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Council postpones vote on civility code

HOLLIDAYSBURG — An effort by Councilwoman Joyce Lowe to establish conduct guidelines by which Hollidaysburg Borough Council members must abide was postponed Thursday.

“It lets the people know that (we) are governing and watching ourselves in what we do and how we say it,” Lowe said.

Lowe said she felt the code of civility was necessary after a contentious process to hire a police chief — in which information was leaked from a private meeting — played out this spring.

She said the situation “could all have been avoided if discussion were open and honest.”

To create her code of civility, Lowe said she looked to other municipalities with similar guidelines in place.

The guidelines would pertain to how council members interact with each other, borough employees, the public and the media, she said.

“This isn’t meant to become an ordinance, a law or anything. It’s meant to be self-policing,” she said.

But Councilman Sean Burke said he was reluctant to sign onto the code Lowe presented.

“The concern I have is the difference between these being guidelines and aspirational or them being a code, a rule that is enforceable against us,” he said.

If it was interpreted as an enforceable rule, the code could be used by opposing council members to attack one another — especially in situations where guidelines are vague, Burke said.

“I think we could hang each other with these,” he said, worrying about a situation in which “you have to obey these sort of things, and, if you don’t, you could be reprimanded by council.”

Burke’s comments inspired a question from Lowe.

“So what would you like to do?” she asked.

Burke’s answered, “I’d just tell people to treat others how they’d want to be treated.”

Burke then admitted that he does not find a code of civility necessary. But he agreed to look at Lowe’s proposed code and to make revisions before next month’s meeting.

Mirror Staff Writer Sean Sauro is at 946-7535.

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