City council stays mum on ouster of police chief
By jeanne starmack
NEW CASTLE, PA.
New Castle City Council members who voted to dismiss the city’s police chief resisted revealing why, and the mayor says he’s working to fill the post.
Council voted 3-1 at a caucus meeting Tuesday not to keep Tom Sansone, who has been police chief for eight years. Sansone and other department heads were submitted for reaffirmation by Mayor Anthony Mastrangelo as he begins his second four-year term. Sansone was the only one not reaffirmed.
Edward Yerage was the council member who voted to keep Sansone. He told The Vindicator he supported the mayor’s judgment.
After the council’s regular meeting Thursday, council president MaryAnne Gavrile and councilman Richard Beshero adamantly refused to answer why they voted against keeping Sansone. Councilman William Panella was not at the meeting.
During the meeting, Rosemary Henderson of Neshannock Boulevard urged council members to say why they voted the way they did.
“If this council let him go for personal reasons, this council did an injustice,” she said. “But I believe the public should know why.”
Council members did not comment on her remarks.
After the meeting, Mastrangelo said he is in charge of the overall operations of the police department until council accepts a recommendation from him for a new chief. He said he is relying on five division heads for help.
He said 11 police officers have expressed an interest in the chief’s post, and he is taking r sum s.
“On Monday, I start interviewing,” he said.
Sansone told The Vindicator on Wednesday that he was taken by surprise and is using vacation time to consider his options. He could come back to the department as a lieutenant, or he could retire.