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| Enlisted Councilman Needs Your Help |
| 2007-04-03 |
| This is a report on the Council's March meeting. The April Council meeting is tonight. TULLYTOWN, Pa.--More than 50 people braved the sub-freezing temperatures last night to show their support of a Tullytown Borough, Pa. councilman who wants to vote on borough business while serving in Afghanistan. Councilman Joe Shellenberger, 46, a master sergeant with the U.S. Air Force Reserves was deployed on January 14 and asked council if he could vote over the phone at their monthly meetings Council President Beth Pirolli said she didnÂ’t believe it was a good idea as Shellenberger wouldnÂ’t be part of discussions of the issues during the meetings and wouldnÂ’t have a full understanding about what was happening. "We have to protect the integrity of the public vote despite the circumstances," Pirollli said "WeÂ’re all behind Joe 100 percent." As she sinks the knife into his back At the February meeting, instead of allowing Shellenberger to vote, council voted to deny his request and passed a motion to require that council members must be at meetings to vote That angered Jesse Hill, board member and treasurer of the Delaware Valley Vietnam Veterans, who organized last nightÂ’s protest outside town hall before the council meeting Hill called council the "Tullytown Taliban." "I support Joe Shellenberger. That man is there fighting for our right to vote and heÂ’s not allowed to vote here," said John Bucannan. "HeÂ’s an American who put his life on the line for our freedoms. Give him his vote." Others in the packed meeting hall asked council to reverse last monthÂ’s vote, but council majority was steadfast That was even after Councilman Ed Czyzyk motioned to allow the phone vote, which died for lack of a second. Only a couple people spoke in support of council majorityÂ’s decision, agreeing that one must be present to hear all sides of an issue before voting. This is a quote from another councilman fighting to have Joe participate: It should be noted that Joe is a stand-up guy, my wife and I were discussing him one night and decided that his only fault(s) is that he's too kind and generous to people. No warts, no skeletons in the closet. After serving in Desert Storm he came home and donated a kidney to his diabetic father. Does it get much better than that? In this day and age of webcams and communications technology it amazes me that anyone can make that sort of argument. This amounts to discrimination against serving servicemen. If you'd like to make a comment to the Council call 215-945-1560 today. |
| Posted by:DanNY |