Borough of Macungie

Macungie Mayor: It’s My Son’s Fault

Macungie Mayor Rick Hoffman said his son is to thank for his tumultuous term in office.

Macungie Mayor Rick Hoffman said that residents who say his son is to blame for his controversial tenure as mayor are right. But they’re pointing fingers at the wrong son. Hoffman and his wife Sue sat down with Patch on Monday to talk about their plans to move to Virginia at the end of June. Hoffman also spoke about how he became mayor and how things evolved to the point where he is currently waiting for a response from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on a lawsuit with the borough and Macungie police. Hoffman said that he has his older son Michael to thank for it all. It was Michael who pointed out to him that no one was running for Macungie mayor during the last election and it was Michael who encouraged Hoffman to throw his hat into the …

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Did Computer Virus Risk Safety of Macungie Police?

Macungie business owner Tim Romig raised his concerns about a virus on the mayor's computer at Monday night's borough council meeting.

Did a computer virus on the Macungie mayor's home computer put the safety of police officers and borough residents at risk? Macungie business owner Tim Romig thinks so. Romig addressed council at its Monday meeting to raise the issue, with copies of email exchanges between Mayor Rick Hoffman and Macungie Chief of Police Ed Harry in hand. Romig said he obtained the emails after filing a public information act right to know request. The emails, which Romig shared with Patch, date back to January and include at least two exchanges between Harry and Hoffman in which Harry told the mayor that he had received spam email from Hoffman's account. Harry recommended that the mayor do something about the virus. Romig's concern stems from the fact that…

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Election 2013

Gary Cordner Announces Run for Macungie Mayor

Primary election to be held May 21

Democrat Gary Cordner, 61, a professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at Kutztown University, has announced he will run for mayor of Macungie. Cordner served as a police officer in Ocean City, Md., and as the chief of the St. Michaels, Md., Police Department in the 1970s and 80s, and was a commissioner on the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, the only national body that accredits police departments. He was a professor and served as dean of the College of Justice and Safety at Eastern Kentucky University, and wrote the textbook "Police Administration" which now in its eighth edition. He has studied, taught, and/or practiced policing and police administration his entire adult life. Cordner is currently a member…

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Borough of Macungie

New GPS System Would Track Macungie Police

Mayor Rick Hoffman has asked the budget-strapped borough to pay for most of it.

Macungie Mayor Rick Hoffman’s quest to install GPS systems in borough police cars advanced a bit at last week’s Macungie Council meeting when the mayor asked council to commit to paying for the second two years of the devices’ three-year binding contracts. The GPS units will allow authorized personnel – limited to the police chief and himself, the mayor said – to view officers’ locations, the speed of their cars and the length of time they spend at a location. "It’s a good management tool,” the mayor said. The units will cost $295 per year plus some maintenance fees to run in each of the three borough vehicles, he said, which comes to about $1,100 per year. Hoffman asked Macungie Council to pay $2,200. At his first mention of installing …

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District Attorney Passes Macungie Mayor's Request to Attorney General

Jim Martin said it would "inappropriate" for him to rule on a case to which he had a former tie.

Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin said Friday that he would pass Macungie Mayor Rick Hoffman's request to investigate the hiring of Police Chief Edward Harry Jr. to the state Attorney General's office. In a letter dated Oct. 11, Hoffman asked Martin to remove Harry from his position "because Hoffman alleged that Harry was holding the position in violation of the Borough Code," Martin said in a release. Last year, Hoffman sued to gain access of Police Department schedules and other records. At that time Martin joined the police department's suit because Martin said the mayor should not have daily operational control of the department nor access to records. "Because of the fact that I intervened in the underlying lawsuit, I thought …

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Bill Villa

2:35 pm on Saturday, October 22, 2011

Here are the Dirty Facts on DA Jim Martin ... http://bloggingdottie.blogspot.com/2011/03/dirty-facts-on-da-jim-martin_19.html   more ›

Macungie Mayor Gives 'Fair Warning'

Crosswalk laws and speed limits will be enforced.

When Rick Hoffman campaigned for the office of Macungie mayor in 2009, he promised residents he would slow down the traffic in the borough.  At the Oct. 3 meeting of Macungie Borough Council, now Mayor Hoffman announced he will act on his promise. “I am tired of seeing people ignore the laws,” he said.  “I have seen cars totally disregard the flashing lights in the crosswalk at Salvatore’s, nearly running people over when they are crossing the road.  People don’t stop for others in the crosswalk.” Hoffman referred to the crosswalk at Salvatore’s Pizzeria at 174 E Main St.  It is equipped with lights that flash as a person crosses the street, giving drivers ample warning that someone is in the crosswalk.  “In Macungie, we are going to start…

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Ron Beitler

11:15 am on Friday, October 7, 2011

FYI I was curious about bump outs and islands on main street so I wrote the mayor. I got a reply back from a forward to the borough manager that the streetscape aspect of the master plan was put on hold as the police chief and fire chief deemed these improvements as unsafe. (Why? Who knows.....) Emmaus just installed islands on broad street. I'm going to try to find out why exactly these …   more ›

Five Things to Know Today: September 22

Here comes the rain again, falling on my head like a memory...

1. Weather: Showers again today, with an 80 percent chance of thunderstorms after 8 a.m. The National Weather Service forecast for our area says the high will be near 77 degrees. 2. In Case You Missed It: Macungie Mayor Rick Hoffman says it's time to move on. 3. Quote of the Day: "A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than you love yourself." Josh Billings. 4. Coming Up: Not one member of the community showed up at Wednesday's Zoning Hearing Board meeting. 5. Today in History: On this day in 1994, the television sitcom Friends, about six young adults living in New York City, made its debut on NBC. The show, which featured a group of relatively unknown actors, went on to become a huge hit and aired for 10 seasons.

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Macungie Mayor: 'It’s Time to Move On'

The natural question, however, is "What's next?"

Lehigh County Judge Michele Varricchio's Sept. 15 decision to grant summary judgment in favor of Macungie Mayor Rich Hoffman was the first topic of conversation at the Sept. 19 council meeting.  “I’d like to get all of this behind us,” Hoffman said. Varricchio's decision settled a dispute between the mayor, the borough, Police Chief Ed Harry and Lehigh County District Attorney James Martin. The dispute resulted from events leading up to Harry denying the mayor access to department work schedules because Harry felt such information in untrained hands could put officers in danger.  Martin’s office stepped in when it appeared the mayor wanted access to records he’s not entitled to see. Greg Hutchinson, who is running for a seat on council in …

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Court Rules Macungie Mayor is in Charge of Police Department

Lehigh County Judge Michele Varricchio said ruling was based strictly on PA laws. DA Jim Martin may appeal.

Lehigh County Judge Michele Varricchio ruled on Sept. 15 that Macungie Mayor Rick Hoffman is, indeed, in charge of the Macungie Police, as is specified in Pennsylvania's Borough Code.  As a result, Hoffman is entitled to have a key to the police department offices, according to a Morning Call report. Varricchio said the code "straightforwardly establishes the mayor as the final authority as to the chief of police and the police force," the report said. The issue of who is in charge of the Macungie Police Department has been disputed since the mayor took office in January 2010 and has cost the borough thousands of dollars to defend itself. It has also divided the community as allegations were hurled from both directions, and culminated in …

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