Napolillo resigns from South Connellsville mayor’s office
South Connellsville is once again without a mayor.
Guy Napolillo, who was in his 14th year as a borough councilman when he was appointed mayor in October following the resignation of Peter M. Casini, submitted his resignation last week.
He said he wasn’t planning to run for another term on council after his third term ended at the end of 2015, but accepted the appointment because he wanted to restore trust public trust.
“I wanted it done right,” Napolillo said.
Napilillo replaced Casini, who resigned after he was charged with theft for allegedly transferring a handgun valued at $875 and owned by the police department to himself without council approval. He allegedly paid the borough $300 for the gun.
As time moved on, Napolillo said he thought that issue as well as perennial issues with equipment and money had been resolved and council could move on to other issues.
But, discussions during council meetings resulted in disagreements, which often turned into arguments and conflicts, he said.
“I’ve had my fill of it. I don’t want to go to these meetings and have them turn into arguments all the time,” Napolillo said. “It was time to walk away from that.”
Karen Holbrook, council president, said Napolillo wasn’t happy with the way council was handling some issues and the way a police matter was handled.
“He said he wasn’t happy with the way some things were being done,” Holbrook said. “There was a big disagreement about issuing a citation or issuing a warning. I felt a citation was right, he felt a warning was right. That started it and other things piled on since then.”
She said she couldn’t discuss the incident because the case hasn’t been resolved.
“He said he wasn’t happy with the way things were going, and he resigned,” Holbrook said.
He said he didn’t think a citation was appropriate, but it was one of many issues that led to his frustration. It isn’t what prompted him to resign.
“That wasn’t the catalyst. It was a multitude of things. A lot of it had to do with time. We’d talk for hours and nothing would get resolved. You just get frustrated with things like that. I just didn’t want to get involved in all the conflict. It’s not productive, and it didn’t go in direction I thought it should go,” Napolillo said.
Councilman Clyde Martz said he was surprised by the resignation.
“It was a surprise. I’m disappointed he’s quitting,” Martz said.
Napolillo is the Fayette County 911 coordinator and assistant emergency management director.
His experience in emergency management made him valuable to the borough, Holbrook said. In the email he sent announcing his resignation, Napolillo said he offered to continue assisting the borough.
“I hope he does that. I really thought Guy brought a lot to the table. I’m sorry that he didn’t stay and use his knowledge to help the borough,” Holbrook said.
Council will appoint someone to replace Napolillo at the next meeting at 7:30 p.m. March 14. Holbrook said she would decline the nomination if someone nominates her.
Since there is no municipal election this year, the appointment will last until the end of 2017, said Larry Blosser, director of the Fayette County Election Bureau. Whoever wins the position in the 2017 municipal election will take office in January 2018, he said.