The Gettysburg mayoral race took center stage at a recent candidates forum hosted by Gettysburg Rising, where current council member Chad-Alan Carr and a representative for incumbent Mayor Rita Frealing presented their visions for the borough’s future. With Mayor Frealing unable to attend, a statement outlining her accomplishments was read aloud—while Carr used the opportunity to push for a significant restructuring of borough government: transferring police department oversight from the mayor to the borough council.
Frealing, elected in 2022 as the first African American woman to serve as Gettysburg’s mayor, emphasized in her statement a commitment to community engagement, her legal and policy background, and the addition of a mental health counselor to the police department under her tenure.
Carr expressed personal support for Frealing. “I absolutely love Rita Frealing as a person. She was, matter of fact, the very first person that I told that I was going to run. I told her face to face in her office,” he said.
According to Carr, Pennsylvania’s borough code allows the mayor to delegate authority over the police department to another borough officer. If elected, he pledged to do just that—transferring daily police oversight to the borough council and borough manager, aligning it with the oversight structure of all other municipal departments.
Carr emphasized that such a move would not diminish the chief of police’s authority but would change the reporting structure to ensure greater transparency and accountability. He said the change would be legal, reversible, and would not require a full government overhaul, unless pursued through home rule charter reform—a complex process involving a citizen-led referendum.
“All of the departments of the borough of Gettysburg should be reporting to the borough council,” said Carr. “The borough council hires and fires and creates the budget. So why is one department under the mayor? When we create the budget, we hire, we fire, but the day-to-day operations aren’t being managed by the CEO of the organization.”
The issue sparked questions from attendees about the legality, history, and potential permanence of the change. Carr responded by citing similar shifts in other Pennsylvania boroughs such as Carlisle and Lancaster, where home rule changes have modernized local governance.
Mayor Frealing’s representative did not respond directly to the proposed change, but Carr said he has met with her to discuss the matter previously. “There hasn’t been enough collaboration or productivity under the current system,” he said.
With no Republican challenger in the race, the Democratic primary in May is expected to determine Gettysburg’s next mayor. The differing visions between Frealing’s experience-based, ceremonial leadership and Carr’s call for structural reform present voters with a clear choice—and one that could redefine how public safety is managed in the borough.
Featured image photo courtesy of Community Media of South Central PA. View the entire discussion here.