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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Borough of Macungie

2 of 3 Controversial GPS Units Already Installed in Police Cars

One Macungie Police vehicle is yet to received the new equipment.

In an update to Macungie Council at its Feb. 4 meeting, Mayor Rick Hoffman announced that two of the three private GPS units he has been wanting to have installed in Macungie police cars have been put in place. All police cars in Lehigh County are equipped with county-monitored GPS systems. The new system, reintroduced at the Jan. 7 meeting, would be additional. Macungie Police Chief Edward Harry has said that the private units Hoffman is installing pose a security risk to police officers. An unfair labor practices grievance has been filed by the Macungie Police Department bargaining unit as a result. The software needed to monitor them, however, has not yet been installed. If completed, Hoffman will be able to monitor borough police cars …

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Borough of Macungie

Macungie Council Votes to Hire 30-Hour Officer

Macungie Police Chief Edward Harry says he has a candidate in mind.

Macungie Council voted at its Jan. 21 meeting to allow Police Chief Edward Harry to hire another officer who will work a 30-hour week -- almost four 8-hour shifts -- as per the current police collective bargaining agreement. Money for the hiring was provided in the 2013 budget, but at the time council voted on the budget member Gregory Hutchison said he was not in favor of the hiring. He wasn't any more in favor at the recent meeting. "I said I would put money in the budget for it, not that I would vote for [hiring a part-time officer]. I still won't," Hutchison said. Council President Christopher Becker explained the Macungie Police Department's necessity: several full-time officers need time off for medical purposes and someone to cover …

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Responsible Citizen

9:43 am on Friday, January 25, 2013

I totally agree!!!! Debra Cope possesses the courage and strength of character to ALWAYS do what is right for the borough of Macungie!! She IS our unsung hero! Thank you Ms. Cope!!! You serve your position well!   more ›

Borough of Macungie

Macungie Council Votes to Install GPS in Police Cars

The reopening of the issue is a surprise at Monday's council meeting.

Though it was not on the meeting agenda, Macungie Council on Monday voted to equip borough police cars with private GPS units. Mayor Rick Hoffman introduced the topic during the "Mayor's Report" segment of the meeting. The vote, with a motion initiated and seconded by Council members Linn Walker and Gregory Hutchison, respectively, was split. Walker, Hutchison, Christopher Becker and Council President Jean Nagle voted in favor. Council member Debra Cope voted against. Councilmen Joseph Sikorski and David Boyko were absent. Council voted against installing the units in April. The reason then was that it was going to cost thousands of dollars to install and use the units for the length of the proposed two-year contract. This time, however, …

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get real

7:26 pm on Sunday, January 13, 2013

Mr. Becker, i believe it is you who should read the Borough Code since it appears that you support our ignorant Mayor who feels he has sole absolute power over our Police department. We have a system of divided powers and checks and balances. If the Mayor had absolute power, he would not have needed the council's AUTHORITY to put the GPS units in the Borough vehicles. You stated that council …   more ›

Macungie Mayor Wins Commonwealth Court Appeal

A Lehigh County Court decision challenged by District Attorney James Martin is overturned by the state court.

Borough of Macungie

Macungie Mayor Wins Commonwealth Court Appeal

A Lehigh County Court decision challenged by District Attorney James Martin is overturned by the state court.

Macungie Mayor Rick Hoffman emerged victorious Thursday when a Commonwealth Court ruled in his favor over a dispute with Lehigh County District Attorney James Martin. Martin appealed part of a Lehigh County decision regarding Hoffman's control of the Macungie Police Department in Oct. 2011. The Commonwealth Court upheld Lehigh County Judge Michele A. Varricchio's Sept. 2011 decision that Hoffman is Macungie's chief law enforcement officer, as well as other points of the case. But the state court reversed Varricchio's "finding that the borough council had authority to award back pay for police Chief Edward Harry Jr. and throw out a 10-day suspension Hoffman imposed for insubordination," according to a story in the Morning Call. The story …

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Borough of Macungie

Macungie Council Provides for Fifth Police Officer in 2013 Budget

Council passes budget but not before a surprise reversal from Mayor Hoffman and a pointed exchange of words between the mayor and a council member.

Macungie Council on Monday passed the borough's 2013 budget that provides for no tax hike and the hiring of a fifth police officer to work 32 hours per week. Christopher Becker, Gregory Hutchison, David Boyko, Joseph Sikorski and Debra Cope voted in favor. Council President Jean Nagle and Linn Walker voted against the $2.2 million budget mainly due to the police issue. As the discussion before the vote developed, Becker asked Mayor Rick Hoffman if he would still allow only 25 police shifts to be scheduled per week. At the Dec. 3 meeting, Becker reported that months of budget discussions and workshops revolved around the fact that members of the Macungie Police Department will have surgery in 2013, and shifts will need to be filled. Through…

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John Rogers

6:36 am on Friday, December 21, 2012

I notice that you continuously post on Macungie articles about how ticket crazy the Macungie police are. You also complain about the number of DUI arrests (although I don't know how that is a bad thing). What I would really like to see you do is provide some statistics to back up your claims. PLEASE back up what you say. My guess is that you will be unable to do that. Prove me wrong.   more ›

Borough of Macungie

Mayor Orders Added Police Protection During Council Meetings

Macungie Mayor Rick Hoffman has ordered that two police officers be on duty on the nights of council's regular meetings.

Macungie Mayor Rick Hoffman has ordered that two police officers be on duty in the borough every time Macungie Council meets. The mayor has been adamant that the Macungie Police Department will provide 24/7 coverage to the citizens of the borough with 25 eight-hour shifts a week. Twenty-five shifts -- instead of the 30 provided for in the borough's 2012 budget -- means no more than one officer is on duty at any time, and if an officer is ill or there's a scheduling emergency, Hoffman has said it is acceptable for there to be unfilled police shifts. And if there are two calls and only one officer on duty, someone is just going to wait, Hoffman has said. Until now. In an email dated Sept. 26, 2012 to Macungie Police Chief Edward Harry Jr., …

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Borough of Macungie

Mayor's Edict Stands: 25 Police Shifts Per Week

Mayor Rick Hoffman reaffirmed his decision to limit police shifts.

After several weeks of being absent from council meetings, Macungie Mayor Rick Hoffman walked into the bi-monthly meeting about 10 minutes after it began on July 16. Much to the dismay of Council President Jean Nagle who was trying to maintain order and run a meeting, residents immediately wanted Hoffman's decision on 24/7 police coverage. And in the wake of the antics at the past several meetings, and in light of his repeated absence, two residents actually asked the mayor to step down. He did not respond to the first request, but as residents' tempers rose, so did Hoffman's. By the time the meeting reached the point in the agenda at which the mayor was to address the police issue, the atmosphere in the room was tense, and conversations …

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Mrs. B

1:29 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012

He creates more drama then soap operas. One day there will be a lifetime movie all bout his reign and terror in macungie......   more ›

Borough of Macungie

Poll Results: No Confidence Vote for Mayor Would Be Appropriate

The majority of voters would like Macungie Mayor Rick Hoffman to know they're not pleased.

Voters in last week's Patch poll said a vote of no confidence for Macungie Mayor Rick Hoffman would be appropriate. Out of 192 votes, 182 -- or 94 percent -- said Hoffman should be told residents of Macungie have no confidence in his mayoral governance. Eight votes, 4 percent, said a no confidence vote is not appropriate. Two votes -- 1 percent -- were cast for "other." This is not a scientific poll, and that a little more than 3,000 people live in the borough. The most recent issue stems from the mayor's decision to allow the Macungie Police Department to operate without staffing all 30 shifts each week with Macungie police officers. The mayor is allowing only 25 shifts per week to be filled, leaving five eight-hour shifts open. On those …

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