{"id":2636,"date":"2012-10-08T23:40:43","date_gmt":"2012-10-09T03:40:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=2636"},"modified":"2012-10-08T23:46:07","modified_gmt":"2012-10-09T03:46:07","slug":"vote-to-tap-coatesville-trust-fund-unanimous","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=2636","title":{"rendered":"Vote to tap Coatesville trust fund unanimous"},"content":{"rendered":"

After three failed attempts, council agrees to withdraw nearly $2.25 million<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

By Kathleen Brady Shea<\/span><\/strong>, Managing Editor, The Times<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Former City Councilman Kareem Johnson expresses support to City Council and support for withdrawing money from the trust fund.<\/p><\/div>\n

With their backs up against the wall, the seven members of Coatesville City Council voted unanimously Monday night to withdraw nearly $2.25 million from the city\u2019s dwindling trust fund \u2013 a bailout all have described as distasteful.<\/p>\n

The vote marked the fourth attempt to authorize the withdrawal after three previous efforts failed. Without the emergency infusion of cash, Coatesville employees would not have received checks on their next scheduled pay day, Oct. 19, according to John Marcarelli, the city\u2019s finance director.<\/p>\n

A handful of the citizens who packed City Hall urged the council to transfer the funds needed to keep the city afloat, but they also pressed for changes so that the financial crisis doesn\u2019t reoccur. The trust fund \u201chas been used far too long as a safety net,\u201d said Marie Hess as many residents nodded.<\/p>\n

Council President David C. Collins assured the audience that \u201cit\u2019s not going to be business as usual.\u201d He said he would be proposing reforms, some of which would likely appear on the next meeting\u2019s agenda. Chief among them are getting legal and police costs under control, he said.<\/p>\n

Collins said he wants council to consider releasing the city\u2019s labor attorney, Siana, Bellwoar and McAndrew from its contract and \u201cseek a new attorney if that\u2019s appropriate.\u201d According to figures presented by Marcarelli last week, the city has paid the firm more than $122,000 so far this year.<\/p>\n

After the meeting, Collins said he realized that the firm sued the city the last time its services were ended. \u201cI don\u2019t know how they got back in here,\u201d Collins said.<\/p>\n

Advocating \u201cstronger management controls and oversight,\u201d Collins said he wants a month-to-month review of the city\u2019s finances, and he suggested electing a citizens\u2019 council \u201cto make sure that it\u2019s on track.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t keep doing the same thing in the same way and expect a different outcome,\u201d Collins said.<\/p>\n

Councilman Jarrell Brazzle agreed, posing numerous questions before the group\u2019s last vote of the night: approving accounts payable. He asked whether a \u201cconflict of interest\u201d existed with a Zeke\u2019s Oil Company contract when the owner, Joseph \u201cZeke\u201d Disciullo,\u00a0 chairs the Revelopment Authority. After a pause that generated no response, City Manager Kirby Hudson said the contract goes \u201cway back,\u201d predating Hudson’s tenure.<\/p>\n

Brazzle also questioned a $56 expenditure for Interim Police Chief James Bell\u2019s business cards. \u201cI just paid $9.99\u201d for some, Brazzle said, pledging to continue his line-by-line scrutiny of the budget.<\/p>\n

In closing remarks, Councilman Jeff LoPrinzi commented on the turnout. \u201cWhy can\u2019t we get this kind of a crowd when there\u2019s regular stuff going on?\u201d he asked, explaining that even the routine meetings are important.<\/p>\n

Councilman Joseph Hamrick expressed optimism that the city could improve its financial health. \u201cWe have the cohesion to hold spending down,\u201d he said. \u201cI believe we have the strength here as a council to hold our administration to that number.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After three failed attempts, council agrees to withdraw nearly $2.25 million By Kathleen Brady Shea, Managing Editor, The Times With their backs up against the wall, the seven members of Coatesville City Council voted unanimously Monday night to withdraw nearly $2.25 million from the city\u2019s dwindling trust fund \u2013 a bailout all have described as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[24,839,913,912,790,561,419],"class_list":["post-2636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-coatesville","tag-council-president-david-c-collins","tag-councilman-jeff-loprinzi","tag-councilman-joseph-hamrick","tag-interim-police-chief-james-bell","tag-jarrell-brazzle","tag-marie-hess"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}