West Hazleton residents plead with borough council for police coverage
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Friday, 07 July 2006
By L.A. TARONE
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A handful of West Hazleton residents took a plea to borough council’s Thursday night work session: Help! Several residents told council a succession of horror stories they said were crying out for both law and code enforcement.
They involved everything from complaints of loud music and fireworks to physical threats.
The comments came during the public comment portion of the work session.
During discussion of the agenda, council did mention Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta’s proposed Illegal Immigration Relief Act.
President Julie Ehlers said council is likely to act on a similar proposal, but noted it first had to be advertised. And Assistant Solicitor Chris Slusser said that since Hazleton City Council is likely to make what he termed “minor changes” in the ordinance before next Thursday’s meeting, he thought West Hazleton council should see and consider the final version before it acted on anything.
“Then you can enact the revised version, the original version or neither of them,” Slusser said. “But I think you should at least consider the final version before you act.”
But discussion of the proposal, which appears to have solid public support in West Hazleton, led several speakers to detail a list of calamities with which, they said, they needed borough help – particularly police help.
Floyd Roby said his house had been broken into three times.
He said he supported the Illegal Immigration Relief Act, but added that even if council adopted a version of it, the borough had no one to enforce it.
“We’ve got a lot of problems in this town,” Roby said. “There’s an illegal crack house on every block, a prostitution house every other block.”
Roby suggested West Hazleton consider asking Hazleton police for coverage and paying the city for it.
“Forget Republicans, Democrats, independents,” Roby said. “Take things into your own hands and get things done. You’ve got the public behind you.”
A woman who preferred not to give her name for fear of relation by neighbors gave council the most emotional response.
At times choking back tears, at other times visibly shaking, she told council of a long list of problems she encountered with her neighbors – most of whom just moved into town within the last few years.
She added she had to endure the “fireworks display from hell” the past few days, adding she’d had windows smashed on her car the last time she complained to borough authorities.
Her voice straining, she ran down a list of other problems faced by the borough as a whole, noting that the inflated prices for which properties have been selling are “shooting property taxes through the roof.”
“The worst thing that ever happened was the removal of the police department,” she added. “And they’re all gainfully employed in law enforcement. It never should have happened as it did.”
Mary Anne Hess was nearly as animated in describing a list of problems.
“Something has got to be done,” she said. “My life has been ruined.”
Maria Mota, who moved to the area six years ago from New York, initially came to voice displeasure with the proposed Broad Street Corridor Project.
But after listening to the others, she said she was “leaving with even more concerns.”
“The garbage on the streets, the loud music, it all bothers me too,” Mota said. “We have to enforce laws. We have to show we’re serious and tell those who are moving here, they have to show some respect, or turn around and go back.”
Mayor Mark Rockovich said he and council were “absolutely working on the issue.”
“We have been since the day of our election,” Rockovich said. “I’d been saying we’ve had police back in the near future and that was probably wishful thinking. But we will in the relatively near future.”
Slusser said council was taking the issue seriously and trying to work something out.
But West Hazleton’s situation is complicated. First, it is still operating under a financial recovery plan put together by the Pennsylvania Economy League and the state Department of Community and Economic Development.
While that plan can be changed to include funding for a police department, any changes need approval from both PEL and DCED.
But even if both did approve any changes, the police officers laid off by former mayor Carl Puschauver are still technically considered the borough’s police department.
And they cannot be replaced unless they voluntarily resign their positions.
Even though they have gotten law enforcement jobs elsewhere, they have not done so.
So the borough cannot replace them with new officers.
But Slusser said he thought something could be worked out.
He said he thought the borough would have at least a few new officers within the next few months.