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By MARK GUYDISH; Times Leader Staff Writer
Saturday, January 18, 1997     Page: 1A

HAZLETON — Most city employees started their workday Friday believing they
would be unemployed by 4 p.m. Many got notices of a pending furlough with
their paychecks.
   
At 3:30 p.m., Mayor Michael Marsicano ordered the shutdown of City Hall.
    By 7 p.m., he changed his mind and furloughed only “nonessential”
employees.
   
Insisting City Council had passed an illegal budget, Marsicano called a
news conference Friday afternoon and said he had no choice but to shut down
all city services except fire and police protection.
   
Councilman Bill Lockwood was swift to respond. Lockwood said council
received a memo earlier in the day from the mayor warning of the threatened
shutdown.
   
Lockwood called Marsicano’s decision “unfounded” and an “orchestrated
shutdown of city services.
   
“His actions once again prove that he has no place in public office,”
Lockwood said. “If the man has any conscience whatsoever he would not even
consider depriving the citizens of essential services such as police, fire or
highway service in order to prove a political point.”
   
Marsicano proposed his budget in December. After extensive amendments,
council approved the budget Dec. 30.
   
Marsicano complained that council’s version did not allocate enough money
for city services and debt — which he and new city solicitor Robert Powell
say is a violation of state law. The mayor threatened a veto Jan. 7 but did
not officially veto the budget until Jan. 13, the last day he could legally
take such action.
   
At the news conference, Marsicano said council ignored his veto message all
week. Lockwood countered that the mayor made no mention of a city shutdown
until his Friday morning memo. Council also argues that state law exempts the
budget ordinance from a mayor’s veto.
   
Council scrambled to hold an emergency meeting at 5 p.m. with Powell and
Marsicano. After more than an hour of debate — mostly behind closed doors —
council and the mayor emerged.
   
Despite the drama earlier in the day, the city officials announced a
compromise had been reached to keep all “essential employees.”
   
The officials said fire, police and highway workers will continue working,
but they did not identify any other “essential” workers. City Hall clerical
workers are furloughed until council and the mayor work out a permanent
agreement on the budget, the officials said.
   
Council and the mayor agreed to meet Monday. Monday is a legal holiday, so
the city operations should not be affected until Tuesday.
   
Legal wrangling
   
This was the second time Marsicano vetoed a council budget. Last year,
council voted to override the veto, and Marsicano accepted it. This year,
Marsicano and council got into a more involved legal argument about the
validity of the council’s budget.
   
Earlier this week, City Council legal adviser Charles Pedri issued a
written opinion saying Marsicano’s veto is illegal. But Powell countered by
issuing a written opinion saying the budget as amended by council is illegal.
   
Both attorneys cite different sections of the same law to bolster their
arguments and have given council lengthy written opinions. Council contends
the issue should have been resolved before drastic action such as a shutdown
took place. Marsicano and Powell argued the law left him no choice but to
order a shutdown.
   
Marsicano’s original budget, totaling $6.3 million, had substantial pay
increases for almost all city employees, including $5,000 raises for
department heads — all of whom Marsicano appointed when he became mayor in
January 1996.
   
But when council trimmed the budget to $5.9 million, the pay hikes were
reduced. Most employees received a 4-percent raise.
   
Marsicano’s veto Monday put new urgency into the debate because the city
payroll was due Friday, and no one was sure if the payroll could be legally
issued without a budget in place. Director of Administration Mildred DeLorenzo
said the payroll was issued Friday, but salaries were based on neither the
mayor’s budget nor council ‘s.
   
Council’s budget reduces property taxes, currently 35.9 mills, by 5 mills
while Marsicano’s increases the tax by 2.7 mills. A mill is a $1 tax on every
$1,000 of assessed property value.
   
Mixed reactions
   
Shoppers and workers in the city’s downtown Friday afternoon had mixed
reactions about the City Hall shutdown.
   
A man eager to get out of the cold and board a bus said, “What do you want
me to say? There’s nothing I can do if the mayor shuts down the city.”
   
A downtown employee said, “It’s like a big kid throwing a dangerous
tantrum.”
   
Another said, “In this city, nothing surprises me.”
   
One passerby said, “This city is screwed up, that’s why I don’t vote.” He
walked away then took several steps back and offered more. “I don’t even care
anymore, he’s (Mayor Mike Marsicano) nuts.”
   
Like the others, he did not want to give his name.
   
Workers also were upset and confused Friday afternoon.
   
A police officer, who did not want to be identified, said, “We don’t know
what’s going to happen. We’d like to find out, too.”
   
TIMES LEADER/PETE G. WILCOX
   
Hazleton Mayor Michael Marsicano announces a shutdown of Hazleton’s
government at a Friday afternoon press conference in City Hall.