Thursday, November 8, 2012
Dormont police officer James Burke was reinstated to sergeant on Monday, and council approved a settlement agreement between him and the borough.
Dormont Council on Monday approved a settlement agreement between the borough and Dormont police Sgt. James Burke. Burke, who was demoted to officer last year, also was reinstated to sergeant. The audience cheered after council voted on each motion. Burke did not make a statement during the meeting, but spoke to Dormont-Brookline Patch afterward. “I’m very grateful that my wife no longer has to go through what she has gone through for the past year and a half,” Burke said. “This just goes to show that if you do things right, eventually you’ll get through any dark time.” The motions to approve the settlement and reinstate Burke to sergeant were passed by a 5-0 vote. Councilman Jeff Fabus abstained from the vote. Councilman John Maggio did …
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
A date has not been finalized, but Dormont Mayor Tom Lloyd said he is planning to step down from his position in the borough before the end of his term.
- GOVERNMENT
- Erin Faulk
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Wednesday, September 26, 2012
After 18 years as a council member, followed by 19 years as mayor, Dormont Mayor Tom Lloyd said he plans to retire from his position in the borough. Lloyd said he has not set a date for when he will step down from his position, but said he likely will not finish his current term as mayor, which ends next year. “It’s a long time that I’ve served here and I think it’s about time for me to step down,” Lloyd said. “It’s going to happen, it’s just there’s no time frame really set.” Lloyd said the time he spent as mayor was not without its rough spots, but that he always enjoyed serving the borough and its residents. He said he thinks he’s leaving the borough in good hands with the current council members, and the new hires to the borough’s …
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
The interim administrative police chief, who submitted his resignation letter Tuesday, talks about the changes he's made to Dormont's police department.
Richard Dwyer knew that his time in Dormont would be short-lived when he accepted the offer to become interim administrative police chief in June. After demoting former Chief Phil Ross in March, council hired Dwyer in June to regain control of the police department, improve public safety and ease tensions between the department and administration. Dwyer had been told the assignment would probably last three to six months. He was chosen because of his experience in law enforcement management. Last month, in an interview with Patch, Dwyer said his time with the borough could be just days or weeks, knowing that some of the council candidates, if elected, planned to return former police Chief Phil Ross to his post. But instead of a new council…
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
The postcards calling for his impeachment continued to arrive through Election Day.
Dormont's mayor sees one benefit to the anonymous "Impeach Dormont Mayor Tom Lloyd" mailers that continued to arrive in his mailbox up to Election Day. Each one required a postage stamp. "So in a way, I want to thank you for the post office," Lloyd said at Monday's Dormont Council meeting. Someone first sent the mailers out to residents in August. There were accusations about his handling of the police situation among other issues. When they started to arrive in his mailbox in October, Lloyd decided to file a police report for what he considers "harassment." "During the last two weeks before Election Day, I was getting two or three a day," he said. He figures whoever is behind the anonymous mailer decided to get rid of whatever was left …
Council voted 4-1 to uphold its new parking ticket policy, stripping all Dormont elected officials of the ability to dismiss parking tickets.
Dormont Council voted 4-1 Monday night to overturn Mayor Tom Lloyd's veto of a new parking ticket ordinance that tightens the reins on which borough officials have the power to dismiss parking tickets and also limits each license plate to only one dismissal a year, no exceptions. The mayor invoked his veto power after the ordinance was adopted by council at its October meeting. Lloyd has been dismissing tickets throughout his years of service, as have Dormont mayors before him. Council approved the new ordinance at that meeting by a 3-2 vote with Council President Kim Lusardi, Vice President Laurie Malka and Councilman Drew Lehman in favor and council members Joan Hodson and Eugene Barilla opposed. At Monday's meeting, Barilla, Malka, …
Monday, November 14, 2011
No tax increase is proposed for 2012.
Dormont Council voted at its meeting Monday night to advertise an ordinance that will keep the tax rate at 14 mills next year. The millage rate is calculated by multiplying the assessed value of your property by the millage rate, which for Dormont would be .014. One mill equals $1 for each $1,000 of assessed valuation on property. Under that rate, the owner of a home assessed at $100,000 would pay $1,400 in taxes to the borough next year. The vote was 5-0 with council President Kim Lusardi and Councilwoman Joan Hodson absent from the meeting. Council hopes to adopt the ordinance at its Dec. 5 meeting. Mayor Tom Lloyd asked to have the figures for the assessed valuation of the borough as a whole, which is calculated by the county each year…
Monday, October 31, 2011
The anonymous postcards that were sent to residents in August have resurfaced in Mayor Tom Lloyd's mailbox almost daily.
The postcards that began arriving in Mayor Tom Lloyd's mailbox a few weeks ago could be categorized as junk mail—except they become personal when the large print says "Impeach Dormont Mayor Tom Lloyd." And they've kept coming, to the point of being more than just an annoyance. When enough arrived via U.S. Mail that it became harassment, the mayor decided to file a police report. "After awhile, I got tired of it," Lloyd said Monday morning. "I've probably gotten a dozen. I get them almost every day." Lloyd was not unfamiliar with the card. It was the same one used in an anonymous mailing to borough residents in late August. That mailing prompted more than 100 people to pack into a Dormont Borough Council meeting on Aug. 29, demanding to …
Monday, October 3, 2011
Dormont Council voted 3-2 Monday night to approve the new parking ordinance but the mayor gave notice that he's using his veto power to protest it.
Dormont Borough's new parking policy was only minutes old Monday night when Mayor Tom Lloyd announced that he plans to veto the measure. His announcement drew some applause from those in the crowded council chambers. Council approved the new ordinance by a 3-2 vote with Council President Kim Lusardi, Vice President Laurie Malka and Councilman Drew Lehman in favor and council members Joan Hodson and Eugene Barilla opposed. Lloyd said after the meeting, under borough law, he has 10 days to file a letter to make the veto official. He said it would take a supermajority vote of council to override the veto. Under the ordinance, only the police desk officers and police secretary can excuse or dismiss parking tickets, taking away the power to …
Monday, September 26, 2011
If Dormont Council approves the proposed ordinance, the mayor will no longer have the power to dismiss tickets.
Dormont Council is expected to vote next Monday on an ordinance that would tighten the reins on which borough officials have the power to dismiss parking tickets and also limit each license plate to only one dismissal a year, no exceptions. The proposed policy will allow permit parking tickets to be excused only if: Meter parking tickets would be excused only if the meter was verified as out of order at the time the ticket is issued. Residents Michelle Ross and Darlene Davis both took exception to the "no exceptions" provision of the policy that would allow only one ticket per license plate each year, pointing out that sometimes emergencies occur. "If you don't put 'no exception,' then there'd be every exception," Councilman Drew Lehman …
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
More than 100 residents pack borough council meeting questioning who sent it.
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 controversy surrounding the police department. 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 …
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Erin Faulk
3:28 pm on Saturday, November 10, 2012
Also, since you're up on basic reporting skills, perhaps you'd be interested in blogging for Patch? We are always looking for residents and local people who might want to contribute their thoughts and opinions to our "Local Voices" section. It would be cool to have the perspective of a new Dormont resident in a blog. If you're interested, you can email me at erin.faulk@patch.com. Thanks! more ›