blvd. N.
As mayor, Dougherty will help plan for the 2028 closure of the Allen S. King plant in Oak Park Heights. The plant currently provides close to 28 percent of Oak Park Heights' tax base. When running for city council in 2024, Dougherty said one of his priorities was coming up with a plan to minimize the effects the tax base loss will have on Oak Park Heights residents.
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Central Park | Downtown Johnstown Downtown visitors sit to talk near the Union Veterans of the Civil War statue at Central Park in Johnstown on Thursday, June 12, 2025. All ARPA money needed to be allocated by Dec. 31, 2024; therefore, any funds set aside for the Central Park work must now be spent on that project. ARPA dollars need to be spent by Sept. 30, 2026, a date that was recently moved up from Dec. 31, 2026. DeBartola suggested the city should just return the money set aside for the park to the federal government. Clark considered the idea, too. 'That would just hurt the city so much,' Clark said. 'It would be very difficult to get funding moving forward because we would have proven that we can't even get a project done once we get the money for it. At the point that we're at now, even though I believe from the get-go there was too much money to spend on Central Park and all that, we're past that point. 'We've got to move forward with the project that we have, get something good done for the people even if I disagree with some aspects of it, and move this project forward.' Clark also emphasized that the project needs to remain within budget, regardless of what unexpected situations might be encountered when construction is taking place, 'because the council will not allocate any more money for the park. This is it.' 'Changes in leadership' Scape displayed the general proposed design for the park in August 2023. Since then, City Manager Ethan Imhoff resigned, then Melissa Komar and Robert Statler served as co-interim city managers, before Martynuska took on the position full-time. There have also been three Department of Community and Economic Development directors over the same period. That coincided with what publicly appeared to be a period of inactivity on the project. 'Those changes in leadership just created disruptions,' Huchel said. Messina said he has been 'disturbed' at the pace of the remodel and how the process has been handled. 'It's been a long process,' he said. 'I was on the original Main Street project team (appointed by City Council). We had a big meeting. There was like 25, 30 of us there. We were all excited about it. That was years ago. And nothing happened. We heard nothing for a couple of years. I was very disappointed. Essentially, that was disbanded.' Thaddeus Pawlowski, an urban designer who is originally from the Johnstown region, helped Scape in the early part of the process by soliciting local involvement and keeping the public aware of what was occurring. 'I probably should have been like, 'You know what, I should just stay involved the whole time,' ' Pawlowski said. 'That's on me. I have other things to do with my life, but obviously I care deeply about this project being successful.' Pawlowski added: 'I think, in retrospect, there were some lessons learned. 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She said it was 'atrocious' and an 'incredible overreach' to override a 'robust community engagement process and a team of professionals who do award-winning parks all over the U.S.' City officials have recently stepped up messaging about the park, including discussing it during the annual State of the City Address, council meetings, personal interactions with nonprofits and governmental agencies, and a gathering in the park last Saturday.
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