Bill to oust politicians for neglect of duty passes state House

A bill designed to provide provisions to oust elected municipal officials for neglect of duty passed the state House Wednesday.
The measure authored by state Rep. Justin Walsh, R-Rostraver, was crafted with absent Monessen Mayor Matthew Shorraw in mind.
“Unfortunately, some of my constituents have not been represented fully due to a mayor refusing to attend to his elected responsibilities for more than a year,” Walsh stated in a news release.
Shorraw, who is in his first term as mayor, hasn’t attended a City Council meeting since May 2018, after claiming he felt threatened by his colleagues.
In a Wednesday email to the Observer-Reporter, Shorraw stated that he supplied the state House Local Government Committee with comments about Walsh’s bill. He said he would not have access to his copy of those comments until Wednesday night.
He said he believes that bill “goes against the Constitution.”
“I also feel that the House, if they are so concerned, should look into why Councilman (Gil) Coles and I have been absent in the first place, instead of believing a one-sided story,” Shorraw said.
House Bill 1444 moves to the state Senate for a vote, and it must pass the Legislature in two consecutive sessions for the proposal to amend the Constitution before it goes to the voters.
It would allow lawmakers to craft another bill to create methods to remove elected municipal officials from office for not fulfilling their duties.
“Voters expect those who they elect to represent them will show up and do their jobs,” said Walsh, whose district includes Monessen.
Acting Mayor Anthony Orzechowski said the other elected officials in the Westmoreland County city “are up to our ears with day-to-day stuff.”
“We’re still doing our jobs,” Orzechowski said. “The city is functioning.”