We obviously DO NOT need 2 police chiefs and now that Chief Ross' demotion from Chief has been overturned He should have been reinstated immediately,ergo Mr. Dwyer really isn't needed in Dormont anymore.(we didn't need him at all ,actually)The Mayors Association has stated that Mayors MAY dissmiss tickets so we do not need Dwyer to look into that issue anymore (I really don't think we needed to pay him $5500.00 dollars to look into that in the first place Looks like Gino wanted to find a way to make up for his legal fees )

Agree Maria and I now see that the article has been updated a bit. I wonder how the members of council that have fostered this situation would feel it were their family member in need of an officer and one was not available in "just an hour"?

does anyone know how much the starting salary is 4 a dormont patrolman

Shame on Kim for not caring about her community being without police. Why should we depend on another community to cover Dormont in case of emergency. Maybe if she cared about the residents as much as she cares about Gino Dormont wouldn't be in the mess it is in.

Dwyer said to "Keep your radio on"??????????? Unbelieveable! That's a total abdication of responsibility to us, who pay ALL of their salaries. And if DormontMom is right, then you will see many of us, who never thought about moving before, begin the process of moving out. The police and fire services are the reason we are a nice, safe community and not greater Beechview. Rizza and the stooges on council who back him MUST GO!

I don't think it is just Gino who has an agenda for getting rid of the police. Kim and Laurie would rather sing Gino's praises than to do what is best for the police. We no longer have a newsletter we have Lauries own soap box. I personally am tired of hearing her bull.

You do not speak for me or my family, Robert. And you indeed would care very much if you or your loved ones were in need of a police officer and none was there for you. Careful what you wish for. You know what they say about Karma. Thursday afternoon was but a taste of what is in store for us

I don't want to see a Dormont without it's own PD either, Robert. However, I did speak with a few of our officers and learned that leaving your radio on is not anything new - it has happened in the past quite frequently under Ross and other Chiefs. Ross, although he went very far over the overtime budget, did apparently use this as a way to curb overtime. I also don't want to see this bickering between Dwyer and the Mayor. Let Dwyer do his job and the Mayor can do his. Maybe Dwyer isn't the long time solution, but it sure isn't Ross either. Hire someone full time from the outside and get it over with!

Go Dormont your 100% wrong. leaving a radio on never happened when Ross was the chief or Mckibben. Never happened let alone " quite frequently." You also seem to forget Phil Ross had shift min. to deal with and Gino/Dwyer didn't. To be fair maybe Dan can write another story next January with the Officers W-2's so we can compare who controlled OT better. Phil hasn't been chief most of this year, 2011 is all on Gino. We'll see how Gino/Dwyer did. Here's an idea to all on council. The next time Gino walks into one of your secret meetings with a light bulb above his head, take a step back and ask yourself a few questions. Is this going to get us in the newspaper again? Is this really good for Dormont? Is this going to send me packing in November? How much is this going to cost us in attorney fees?Speaking of costs how much is that noval of a newsletter going to cost us to send out. Maybe Kim and Lori will pitch in for the extra postage since they wrote the 9 page " Gino for president" piece.

So if I am correct Dwyer told the daylight officers to go home before the next shift of officers arrived. The officers were in court in Mt Lebo and were instructed to leave their radios on....Hmmmm are they permitted to have their radios on while in court? I really find that hard to believe as that would be very distracting. So if they are in court and for arguments sake are NOT permitted to leave their radios on then what....no one answering calls for according to the Post Gazette nearly 1 1/2 hours. And according to this article one officer is back on duty and gets a suicide call and has to respond to it with no backup....really. And council not only thinks this is ok but backs it. The PG reports that Lusardi, Malka, Schmitt, & Lehman voted to reinstate him and the other council members were not available. How long does council think they can sponge off other community's tax dollars by borrowing their police force?

BTW - Lusardi, Malka, Lehman, and Schmitt - this happened at the 3 - 4 o'clock hour..correct? Next week when our children are coming home from school should we expect that if it is time for the daylight shift to go home and the next shift of officers are tied up in court we will have NO police in our community while our children are coming home from school? You are ok with that? Is the 2 hours of overtime more important than the safety of our children?

Dormont Resident I agree with you 100% Robert has to be someone from council or a family member or Gino for that matter who else would make such a stupid statement?

You people need to step back and look at the posts that are being made here. Robert comes out with a post that is clearly nothing but bait for all of you lemmings and you bite. Dormonter wants my family to need the police and have them not be available? I feel sorry for you Dormonter, you have to be so unhappy to post the trash that you do. All of you that feel that "Robert" has to be related to someone on council or Gino?? Did you ever think that maybe Robert has nothing better to do than to stir the pot. I am not happy about this situation on Thursday but I need to get all of the details before I can really make an informed decision. If someone is wrong I will stand up for the punishment that is applied. But none of you have all of the information that you need and are letting some person play with your emotions.Try to be more open minded and ignore stupid posts from anonymous people that are trying to bring you down to their level.

Just Mom, the radios were NOT PERMITTED on while in court. Blaise made them turn them off. So no one was available, but I am sure Gino had his radio on just in case he got to play cop.

Drew, nice of you to refer to the taxpayers of Dormont as small rodents (lemmings). Another foot in your mouth moment. People have had enough of your blatant rudeness.

The longer the excessive overtime is allowed to continue, the higher taxes are going to be for Dormont residents. The gold-plated police department and the mayor who supports them have to be stopped.

If this is 100% factual that no officers were on routine patrol for 75 minutes we have a huge problem in Dormont! And if ANY council members condone this you are playing with fire, and peoples lives (maybe one of your own or a family member) I would never wish ill will on anyone and agree with Drew when he says anyone who does is sick. Drew you post on here and answer questions, we don't hear from the "others" so what the hell happened that we had no officers for 75 minutes? This game that all of you are playing with our communities safety has JUST GOT TO STOP!

There are some discrepancies in the above article and http://www.postgazette.com/pg/11235/1169193-55.stm

The way I understood the mayor, there was no one at first, then there was one alone for a time.

Ok thanks Dan...got confused reading these.

Wow, the vindictive, childishness that goes on in your small community is astounding. Of course I am sure this goes on in every form of government body. No one will ever completly see an issue exactly the same as another. It's interesting to me though, that in all these posts no one mentioned that the lone officer could very well have been killed. I suppose his safety is not important. As someone who lives in between many different communities, I shudder to think what will happen if they all at some point no longer have their own police force and are all supported by the Pittsburgh Police. I also don't like to think what will happen to my taxes if that becomes the case. Lets face it people, the world is not becoming safer nor more caring of their fellow man. In these horrendous economic times , crime goes sky high, people become more desperate, more suicidal etc. Now is definately not the time to cut back on a police prescence nor send a lone officer into what could be a desperate situation.

I have refrained from posting here since finding the patch in March, but this particular incident is extremely concerning to me and my family. Kim, Laurie, and Drew, I have worked with you either through the PFO or the Boosters and can honestly say I am no longer a supporter of any of you. November can't come soon enough for me. My family will not cast our votes for anyone presently on council with the exception of Ms. Hodson and hopefully the new council will seek to hire a new borough manager and give Cheif Ross his job back, which by the way he deserves!

WOW! This stuff is amazing. Every one of these arguments deteriorates into personal mud slinging. What happened to the great little town I grew up and lived in for 40 years and am STILL involved in trying to help stay vibrant???? EVERYONE needs to take a deep breath and stay on the subject WITHOUT the insults on EITHER side!

Well if the very over paid Mr Dwyer had the athority to arrest I say his butt should of been out on patrol in a police car. Anyone see something wrong with this Picture ? NOw I know for certain Ross would of done that. Seriously what was council thinking ? They will be OUT in Nov. This poor decision making is disgusting to say the least. The fact of all this hoo haa is deliberate vengence on part of this council. The appeal shows that for certain. Save your typing fingers Drew you know its true ! Somehow I feel the real agenda here is to sell Dormont out to the city. Before you know it we will be paying city taxes. I am so not liking this, perhaps time to sell and get out. Thank you so much council people (except Joan ) for the misery you have caused it's citizans ! Sleep well !

HEY DREW THIS IS A FORUM FOR RESIDENTS TO DISCUSS OUR COMMUNITY. Just because you don't agree with someone they are not dumb or easily distracted and fooled by posts. If you don't like residents comments, DON'T READ IT!!
How about doing your JOB and resprent our community in an upstanding way and quit making a complete ass of yourself and our Dormont government on this website!

Hey we made the front page of Local Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Dormont once again looking like a Mickey Mouse Town way to go Dormont Council , you make us so proud, NOT!!!!

I don't suppose any of you have read a word that Lou Pietosi posted. Mr. Lehman, you ought to be thinking of every poster on here as a possible constituent and treat all with respect and use discretion in your posts. Seeing your comments here makes me wonder if you have the civility and professionalism to hold public office. I would rather not vote for you if given the chance.

Lou makes a good point. What happened to the wonderful community of Dormont? When did everyone get a kick out of putting others down and being meanspirited. Quite frankly, I wonder why a citizen not involved in public service would be raising the roof over issues they may not be as adept at speaking on as the Borough Manager, the Mayor, the Chief of Police and the Borough Council. We all ought to get out of the way and let our public servants and elected officials do the work we have entrusted them to do.

And if you have a family member in the thick of things, quite frankly, keep it to yourself. Matters of governance take special education, skills and and a definite committment to excellence. "Mud slinging" as it has been posted here benefits no one. Adults do not play as children do. Adults do not listen to rumor and conjecture without checking the facts.

Dormont can do better than what is going on right now. I have seen Dormont in it's best light. Dormont is a great community with great people. Try to remember that.

TAC

Not sure who you think I am Drew, but you know me well and I have never attended a council meeting, waste of my time. Which apparetnly it is for you too, because you and your council get nothing done and make our community look like a joke. Maybe you and Gino sleep good at night, hope you don't need the Police one night they might not be in to take the call. Oh that's right maybe you can get the Pittsburgh Police, thats who the Dormont council is trying to get to take over the Dormont Police, once you dissolve the department, great Public saftey. See how good you sleep at night with one patroleman in Dormont once the Pittsburgh Police takeover, you guys do Dormont so Proud. As for me moving, maybe haven't decided yet on Mt. Lebanon, Upper St. Clair or Peters Township, why are you trying to get some work for wife, no thank you!

There's a new article on the subject. May be better to comment there: http://patch.com/A-lwwr

Drew you chose to be a Public Figure and if you are stupid enough to not remain anonymous and post your comments, LIVE WITH THE CONSEQUENCES.
Enjoy your council seat while you have it because you won't be there long.
Keep posting and show us your true colors that we all hear about from the council meetings. Keep making us PROUD!

Mr Lehman--forgive me if I'm stepping "out of line" here but why must you continue to find it necesary to insult people here? As a public official shouldn't you "take the high road" rather than live up to the sterotype that so many of today's politicians have earned??? Again please don't take this personally because I don't know you, but it seems to me that you could get your points across MUCH better by simply stating them and ignoring the insults that many people now think is their "birthright" as a tax payer or voter??? Just a thought from someone who lived in Dormont for almost 40 years and has had family there since 1958 and continues to do so. I am so disappointed to see how low the level of respect is between the public and their representatives, both nationally and especially on the local level where many of us know each other. And for those that continue to feel it necessary to insult public officials, remember--they are people just like us, with families also. Argue the issues, not the insults people!! Just my observation. Thanks for your consideration!

City taxes are basically lower than Dormont's , for property owners anyway. :)

Leigh, I have to correct you on who is running with who in November. Mr. Maggio is running on his own, NOT with Onnie Costanzo and Valerie Martino

Hey Jim: I am on a short break. I am doing fantastic, Nice try starting a rumor. Ask her yourself.

James, why do you hound people who post here? First you were nagging me for a date at the Sugar Cafe, now you want other women's contact info. Lonely?

Drew once again, your leadership and communication skills come shinning through. I am not a coward because I chose to remain unknown. I volunteer in the community all the time and raise money for the community also. I don't agree with you and your inappropriate behavior on this blog, at council meetings and public hearings.
You days are numbered reprsenting our community. I also agree you need not post anymore comments, no one cares what you have to say and you have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to me and all the readers why you shouldn't be representing Dormont. Maybe you should move, take Gino with you and it would give Dormont another reason for a Parade or better yet we could have a going away Bar Crawl in your honor!

Louise...im sorry you interpreted that as a "date", ha! And no.

Hey Mike V, I got a question. Or is it really Mark, you little IMP ???? Psssssst you were never really a good cop. Sorry. I overheard you talking about all of this so you are not as slick as you thought.

Just got a flyer in the mail to impeach the Mayor? You've got to be kidding me! Shouldn't it be Gino and his council pals?