Hamrick elected City Council President
By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times
New Coatesville City Council member Linda Lavender Norris is sworn in at Monday’s reorganization meeting.
COATESVILLE – New City Council Members Linda Lavender Norris and Marie Hess were sworn in at Council’s reorganization meeting Monday afternoon.
Both members said that they felt a sense of civic duty toward Coatesville, which compelled them to run for their positions.
“My big goal is to do as much as I can for the city of Coatesville. Although I got a lot accomplished with parks and rec, I still want to do more, and I felt as though being a city council person—that is a position that would allow me to do as much as I can for the city of Coatesville,” said Hess, who was head of the parks and recreation department through last year.
During her comments at the meeting, City Council Member Ingrid Jones pointed out that there are now four women on City Council.
Norris said that the diversity of City Council reflects the diversity of the city.
“I think the diversity reflects the community, as it should, and I’m just honored to be a part of it.
Marie Hess takes her oath.
Hess agreed.
“The city of Coatesville has always been diverse. I think that sort of representation is important,” she said.
The reorganization meeting also saw former City Council Vice President Joseph Hamrick elected president, while former President David Collins was elected vice president.
“I’m going to do the best job I possibly can,” said Hamrick. “I’m going to try to promote businesses downtown, the color palette, and funding for businesses.”
Hamrick said that these, along with ensuring the safety of residents and businesses, would be key parts in the revitalization of the city.
Hamrick was also appointed delegate for the Western Chester County Council of the Governments, and Council Member Ed Simpson was named as his alternate.
During the comments at the end of the meeting the issue of fees for landlords was once again discussed, with Simpson motioning for a moratorium of fee hikes. However, with the fees already voted on and in place, Simpson rescinded his motion. Council agreed that these fees would be examined more closely in the next meeting.
I believe some high-octane fraud did happen and is still happening at City Hall. But the dollars per year addition to the City of Coatesville part of the tax bill will hardly be noticed. The humongous part of the tax bill is the school tax. Since some of the forensic files of the city finances were “lost” we might never know who or how much money disappeared by way of fraud.
Why even bother to hold a position on City Council in Coatesville? Kirby Fraud Hudson and the other morons running the city have already ruined any potential success with the 37 percent tax increase. I am still in disbelief that this is actually happening to us. Thanks Hunt, Collins and the rest of you failures for nothing positive.