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.
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