Meanwhile, the appointee to the vacated seat on Uniontown City Council expresses a Primary candidate seeking the seat in the upcoming election who filed a lawsuit challenging the appointment was playing a sick little game.
Democratic council candidate Gary Gearing filed a lawsuit against Michael seeking his removal from office, arguing he has not lived in the city long enough to qualify to serve on council.
"I never aspired to become part of a political tug of war," Michael said. "I won't be part of their sick little game."
He said no one seemed to know that police and other employees deferred their salaries due to the city's money problems, but people dug into his background and to learn when he registered to vote in Fayette County.
"The city needs leaders, not people trying to make a name for themselves," Michael said.
http://www.heraldstandard.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20298192&BRD=2280&PAG=461&dept_id=480247&rfi=6
Uniontown Council's newest member quits
By Liz Zemba TRIBUNE-REVIEW Wednesday, April 15, 2009
..."I fear that those who have attacked me on blogs, talk shows and through legal action may have more self-serving desires than to serve the people of the city of Uniontown," Michael said. "I will not be a part of their sick little game anymore."
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribunereview/news/fayette/s_620711.html
While we don't endorse candidates for political office, we've got to comment. Nobody would have cared a hoot if the city council board members had appointed somebody whom the solicitor could have stated categorically and unequivocably and unarguably "met all the legal qualifications, including residency requirements" despite not having lived in the city for a one-year period before the appointment.
Sprouts resigns from Uniontown council
Buzz up!By Judy Kroeger, DAILY COURIER
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
...Council named Philip Michael to replace Sprouts. He will serve until 2011.
Michael has lived in Uniontown since October. Solicitor Charles Gentile said here is no case law dealing with residency requirements for appointed council members. In order to qualify for election, a person must be a resident of the city for one year.
Gentile said he believes that since Michael will fulfill the year's residency requirement during his term, his council seat is legitimate.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailycourier/s_616654.html
The politics played was on the part of the Uniontown City Council members who decided to appoint an individual to a vacated seat on the council without caution.
The Council quibbled about the meaning of the election law term "candidate." It was they who made the appointment a sick little game, not the individual who filed a lawsuit so a judge could make a determination of the meaning of words. (The individual, Gary Gearing, is also a candidate in the Primary election for one of two positions.)
Uniontown Council candidate sues to oust appointee
Buzz up!By Liz Zemba, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, April 4, 2009
http://t.love.com/201284614
Before the appointment was made, the council members should have had chapter/verse of Election Law and maybe case law that enabled them to make the appointment of a person who had actually eventually admitted NOT RESIDING in the city confines for one-year.
Instead, the board's solicitor admitted he had not had sufficient time to research the terminology used in the city code and state election law and his legal opinion was "preliminary."
The city council members made the appointment then based on a "preliminary" opinion based on not so much time to research.
And, before the appointment was made, prior to the meeting, a couple of citizens spoke on the matter asking the council to use just such caution. The council actually had a month, reportedly, to make an appointment.
And, had the council refrained from the appointment, the solicitor might have had time to determine how long the appointee's term would be. Over a year? Or less?
As it turns out, the county Election Bureau noted, based on its own legal counsel's opinion, the seat would still be up for election because a municipal election would be occurring before the seat position expires.
To recap. Had city mayor and council members refrained from a rushed appointment of a person who had not resided in the city for even half-a-year before the appointment, had those elected officials used caution, they would not have been legally challenged for the appointment they made.
Sprouts resigns from Uniontown council
Buzz up!By Judy Kroeger, DAILY COURIER
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailycourier/s_616654.html
They still might have been criticized for making the appointment the same day of the resignation of the individual who had met his "sentencing" date, but that goes with the territory.
more
http://ed-fike.love.com/
http://t.love.com/201284614
Net the Truth Online
Posted for discussion purposes...
Uniontown Council's newest member quits
By Liz Zemba
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
A Uniontown man who was appointed to city council last month resigned from the position on Tuesday.
Philip Michael said he did not want questions over whether he met a residency requirement to distract from the city's other problems.
"I never aspired to be a part of a political tug of war, and that is what this has become," Michael said in offering his resignation at council's monthly meeting.
"I fear that those who have attacked me on blogs, talk shows and through legal action may have more self-serving desires than to serve the people of the city of Uniontown," Michael said. "I will not be a part of their sick little game anymore."
Council appointed Michael to fill the unexpired term of Marlin Sprouts. Sprouts was forced to quit council last month after he entered a guilty plea in federal court to charges involving a mortgage scam.
Because Michael has lived in the city only since October, some residents questioned whether he met legal requirements to serve on council. Among them was Gary Gearing, who is running for city council.
In a lawsuit filed earlier this month, Gearing alleged Michael did not meet a one-year residency requirement of individuals who are elected to council. In addition, Gearing questioned whether council could make the appointment valid through the end of Sprouts' term in 2011.
Despite Michael's resignation, Gearing yesterday said he won't withdraw the lawsuit because he wants the courts to determine whether council acted within the law.
"At this point, it would be a clarification of the law," Gearing said.
Council yesterday met in a short, closed-door executive session before appointing Curtis Sproul to fill Michael's vacated seat. Sproul will serve until voters elect someone to fill the post in November.
A Republican, Sproul said he has two business degrees and teaches math and accounting at the University of Phoenix and Westmoreland County Community College's Fayette campus.
Sproul's appointment was not without some controversy. Two residents, Michael Cavanagh and the Rev. Peter Malik, questioned whether council had solicited resumes from others who might have wanted to serve. Malik said he wanted to have been considered for the position.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribunereview/news/fayette/s_620711.html
Newest council member steps down
By Steve Ferris, Herald-Standard
04/15/2009 Updated 04/15/2009
Uniontown City Council accepted the resignation of a councilman who was appointed last month, appointed a replacement and recalled eight laid-off employees Tuesday.
Philip J. Michael, who was sued after he was appointed last month, resigned and Curtis Sproul, a Republican candidate for council, was appointed to fill the seat until the November election.
Street department employees Ronald Varndell, Mark Franks, Matthew Hunchuck and Robert Smith, sewage department workers James Gordon and Christopher Jackson, license office employee Donna Jobes and accounts and finance department employee Bernadette Coffin were recalled to full-time status effective today. Their health benefits were reinstated retroactively to April 1.
Those street and sewage department employees were laid off in February and Jobes and Coffin were furloughed in October 2008.
Michael served on council for only a month as the public safety director, but apparently quite an impression.
Interim Fire Chief Charles Coldren said Michael visited the fire station many times. He said Michael's phone number was added to the list of firemen who are summoned to emergencies and he responded to several calls.
Michael "increased moral of the department 10 fold," Coldren said. He said he was sorry to see Michael leave council and he hoped his replacement would also get involved with the fire department.
"You've been a tremendous asset to the department," Coldren said.
Coldren also encouraged Michael to fight to keep his council seat.
The Rev. Pete Malik, an assistant fire department chaplain and a department supporter, said Michael spent time talking to firefighters and learning about the department.
"I'm sorry to see you go," Malik said... "I'll back you if you run in November."
State Rep. Tim Mahoney, D-South Union, commended Michael and said it takes a big heart to resign to avoid creating a problem for council while it is struggling with financial problems.
City Councilman Gary Crozier, a volunteer fireman, also commended Michael.
Democratic council candidate Gary Gearing filed a lawsuit against Michael seeking his removal from office, arguing he has not lived in the city long enough to qualify to serve on council.
"I never aspired to become part of a political tug of war," Michael said. "I won't be part of their sick little game."
He said no one seemed to know that police and other employees deferred their salaries due to the city's money problems, but people dug into his background and to learn when he registered to vote in Fayette County.
"The city needs leaders, not people trying to make a name for themselves," Michael said.
A sixth grade teacher in the West Mifflin School District in Allegheny County, Michael said he recently married and wanted to spend time with his family.
Sproul said he has a bachelor's degree in business from Penn State and a master's degree in business administration from Waynesburg University. He said he teaches math for the University of Phoenix and Westmoreland County Community College's campus in Uniontown.
Crozier said Sproul's father was a volunteer fire department chief in the city and that he and the fire department would work with him.
Sproul is one of two Republican candidates and four Democratic candidates seeking nominations in the primary election to run for two council seats in the municipal election in November.
Council appointed Michael to serve the remainder of former councilman Marlin Sprouts' term, which would have ended in 2011, but the Fayette County election bureau determined that the seat would be open in the November election.
The county Democratic and Republican parties will have the opportunity to nominate one candidate each to run for the seat.
Michael said he would run if he were nominated.
Gearing and other residents questioned Michael's appointment after he said he moved into the city in October 2008.
In his suit, Gearing argued that Michael wasn't qualified to hold the office because lived in the city for less than a year before his appointment.
The state Department of Community and Economic Development, which looked into the matter, said state law requires council candidates to live in the city for a year before they are eligible to hold office, but the law does not address the qualifications of appointees.
Meanwhile, the eight employees who were recalled Tuesday and the seven firemen who were recalled last month represent almost a third of the 41 employees council laid off last year and this year to cut expenses after Mayor Ed Fike reported that the city inherited a $1.3 million debt from the prior administration.
http://www.heraldstandard.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20298192&BRD=2280&PAG=461&dept_id=480247&rfi=6
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