With an Express-Times and Patch.com reporter in attendance at last nights West Easton Council Meeting, resident Tricia Mezzacappa vowed that she “would be the council’s worst enemy.”
Upset at what she referred to as, “being treated like a radioactive piece of dog crap” by the borough, during the public comment portion of the meeting, she made claims of being prevented access to the Municipal Building and an inability to pay her sewer fees.
During her angry tirade she referenced her conviction of harassment, and how she lost her temper that day due to the way she has been treated.
She went on, claiming RTKL victories in court, omitting mentioning any losses.
She was allowed her 5 minutes, though the Borough Solicitor did have to interrupt her at one point asking that she lower her voice, because the volume of her loud rant was even more amplified by the podium microphone, of which I can attest to being true since I had seated myself only inches from the speaker.
She again called Council President Kelly Gross a tyrant, as is her usual.
When she was once again seated she refused to remain in her seat long enough listen to any response from the Council.
As an answer to her accusations began she stormed from the council meeting, informing them that she didn’t want to hear what they had to say.
However, the barn door was opened for the council to have their say and I could hear the tapping of the reporters laptops during the response. They were seated next to me.
Through the course of the public comments, during which more people than Ms. Mezzacappa took to the podium, residents in attendance were given a history of why Ms. Mezzacappa has turned her attentions toward an attempt at destroying the reputations of some members of the council and altering a once peaceful borough into a town burdened with trying to find police protection and increased legal fees.
Resident Jamie Horinko spoke at the podium stating, “It’s a waste of time for an Easton police officer to spend an hour guarding 15 people at a council meeting.” He believed it used an hour of Easton’s contracted 8 hour coverage.
“I can’t believe we’ve come to the point now where we’re losing our police coverage,” he said. “Neither party in this is innocent,” though he did point out that he supported Mayor Gross and his daughter, Kelly Gross.
He was informed that the contract actually provided for 8 hours of full-time coverage with the availability of an officer to be called “as needed” outside that 8 hours.
It was explained during the course of the meeting that it was under the advice of Easton police to install some type of security system and while they suggested bullet proof glass, a panic button with a steel drop down shield, and other items for security, it was decided that the cheapest method for providing some protection was a Home Depot doorbell and locking the front door.
In light of the Ross Township murders of town officials earlier this year, the initial concern that prompted the locking of the door and the doorbell system was justified. Even more justified when, after those murders, someone made a comment on the Lehigh Valley Live website that West Easton could be the next Ross Township and Ms. Mezzacappa wrote a letter to the editor of the Express-Times defending accused shooter Rockne Newell as the victim and citing her own issues with West Easton.
(Small communities throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey that had always allowed unencumbered access to their Municipal Buildings were quick to implement some form of protection after the Ross Township murders.)
Among the increase in legal costs was approximately $5000 spent on answering a lawsuit filed against Mayor Gerald Gross by Ms. Mezzacappa. That lawsuit was ultimately dismissed by the courts.
Noted in the council’s response was an alleged 150 RTKL requests by Ms. Mezzacappa that has required the need for hiring a separate attorney to handle those requests, as a Right To Know Officer. The total RTKL requests from everyone else amounted to just 3 submissions. Council President Kelly Gross used to act as the RTK Officer until the volume of requests became overwhelming.
It was also mentioned by Kelly Gross that she has worked to keep costs down for residents in areas where she was able. Since losing our Borough Manager, a paid position, Gross stated she’s given 2800 hours of unpaid time working in that capacity and has obtained grants for the Borough to update infrastructure, among other cost savings that included not having to pay for a main sewer lining that the Sewer Authority had wanted to bill West Easton for installing.
The saddest situation in Ms. Mezzacappa’s declaration of being the Council’s worst enemy is that she doesn’t recognize she is her own worst enemy and that her actions don’t just affect the Council, but have caused all residents of West Easton a problem.
What residents once viewed as, “not my problem” because the target of Ms. Mezzacappa’s anger were certain elected officials of West Easton, is now affecting them directly and it isn’t amusing to them any longer.
I believe Tricia Mezzacappa can display intelligence at times, but her problem solving and social interaction skills need work. There comes a point in our lives when we move beyond the high school mentality of writing on bathroom walls in retaliation to any real, or perceived injustice.
When the bathroom wall is the Internet, those writings that employ the use of creating fake visitors to place self-created comments lends itself to questions about the mental stability of the writer. Emotional blurbs in the form of personal and vile insults that are poorly disguised by attributing them to alter-egos are easily recognized and eventually bite her in the ass.
While I believe her to be emotionally unstable, I don’t think her truly insane – just unable to reign in her desire to win an argument at any cost. Even at the cost of her mental well-being.
I try to choose my words carefully. If I feel compelled to create an article that reminds people of her desire to ruin those around her and harm the community in which she resides, I will. While she feels it is her right to post anything she wishes, she is easily angered when she is the subject of an article.
Unlike Mezzacappa, I also choose my friends and associates with much discrimination, taking into account their history and agenda. That may be why I have few that I consider true friends, whom I trust completely. Most I associate with in my life are manipulative and I recognize them as such, though I rarely let them know it. That’s why I would never befriend people like Jim Gregory, or “Chief” Mark Kessler.
I’ve learned that you choose the battles that can be won and those you lose can’t be allowed to affect your life further than they already have. Blaming others for your own misfortune, caused by your own hand, doesn’t result in accepting responsibility and changing for the better.
Tomorrow is Christmas and I truly wish Ms. Mezzacappa the ability to see beyond her anger and hate.
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.
