Jul 11, 2018 3 min read

MONESSEN – A legal advertisement in a local newspaper regarding a court hearing on filling a vacant seat on Monessen Council has confused some applicants, leading them to believe a former state representative is a shoo-in for the appointment.

The notice that appeared Friday in the Mon Valley Independent classified section indicated the city presented a petition to Westmoreland County Court to appoint a person to the seat and that “the proposed person to date for the council seat is: R. Ted Harhai.”

“The city didn’t purchase it,” Monessen Councilman Anthony Orzechowski said. “(Westmoreland) County didn’t purchase it.”

He said the city has received phone calls from some of the other 10 city residents who are seeking the council seat wondering about the status of their applications.

“They think they don’t have a chance anymore,” Orzechowski said. “It’s very confusing.”

The seat became vacant May 28 due to the death of former councilman Ron Chiaravalle. Since that time Mayor Matt Shorraw has refused to attend council meetings because of suspicions that if a quorum was present, council would have a majority vote to appoint former Mayor Lou Mavrakis to the seat. He has said he won’t attend meetings until after the county court fills the vacancy.

Mavrakis has denied interest in the appointment.

Meanwhile, Shorraw and a number of others filed the first petition to Westmoreland County Court last month to have Harhai appointed to council. Since then, the city has filed a petition listing 10 other voters interested in the position.

Westmoreland County Court Administrator Amy M. DeMatt and the county’s president judge, Rita Hathaway, ordered Shorraw and the other petitioners to give public notice of the hearing and to direct interested voters to DeMatt’s office. The ad does give direction to any interested resident on how to submit an application.

DeMatt said the “judges have made no decision” on who will be appointed to fill the vacant council seat. She also said questions about the wording of the ad should be directed to the “person who purchased the ad.”

Hahai, who did not seek re-election last year, said he followed the court’s instructions on placing the ad, which cost him $100.

He said he, too, was confused as to why he was required to include in the announcement the instructions for how to apply for the vacant seat. He said his brother, John, took care of placing the ad in the MVI because he was out of town.

Any registered voter in Monessen who is interested in seeking the appointment must submit a résumé and letters of recommendation to DeMatt by July 25 at 2 N. Main St., Greensburg, PA 15601 or to adematt@co.westmoreland.pa.us.

The hearing is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Aug. 2 in Courtroom No. 3 in Westmoreland County Courthouse in Greensburg.