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Frank Michaels needs to do right by the good people of Forty Fort and step down from the borough council. Immediately.
The 68-year-old Michaels has been a member of the Forty Fort Borough Council for five years. Until now, that wasn’t a problem.
But Michaels pleaded guilty in September to felony charges of endangering the welfare of children after the former principal at Coughlin High School got caught up in one of several sex scandals at the Wilkes-Barre school.
Apparently covering for former wrestling coach Stephen Stahl, Michaels during Stahl’s trial denied having been informed about inappropriate contact between Stahl and a female student more than 10 years ago. Another witness at the trial, however, provided evidence to prove Michaels had perjured himself.
Michaels then pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years in the county’s Intermediate Punishment Program in November.
Granted, Forty Fort voters elected Michaels to a second term on the council after charges were filed, but, maybe, they were of the belief that anyone is innocent until proven guilty.
Michaels has been proven guilty. He has admitted his guilt.
Now, he needs to take his name plaque off the Forty Fort Borough Council table and go home.
And, since he also serves as a judge of elections at a polling place in the borough of Forty Fort, he needs to resign that position, as well.
He shouldn’t be voting on budgets, or any other borough issues, for that matter. And, he certainly shouldn’t be trusted to make sure there are no improprieties at the polling place.
According to a story written by Times Leader reporter Geri Gibbons last week, Forty Fort Borough Manger Bonnie Arnone said research done by the borough solicitor revealed the council is powerless to take action to remove Michaels from his council position.
Arnone said court action would have to be initiated by a party with standing to do so, including the district attorney’s office. Arnone said, at the time, no such action was pending in any court.
If the council can’t remove Michaels from his seat and Michaels won’t resign on his own, residents of Forty Fort need to call District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis at 570-825-1674 and let her know they do not want a convicted felon sitting on their governing board.
It’s time we treat felons with the same disrespect with which they treated their victims. Michaels is a felon and he treated a young woman with disrespect when he denied knowing anything about an inappropriate relationship she had with one of his colleagues.
Michaels disgraced himself. He disgraced his family. And he disgraced the Wilkes-Barre Area School District. There is no reason he should be allowed to continue disgracing the residents of Forty Fort Borough.