Anonymous Mailer Angers Dormont Residents

A new twist was added to the ongoing drama swirling around Dormont when many of the borough’s residents over the weekend received an anonymous mailer suggesting that Mayor Tom Lloyd should be impeached.

That prompted more than 100 people to pack into Monday’s night borough council meeting, demanding to know who sent it and how it is connected to the . The crowd was so large the workshop meeting was moved into the borough gymnasium next to the municipal building.

 Some accused members on the borough council of sending the anonymous mailer, a charge President Kim Lusardi denied.

“We have had nothing to do with that,” she said, drawing an outcry of jeers from the crowd. 

That answer didn’t satisfy Leah Petrilli, who said some in the community are trying to find out who sent the mailer.

“This is a disgrace,” Petrilli said. “If we find out anyone (on council) had anything to do with this, would they resign? Or if it was an employee, would they be terminated?”

Lloyd said he was jarred on Saturday upon hearing people talking about the mailer and later saw the word impeach in bold letters next to his name. There were accusations about his handling of the police situation among other issues. Still, he said he was happy to receive support from the residents at the meeting. 

“Obviously, there are a lot of things that are in there that are not true,” Lloyd said. “What else can you say about these people showing up for you like this? How can’t you feel good about that?”

But many in the audience were angry that someone in the community was trying to sway their opinion of the mayor without identifying himself. Ryan Kelley said he didn’t receive the mailer, but contacted state election officials on Monday to question the legality of its anonymous origins.

Others felt it was an act of voter intimidation, although the mayor is not up for re-election this fall.

“I don’t know how this could possibly fall under voter fraud,” Councilman Drew Lehman said. “This could have been sent out by anyone in the United States. It could have.”

That didn’t satisfy many of the residents who think it came from a member on council.

Sandy Kaminski said she was disgusted by how the borough is perceived because of the infighting and blamed many on council for the dysfunction. She ripped up the mailer upon receiving it Saturday, and laid a piece of the paper at the feet of several of the council members and borough . She and others signaled they wouldn’t forget these problems in upcoming elections.