1st step to stopping delinquent officials

House OKs constitutional amendment to create a way to remove no-show elected officers

A proposed amendment to Pennsylvania’s constitution could finally give local officials a way to remove elected officers for dereliction of duty, including being chronically absent from municipal meetings.

The bill passed 195-6 by the House on Wednesday was prompted by Republican state Rep. Justin Walsh’s concern about Mayor Matthew Shor-raw of Monessen in Westmoreland County’s missing City Council meetings since taking office last year about 33 miles south of Pittsburgh.

Washington Township in Northampton County is facing a similar situation with Supervisor Stacy Diehl, who hasn’t attended meetings since June 27, 2018, yet continues to draw a $208 per month stipend that comes with the elected office, and rejects calls that she resign.

Currently in Pennsylvania, a quo warranto petition is the only way to challenge a public official’s right to hold office. The little-used lawsuit basically questions whether someone is legally

holding office.

Washington Township officials filed the lawsuit against Diehl in April and expect the case to go to court in July, Township Attorney David Cer-aul said Friday. He plans to bring the proposed constitutional amendment to the attention of the judge who ends up hearing the quo warranto case.

Diehl continues to be absent from meetings and has ignored repeated requests to resign, Cer-aul said.

“I wish it had happened a little sooner,” Cer-aul said of the proposed amendment.

Diehl did not return a request for comment Friday.

Even though the bill passed the House on Wednesday, it could take years before it becomes law.

As a constitutional amendment, the proposal will have to pass the Senate by the end of 2020, and then both chambers must pass it in the following two-year session before going to voters.

It’s too early to say how elected officials would be removed from office. Other states allow measures like a recall election where the question goes on a special ballot for voters to answer.

“The idea is that there would be a removal process for cause, which would include attendance and dereliction of duties. … This is not a quick fix, unfortunately,” Walsh said Friday.

He hopes the bill will go before the Pennsylvania Senate when it returns from summer break in September.

After proposing the legislation, Walsh said he was approached by several House members who said they also have issues with chronically absent officials in their districts.

“The idea is that there would be a removal process for cause, which would include attendance and dereliction of duties.”

— state Rep. Justin Walsh

“I’m not saying it’s rampant, but it’s an issue throughout the commonwealth,” Walsh said.

Lower Nazareth Township filed a quo warranto case this year against auditor Jake Towne, who moved from the township to Easton in February, but refused to give up his elected post. Township officials cited Pennsylvania’s second-class township code, saying the position required Towne to be a township resident.

Towne announced in June that he plans to resign effective July 4.

Shor-raw, who became the youngest mayor ever in Monessen when he took over in January 2018 at the age of 26, says the proposal goes against the process of democratic elections.

Shor-raw hasn’t attended a council meeting since May 2018, saying he felt threatened by his colleagues, according to the Observer-Reporter in Washington Township.

Council appointed Anthony Orzechowski acting mayor this year after Shor-raw missed two dozen consecutive meetings, according to the Observer-Reporter.

Shor-raw, a Democrat, says lawmakers should look into what he describes as “blatant corruption” that he’s been trying to address.