Masontown council to vote on rescinding police layoffs
Days after it voted to lay off police department staff, the Masontown Borough Council is planning to undo the move.
The council has scheduled a special Saturday night meeting where it will vote on a resolution to recall all officers it let go Monday.
In that 6-1 vote, the council approved layoffs of the borough’s police chief, two full-time officers and four part-time officers, citing a desire to lower the borough’s property taxes. Nearly all of those revenues go toward the police department.
Council President John Stoffa said the decision to schedule Saturday’s meeting came after three members of the council, the mayor and police chief met for a discussion Thursday morning.
Stoffa said the council will be getting more detailed monthly reports, including how many traffic citations each officer wrote and how many miles they put on their patrol car.
Thursday’s summit came a day after Fayette County District Attorney Mike Aubele sent a letter informing the borough he planned to file a lawsuit against the layoff vote for violating the Sunshine Act.
There had been no notice of the vote on the posted agendas for the reorganizational or business meetings held Monday, Aubele said.
Saturday’s meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the borough’s municipal office.