Part-time Wilson Borough police officer, Fred Lahovski, introduced himself at last night’s West Easton council meeting to express his interest in filling the Code Enforcement Officer position with the borough.
A Code Enforcement Officer was included in the 2016 budget as a new $15,000/yr line item, hoping to resolve complaints from residents regarding quality of life issues that have arisen since the loss of a local police contract.
As a “non-traffic violations enforcement officer,” the duties of the person selected would be those that address issues such as not moving vehicles during snow emergencies, failure to pick up dog droppings, see to towing of illegally parked or unregistered vehicles, unkempt yards, and many other code violations within the borough.
As Mr. Lahovski stated at the meeting, his experience and past is pretty much an open book. You may find his name has a familiar ring to it, as it has been in the local papers recently and in the past. Much of the recent press has centered around his work as a police officer in Nazareth, under the thumb of their police Chief Trachta and the Mayor of Nazareth.
Lahovski claimed he was fired by Nazareth in 2012 because he filed grievances as the union advocate for other officers. Nazareth claimed he was fired for other reasons.
An arbitrator ruled in 2014 that Lahovski was wrongly fired and that his infraction, that being the purchasing fingerprinting supplies without approval and handling an arrest incorrectly, warranted only a suspension. The arbitrator ordered the borough to rehire Lahovski and awarded him 22 months of back pay and benefits worth about $100,000.
Most recently, he settled a suit against Nazareth, which paid him $440,000. In return, Lahovski agreed to resign from Nazareth and to drop the complaints against Nazareth, police Chief Trachta, and several borough officials.
Defeating Nazareth put aside, Officer Lahovski’s other feats during his career have warranted write-ups in local papers. He was credited with saving a child’s life from a drunk driver at a block party. He and another law enforcement officer took a 9-year old out of harms way during an incident when the child’s father had a shoot-out with State Troopers, in which a trooper lost his life.
Lahovski made himself available at last night’s meeting to answer questions from both council members and the public, though the selection process for the position of Code Enforcement Officer is still in the initial stages.
There was no council vote on selecting Lahovski to fill the position. It was an informational meeting only.
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.
