Joseph Salla, who had been a candidate for Tamaqua Borough Council on the Democratic ticket for the upcoming General Election Nov. 3, contacted THE TIMES NEWS to clarify his decision to be removed from the ballot.

A story in Wednesday's edition noted that Salla left the ballot because he had joined the Republican Party. The Schuylkill Democratic leadership had Salla's vacancy on the ballot replaced by Justin Startzel, 20, who has served as a junior council member in Tamaqua.Salla clarified that, while he did join the Republican Party, that move came well after he asked to be removed from the ballot.''It's totally false that I left because I turned Republican,'' said Salla. ''I had my name off the ballot for a month before I decided to join the Republican Party.''Salla said the main mitigating factor in his decision was due to the fact that he was temporarily employed by the U.S Census Bureau at the time he was on the ballot, and there is a law that prevents a federal employee from holding office. He was later laid off from the census bureau and lacked sufficient funding for a campaign, he added.