Because of Souderton’s small-town status, people like Mayor Dan Yocum alongside Souderton Borough, focus on appeasing and making Souderton flourish throughout their tenure, due to shared interests.
Despite being on the younger side, Yocum’s connection with Souderton is deeper than just being born in Souderton, his roots lie in his family history.
“[I have a deeper connection] because I’m from here and the eighth generation Soudertonian. My great, great, great grandfather was the founder of Souderton, Henry O. Souder.”
Yocum explains how being a mayor is public and this can be quite difficult depending on what was passed through the council.
“You also need to be able to live in a community where you are a very public figure,” Yocum said. “You live your life knowing everyone and [everyone] knows who you are.”
According to borough council vice-president Tracey Burke, since the position is voluntary there is a “commitment of time” that compounds with normal life making life busy.
“What we’ve done is form several committees. We don’t just sit like a council where we are going to sit self-righteously and try to make the decisions,” Burke said.
Meetings and constant communication cause fluctuations in the time required for being a borough council member, according to Borough Councilor Matthew Sholly.
“Every week at a bare minimum it’s a couple of hours, but it fluctuates like I said, there was two weeks ago we were here for six hours,” Sholly said.
Burke feels that the main drive for the councilors is the feeling of giving back love to the community and assisting in any way that they can.
“What I see, not just for myself, but for the members of the council who are doing this really because of their love for the community and a sense of volunteerism,” Burke said.
The mayor’s job takes on the task of keeping the community happy and Yocum echoes that sentiment when he talks about celebrating Souderton.
“It’s the mayor’s job to keep everybody happy,” Yocum said. “It’s also my job to celebrate Souderton, make sure that businesses want to come here and residents are happy here.”
Yocum feels the position of mayor is more of an advisory position and encourages the people and others who make decisions.
“Being a small-town mayor is being a cheerleader for the town,” said Yocum.
According to Sholly, being a part of the Souderton administrative staff is about foregoing being a partisan and focusing on what is best for the borough itself.
“At the end of the day, we’re up here to try and make the best decisions possible for Souderton,” Sholly said. “So red or blue doesn’t matter, you gotta be up here to be doing what’s best for Souderton.”
