Loophole in Cabinet picks closed

City Council reasserts authority to approve department heads

Interim leadership of Allentown city departments will be limited to 90 days after City Council shored up its prerogative to confirm or deny mayoral Cabinet picks.

The ordinance, passed unanimously, closes what was an accepted loophole enabling mayors to avoid council approval of certain department heads.

According to the city’s home rule charter, the mayor must bring department leader nominees before council for a confirmation vote. But previous mayors regularly circumvented the requirement by naming “interim” leaders who maintained that temporary title indefinitely.

The indefinite “interim” tag also allowed such department heads to avoid the city charter requirement that department leaders establish residency in the city within a year of their appointment.

The bill revises a 13-year-old law that required mayors to submit “temporary appointments” to council after 60 days. The city has essentially ignored that provision.

“I believe this is long overdue,” Councilman Ed Zucal said during Wednesday night’s meeting, when the vote was taken. “If

we want others to follow the rules, then we need to follow our own.”

Councilman Courtney Robinson introduced an amendment to the bill Wednesday that would enable mayors to appoint “temporary directors” of departments in select, rare situations when confirmed department heads are out on long-term medical leave or on military leave.

The reform effort began last month while interim police Chief Tony Alsleben was facing considerable criticism from some council members, community organizers and residents.

Upon introduction of the bill, O’Connell decided to nominate Alsleben for the permanent chief position and vowed to support him at a Sept. 16 confirmation hearing.

Alsleben, who most likely did not have the four council votes needed, resigned from the department last week effective Sept. 6. O’Connell said Wednesday he plans to nominate someone else for the permanent chief position “no later than midSeptember.”

O’Connell also plans to nominate interim fire Chief Jim Wehr for the permanent fire chief position in the next 90 days. Wehr lives in Lower Nazareth Township but has said moving into the city wouldn’t be a problem.

But the new bill, the mayor maintains, does not apply to Craig Messinger, identified as the city’s interim public works director on the city’s website since March 2014.

O’Connell has said that Messinger, who lives in North Whitehall Township, is a “deputy director.”

The director of public works position technically has been vacant since October 2016, according to the city’s monthly financial reports.

Allowing deputy directors to indefinitely lead departments raises the question of whether a loophole still remains in the department leader confirmation process, O’Connell acknowledged after Wednesday’s meeting. But he said was “more than willing” to name Messinger interim director and then nominate him as permanent department head if council requests him to do so.

“I’m sure he would have the full support of council, as he’s very respected and does one heck of a job,” O’Connell said.