Donora council hires police chief
DONORA – Council voted to hire a police chief in the continuing saga of an issue that has stirred up emotions throughout discussion on the matter.
At a special meeting Thursday morning, each of the seven members of council voted in favor of promoting Patrolman Neal Rands to the position of chief. His salary will be $62,670. The move takes effect once Rands accepts the position.
The motion was approved only after a vote to make acting chief Mike Parry permanent chief failed to pass.
The police chief position has been a subject of much discussion since a motion was made to reactivate the position in August. The position had been deactivated about 40 years ago.
The lead officer in the department is Superintendent Jim Brice.
The move to reactivate the police chief position was seen as a way to put a succession plan in place once Brice retires.
“The superintendent isn’t going to be here forever and we have no transition whatsoever,” said Councilman Joe Greco when the question was posed Thursday, adding that once Brice retires there will not be a superintendent in the police department and the chief will be the lead officer.
Councilman Don Pavelko said it wasn’t necessary to make such a move since he feels Brice won’t leave without notice.
“Why do you have to be prepared for him to retire?” Pavelko asked. “Do you think he’s just going to come in one day and say, ‘I’m done.’ No, he’s going to make sure the next person in line knows what’s going on.”
“There is no next person in line,” said Mayor James McDonough. “The responsible thing to do in any body like this is to have a chain of command.”
Greco, who is chairman of the public safety committee, made the motion to nominate Parry for the position of police chief, a motion that was seconded by Councilman Edward “Sonny” Lawson.
“When was this discussed?” asked Councilwoman Cynthia Brice. “Not everyone was at the interviews. Obviously, it’s been discussed if it’s on the agenda, but it wasn’t discussed with everyone. We didn’t have an executive session. There wasn’t a work session. Wrong is wrong and what you’re doing is wrong. This meeting being held at 10 a.m. on Thursday morning is wrong. I think this is fiscally irresponsible. The money you are putting out as the chief’s wages is absolutely unnecessary.”
Terri Petroske, borough administrator, said she scheduled the meeting for the morning because the Halloween parade was scheduled for Thursday night.
Once the vote was taken on Parry, only Greco voted in favor of the motion. When Pavelko cast his vote, he said, “this process has been a sham from the beginning.”
Parry was originally approved as chief in August. In September, Greco amended the motion saying he meant for it to name Parry “acting” chief. Another motion was approved to publicly advertise the position of permanent police chief.
After Thursday’s vote on Parry failed, Pavelko then nominated Rands as police chief, which received unanimous approval by council.
Resident Walter Sloan inquired why the action was being taken at this time.
“Why are we rushing this through right before election?” Sloan asked. “I say let the new regime come in and let them handle it after the first of the year.”
Pavelko attempted to make a motion to rescind his motion to appoint Rands as police chief. Solicitor Steve Toprani said such a motion could not be made.
“You can’t rescind a vote entirely,” Toprani said. “You can amend it, but you can’t rescind it.”
Greco also made a motion to reinstate two lieutenant positions, but his motion did not receive a second.
The meeting’s events seemed to draw McDonough’s ire.
“If you didn’t want the chief’s position then why did you nominate someone and all vote for it?” McDonough asked. “You guys don’t understand what you do …. Everyone needs to know their roles. This council, when you do things, there are repercussions and you must stand behind them. Whenever you make a motion and it passes, that’s what happens … They’ve clearly shown that they don’t understand when they vote yes, it means yes. When you vote no, it’s no. You have to take responsibility for what you do.”