Macungie Council Continues Borough Manager Dialogue

Macungie Borough Council voted Feb. 7 to approve the terms of its contract with the five members of the Macungie Police Department bargaining unit that extends from Jan. 1, 2011 through Dec. 31, 2013, providing the police union accepts and ratifies the agreement.

The vote was split 6-1, however, with Jean Nagle providing the only nay vote. The council vote came after a more than hour-long executive session toward the end of the meeting.

At the beginning of the meeting, however, council wasted no time before getting to the heart of its latest divisive issue when Nagle opened the meeting by making a motion to keep Borough Manager Chris Boehm in her job through December 2011.

There are many unsettling issues occurring these days, Nagle said, and keeping Boehm in her job would offer an element of stability the borough sorely needs. Council has heard extensive public comment and has discussed it repeatedly over the past two months, but still have not taken action. They have not yet even met with Boehm to either perform her annual evaluation or to present her with any complaints about her job performance.

Council President Guy Ramsey responded by saying council doesn’t address, much less make, motions at the very beginning of the meeting, but he asked for a second anyway.

Council vice president Joseph Sikorski broke the awkward silence by seconding the motion but only he, Nagle and Linden Miller voted in the motion's favor. Dorothy Kociuba, David Boyko, Ramsey and Robert Bogert joined forces to vote the motion down.

Ramsey headed directly into the second surprise of the evening when he made a personal appeal to Mayor Rickie Hoffman to drop his lawsuit against the borough.

The Pennsylvania Borough Code – issued by the state’s Association of Boroughs – a mayor has authority over the police department. Many times mayors take a hands-off approach, but Hoffman takes this particular responsibility very seriously. There have been skirmishes between Hoffman and council since before the mayor  took office a year ago.

Hoffman looked surprised at Ramsey’s request and said he would speak to his lawyer about dropping the suit, but he redoubled his commitment to exercising the rights afforded him by the Borough Code.

The balance of the meeting addressed several comments from the audience as to Boehm’s competence and provided testimony – sometimes heated – to the fact that most people in attendance wanted Boehm to keep her job.

Ramsey, however, waited until after the executive session to say that he has had comments directed to him at home regarding the issue. Of the five comments he has received two were positive, he said, and three were from borough residents who were afraid to voice their negative opinions of Boehm in public.

“People who can benefit from status quo have everything to gain from backing Chris at the meetings,” he said, “But people who have nothing to gain have no reason to come. Then it’s scary to say you don’t back the borough manager. Council’s responsibility is not to run a popularity contest. Council’s responsibility is to make sure the borough’s interests are served by keeping Chris or not.”