FALCONER — The Ward 4 seat in the town of Ellicott didn’t stay vacant for long.

Last week, the Ellicott Town Board appointed Kenneth Swan to replace Dan Heitzenrater as the Ward 4 councilman.

“When I talked to (Swan) he seemed like he would do an excellent job,” said Patrick McLaughlin, Ellicott supervisor. “He is a businessman here in town, and he had an interest, so I made the recommendation to the board and they approved it.”

McLaughlin said Swan plans to run in the special election that will take place in November if there is someone else who wants to fill the rest of Heitzenrater’s original two-year term.

Heitzenrater reigned in December because of his new job as the CEO and president of the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce.

“Going forward the chamber board leadership and I agreed that I will step down from the town board to avoid any perceived conflicts of interest and ensure I can adequately dedicate the time necessary to my leadership transition in our organization,” Heitzenrater wrote in a letter that was read by Amy Bellardo, town clerk, during the December meeting.

Heitzenrater was first elected to Ward 4 in 2017, and was re-elected in 2019 and again in November.

McLaughlin said it was nice to have Heitzenrater on the board because he took the job seriously.

“Dan always had a lot of input,” McLaughlin said. “He represented Ward 4 very, very well. I’m sure Ken will do the same. Dan was always on top of things and did well by his ward.”

McLaughlin said Heitzenrater recommended Swan as his replacement. Swan is the owner of Swan Painting.