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Dismissal from job shocks New Castle police chief
By jeanne starmack
new castle, pa.
The city’s police chief says he’s shocked at his sudden dismissal.
The city council voted 3-1 at a caucus meeting Tuesday not to retain Tom Sansone, who has been chief for eight years and has a 26-year career with the police department, after he was recommended for the post by Anthony Mastrangelo, who is returning for four more years as mayor.
Sansone said Wednesday he had heard “rumors that certain council members wanted me out, based on investigations and some arrests that were made.”
But he said he didn’t expect that Mastrangelo would submit him to the council for reaffirmation, adding that he disagrees Mastrangelo needed to do that.
A councilman reached Wednesday said the city code states that when a mayor’s term begins, all the department heads have to be affirmed.
Edward Yerage Jr., who voted in favor of keeping Sansone as chief, said he is not on council to hire people.
“I’m backing the mayor — he evaluated Chief Sansone in the first four years and was satisfied,” Yerage said.
Mastrangelo and other council members could not be reached Wednesday.
Sansone said Mastrangelo was following the opinion of the city’s legal counsel when he submitted him for reaffirmation.
He said he has other legal opinions, including one from the Pennsylvania League of Cities and Municipalities, that say otherwise.
Sansone said that according to those opinions, he wouldn’t need to be reaffirmed if the same mayor is still in office.
But he doesn’t know if he’ll fight the council’s decision.
“I had three days’ notice this was happening,” he said, adding that his options now include returning to the department as a lieutenant or retiring. “I have enough time in.”
He says he considers himself still the police chief until the council votes to appoint someone else, but he has notified the mayor he’s taking vacation time, possibly until April.
“I just wanted some time to think about this,” he said. “I did the best I could. I straightened out the police department finances. Overtime is drastically reduced. I’ve never been reprimanded.”
“I’ll miss all the people I met here,” he added.
The mayor will have to take r sum s for the post, Sansone said.
He said that Lt. Cindy Collingwood usually oversees the department while he is away.