Aug 23, 2016 3 min read

The granite memorial stone depicting Gary Andreis Sr. continues to sit in storage, removed in July from its original spot in Cecil Township Park.

And there it will sit at least until Sept. 26 as Judge Michael Lucas continued a five-hour Tuesday injunction hearing examining whether the memorial stone should be placed back while the court decides if supervisors met in private and reneged on a public vote to allow it in the park.

Attorneys for the township and Jennifer Andreis Moninger – who is seeking to have the stone with her deceased father’s likeness put back – are wrangling over emails, hearsay testimony and allegations of political favoritism.

Cecil solicitor Chris Voltz and Moninger’s attorney, Jesse White, frequently interrupted each other with objections of relevance and credibility. But caught in the middle of it all was parks and recreation board Chairwoman Shirley Burns, who acknowledged her conflict in being a personal friend of Moninger while answering questions of how she recommended approval of the memorial without recognizing supposed limits on size – the alleged reason it was reported to supervisors in private that it was a safety hazard.

When White asked Burns if she believed the stone should have been removed, she said no. She added under further questioning she doesn’t believe she’s responsible for the stone’s removal and responsibility falls to the supervisors because the parks and recreation board is merely an advisory committee.

“I don’t know why it was removed. I wasn’t there, I never saw it in person (to see how big it was) and I was not asked or consulted (about its removal),” Burns said.

In earlier testimony, Moninger said supervisors approved the memorial in March and placed it in the park in April. In July, it was removed but not before she said she got a call from public works director Bill Bottorff that its request for removal was prompted by a complaint by Janice Gibbs after she allegedly tripped over it.

“I then called manager Don Gennuso, and he said that others were complaining, too, including Judy Bowser and about how she couldn’t get a stone for one of her family members,” Moninger said.

Moninger added she called Supervisor Cindy Fisher and corroborated what Gennuso and Bottorff told her and asked her to take action.

“Cindy told me she had a confrontation with Supervisor Eric Sivavec over a private meeting with the people who complained and tried to stop a vote after a public meeting in July,” Moninger said.

Fisher was not present at the injunction hearing. White presented alleged evidence of a letter threatening Fisher for her involvement as a retaliatory or intimidation tactic. Voltz said he talked to Fisher Monday and she gave no indication she would not testify. White said she was not subpoenaed but would testify of her own accord in the future.

Board Chairman Tom Casciola wrote in an Aug. 4 letter addressed to media outlets that “Chairman Casciola informed (Moninger in November 2015) that while her father was a good man, and a personal friend, the township could not support a monument because her father did not play a significant role in Cecil Township.” The March meeting minutes show supervisors voted 4-0 for the memorial’s approval and placement. Andreis was 58 at the time of his death in August 2015, months after emerging from the spring primary with the most votes for Democratic candidate for Cecil Township supervisor.