Posted: Thursday, April 25, 2013 5:00 am | Updated: 6:47 am, Thu Apr 25, 2013.
When something is in your way, you move it. Right? Or try to. You don’t wait — not if you want to get things done or simply get to where you’re going.And so we’re mystified by Morrisville Mayor Rita Ledger who says other borough officials — both elected and appointed — have stood in the way of her doing the job she was elected to do. She says they’ve denied her access to public records, entree to the police department (which the mayor directly oversees), and also executive sessions of council. What’s more, she said the mayor’s office was re-purposed, leaving her without access to a telephone, fax machine or a computer. She says she has to work in the hallways.
This isn’t a new situation. Ledger was elected in 2009 as the borough’s first woman mayor. Nor was it unexpected. Ledger told reporters on the day she was sworn in: “I realize I am a marked woman because I am the first woman mayor.”
Yet, for more than three years Ledger went about her business or tried to without, apparently, taking formal action to get the keys to the city — to which she is entitled.
Finally, last month a lawyer representing Ledger sent a letter to the borough outlining Ledger’s grievances and requesting a meeting with borough officials to discuss Ledger’s concerns. Attached to the letter was a draft of a lawsuit destined for Bucks County Court in which Ledger’s complaints are detailed, including a charge of “sex discrimination” that has caused her “distress.” If filed, the suit would seek more than $100,000 in damages.
If Ledger’s gripes are accurate, including a charge that she’s been “berated” for trying to fulfill her oversight duties with the police department, she has indeed been mistreated. In addition to her own set of keys, a functioning office and officials’ full compliance with the borough code, she should get an apology. A sincere, meaningful and formal apology.
What she shouldn’t get, and we implore her to abandon, is a financial settlement. Fact is, Ledger is not seeking re-election. She has eight months left in her term. A new mayor will be in place come January. Good luck!
We just don’t get the point of the suit — if it’s filed. Ledger is leaving office and so whatever change the suit might produce will not greatly impact her — unless the outgoing mayor gets a going away present in the form of a $100,000 court award.
We don’t believe that an earnest public servant dedicated to advancing her community and with the best interests of citizens in mind, would be party to action that would disrupt borough business and have negative financial impact on taxpayers. We hope the mayor feels the same way. We also hope officials will sit down with the mayor and work out an agreement.
In other words, they’re not letting her be mayor.
Yet, for more than three years Ledger went about her business or tried to without, apparently, taking formal action to get the keys to the city — to which she is entitled.
Finally, last month a lawyer representing Ledger sent a letter to the borough outlining Ledger’s grievances and requesting a meeting with borough officials to discuss Ledger’s concerns. Attached to the letter was a draft of a lawsuit destined for Bucks County Court in which Ledger’s complaints are detailed, including a charge of “sex discrimination” that has caused her “distress.” If filed, the suit would seek more than $100,000 in damages.
If Ledger’s gripes are accurate, including a charge that she’s been “berated” for trying to fulfill her oversight duties with the police department, she has indeed been mistreated. In addition to her own set of keys, a functioning office and officials’ full compliance with the borough code, she should get an apology. A sincere, meaningful and formal apology.
What she shouldn’t get, and we implore her to abandon, is a financial settlement. Fact is, Ledger is not seeking re-election. She has eight months left in her term. A new mayor will be in place come January. Good luck!
We just don’t get the point of the suit — if it’s filed. Ledger is leaving office and so whatever change the suit might produce will not greatly impact her — unless the outgoing mayor gets a going away present in the form of a $100,000 court award.
We don’t believe that an earnest public servant dedicated to advancing her community and with the best interests of citizens in mind, would be party to action that would disrupt borough business and have negative financial impact on taxpayers. We hope the mayor feels the same way. We also hope officials will sit down with the mayor and work out an agreement.
26 comments:
Well said!
{Thumb Up emoticon}
If Rita does not go through with this lawsuit, it will have a chilling effect on persecuted community watchdogs everywhere who fight for Truth, Justice and the American Way.
Plus she won't get the chance to parlay some taxpayer money into more taxpayer money for herself, which would be really sad. For her.
who wrote belated battle? it is a great article and I agree, apology indeed, as a fellow woman
Yes. If it happened the way Rita says it did. That is a big IF. That is the problem when someone spends years ruining their credibility with bogus claims and/or lies, and hanging around with others like that. When you cry wolf there may actually be a wolf there but a sizeable segment of the populace has good reason not to believe you or take your word for it.
I couldn't be in 2 places at once last night, and I went to the School Board meeting instead of the special Borough Council meeting. Was this Mayor Ledger thing the topic? The Police Dept. thing? Can someone who was there provide a synopsis?
As this saga in the West T ville unfolds, I observed one truth, Mayor Ledger did attend every meeting except for a couple. Unlike our last Mayor. No real disrespect to Mr. W, for one, I do understand, the gratuity is miniscule . It is a scary thing when you fall into the hands of chauvinist oppression. You can see we are not working with a full deck, there has been no suit filed and the said defendants are acting the role, seems like an admission of guilt, prematurely. Unless the said defendants(of a law suit that has yet to be filed) are big stake risk takers. On a deeper level, as which is documented in the literature of NOVA, It is a difficult and courageous step she has taken, most are so shamed by the oppression, they keep the secret for a lifetime.
Mary Singleton spoke on unions and her upcoming campaign. The Boro doors were not unlocked which caused several people to be curbside for most of the 15 minute meeting. Exec.session was the other 40 minutes. doors closed(and presumable locked) @ 7:55. No TV sound.
"As this saga in the West T ville unfolds, I observed one truth, Mayor Ledger did attend every meeting except for a couple. Unlike our last Mayor. No real disrespect to Mr. W, for one, I do understand, the gratuity is miniscule . It is a scary thing when you fall into the hands of chauvinist oppression. You can see we are not working with a full deck, there has been no suit filed and the said defendants are acting the role, seems like an admission of guilt, prematurely. Unless the said defendants(of a law suit that has yet to be filed) are big stake risk takers. On a deeper level, as which is documented in the literature of NOVA, It is a difficult and courageous step she has taken, most are so shamed by the oppression, they keep the secret for a lifetime."
I'm sorry, but that's just nuts. You have no idea how wacky you sound do you?
Scorecard, please:
Ledger. Reliable meeting attender. Courageous victim of chauvanistic oppression.
Ledger Lawsuit Defendents (if she files it). Already acting guilty.
The doors at borough hall are locked & unlocked many times during every evening by the police department. As they come and go they are continually unlocking & locking the back doors. It's one of those things that has gone on for as long as I can remember. I have attended many meetings where we have had to buzz in because the doors have been locked. Sometimes there is nobody there to unlock the doors at all. There was no ill intent about it, it has been happening for years.
As for the sound not working, I watched the meeting from home without sound as well. I'm thankful that the booth will be worked on as part of the borough wide green project.
Of course Ledger attends the meetings, she's on tv after all.
"I'm sorry, but that's just nuts. You have no idea how wacky you sound do you?"
I AGREE!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIcC8YJrevQ
"I'm sorry, but that's just nuts. "You have no idea how wacky you sound do you?"
Double agree. Why did Ledger wait until now to do anything. Is she really that incompetent and clueless as a leader? Maybe she was manipulated into doing it now so that the election cycle would be affected?
araffle posted at 4:54 pm on Thu, Apr 25, 2013.
Posts: 80
New, my friend, is Ms. Ledger suing those corrupt elected officials or is she suing the people of Morrisville who have done her no harm. I, like the author, find the timing suspicious, the treatment wrong and the target, if it is the people of Morrisville, poorly chosen.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, even to union bashing Simon Campbell supporters who would be natural allies of someone like Ledger: blowing hard earned taxpayer money on a sketchy premise trumps all.
Andy Raffle chairs Better Pennsbury. Judging from its fb page (below), BP and SOC should be BFFs. Raffle must not realize he's supposed to support Ledger. He needs to turn it around and salute the courageous stars & stripes flappin' bald eagle feather covered freedom crusade Ledger is on to get the keys to the police office and take documents home.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Better-Pennsbury/149209805152042
Please--no thank God. I'm tired of trying to figure out who in town is on the "wicked" and the "righteous" list.
Perhaps this i less than gracious of me, but anything involving our mayor or Eileen is met with instant suspicion and hostility. I find both of them and their cronies to be reprehensible. They drag the town down at every opportunity, tear down anything anyone else tries to build and basically SUCK. I wish they would just crawl back under the rocks from whence they slithered.
I wonder if these people, and I use that term loosely here, feel the same amount of shame if suspect I would feel in their shoes. Or, as I suspect is the case, their egomaniacal delusions are so strong they feel perfectly justified and righteous about it. I hope everyone keeps letting them know how we feel about this. I like the shill who posted on the Phillyburbs site. Be a bit less obvious next time, and perhaps it won't read like a bad zagat self-review.
I take it this is the heart of the Stay on Crack [SOC] election strategy for 2013?
Not accomplishments. Just frothed up filth and negativity.
"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing"
The strategy is a lot less complicated than that.
I don't have to win.
You just have to lose
My only goal is to
Give you the screws
You're gonna be annoyed
While I'm having fun.
You know the best part?
You get the mess when I'm all done.
Love her or hate her, she is still the mayor and has every right to the office she holds, including access to the physical space and borough records. If these allegations are true then she has a legit grievance. To sue for financial compensation, however, is egregious.
It does seem odd, though, that this is just now coming up and not, say, 1 week into her term.
No mayor in Morrisville had a functioning office before her so why should we have to start with Rita.
When Tom W was the mayor there was a joke about the back room in council chambers being his office because it was a disaster area. It was always used for exec meetings and for storage and it was always a mess of items that weren't kept in the basement storage area. At one point Jane bought a sign that said mayor's office but that was all part of the joke. There was never a functioning mayor's office. When Tom was no longer mayor the sign was taken down because he was no longer there. Ask him, there was never a mayor's office in borough hall. Borough council does not have offices, not even the council president. Borough code doesn't say anything about the mayor having an office. If new office space is going to be created, I would like to see the tax collector with a space at borough hall before I would the mayor or any of council.
Keep in mind that anyone who has been in the offices to pay a bill has seen that the office workers are working on top of each other as it is not. It's close quarters.
It makes no sense to me at all that she would have put up with conditions that did not allow her to do her job for three years. I think we all know her better than that.
I saw Mayor Tom this morning when he took his dog for a walk around the block and passed my house. We chatted for a few minutes. During the course of the conversation, he told me that he didn't have an office when he was mayor. So your account was corroborated by Mayor Tom himself, before I even knew about your account.
I remember a joint Borough Council/School Board meeting I attended. It must have been early in Mayor Ledger's term. Marlys Mihok, as one of the School Board reps., was grousing to the Boro reps. about that Mayor Tom sign still being up. And the rest is history.
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