Council ousts borough solicitor

Some council members defended the solicitor.
BY MARY GRZEBIENIAK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. -- Borough council terminated its longtime solicitor by a 5-2 vote Monday.
Atty. Thomas S. Mansell's employment with the borough will end Dec. 31.
He has been the borough's solicitor for more than 30 years, succeeding his father, also named Thomas, in the early 1970s.
Voting to terminate Mansell were council members John Altman, Susan Ligo, Raymond Keefer, George Shaffer and Nancy Brooks. Council President Larry Wagner and Council Member Kenneth Romig voted against the motion.
There was no discussion about the motion during the meeting. Afterward, members were tight-lipped, saying only that is "time for a change."
But Wagner and Romig defended the ousted solicitor. "I thought he did a real good job," Wagner said.
Romig added, "Tom served the borough well. He viewed this not as a job but as a community service. He always kept us out of trouble."
Mansell, contacted at home, said it is council's prerogative to choose its solicitor.
He would not comment on their action, stating "It is not proper for an attorney to talk about his clients, even his former clients."
Wagner said the borough will begin looking for another solicitor.
First vote
Council first voted to terminate Mansell at a special meeting Oct. 12. However, Mayor Wendell Wagner, who was unable to attend Monday's meeting, stated in a letter read aloud last night that the first termination vote was "improper as well as illegal."
The letter stated that since the only item of business advertised for the Oct. 12 meeting was opening of roof repair bids, it violated the open meetings law to pass the motion to terminate Mansell.
Council responded by rescinding the Oct. 12 motion and passing a new one by the same vote, to terminate the solicitor.
Also Monday, council opened three bids for trash pickup: Tri-County Industries, Inc., Grove City, which bid $10.20 per household per month and $450 per truck for spring and fall trash collection; BFI Waste Systems, Youngstown -- $13.02 per household per month and $500 per truck; and Waste Management, Moon Township -- $15.79 per household per month and $1,000 per truck.
The bids were turned over to borough Superintendent Fred Garrett and the sanitation committee for study.
After hearing from Marti Boyd of the New Wilmington Monday Evening Garden Club, council agreed to let the club re-landscape around the fountain and install a water line to all sections of the borough square. The club will pay for the work.