I write as a former mayor of Gettysburg to support the re-election of Rita Frealing.
I have known Chad-Alan Carr for a number of years. I consider him a personable, highly competent individual who is capable of handling almost any position. But in this case, not that of mayor. And here’s why.
Consider why the local Democratic establishment has chosen to “primary” one Democrat against another. I believe it is because Rita is a strong, independent woman who does what she believes to be right and acts independently of the council as the mayor should. Some council members want the mayor to be a tool, follow the council’s lead, and do as it wishes. That, in my opinion, would be Chad-Alan. The specific issue in question is, I believe, management of the Gettysburg Police Department and the apparent obsession of some council members to assume complete control.
The website www.lgc.state.pa.us lays out the relationship, established by the state legislature, between the council and the mayor regarding the police for a non-home rule borough. It has worked well and has, I believe, been validated by the courts.
I have always been told that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. It ain’t broke! If this is the sole issue between the candidates, I urge voters to allow Rita Frealing to continue her work. She has opened new doors in Harrisburg and Washington, and has brought welcome changes to the Office of Mayor. She deserves four more years.
Ted Streeter
Gettysburg
Let me start off by clearly stating that I have endorsed Chad Allan for Mayor and will continue to support him, so long as it does not come into conflict with my duties as an elected official.
Here is my rebuttal. I served on Borough council with Ted, when he was a councilperson. I did not serve when he was Mayor. He was a nice enough guy, but its been a few years, since he served. Times have changed and it is time to change with them.
Since Mr. Streeter decided to include reference to the PA Borough Code, I figured we could spare the space to add the section he was referring to. There are basically two sections that relate to Mayors. Basically, they can break certain tie votes and they oversee the police.
§ 1003. When the mayor may preside over council and vote, attendance of mayor at council meetings and breaking tie votes.
(a) Presiding over meetings.–The mayor shall preside over the organization of the council until it is organized as provided in section 1001 (relating to organization of council, quorum, participation by telecommunication device, voting, compensation and eligibility) and shall be deemed a member of council at the organizational meeting if the mayor’s membership becomes necessary to constitute a quorum.
(b) Voting at meetings.–The mayor shall not vote at the meeting unless the mayor’s vote shall, for any reason, be required to effect the organization of council or to elect any officer who is required to be or may be elected at the organizational meeting. If the mayor is absent from the organizational meeting, one of the members of council physically present at the meeting and chosen by the members eligible to vote at the meeting shall preside.
(c) Attendance.–The mayor may attend any or all regular and special meetings of council and take part in the discussions of the council on matters pertaining to borough affairs, subject to any restrictions applicable to members of council contained in the rules of order or bylaws of the council.
(d) Tie votes.–
(1) If, by reason of a tie or split vote, the council shall be unable to:
(i) enact or pass any ordinance, resolution or motion;
(ii) declare any vacancy pursuant to section 903 (relating to right of council to declare seat of member vacant for failure to qualify);
(iii) fill any other vacancy in its membership or in any other borough office; or
(iv) take any action on any matter lawfully brought before it;
the mayor, if in attendance at the meeting, may, at the mayor’s option, cast the deciding vote or shall direct that the matter be tabled until a special meeting of council.
(2) The special meeting of council shall be held within not less than five days or more than ten days at which time the matter shall be reconsidered by council.
(3) If a tie or split vote still exists, it shall be the duty of the mayor at that time to cast the deciding vote.
(4) If a tie or split vote occurs at any meeting when the mayor is not in attendance, the matter shall be tabled to a special meeting to be held within not less than five days or more than ten days as set by the president of council, and the mayor shall be given at least five days’ notice of the meeting, at which meeting it shall be the duty of the mayor to cast the tie-breaking vote.
§ 1123.1. Mayor’s powers concerning police.
(a) General rule.–The mayor shall have full charge and control of the chief of police and the police force.
(b) Direction.–The mayor shall direct the time during which, the place where and the manner in which the chief of police and the police force perform the duties of their rank.
(c) Delegation of duties.–The mayor may delegate to the chief of police or other officer supervision over and instruction to subordinate officers in the manner of performing their duties.
(d) Appointment of special police.–The mayor may appoint special police during an emergency in which the safety and welfare of the borough and the public is endangered.
(e) Auxiliary police.–The mayor may activate auxiliary police in accordance with general law and, notwithstanding any other provision of law, may activate auxiliary police for purposes of crowd and traffic control for limited periods during events if, in the mayor’s discretion, public safety is promoted by the activation of the auxiliary police.
That’s pretty much it.
Here is the thing, there is so much more to being a Mayor than these two items. And frankly, Gettysburg residents should 100% be concerned that police powers rest in one person. And I include Chad Alan in that group. In my experience, during and since my service to the Borough ended, every Mayor in Gettysburg reported to the Chief of Police. Not the other way round. And honestly, why wouldn’t they. Who was the last Mayor (or council member) with any police experience? Most residents experience Mayors at ceremonial ribbon cuttings, symbolic proclamations, and as givers of Borough keys. I swear Mayor Troxell gave out more keys than there are doors in Gettysburg. I do not mean to minimize these “soft” aspects of being a Mayor, in fact they can be very important.
Anyhow, these sections of Brough code are outdated and today residents expect more oversight and more professional management of our professional police force. I can also let you all in on a secret, all of the hard decisions about policing end up with the borough council. Why? Council has the power to hire and fire the chief. Council also responds to all law suits and law enforcement is, by its nature, litigious. Shouldn’t the council also have a say in the operations of the police force. Council creates the budget, which determines the size and equipment for the force. It is just poor government to allow one elected official with no fiscal oversight powers, to be in charge of the policies impacting such a high cost department.
I’ll let you in on another secret, when Rita Frealing was a candidate four years ago, I asked her about control of the police. She had no issue with yielding control to the council. She sat in my kitchen and told me that. Now that she has been in the seat, she has changed her mind and denies ever saying this. Rita has been Mayor for four years and yet at no time, including Ted’s letter, is there any reference to her doing anything. “Opening doors in Harrisburg and Washington”, to what end? Any achievements or benefits relayed to the borough? Ted and Rita represent the status quo, business as usual approach, which is death to small towns.
Modern Gettysburg needs modern governmental structures. Pure and simple. The Chief should still be in charge of day to day operations, but policy must be set by council and there must be transparency from the chief and mayor to the council. This will free up the Mayor to work with tourism partners, attract businesses to town, create community events, listen more to the community, and deal with a distressing police/college relationship. These things matter. Most importantly, they can happen without the public being any less safe or our police forces moral to drop.
Chad Alan is the candidate that can make these things happen. It is time for this town to extinguish the status quo and pass the torch to new leadership.
And btw, if you got this far, good job. I need to put one disclaimer on this response. Ted Streeter, et al… I am not Democratic Leadership. There is not a cabal sitting around waiting to undermine candidates. The county party is focused on the county, not just Gettysburg. I have been primaried in every one of my elections, except the first one, where as a Green I beat a Democrat and a Republican to become a Gettysburg Council member. The boogie man of Democratic leadership being out to get a candidate is ridiculous, we are just plain happy when any Democrat wants to run.
In this case Democrats have a choice in Mayor of Gettysburg. I encourage borough residents before you vote on May 20th to reach out to Rita and Chad Alan, share your concerns, listen to their answers, then vote for the most qualified candidate.
While there is no Republican on the ballot, Republicans have received a letter from Rita Frealing, asking them to write her in. To be honest, I advised Chad Alan to do the same, as the fastest way to end the race is to win both sides of the ballot. He refused. He was clear, he’s a Democrat and that’s just the way it is. He wouldn’t use a flaw in the system to tip the scales. So there is a chance that there will be a second round to this election. This would be helpful, as some people including Ted Streeter, have been off base in Chad Alan’s positions and intentions.