Council delays police chief search after heated debate over union membership and charter duties

Council members spent more than an hour debating whether to advertise a permanent police chief position or continue with the current acting chief, who is a member of the police bargaining unit.

Miss Schwarz, chair of the Public Safety Committee, urged the council to advertise the opening and said the borough code envisions a chief who is not in the bargaining unit so the chief can act on disciplinary matters without a perceived conflict. She proposed re‑using last year's advertisement and adding "open until filled" to broaden the search.

Several other council members and the mayor described prior efforts and why previous recruitment attempts produced no hireable finalists, noting the borough previously used an external police‑chief screening service and had interviewed finalists who were not a fit. The solicitor told council that having an acting chief is not a technical charter violation and described the legal limits of enforcement.

Council agreed not to put an advertisement this month. Members asked staff to assemble data on costs, risks and staffing implications and scheduled an executive session to discuss personnel and bargaining questions before deciding whether to advertise, make the acting chief permanent, or pursue other options.

The council's course of action: postpone external advertising for now, gather objective data (including staffing numbers and cost estimates), and review bargaining implications in executive session before returning to the public meeting in July.