Hank Cisco Sworn in as Norristown's Ambassador for 2013

Cisco is now entering his eighth year as Norristown's official ambassador to the world.

Lifelong Norristownian Hank Cisco once again took the dais in council chambers at Norristown Municipal Hall to be sworn in as Norristown's official ambassador at the Municipal Council reorganization meeting on Monday, Jan. 7. Cisco presented council with a letter from E.J.Knittel, Senior Director for Education and Sustainability of the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs, offering more evidence for what he has always claimed to be true – that Cisco is the only one to ever hold such a position for a municipality or borough. Knittel's letter stated that he knows of no other such office holder in Pennsylvania. Cisco swore before Judge Francis Lawrence to conduct the duties of his office honorably and once again reminded residents that …

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Municipal Council to Hold Reorganization Meeting Tonight

Council will select a new president and vice-president and appoint new committee chairs.

Norristown Municipal Council meets tonight at 7 p.m. at Norristown Municipal Hall, 235 East Airy Street, for its annual reorganization meeting. Council will nominate and vote on a new president and vice president and name new committee chairs and vice chairs. They will also appoint new legal representation and municipal engineers. Hank Cisco will also be sworn in again in his role as Norristown's official ambassador, a unique position which E.J.Knittel, Senior Director for Education and Sustainability of the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs, said is the only one he's ever heard of in Pa. Cisco tells Patch he will continue to conduct the duties of his office honorably and reminds residents that his position is not a paid one. "I …

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Norristown Celebrates Columbus Day

Residents and officials gathered on Friday to mark the 20th anniversary of Norristown's monument to explorer Christopher Columbus.

Area residents and public officials joined Norristown Ambassador Hank Cisco, Judge of Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas Honorable Carolyn Tornetta Carluccio and 4th graders from St. Francis on Friday, Oct. 12, at Norristown's Christopher Columbus Monument to pay homage to the explorer's contribution to history and also note the contribution of the Italian American community to Norristown. The day marked the 20th anniversary of the monument in Elmwood Park which was spearheaded for years by Cisco and other notable Italian Americans from the Norristown area. 

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Norristown Diner's Grand Opening

The popular new eatery celebrated its new place in the Norristown restaurant scene with a ribbon cutting this afternoon.

Norristown Ambassador Hank Cisco joined Norristown Diner customers, staff and owners Hussein Abdelhalim and Usama Ahmed on Monday afternoon for a grand opening ceremony, complete with ribbon cutting. After the ceremony, Councilwoman Linda Christian joined Cisco and the rest of the crowd for lunch at the popular new eatery at 234 West Johnson Highway. The diner has actually been up and running since mid-June and Norristown Patch readers were introduced to the new restaurant when we featured it back in a previous post. "We’re special because we have a great Greek Chef," Abdelhalim told Norristown Patch back in June. "We have a unique taste, and almost everything is homemade."

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Hank Cisco Remembers Judge Hodgson

Cisco, longtime friend of Montgomery County Judge Richard J. Hodgson who died Thursday, will replay his interview with the former president judge this week on "The Hank Cisco Show."

According to Norristown Ambassador Hank Cisco, as a way to remember his longtime friend Judge Richard J. Hodgson, Cisco will re-air his interview with Hodgson this week on The Hank Cisco Show. Hodgson, who lived in Norristown, died Thursday, July 19, at a Philadelphia hospital of an apparent infection resulting from complications from a liver transplant, according to Philly.com. "I interviewed him about a week after he was appointed president." Cisco told Norristown Patch. "He talked about what he was going to do as a new president and about his family. It's a great tape." According to Cisco, Hodgson was a great boxing fan and even sat ringside at some of the fights he refereed.  "A lot of his friends and relations will be touched watching…

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CORRECTION: Norristown Ambassador Hank Cisco to Headline Frank Rizzo Memorial on Monday, June 16

Cisco will head to Philadelphia for the 21st annual ceremony honoring his friend, the late Frank Rizzo, Mayor of Philadelphia.

Norristown's Ambassador, Hank Cisco, is traveling to Philadelphia on Monday, July 16, for his annual sojourn to the Frank Rizzo Memorial at in front of the Municipal Services Building at Broad and Market streets in Philadelphia. Cisco will be introducing special guests at the annual ceremony celebrating the memory of the late Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo. According to The Times Herald, the ceremony kicks off at 12:30 p.m. in front of the statue of the man of honor, but folks will start showing up for the meet and greet around noon. The ceremony will also pay homage to the local police officers and firefighters who were killed in the line of duty recently. If you're wondering what the city of Philadelphia is in for on Monday, check out …

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Hank Cisco Talks 'Fool for Love'

Norristown's Ambassador talks theater with the stars of 'Fool for Love,' playing this month at the Centre Theater.

YouTube video of The Hank Cisco Show courtesy of Iron Age Theatre.

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Hank Cisco Re-Appointed Ambassador of Norristown

Norristown's famous elder statesman has been holding the post for seven years.

Hank Cisco, stood before Norristown's Municipal Council in chambers at Norristown Municipal Hall on Tuesday, Jan. 3, to be sworn in once more as Ambassador of Norristown. Cisco, a former police officer and professional boxer, man about town and Norristown's biggest booster, has held the office for the last seven years and shows no signs of slowing down in his tireless mission to promote Norristown. Cisco noted that he's operated his office with no budget and no pay for his entire term as ambassador and even offered to help the municipality with its budget woes. "I want to ask the finance director to cut my salary in half," Cisco joked. Other appointments made by council in the special reorganization session included: According to …

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Francine Graglia

6:57 am on Friday, January 6, 2012

I think we all know by now Norristown makes up their own "rules" as they go along. They all drink the same Kool-Aid, and if you don't they are sure to make your life miserable. Sad that the residents have just given up, and even sadder that 60% of the tax payers, the investors, have no right to vote. Thanks William for bringing this to light.   more ›

Norristown Clebrates Columbus Day

Norristown Ambassador Hank Cisco was honored today with a plaque bearing his likeness at the monument in Elmwood Park.

The Mystery of the Missing Mayor

With elections on the horizon, we thought we'd take a quick look at some of Norristown's more colorful political history.

There is no mayor in Norristown. It isn’t just that the job is vacant; rather, voters in 2004 approved a Home Rule Charter Study Commission’s recommendations to change the structure of the government by eliminating the mayoral position. To make sense of this, it helps to know something else about Norristown – it is not actually a borough. Take a look at Norristown's website and you will see it gives the town’s name as “Municipality of Norristown.” “Norristown has a home rule charter, so we’re not technically a borough,” confirmed Dave Forrest, municipal administrator since 2007. “The state government,” he explained, “actually organizes and empowers local government.” Pennsylvania has established codes that set up how boroughs and different…

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