CLARION, Pa. (EYT) — Clarion Borough Council Tuesday night voted to uphold Mayor Dave Walter’s suspension of Mark Hall as police chief without pay, remove him as police chief, and terminate him as a police officer of Clarion Borough, effective immediately. Officer Bill Peck was appointed Acting Chief of Police, effective immediately.
We still don’t know why.
Asked why Hall was being fired, Solicitor John Marshall said Clarion Borough was unable to comment at this time.
“Under the Civil Service rules, Chief Hall is the one who is afforded the right if he wishes to challenge our decision with the right to keep things in an executive session and keep it confidential or whether he wants to have a public hearing. We won’t be making any comment and will let the process run its course and deal with it through that.”
After the meeting, Civil Service Solicitor Jack Troese told exploreClarion.com that the commission first has to look at the paperwork coming from the borough as to how to proceed.
According to Tim Tarr, chair of the Civil Service Commission, Civil Service Commission meetings can be public, but not necessarily so.
“It can be,” said Tarr. “I think by default it’s a public meeting. According to civil service rules, either party could request it be a closed hearing. They could make that request to the commission, and we would look at the reasons for requesting that, and the commission would have to make the final determination if it would be public or closed based on the facts we had at that time.”
The decision of the commission can be appealed to the Clarion County Court of Common Pleas.
In a previous meeting, council voted to remove Hall as Clarion Borough Secretary-Treasurer. Hall had civil service status as police chief, and there is a separate set of procedures required.
The unanimous vote for the Tuesday night action include votes from Earl Zerfoss, Rachel Roberts, Ben Aaron, Brenda Sanders DeDe, Jason Noto, and Keaton MacBeth. President Carol Lapinto could not vote because she was serving as acting mayor.
Hall’s attorney, Blair Hindman, told exploreClarion.com that the main issue appears to be vacation time paid to Hall.
“They basically claim he took some vacation pay which he wasn’t entitled to the last few years,” said Hindman. “An audit showed that, and he went in to talk with them. If they want to make an issue of that, it’s their prerogative. No, I don’t thing there is anything else there, and this is what I’ve been told. I don’t think there’s any allegation of impropriety as secretary-treasurer. There’s not a money issue. The only issue is — did he take vacation pay that they say he technically wasn’t entitled to?”
Hindman said Hall has cooperated with the borough, and he feels there is no allegation of hiding anything.
“It will all come out in the wash.”
Asked if Marshall anticipates any charges being filed against Hall for his performance as a borough employee, Marshall said, “I can’t comment on that. To my knowledge, there’s no criminal investigation at this point.”
In related matters to the termination of Hall as secretary-treasurer, the following decisions were made:
– permission was granted to remove his name as an authorized signer on behalf of Clarion Borough for banking, added Noto, (President Pro Term) and Dede (Vice President) as authorized signers for Clarion Borough for all bank accounts and safety deposit box at S&T Bank
– authorization was given to Linda Lavan and Todd Colosimo to obtain account information for banking operation on all borough bank accounts at S&T Bank
– the mobile telephone access was changed for consumer internet banking for purposes of viewing/transferring funds between accounts.
Council also approved the resignation of J. David Walters as Clarion Borough Mayor. In a letter dated November 15, Walters said he had to resign because of his relocation with his employer to the Charlotte area.
“I have enjoyed most of the time serving the residents of the Borough of Clarion, as a former Council member and now Mayor,” wrote Walters.
Lapinto noted letters of interest in filling the remainder of Walters’ term are being received at the borough office until November 29, 2016.
Early in the meeting under public comments, resident and former council member Rich Herman offered his opinions on the removal of Hall as secretary-treasurer and police chief.
“No matter what the borough does in this matter, the entire matter also must be referred to the Clarion County District Attorney’s Office for an investigation,” said Herman.
“As a taxpayer, my understanding is that I can make that as a request – so, I am requesting that this matter be sent to the Clarion County District Attorney’s office for a full investigation. If Mr. Aaron’s office feels his office is compromised, and that he must recuse himself, then I request this matter be investigated and referred to the Attorney General’s office. With taxpayers’ money being involved, there is no other way. This matter must be investigated and adjudicated. The borough taxpayers deserve nothing less.”
“One last note – everyone has rights here – Mr. Hall has rights – the borough has rights – and so do the citizens of Clarion Borough. They should be exercised with understanding and patience in the search of a just conclusion.”
