Monroeville council approves personnel agreement for Police Commander Jason C. Safer despite objections about selection process

Monroeville — The Borough Council voted Jan. 13 to approve a personnel benefits agreement for Police Commander Jason C. Safer and confirmed his promotion effective Jan. 5.

During discussion staff and council members identified a housekeeping edit to paragraph 23 of the agreement — replacing a reference to 'chief of police' with 'police commander' — and said additional details about required education and a plan would be developed by the manager and appended to the contract as an addendum. One council member (identified in the record by the numeric speaker tag) criticized the selection process, saying, "We spent over $27,000 approximately," and said the process was mishandled. Other council members defended the process and expressed support for the commander, saying they intended to work with him.

Council then moved to approve the personnel benefits agreement. On the roll call, a majority voted 'Aye' but at least two council members recorded 'No' votes. The ordinance and agreement were adopted; staff said the manager would meet with Commander Safer to finalize education and addendum details to be presented later for council review.

The contract includes the housekeeping correction to title references and language to memorialize the education plan once finalized. Council did not detail specific financial terms of the contract during the public portion of the meeting; staff said discussion of training and addendum language would be completed before final implementation.