Injunction halts separation agreement with Penn Hills police chief, voting on his successor

A court injunction has been granted to postpone Penn Hills Council votes on a separation agreement with the municipality’s police chief and the naming of his successor.

A special meeting to vote on the matters had been scheduled for Oct. 18, but was canceled because three council members said they were sick. The meeting’s agenda included proposals to approve a separation agreement between Penn Hills and its police Chief Howard Burton and then name Lt. Robert Myers as his replacement.

Penn Hills Democratic Committee Chairman Jerry Chiappinelli, Councilman Frank Pecora and council candidate Joanne Fascio filed paperwork seeking the injunction on the day of that meeting. Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Arnold Klein granted it the same day.

Burton’s contract runs through Dec. 31. Under the proposal to name Myers as chief, Myers’ contract would have taken effect Oct. 19 and run through Dec. 31, 2024. Burton would’ve entered into a transitional or advisory role until Dec. 31 when his contract expires.

“I couldn’t see paying two chiefs at a time,” Chiappinelli said.

The proposals to approve the separation agreement and name Myers as Burton’s successor were voted onto the agenda by Deputy Mayor Catherine Sapp and Councilmen John Petrucci and Jim Getsy. They did not attend the Oct. 18 meeting because they said they were sick, causing it to be canceled.

Burton is set to receive benefits in excess of $250,000 once he leaves his position. The injunction filing said the amount made it inappropriate for the separation agreement to be voted on at this time. A statement released by Sapp, Petrucci and Pesko said the vote wouldn’t add anything to Burton’s contract, but would provide him with benefits he has earned during his 50-year career.

“I think the timing is suspect,” said Mayor Pauline Calabrese. “Because there’s no financial benefit to the municipality, so why not just let him finish out his contract?”

The injunction said that Myers’ proposed contract violated public policy because it would bind a successor body to the contract through Dec. 31, 2024. The injunction referenced a 2004 case in state Superior Court that ruled an outgoing government body could not bind a contract to a successor. In that case, Pitcairn’s council voted to hire a new police chief 15 days after an election in which four of seven members were voted out but before the new council members had taken office. The Superior Court agreed with a trial court that “neither urgency nor necessity required (Ben Westwood III’s) appointment (as police chief) less than a month before the new council majority was seated.”

In Penn Hills, Petrucci and Sapp are up for reelection.

Sapp, Petrucci and Getsy have requested that a special meeting be held on Oct. 25. It is being planned as a non-voting meeting, but is being advertised consistent with a special meeting under the charter and Sunshine Act. In their statement, they said the Oct. 18 meeting was a trap and alleges that the filers of the injunction are accusing the three of them of giving Burton a $250,000 bonus. The three of them called that a “bald-faced lie” in their statement.

As of now, voting on the police chief items will be put on hold until at least the Nov. 15 meeting, according to the judge’s order. All parties are set to appear before the judge on Nov. 10 and the solicitor of Penn Hills has until Oct. 28 to file a response to the emergency motion.