Last night’s West Easton Council Meeting found two newspaper reporters in attendance.
Sarah Peters from The Express-Times and freelance writer,
Ms. Peters’ article can be found HERE.
Mr. Malinchak’s article can be found HERE.
They also likely got more than they expected when our council members went into executive session and a resident took the opportunity to speak with them. West Easton resident and failed council candidate, Tricia Mezzacappa, gave them her opinions of our borough, our mill rate for taxes, Council President Kelly Gross, her neighbors, sewer fees, the planned police force, her troubles with the law, her ongoing Right To Know Law (RTKL) battles with the borough, to name only a few of her complaints.
It’s likely I missed some others, as I had stepped outside for a few minutes to smoke a cigarette immediately upon the council going into their executive session. When I returned inside the foyer area I could easily hear the conversation already in progress.
There have only been a couple of times I wished I knew short hand for taking notes. This was one of them.
1. According to Ms. Mezzacappa, there are “seedy areas” of West Easton and her neighborhood seems to be one of the areas, telling Mr. Malinchak that there is “riff raff” around her own neighborhood.
Among her other opinions (in no particular order):
2. The $165,000 budgeted for our own police won’t be enough. She went on to mention that not only has the City of Easton refused to provide police coverage (in 2014), but also, “Wilson wants nothing to do with us.”
3. West Easton has gone downhill and it’s all (Council President) Kelly Gross’ fault.
4. The sewer fund has too much money in it and much of that money should be used to reduce our sewer fees. She mentioned a $50,000 grant received for sewer work that was returned by Kelly Gross, instead of being used.
5. Her own troubles with the law was nothing more than a few curse words she used while at the Municipal Building and the incident was blown out of proportion.
6. The expenditures of legal fees seen in the budget was due to West Easton appealing her RTKL requests.
7. She believes West Easton should “blend” with Wilson, possibly becoming “The Village of West Easton,” under the direction of Wilson, with the West Easton Mayor and Council disbanded.
I should disclose before proceeding further that Ms. Mezzacappa and myself have come to a sort of truce since the conclusion of my criminal complaint of Harassment that was heard in front of Judge Yetter this past summer. While Judge Yetter found Ms. Mezzacappa not guilty, due to his citing my incorrect filing of the actual charge she should have been brought in front of him on, he did make it clear that I had a case against her, but would need to refile with the correct charge (not harassment).
I have chosen not to refile, as the goal of the original case was accomplished. The impersonations of myself, innuendo of pedophilia from fake commenters, personal insults, and calls to my employer have stopped. I, in turn, have tried to keep my personal feelings out of what I write on the few occasions where Ms. Mezzacappa may be part of the subject matter, which doesn’t relate to an election opinion. I like to believe that I’m not a vindictive person. I also have more important things to do in my life than spending time on preparing and presenting court cases.
With that in mind I would like to give my own opinion on Ms. Mezzacappa’s complaints and will try to present a reasonable argument that counters her statements that the reporters wisely chose not to take at face value.
1. West Easton’s “seedy” areas.
I don’t live on Ridge Street, but had the occasion to walk the area recently. In fact, I walked every street in West Easton, including her neighborhood. I briefly met more than a few residents and didn’t notice any “riff raff.” I will assume that Ms. Mezzacappa must have been referring to those who live in Wilson, which is in close proximity to her home. While some homes in West Easton could use some TLC (with only one on Front Street that appears uninhabited and could use a demolition team), I don’t judge people by how their home appears, or their skin color. Hell, my own house could use a new paint job and I still have to do some landscaping in my small front yard this next Spring.
More than a few residents asked, “Can I help you?”
That question being the civilized way of saying, I don’t recognize you and what are you doing in my neighborhood? Personally, I like that residents in West Easton watch out for each other.
If I didn’t like West Easton I would move.
2. The $165,000 Police Budget
If we had contracted with the City of Easton it’s likely we would have been charged almost $165,000 for 2014. Easton has increased their charge 5% on every contract over the last 3 years, which would have brought the current $155,000 charge to $163,000, if they remained at just a 5% increase.
My opinion is Mayor Panto and Easton Council realize that the “easy money” to cover West Easton isn’t so easy any longer. He is afraid of threatened lawsuits. His Chief of Police received a subpoena from Ms. Mezzacappa that had to be squashed. He, himself, has been mentioned unfavorably by Ms. Mezzacappa on her blog.
I can now include myself as no fan of Mr. Panto, as does Ms. Mezzacappa. Simply because Panto’s lack of balls.
I’m also told by a resident of Wilson, who knows somebody on their governing body, that a letter was received from a West Easton resident telling them not to provide police coverage to West Easton. Currently, that’s hearsay, but I will be putting in a RTKL request with Wilson to find out if a letter was received, its content, and who sent it. (UPDATE 12/12: Click Here to see the letter.)
As to the proposed budget, it may be that $165K won’t be enough, but I’d like to give West Easton a chance to find out if it can work. We don’t need a SWAT, I’m not aware of any meth labs being busted, bodies being found by the river, or people being shot and killed in front of bars, as Easton enjoys.
It’s easy to be a naysayer, but a community that cares and watches out for each other makes policing much easier. Criminals don’t like to reside in areas where residents care about their community.
3. Council President Kelly Gross
Accusing Kelly Gross for a self-belief of West Easton going “downhill” can only be attributed to Ms. Mezzacappa’s ongoing feud with Ms. Gross and the governing body in West Easton.
While I may be accused of being a cheerleader for Ms. Gross, I will admit that I respect her ability as Council President and knowledge of the intricacies in navigating the red tape of government. She has the experience from years of serving on the West Easton council and from what I have observed, is the keystone of the governing body. Though, we don’t always see eye to eye on some issues, of which I’ve made my opinion known in the past.
The fact is that home sale values would probably increase if we changed our borough name to something that didn’t include “Easton” in it. I’m for, “East Wilson,” or “South Palmer.” We’d likely get a small value boost with those names and even more if we called it, “Pleasantville.” Like most people who live in West Easton, I always stress to those I tell what town I live in, that it isn’t part of the City of Easton.
If the budget wasn’t in such flux and attention needing to be concentrated on police coverage, the issue of a Borough Manager could be addressed. Ms. Gross is doing the work of that vacant position and has been doing it at no cost to the taxpayers.
If it were me doing all she does for the pittance she is paid as Council President, I would have told the rest of the council to take a flying jump at a rolling donut.
4. The Sewer Fund
Wanting to use the sewer fund to reduce quarterly sewer fees is a short-term solution with a brief life span. Eventually there would be no money left that could be siphoned off and rates would return to those dictated by the sewer authority increases. The fund is also there for emergencies and to cover the costs of lines that the borough is responsible for. Those lines include those from the curb to the main. When work is required it isn’t cheap and because that fund is available, West Easton has no need to fund work through a bond that would require interest to be paid on any monies.
The $50,000 grant that was awarded was returned because the work the grant was intended for was actually paid for by the Sewer Authority when Kelly Gross successfully argued that West Easton wasn’t responsible for the work needed. As with any grant, money awarded from a grant can not be used for any other purpose than what the grant was intended for. Since it wasn’t needed, it was returned, as it should have been.
Returning that grant may have also influenced West Easton receiving a $90,000 grant that Kelly Gross applied for and received for West Easton. That grant covered the recent sidewalk cutout work we saw performed over the summer to meet The Americans With Disabilities Act, requiring sidewalk corners being ramped for wheelchair access. A second grant was awarded for additional ramps to be installed in 2014.
5. Ms. Mezzacappa’s Conviction
Keeping my personal opinion out of it, the incident was found to be more than using a few swear words. I’ll simply link to a newspaper account, found HERE.
6. Legal Fees Involving RTKLs
This is a subject that has gotten so involved that it’s hard to follow it any longer.
Ms. Mezzacappa, as single entity, has put in more RTKL requests to West Easton than the total submitted to Allentown. More than submitted to Bethlehem. More than submitted to any local area. Every one of those RTKLs requires a perusal by the Borough’s Solicitor.
Time is taken from a clerk to conduct borough business in order to find out if requested documents exist, gather the documents, and then copy them before returning the originals to where they were retrieved. Redacting of personal information that may be included on the documents may also have to be done.
Appeals have come from both sides, so the cost of it all doesn’t solely rest on the shoulders of the Council and Ms. Mezzacappa doesn’t prevail in her appeals as often as one might be led to believe. An appeal is submitted on something as simple as the requirement of Ms. Mezzacappa to pay for past documents that were requested before receiving documents on one of her newer requests.
The sad part of it is that it seems to be nothing more than a fishing expedition and a desire to create a straw man argument for the borough’s rising taxes and legal fees. It’s Ms. Mezzacappa’s search for some “smoking gun” of corruption that she constantly proclaims exists. So far, the costs incurred by the taxpayers aren’t even close to being compensated by the 25 cent fee charged to Ms. Mezzacappa for every page she has received. Neither has her fee covered the cost of arguing against her appeals when a denial is issued and the borough prevails.
And there has yet to be found any proof of corruption among the governing body.
While I had my own disagreement with the borough that required my submitting a RTKL request to see approved council minutes and submitted that RTKL form to obtain them (along with publicly available permit applications), I don’t use RTKLs with abandon. To date, I have submitted a grand total of one RTKL to the borough. It costs money to the borough that I and my neighbors will have to pay for.
It should be noted that the need for an RTKL request for council minutes found me in agreement with Ms. Mezzacappa on this one item and since then a public bulletin board in front of the Municipal Building now displays those minutes upon their approval.
7. West Easton as a village of Wilson
I’m surprised that Ms. Mezzacappa would suggest such a proposition. As one who constantly bemoans the taxing of residents at 12 mills for West Easton, she must not be aware that Wilson’s millage is currently 14.5 mills. Tentatively, West Easton may see a millage increase for 2014, but it should remain less than that of Wilson.
This seems to be less an idea of saving West Easton residents money, as it is more a desire that would eliminate a Mayor and Council she has a personal grievance with.
There are benefits to being a self-reliant community. When roads need to be cleared of snow we aren’t the last to see the plows. Road work and repairs aren’t put on a back burner to take care of residents living in the “pricey” neighborhoods. For more than 115 years West Easton has survived and I would like it to continue.
There may come a day when the autonomy of West Easton will cease to exist because of a lack of a business base, the rising costs of running a small borough that has to meet federal mandates, a poor economy, or the lack of residents willing to serve in an elected capacity.
Have we reached that point?
I don’t think so.
Not yet.
Disclaimer: On January 4, 2016, the owner of WestEastonPA.com began serving on the West Easton Council following an election. Postings and all content found on this website are the opinions of Matthew A. Dees and may not necessarily represent the opinion of the governing body for The Borough of West Easton.
