Thursday, July 5, 2012
Citizens are disappointed the mayor won't respond or attend council meetings.
Macungie Mayor Rick Hoffman has not attended the last three meetings of borough council. And even though council has publicly supported 24/7 police coverage in the borough, the mayor has continued to insist on open shifts -- police shifts that are not covered by Macungie police. Though citizens have begged and pleaded with the mayor to hear them, the only communication he has made is his refusal of complete police coverage. Some have called for the mayor's removal. Others have suggested a vote of "no confidence." What do you think?
40.51482
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Macungie Borough Hall
21 Locust St, Macungie, PA
/articles/take-our-poll-vote-of-no-confidence-for-mayor-hoffman
1647216
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Why does Mayor Rick Hoffman continue to avoid council meetings?
- GOVERNMENT
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Thursday, July 5, 2012
The Monday meeting for the Borough of Macungie was once again a NO SHOW for THE MAYOR!!!!!! I have to ask myself who is he hiding from???? According to Council President Jean Nagle, who agreed at the June 19 meeting to send a letter to the mayor asking his decision on the 24/7 police issue, the mayor's response -- no surprise -- was NO. Nagle said citizens should send letters to the mayor or try to track him down ourselves. Some people, myself included, feel it his his responsibility to come to the meetings and answer our questions. So, Mayor Hoffman, I want you to know you not only disappointed me but also several other citizens of this fine town which we like to call home. And, you also hung your Council out to dry…
40.51482
-75.556369
Macungie Borough Hall
21 Locust St, Macungie, PA
/articles/letter-to-the-editor-mayor-you-hung-your-council-out-to-dry
1647216
/locations/7368040
Thursday, June 28, 2012
The writer would like the mayor to attend the next council meeting.
- GOVERNMENT
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Thursday, June 28, 2012
To the Editor: My Challenge to the Mayor of the Borough of Macungie is to have the decency to come to the next meeting on July 2. Meet with the citizens who voted for you and put you in office. Then we can have a discussion on the 24/7 proposal and put it to rest. I hope we have a strong showing of the citizens as well. John L. Long, Macungie homeowner and taxpayer Editor's Note: Macungie Borough Council meets at 7:30 p.m. July 2 in the meeting room of the Macungie Institute.
40.51187
-75.54783
Macungie Institute
510 E Main St, Macungie, PA
/articles/letter-to-the-editor-a-plea-to-the-mayor-of-macungie
1827864
/locations/7335696
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Council president will write to the mayor to ask his decision.
Macungie Mayor Rick Hoffman was a no-show at Monday night's Borough Council meeting, as he was at the June 4 meeting, again making it impossible for the borough to move forward on the question of 24/7 police coverage. However council, pressured by community members at the meeting, are hopeful they have found a way to solve the problem. At its last meeting, council unanimously voted to suggest that the mayor rescind his directive to Macungie Police Chief Edward Harry to fill the police schedule with 25 shifts per week. Harry has said that 30 shifts provides the most complete coverage. But though council has said it wants the mayor allow the police chief to increase the number of shifts he fills each week, the mayor made clear in a series of…
40.51482
-75.556369
Macungie Borough Hall
21 Locust St, Macungie, PA
/articles/macungie-mayor-absent-again-no-24-7-decision
1647216
/locations/7250118
40.51187
-75.54783
Macungie Institute
510 E Main St, Macungie, PA
/articles/macungie-mayor-absent-again-no-24-7-decision
1827864
/locations/7250119
Monday, June 18, 2012
Mayor Rick Hoffman's attendance and some recent emails to the police chief indicate he has not changed his position.
When Macungie Council convenes its meeting at 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Macungie Institute, it will already have met in executive session for at least 30 minutes according to the agenda published on the borough's website. A second executive session, at which council members are permitted to discuss personnel, litigation and a restricted few other topics, will be held at the end of the meeting, as well, according to the agenda. However, there is no mention of the latest hot-button issue: 24/7 police coverage. At its last meeting, council members voted to suggest to the Mayor Rick Hoffman -- who recently indicated he will not run for reelection -- reconsider his position that leaving some shifts without coverage by a Macungie police officer …
40.51482
-75.556369
Macungie Borough Hall
21 Locust St, Macungie, PA
/articles/24-7-police-coverage-not-on-macungie-council-agenda
1647216
/locations/7240254
Monday, June 11, 2012
Rick Hoffman says the job is "not what he signed on for."
Macungie Mayor Rich Hoffman said in a Morning Call story on Sunday that he will not run for reelection when his term ends at the end of 2013. It would take "droves" of supporters to change his mind, he said in the story. The story gives a comprehensive look at the mayor's term, beginning with his victory in November 2009 with 266 votes, the volley of lawsuits that have cost the borough about $90,000 and the mayor's recent unsuccessful attempt to track the movements of Macungie police cars by equipping then with private GPS units Most recently the mayor and council have been struggling with the attempt to either provide or prohibit 24/7 police coverage in the borough with Macungie police officers. The mayor says that the occasional open …
40.51482
-75.556369
Macungie Borough Hall
21 Locust St, Macungie, PA
/articles/macungie-mayor-will-not-run-for-reelection
1647216
/locations/7182892
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Revisons to the state's borough code, which take effect July 17, probably removes the small amount of influence borough council has now regarding the police department.
Macungie council's recommendation Monday to ensure the borough's police department can provide 24/7 coverage was tempered by an upcoming revision of Pennsylvania's borough code. Solicitor Patrick Armstrong announced that revisions to the code, which will take effect on July 17, will "clarify" a Pennsylvania mayor's powers over the police force. Currently, and for another month plus a few days, the code says that council can set the number of hours the force can work. After that, council could need to pass an ordinance to accomplish the same thing, if it's so inclined. Nobody knows what it will mean in practice, Armstrong said, because there is no case law yet to back it up. It's too new. With this in mind, the five council members who …
40.51482
-75.556369
Macungie Borough Hall
21 Locust St, Macungie, PA
/articles/borough-council-could-have-no-say-over-police-matters
1647216
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Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Council voted 5-0 to recommend full police coverage, but since the mayor did not attend the meeting, no definitive action was taken.
Macungie Council on Monday voted unanimously to recommend that Mayor Rick Hoffman instruct Police Chief Edward Harry to provide the borough with 24/7 police coverage using Macungie officers. The motion created by Council Member Joseph Sikorski was carefully worded to consider the powers of the mayor to control the police department. It was also very sensitive to the plight of the cash-strapped borough, specifying that the use of part-time officers and overtime pay be carefully watched and used. But even though council talked through the motion and each member verbalized the desire to provide full coverage, nothing was truly accomplished because Mayor Rick Hoffman was not at the meeting to, as controller of the police department, give the …
40.51187
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Macungie Institute
510 E Main St, Macungie, PA
/articles/no-mayor-means-no-decision-on-24-7-police-coverage
1827864
/locations/7149943
Monday, June 4, 2012
Tonight's council meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Macungie Institute.
Macungie Council could be in for another marathon meeting tonight as it revisits the issue of police protection throughout the borough. Two weeks ago the issue, referred to in the agenda as “2012 Budget, Police Part Time Wages," was listed as the very last topic to be discussed before the executive session. This week, it is the only item under "Unfinished Business -- Part I," and is clearly labeled "24/7 Police Coverage." In a Patch Poll published after the last meeting, 179 votes or 69 percent indicated a clear preference that there be a Macungie police officer scheduled for every shift, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The poll also indicated that 77 votes or 30 percent indicated it was acceptable to leave some shifts unscheduled.
40.51187
-75.54783
Macungie Institute
510 E Main St, Macungie, PA
/articles/macungie-council-revisits-24-7-police-protection-tonight
1827864
/locations/7144486
Friday, May 25, 2012
Voting shows a clear preference.
Results of a Patch poll posted Tuesday show that voters want 24/7 police coverage in the borough of Macungie. Of the 252 votes cast, 175 were in favor of having a Macungie police officer on duty at all hours of the day and night. The other 77 votes -- 30 percent of those cast -- indicated that it is sometimes acceptable to have no Macungie police officer on duty. A contentious discussion at Monday's borough council meeting revealed that Macungie Mayor Rick Hoffman had directed Macungie Police Chief Edward Harry to schedule 25 8-hour police shifts per week. The mayor's directive also said that the chief could not fill last minute holes in the schedule -- made by illness or other unforeseen circumstance -- with part-time officers. Those …
40.51482
-75.556369
Macungie Borough Hall
21 Locust St, Macungie, PA
/articles/poll-results-24-7-police-coverage-is-preferred-in-macungie
1647216
/locations/7095679
John Rogers
11:55 am on Friday, July 6, 2012
Ooooh, ooohh, I know, I know. And this is the Chief Law Enforcement Officer in Macungie who is going to straighten out the police...lol more ›