Continued Meeting of California Borough Council, October 28, 2010, 5:30 Pm

Continued Meeting of California Borough Council, October 28, 2010, 5:30 pm

President Chambers called the meeting to order at 5:30 pm

PRESENT: Mr. Alfano, Mr. Bittner, Mrs. Bridges, Mrs. Chambers, Mr. Gardner, Mr. Mariscotti, Miss Roberts and Mayor Durdines

PUBLIC COMMENT:

Cassie Ference stated that she was a student here at Cal and left two years ago because of an incident that had happened to her at Cal. Mrs. Chambers asked her to wait and speak under recognition of citizens.

PRESIDENTS REPORT- MRS. CHAMBERS

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Mrs. Chambers stated that they had held an executive session and discussed police personnel.

RESOLUTION MALDEN/GRANVILLE PENNDOT HIGHWAY OCCUPANCY PERMIT

Mrs. Chambers read the resolution; be it resolved by the authority of council of the Borough of California, 225 Third Street, California, PA 15419, Washington County. Hereby resolved by authority of the same that the President of Council of said municipality be authorized and directed to sign the attached agreement on its behalf and that the secretary/treasurer be authorized and directed to attest the same. She stated this has to do with by resolution having the contractors who got the job for the Malden pump station obtain the highway permit and the bonding for those permits. It is done by resolution and they have to put up all the money, is that correct Art. Mr. Brower stated correct it covers their job. Mrs. Chambers asked if she has a motion to accept this resolution. Miss Roberts stated you do and Mr. Bittner seconded the motion.

Motion by Roberts/Bittner to accept resolution duly carried on a roll call vote with all members present voting yes.

PUBLIC SAFETY- MR. GARDNER

OFFICER HACKINSON

Mr. Gardner stated he would like to make a motion to make Officer Hackinson permanent, his 180 days will expire in two days and he’d like to make that motion. Miss Roberts seconded that motion. Mrs. Chambers stated the motion is made and seconded for Officer Hackinson to be hired full time do we have a roll call.

Motion by Gardner/Roberts to make Officer Hackinson permanent duly carried on a roll call vote with all members present voting yes.

RESIGNATION OF OFFICER CHARLES FILONI

Mr. Gardner stated he would like to make a motion that council accepts Officer Charles Filoni’s resignation he will be retiring. Miss Roberts seconded the motion. Mrs. Chambers asked if he would include in the motion that council will authorize his payment of sick days. Mr. Gardner stated he was going to do that in a separate motion. Mrs. Chambers stated alright, lets do a roll call vote to accept Officer Filoni’s resignation.

Motion by Gardner/Roberts to accept Officer Charles Filoni’s resignation duly carried on a roll call vote with all members present voting yes.

PAYMENT OF SICK DAY – OFFICER FILONI

Mr. Gardner stated he would like to make a motion that we pay Officer Filoni according to the labor agreement 120 sick days. Miss Roberts seconded the motion. Mrs. Chambers stated a motion has been made and seconded for 120 days and she believes the contract calls for $30.00 a day, is that correct. Mr. Gardner stated correct. Mrs. Chambers asked for a roll call.

Motion by Gardner/Roberts that we pay Officer Filoni, according to the labor agreement, 120 sick days duly carried with all members present voting yes.

ACTING CHIEF VITALE

Mr. Gardner stated he would like to make a motion to bring back Acting Police Chief Vitale and put her on administrative leave to do office work. Miss Roberts seconded the motion. Mr. DeHaas stated he should use the words administrative duties instead of leave. Mr. Gardner amended his motion to bring back Acting Police Chief Vitale and have her to do administrative duties in the office and Miss Roberts seconded the motion. Under discussion Mr. Bittner asked for the definition of her duties. Mr. Gardner stated what did he say. Mr. Bittner stated may he have the definition of her duties, please. Mr. Gardner stated Mayor? Mr. Bittner stated you made the motion to bring her back under administrative duties and he wants to know what those duties are. He stated obviously you have something in mind or you wouldn’t have made the motion. Mr. Gardner stated it is very clear what administrative work is. Mr. Bittner stated no it’s not. Mr. Gardner stated well to him it is and he thinks to most people in here it is. Mr. Bittner stated well clarify it for him because he’s not as smart as Mr. Gardner. Mr. Gardner stated her duties will be assigned by the Mayor, not by council. Mr. Bittner stated oh now your spinning it to the Mayor. Mrs. Chambers stated how about payroll, scheduling... Mr. Bittner asked if she is still going to be the Active Chief over all the officers. Mr. Gardner and Mrs. Chambers stated yes. Mayor stated so she’ll be back to work, no guns. Mr. Gardner stated yes that’s what the motion says. Mr. Bittner stated no the motion says administrative duties that’s why he asked him to clarify it. Mr. Gardner stated it said Acting Police Chief Vitale. Mr. Bittner stated yea the active title but it still didn’t clarify the duties. Mr. Gardner stated she will do everything that a Chief of Police or an Acting Chief of Police has to do and that is scheduling and everything else that goes with it. Mayor stated not responding to calls. Mr. Gardner stated definitely not. Someone asked what about the dog. Miss Roberts stated here. Mayor stated Mr. Gardner what about the dog. Mr. Gardner stated he would say the dog comes with her. Mr. Mariscotti stated for administrative duties? Mr. Gardner stated let him answer his question, Tony, he doesn’t interrupt you when you’re talking. Mr. Gardner stated that dog is also a police officer hired by you before he got on this council. That is a police officer that returns with a police officer. She was on administrative duty before and never left the office and never went out on the street with the dog as far as he knows. He stated he hopes that answers his question. Mr. Mariscotti stated no it raises more questions. Mrs. Chambers asked if there is further discussion.... she then called for a roll call.

Motion by Gardner/Roberts to bring back Acting Police Chief Vitale and have her to do administrative duties in the office duly carried on a roll call vote with Miss Roberts, Mr. Gardner, Mrs. Bridges, and Mrs. Chambers voting yes and Mr. Mariscotti, Mr. Alfano, and Mr. Bittner voting no.

PUBLIC WORKS- MR. MARISCOTTI

HICKORY STREET PATCH REPAIR

Mr. Mariscotti stated he does not have the quotes and Jeff just called him and he thought the meeting was at 6:30 so we don’t have those ready at this time and he doesn’t know that he has an official quote. What Jeff handed him the other day were some estimates but he doesn’t actually have a quote on the repair. Mrs. Chambers asked if he would like to table that. Mr. Mariscotti stated would you please. Mrs. Chambers stated let’s table that until the next meeting and its only two weeks away. Mr. Mariscotti stated it was very confusing, there were a few estimates and Jeff stated he is coming right down. Mr. Mariscotti stated there are two different ways to go about this repair and so he doesn’t know what exactly we want to turn in, whether it is to excavate it, some of it is our crew doing the excavation and getting it down to where someone can come in and pave and put binder down and then finish paving it. Mr. Bittner asked Mr. Mariscotti if Jeff was on his way and Mr. Mariscotti stated yes he believes so. Mr. Bittner stated then lets ‘wait on him because we he had this information yesterday when we talked about. Mrs. Chambers stated you know if he gets here fine but we also a week from today is our working meeting. Mr. Bittner stated yes but it is not a voting meeting where we could get this taken care of. Mrs. Chambers stated right. Mr. Bittner stated lets’ move on and let him come and do it.

ORDER FROM PENNDOT TO PAY FOR VENTURA STREET

Mr. Mariscotti stated Betty received or Miss Pfrogner received an order from Penndot to pay for the, they released the funds to pay for the Ventura Drive paving. Mrs. Chambers stated that is all taken care of then. Mr. Mariscotti stated yes. Mrs. Chambers stated terrific.

MAYOR’S REPORT - CASEY DURDINES

POLICE/ZONING CAR QUOTE

Mayor stated this is the 2000 Crown Victoria that he wanted to sell several months ago that was not sold for whatever reason. He stated he received a letter from the Pennsylvania State Constable for Coal Center Borough, Robert Staley; he has expressed interest in purchasing the car for $550.00. Mayor asked council what their pleasure is on that. Mr. Alfano made a motion to sell it to Robert Staley for $550.00. Mrs. Chambers asked if there is a second. Mr. Mariscotti seconded the motion. Mrs. Chambers asked if there is any discussion. Mr. DeHaas stated can we make it subject to his review of that section of the Borough Code; he didn’t bring it with him. He stated that he thinks they can do this for that kind of price. He stated let him ask a question, was it previously advertised and Mr. Alfano and Mayor both stated yes. Mayor stated we received the bid which was rejected and the bid was actually higher than this. Mrs. Chambers stated it was $600.00 and Mayor stated it was rejected. By the time we make a decision to finally sell this car we might as well have Jeff tow it to the scrap yard. Mr. Alfano stated he amends his motion to it be subject to the Solicitor’s review. Mr. Mariscotti seconded his amendment.

Alfano/ Mariscotti to sell the 2000 Crown Victoria to Robert Staley for $550.00 subject to the Solicitors review duly carried on a roll call vote with all members present voting yes.

THANK YOU NOTE-SIGMA KAPPA SORORITY

Mayor stated this is not on the agenda but it is in the packet and he just wants to read it for the citizens’ benefit. He stated the Police Department received a thank you letter from the Sigma Kappa Sorority here in California and it reads; Dear California Police Department the sisters of Sigma Kappa wish to thank you for your dedication to keeping the town of California safe. We realize that you are putting your lives on the line for citizens like us and do not get the thanks that you deserve. This is just a small note to give you some of that thanks. In love and then signed by members of the sorority. Mayor stated it is not often they get thanked for their hard work so he wants to make sure they hear this. Mrs. Chambers suggested that he posts that in the police department.

Mrs. Chambers stated alright that includes our business part of the meeting, next is;

RECOGNITION OF CITIZENS

ART HARRIS

Mr. Harris stated he has a question he knows that they are bringing Acting Chief Officer Vitale back and the question was brought up a couple of meetings ago especially the last meeting on her citizenship papers. Did those ever come about? How about our Solicitor, since he doesn’t know the Borough Code, he admitted a little bit ago. Mrs. Chambers stopped him and stated that we don’t like insulting here, will you stop that please. Mr. Harris stated no that is what he said. Mrs. Chambers stated you are insulting him and she doesn’t like it. Mr. Harris stated well he’s just telling the truth and if the truth insults you then you should be insulted. Did she ever provide... Mrs. Chambers stated she is pursuing documentation yes even as we speak and she still has a MOPEC card and she is a card carrying member of the police force. Mr. Harris stated that is not what he asked her. Mrs. Chambers stated that she said she is pursing documentation for proof. Mrs. Bittner stated she is not a US citizen. Mrs. Chambers stated can you prove that she isn’t. Mrs. Bittner stated yes. Mrs. Chambers stated how do you prove that she isn’t, show us the proof that she isn’t. Mrs. Bittner stated trust her she can prove it. Mrs. Chambers stated well you know what that is what we need. Mrs. Bittner stated you are opening yourself up for a lawsuit and the tax payers of California are the ones who are going to have to pay for it. Mrs. Chambers stated you must bring the proof to us that she is not, and then we can settle this right now. Mrs. Chambers stated you made the accusation, bring the proof of the accusation. Mr. Harris stated he would like to thank first of all the three individuals who voted against and he hopes the four of them that voted to bring her back, you already got one lawsuit, there is another one being filed and all the rest of them and you will be liable for a surcharge because you put her back in this position. Just so you all know. Mrs. Chambers stated yes they do. Mr. Harris stated you’re smiling now Shelly but he don’t know if she’ll be smiling later. Miss Roberts asked how he knows there is another one in the works Artie, that is interesting.

CASSIE FERENCE

Miss Ference stated that Officer Vitale was adopted by two military parents when she was 3 years old, she stated that she grew up in Bosnia and would have given anything for someone to take a stand and to adopt her at that age, instead of going through everything that she’s had to.We’re looking at her citizenship but you know there are questions about Obama’s citizenship and he’s still President. Yes they have to prove it and she is doing everything possible to prove that she is a citizen. We’re looking past the fact that since she has been on administrative leave look how many problems California emergency has. She stated there has been two students shot this year and one student recently was killed. She stated that she understands that citizenship is in question and she is asking for some respect while she is speaking. We’re looking past the fact that when she was an officer she chose to take care of the things that needed taken care of. She answered calls and she answered when she was needed. She ran into a building last year and saved somebody from a fire and that’s not her job. Her job is to protect us, she’s not a trained firefighter that is not what she’s suppose to do but she did it, she took the authority and she did that. She stated that she doesn’t know if anything she has is going to be memorable. She stated that Officer Vitale is a good officer. She did everything. She stated that she can not tell you how many times that she sat up at Highpoint and didn’t want to be here anymore, but she stood my side the whole time when I cried and had no-one else to stand by her side. So yea in a way she’s is here speaking because she has done something for me and she stated that she would like to help her out. She stated but she is up here speaking because she is a good officer and she’s asking them to look at who she is as a person, look at the integrity that she has, integrity and being the best you can be no matter who is around or who is watching and Officer Vitale has integrity. She stated yes and she’s 22 years old and many of a lot older than her and have seen a lot more than she’s had, but she knows what she has heard recently and she has friends calling her and telling her that they are terrified to walk out that door. She stated that she has a friend who lives a block from the gas station but she will not walk to the gas station she jumps in her car to drive down to the gas station because she is scared. She stated that she has plenty of friends who have called and told her that when Officer Vitale was out on the street on that job they weren’t afraid to walk around the streets. That is why you all don’t want to respect what she has to say and that’s fine, but I would give you the respect and listen to what you have to say and that is all she is asking.