An order just handed down by Schuylkill County Judge Christina Hale has put a stop to this afternoon’s planned swearing-in of a new Mayor in Pottsville.
Bobby Weaver Jr. filed for an emergency injunction earlier Wednesday, seeking to stop the swearing-in based on the argument that going forward with the ceremony would be a violation of the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act.
Mark Atkinson was announced Tuesday as the presumptive next Mayor of Pottsville following the resignation of Dave Clews earlier this month. Clews stepped aside due to health reasons.
Third-class City Code in Pennsylvania requires that the remaining members of City Council vote for Clews’ replacement within 30 days. However, that vote must come at a public meeting.
Pottsville advertised a special public meeting on Oct. 23 but on Tuesday, sent out a press release, which was also posted to social media, announcing that Atkinson would be sworn in as the new Mayor at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
That announcement presumes that City Council members gathered outside the public view and came to a consensus on their vote for the next Mayor, which is seemingly a violation of the Sunshine Act.
Hale’s order reads: “The City of Pottsville is enjoined from conducting the swearing in ceremony of Mark Atkinson pending argument on the within Motion for Injunctive Relief.
“Any and all official action taken at this meeting, including the appointment of Mark Atkinson to be appointed to the vacated elected position of Mayor of Pottsville shall be invalidated.”
A hearing on this matter has been scheduled in Schuylkill County Court of Common Pleas for Nov. 6, 2024, at 9:30 a.m.
Council Meeting Canceled
The scheduled special meeting of City Council was canceled on Wednesday, but City officials did gather at City Hall along with friends of family of Atkinson.
There were plenty of icy stares to go around, all directed at the two local media outlets – The Canary and Republican Herald – that reported on the potential Sunshine Act violation committed by Pottsville prior to the scheduled special meeting.
Atkinson refused to speak to local media outlets at City Hall but did agree to speak to a cameraman from WNEP-TV.
Both local outlets were informed of Atkinson’s decision to snub them via Councilwoman Dottie Botto, who approached both reporters in the hallway outside Council chambers and said the presumptive Mayor would only talk to the TV station.
READ MORE:
- Atkinson to Become Pottsville’s Next Mayor
- Seemingly Obvious Sunshine Act Violation in Naming Pottsville’s New Mayor
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