Morrisville Mayor Rita Ledger
Posted: Tuesday, April 23, 2013 1:00 pm | Updated: 2:29 pm, Tue Apr 23, 2013.
Posted on April 23, 2013
Morrisville Mayor Rita Ledger claims she can't do her job because of obstacles set up by borough officials.She wants that to change. She had her lawyer file a complaint with the borough and asked officials to sit down and discuss her concerns.Instead of agreeing to a meeting, the borough last week forwarded the complaint to its insurance company, borough solicitor James Downey of Begley, Carlin, & Mandio said. He added that the company will investigate and respond to the claims.
Attached to the complaint letter sent March 26 was a draft of a civil lawsuit for Bucks County Court, detailing Ledger's claim.
“I think this (draft) paper should be a good jumping off place in our attempts to resolve Ms. Ledger’s issues,” attorney Martha Sperling from the Eastburn and Gray firm said in the letter. “I have laid out the general problems with the interference of her duties as a mayor.”
Ledger, elected in 2009 to a four-year term as the borough's first female mayor, claims in the draft that she has been denied access to public records, the police building and executive sessions, and has experienced sex discrimination, causing her distress.
“She has been berated when she tries to tell the police (department) what to do, being told that she is useless and that they ‘don’t need a mayor, they have mayors at home,’ ” the draft claims.
The newspaper was unsuccessful in reaching Sperling or Ledger for comment about the draft, which, if filed, would seek more than $100,000 in compensatory damages.
Named in the draft as would-be defendants are the borough, council members Nancy Sherlock, Victor Cicero, David Rivella, Fred Kerner, borough Manager Tom Bates, assistant borough manager Robert Seward, former police chief Jack Jones and acting police Chief Lt. Tom Heron.
The complaint states that Ledger has been “routinely denied access for the last three years to the police department of the Borough of Morrisville although she has final responsibility and authority over the borough’s chief of police and police force.”
Like other Pennsylvania boroughs, Morrisville has a weak mayor's office. But among its duties is the supervision of the police department. The mayor also can administer oaths and affirmations, declare states of emergency, break tie votes on the borough council and veto council legislation.
Ledger claims she has requested and been denied keys to the police department by the borough administration. Additionally, she alleges that the designated mayor’s office has been re-purposed and she has been denied office rights, along “with access to a telephone, fax machine and computer,” leaving her to conduct her duties in the hallways of borough hall.
Ledger, who is not seeking re-election this year, also is claiming that the administration has “forbidden” her to take home documents concerning the borough’s budget and has “routinely refused to allow the mayor access to documents, which she needs to do her job. The mayor should be permitted to have unfettered access to the police department files and has been denied all access to those files. Her ability to make informed decisions has been compromised,” reads in the complaint.
Morrisville officials have said that under the borough code, mayors are given a $4,000 yearly allowance for legal services, so Ledger can use that to pursue her complaint against the borough.
Ledger, a Democrat and former councilwoman, was sworn into office on Jan. 3, 2010.
At the time, she foresaw trouble ahead.
She told supporters that although she looked forward to serving Morrisville, "I realize I am a marked woman because I am the first woman mayor."
Ledger had lost her party's nomination in the primary election in May 2009 to fellow Democrat Patricia A. Schell. But with dozens of write-in ballots by Republican voters, Ledger appeared on the November ballot under the GOP ticket.
Ledger then bested Schell by more than 200 votes and replaced Thomas Wisnosky as mayor. Wisnosky served as mayor for eight years but didn't seek re-election.
Ledger served as a Ward 1 councilwoman for four years. Before that, she sat on the Morrisville Zoning Hearing Board.
Attached to the complaint letter sent March 26 was a draft of a civil lawsuit for Bucks County Court, detailing Ledger's claim.
“I think this (draft) paper should be a good jumping off place in our attempts to resolve Ms. Ledger’s issues,” attorney Martha Sperling from the Eastburn and Gray firm said in the letter. “I have laid out the general problems with the interference of her duties as a mayor.”
Ledger, elected in 2009 to a four-year term as the borough's first female mayor, claims in the draft that she has been denied access to public records, the police building and executive sessions, and has experienced sex discrimination, causing her distress.
“She has been berated when she tries to tell the police (department) what to do, being told that she is useless and that they ‘don’t need a mayor, they have mayors at home,’ ” the draft claims.
The newspaper was unsuccessful in reaching Sperling or Ledger for comment about the draft, which, if filed, would seek more than $100,000 in compensatory damages.
Named in the draft as would-be defendants are the borough, council members Nancy Sherlock, Victor Cicero, David Rivella, Fred Kerner, borough Manager Tom Bates, assistant borough manager Robert Seward, former police chief Jack Jones and acting police Chief Lt. Tom Heron.
The complaint states that Ledger has been “routinely denied access for the last three years to the police department of the Borough of Morrisville although she has final responsibility and authority over the borough’s chief of police and police force.”
Like other Pennsylvania boroughs, Morrisville has a weak mayor's office. But among its duties is the supervision of the police department. The mayor also can administer oaths and affirmations, declare states of emergency, break tie votes on the borough council and veto council legislation.
Ledger claims she has requested and been denied keys to the police department by the borough administration. Additionally, she alleges that the designated mayor’s office has been re-purposed and she has been denied office rights, along “with access to a telephone, fax machine and computer,” leaving her to conduct her duties in the hallways of borough hall.
Ledger, who is not seeking re-election this year, also is claiming that the administration has “forbidden” her to take home documents concerning the borough’s budget and has “routinely refused to allow the mayor access to documents, which she needs to do her job. The mayor should be permitted to have unfettered access to the police department files and has been denied all access to those files. Her ability to make informed decisions has been compromised,” reads in the complaint.
Morrisville officials have said that under the borough code, mayors are given a $4,000 yearly allowance for legal services, so Ledger can use that to pursue her complaint against the borough.
Ledger, a Democrat and former councilwoman, was sworn into office on Jan. 3, 2010.
At the time, she foresaw trouble ahead.
She told supporters that although she looked forward to serving Morrisville, "I realize I am a marked woman because I am the first woman mayor."
Ledger had lost her party's nomination in the primary election in May 2009 to fellow Democrat Patricia A. Schell. But with dozens of write-in ballots by Republican voters, Ledger appeared on the November ballot under the GOP ticket.
Ledger then bested Schell by more than 200 votes and replaced Thomas Wisnosky as mayor. Wisnosky served as mayor for eight years but didn't seek re-election.
Ledger served as a Ward 1 councilwoman for four years. Before that, she sat on the Morrisville Zoning Hearing Board.
43 comments:
http://www.eastburngray.com/bios.aspx?id=289
YOU ARE ALL SMALL CHILDREN PLAY-ACTING AS RESPONSIBLE ADULTS IN ELECTED POSITIONS.
Morrisville taxes to increase....
Is this from the Onion?
What a steaming pile of ridiculousness!!!!! That law firm is laughing all the way to the bank, because they get paid no matter how frivolous the lawsuit is. Ledger should personally pay every cent she blows above and beyond her taxpayer supplied $4000 legal allotment. Would she be the first Morrisville Mayor to resign in disgrace or does someone else already have that distinction?????
I don't care at all whether she's male, female or a hermaphrodite. I think she's an incredibly bad and embarrassing mayor. Now she's going to waste a boatload of taxpayer money on this lunacy.
Can we have Falls Township take over the boro when Pennsbury takes over the school district? I'm embarrassed to say this is my town.
I am flabbergasted by her monumental combination of arrogance and stupidity. Hellman must be proud.
Here's the list of our boro comedy team. Call them and let them know how you feel about this idiocy. Remember that all the costs for this for both sides, no matter who wins or loses, is paid for by each and every taxpayer.
http://www.morrisvillepagov.com/OurBoro.asp
Why would you suggest people call the council people? It's the mayor's accusations. Wouldn't it be the mayor who is called?
There is a special meeting of borough council tomorrow evening, Wed 4/24 at 7pm. I do not know the reason for the meeting. It's my guess that it's either about Rita's nonsense or about the police investigation report. There is always public comment at the beginning of council meetings. If you would like to talk about this, go to public comment & do it there. Or, you can go to the borough website and send in a comment as well.
Call the Mayor. Reverse the charges. That's what she's doing to us.
Such an ass. In the past few years the borough was able to keep from raising taxes & still purchase new equipment etc because of smarter methods than was used in the past. So Rita is going to make sure taxes go up next year and the town will have nothing to show for it. Nice parting gift to the community. You were stupid enough to vote me in as your mayor and as a thank you I'm screwing you all on my way out.
Someone must be doing Rita's reading for her. This article sounds very much like Rita's complaints.
It looks like what Rita is talking about has less to do with PA borough code & more to do with this article.
Some of this is word for word.
http://voices.yahoo.com/the-role-mayor-pennsylvania-small-towns-all-423062.html?cat=75
Is it possible that Rita is right and they are keeping her out?
After three years? I have been to council meetings. I have watched council meeting on the tv. Rita & friends have absolutely no problem publicly bashing everything. If any of this was happening for three years, we would have been hearing about it long before now.
I don't know who wrote this in the current Potluck but I thought it deserved a repost here.
"Now I've seen it all. One of the biggest loads of B.S. in Morrisville history, regardless of gender. Another product of a small not so bright person with a big chip on their shoulder, bad at their job, and using the "best defense is a good offense" tactic She should quit now. Why serve out the rest of her miserable zero accomplishment term in further disgrace!"
1 comment:
CCC_PA posted at 8:14 am on Wed, Apr 24, 2013.
Posts: 189
So now that her term is almost up she's filing a lawsuit? Something doesn't smell right. What's she been doing for the last 3+ years? The search for more money?
A competent leader would have found another way to get around the so called obstacles years ago, not the whining .. er, waning, months of a failed 4 yr term. To play the gender card is the icing on the ridiculous cake. She should bring in a NOW rep to grandstand at the special meeting.
I had a civil rights attorney tell me, "If there's no strong evidence, there is no case." Apparently that's not the case here! People can't just do what they please or what serves them well, sooner or later, someone is going to speak out! Seems to me, might be 3+ years of valid evidence. Stand up America & blow the whistle of freedom, liberty and the pursuit of happiness!
Will you pick up the tab if it's a losing case? Doubt it. I don't want to spend tax money on lame duck frivolity.
Everyone knows someone at work who's bad at their job, milks the system, makes a science out of doing nothing productive, and is always stirring up trouble. You can't understand how they got hired in the first place and you wonder why they haven't been fired already. They know all the rules and all their entitlements but can't seem to do a stitch of work. Then they go on the legal offensive when some perceived slight happens. That's how I think of Ledger.
Here we go, Worob v Gould II. Hold onto your wallets!
All it takes is spouting some Tea Party patriotism to go from a taker to a hero?
I do not doubt that the good ole boys at the boro played these tactics. I can see it myself and all you have to do is see how long some of these guys have been in their positions, elected or not, and something smells rotten in denmark. As for Rita, could she be a better Mayor, yes. Could she represent our town better, yes. But I wholeheartedly believe there are blockades, games, tactics, and discrimination going on, walk in there one day and you get the feel of an old southern jail where you better not be the non-white, non-male walking in the door or driving down the street
So tired of the people that "represent" Morrisville. No one everyone thinks Morrisville is a town of low lifes.
Alrighty Rita, spend that 4k wisely, after that you should be on your own dime. This is what happens when the brain drain is nearly complete.
THEY CALL ME MR. TIBBS!!!!!!
Eileen agrees.
Eileen Dreisbach · Morrisville High School
It's about time. She has been dealing with this she her term began! Enough is enough. How can a Mayor oversee the police department when she doesn't have access to the office?
I am woman, hear me roar In numbers too big to ignore And I know too much to go back an' pretend 'Cause I've heard it all before And I've been down there on the floorNo one's ever gonna keep me down again
Oh yes, I am wiseBut it's wisdom born of painYes, I've paid the priceBut look how much I gainedIf I have to, I can do anythingI am strong(Strong)I am invincible(Invincible) I am woman
You can bend but never break me'Cause it only serves to make meMore determined to achieve my final goalAnd I come back even strongerNot a novice any longer'Cause you've deepened the conviction in my soul
Oh yes, I am wiseBut it's wisdom born of painYes, I've paid the priceBut look how much I gainedIf I have to, I can do anythingI am strong(Strong)I am invincible(Invincible) I am woman
I am woman watch me growSee me standing toe to toeAs I spread my lovin' arms across the landBut I'm still an embryoWith a long, long way to goUntil I make my brother understand
Oh yes, I am wiseBut it's wisdom born of painYes, I've paid the priceBut look how much I gainedIf I have to, I can face anythingI am strong(Strong)I am invincible(Invincible) I am woman
I am womanI am invincibleI am strongI am womanI am invincibleI am strong I am woman
If Rita wins her lawsuit, and her SOC cronies take council majority, will they vote to stop payment?
The asshats are why the Ville has its reputation. They are an embarrassment and they never let up. I know plenty of fine people in the first ward. Why is it that these two are the ones representing? not just the ward, but the whole boro. I hope that you all show up at the next meeting and do everything to heap shame on both of them for not just this, but all of their shenanigans. They are a disgrace!!
"If Rita wins her lawsuit, and her SOC cronies take council majority, will they vote to stop payment?"
ANSWER: NO. SOCs help their fellow SOCs. They will have no problem sending taxpayer money her way.
MrHarley posted at 2:58 pm on Wed, Apr 24, 2013.
Posts: 990
Something does not smell right that they would not let her do her job. Sounds like a bunch of sore losers.
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I AM YOU posted at 2:02 pm on Wed, Apr 24, 2013.
Posts: 405
No official may view ALL police reports/investigations. In certain cases only sworn officers may do so, and only if in line with "need to
know" authority. Something does not smell right with her request.
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Jviper6000 posted at 3:00 pm on Wed, Apr 24, 2013.
Posts: 12
Thats what you focus on? The fact that they she requested police documents and it doesnt "smell right"? That is a complete violation of the borough laws and policies to deny the mayor access to an office and all records. Seems she made an enemy that is making her life difficult. Thats whats missing here. You "dont smell right" for focusing on something irrelevant like that. Focus on the fact that she is the "mayor" and has a substancial power in that town and they are denying her that power and access to even an office!?!? What an outrage!
When I heard about this I shook my head and thought "Rita & friends are at it again." Her history tells me automatically that she is up to her same old tricks just on a larger scale. It is election time after all and its another chance for unknowing people to vote in more of the cronies who will no doubt damage all the progress that has been made over the past few years.
Rita who told the town at more than one meeting that she had had secret meetings about the pool and that there was no debt when in fact there was quite a bit. Rita who voted against the boroughwide green project to help clean things up yet wanted the borough to agree to spend a blanket $15,000 that it doesn't have on a promo simply because an advertising company made her feel important by calling her, voted against a balanced budget two years in a row along with numerous other things.
Then the fact that Eileen is supporting her on this. Where is Eileen's outrage about someone trying to milk the community of its tax money. Eileen should be encouraged not to speak out about anything because she does it so poorly. Eileen who has voted NO at every progress being attempted since Jane lost her council seat is now defending Rita who is saying she has been having difficulties for three years. This just sounds so idiotic to me. Eileen who yells her way through council meetings over nothing, things she doesn't agree with, things she doesn't understand, all because she's not having any fun on council without Jane. Eileen who votes no to things like paying the monthly bills, is defending Rita's lawsuit that will only end up costing the residents. Just amazing. Does anyone actually believe that if Rita was such a victim that Eileen wouldn't have yelled about it on the dais, or that Rita would have for that matter. The history of these two people tells me that we would have all heard about these things long before now. They cannot seem to keep their mouths shut when there is nothing to complain about so surely this all would have been constant topics of rantings on the dais for the past few years.
In Morrisville, there has been a huge police department investigation that isn't going to end up very positive at all. Rita is in charge of the police department. This looks to be a convenient way of washing her hands of any responsibility.
In the end, if it comes down to he said she said, I have to go against Ledger. Her credibility is suspect; some of the reasons outlined above. Plus didn't she blow off her municipal taxes and bills?
Rita learned this trick from her buddy Steve Worob.
What trick is that, losing boo-koo bucks in an idiotic lawsuit? I know, creating a diverson. Hey --- look over there! I smell a low grade self published book in the making.
Villainous scum, the lot of them!!
Bring back public stocks, and let us throw rotten vegetables at them.
OK, at the very least, I hope everyone and their neighbor shows at the next several meetings to tell these jack-holes just what we think of them.
http://savethemorrisvilleschool.blogspot.com/2009/05/unpaid-taxes-buckman-ledger-dreisbach.html
A special meeting has been called for tonight at 7pm. I know of at least one councilperson who wasn't told the nature of the meeting. My guess would be that it's either about Rita's complaint or about the police investigation having been fully completed.
There is a public comment session at the beginning of all council meetings.
I cannot attend this meeting. Consider this one consituent who thinks this is an embarrassing crock though. Ledger is an awful & unqualified mayor, however she shouldn't be denied what the law entitles her to. I hope she's being given exactly that, nothing more nothing less. The adults in the room have to be the bigger people.
Oh great the police dept is screwed up too. Of course Ms. Mayor was shut out so it couldn't possibly be any of her fault.
Where have we heard this before over and over again? It's never ever their fault.
A defense mechanism to avoid having to confront their own inadequacy?
What in this town isn't all F*#&ked up by these a-holes we keep placing in charge?
She looks constipated in that picture. Maybe she needs more fiber in her diet.
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