Politics gets hot and language gets blue in Parkside
Parkside Councilwoman Anna Guy, who had faced calls to resign following a number of social media posts, will not have any further actions taken against her after Gov. Tom Wolf declined to get involved, calling it a local matter.
In September, the Council called for Democrat Anna Guy to resign in a 4-2 party line vote after Guy made a number of comments on social media that were critical of what she called racist neighbors in the community.
There have been hostile relations on the council since the 2019 elections, which saw Guy and two other Democrats elected to the council. In the spring, Guy was censured for not following administrative rules imposed by council.
Parkside Solicitor John J. Wills noted the vote was not binding and the council could not compel Guy to resign. He advised that a letter could be sent to the governor’s office, which then would be forwarded to the state Senate, to determine if a committee to review the complaint should be formed. These findings would then be sent back to the solicitor to determine whether Guy would be removed as an elected official.
Council President Shirley Purcival, a Republican, originally brought up the matter at the September meeting when she read a number of posts from Guy, who used the Twitter handle @AnnaGuy19. One tweet from late August said, “I am most afraid of the gun-loving racists in my neighborhood.”
Other Twitter posts that Purcival read centered on racism including “Parkside has a serious problem with racism” and “racists are attracted to the GOP.” An additional post that angered Purcival was a photo Guy posted of a gun-rights group in Kentucky with Guy’s comment, “I guess white hoods are out of style.”
Other posts made reference to Antifa.
“You have made outrageous claims of bigotry and we need to clear the air here and now. Racism, racists are not to be taken lightly. By making such assertions, you have attacked the reputation and integrity of all your neighbors and the constituents of our fine community,” Purcival said.
At the council’s November 2020 meeting, Wills said he had written to the governor and provided him with information about the social media posts and asked if the governor wished to take any action in reference to Article Six, Section Seven of the state constitution.
Wolf, a Democrat, responded that, based on the information provided, the issue should be managed by local government.
Purcival said in reply to this that, with so many negative comments flying around on social media, “Maybe we can all curtail negative comments and move on from this issue, no matter what the political persuasion may be, to help mend this borough.”
Later in that meeting, Guy questioned why council was meeting in person which restricted the number of members of the public who could attend the meeting due to COVID-19 guidelines. Guy disagreed with the solicitor’s opinion that the meetings were properly open to the public under the Sunshine Law. Guy said the meetings should be held on Zoom.
In reaction to Guy questioning the solicitor, Councilman Eric Long challenged her, asking, “What is your (problem) about this?”
Guy was taken aback and questioned that language.
Purcival then criticized Guy and said the borough had done everything they could to follow pandemic restrictions. She then turned the discussion to the issue that Guy was seen at an anti-gun rally in Chester not wearing a mask, as were others in the crowd.
Finally, Mayor Thomas Deitman spoke up to say that Guy had the right to question the policy and asked the council to stop arguing.
“To be perfectly honest, you all are acting like children and it’s ridiculous,” Deitman, a Republican, said. “Please stop arguing.”
Purcival apologized at that time and encouraged those not in attendance to send an email or contact a council person if they had a question for council.
At the December 2020 meeting, which was held on Zoom, Long apologized to the council and residents for his behavior at the November meeting.
He admitted he lost it when Guy questioned the solicitor’s ruling on the Sunshine Law.
“I used a poor choice of a commonly used expression that is not appropriate for a meeting,” said Long, who did not apologize to Guy, but instead explained that in the heat of the moment, her nudging had helped push him to the breaking point where words can be used as weapons.
Video from the November meeting is available at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu4pvE7UE6msrACTTts-IbQ.
The December meeting is on the borough website. http://www.parksideborough.com/boro-information.
The next scheduled Parkside Borough Council meeting is Wednesday, Jan. 27.