Last week, Jack Howell resigned from his role as president of the Lancaster Alliance, a nonprofit organization which has contributed considerably to downtown initiatives such as First Fridays and the East King Street Improvement District as well as the controversial convention center project and Lancaster Streetcar Company. According to John Levitski, chairman of the Alliance board, Howell moved on “to pursue other opportunities.”
Howell began working with the Alliance in 1999. During his tenure as president, he had been an enthusiastic advocate for the proposed downtown Lancaster streetcar scheme. In his absence, Mayor Rick Gray stands as the leading voice in the effort to study and perhaps ultimately implement a streetcar loop in Lancaster City.
When asked if there may be any change or redirection of Lancaster Alliance initiatives under new leadership, Levitski said that “it would be premature to answer that.”
There is currently no interim president, according to Levitski. The executive committee of the board of directors will manage the organization until a replacement is recruited. There are no candidates lined up at this point in time, Levitski said.
For more on the Lancaster Alliance, click here to read coverage of NewsLanc’s September 2008 interview with then-president Howell.
More information needed…
1) Does he remain in Lancaster?
2) Is this move merely “window-dressing” on all of the incestuous relationships that exist amongst these quasi public agencies doing the bidding of the local power elite?
3) Does he continue to hold any of his other positions?