Strickler to maintain planning post, rules judge
A ruling by Fayette County Judge Steve P. Leskinen will see Connellsville Planning Commission member Randy Strickler serving until Dec. 31, 2004 – and his stay is determined by the wording of the resolution that put him into office. In a ruling handed down Tuesday, Leskinen said that Strickler’s position, as well as positions for commission members Samuel L. Spotto and Thomas E. Trimpey, were not made in accordance with the Municipal Planning Code.
However, the judge ruled that since they were put into office by former city mayor Tom Duncan and then-city council members in January 2001, he could not void any of their appointments.
So, Leskinen had to determine when the men’s terms would expire, and still stay within the four-year time limit for service under the Municipal Planning Code.
To decide that, Leskinen looked to the 2001 resolution adopted by the then-mayor and council members: “to re-appoint Samuel L. Spotto, Thomas E. Trimpey and Randy Strickler…. .”
With that, he ruled that Spotto’s term would expire on Dec. 31, 2002; Trimpey’s on Dec. 31, 2003; and Strickler’s on Dec. 31, 2004.
Current council and Mayor Judy Reed first sought to remove Strickler from the planning commission earlier this year and Leskinen ruled that Strickler could not be removed. However, the city appealed through its solicitor, Joseph Ferens.
Ferens pointed out that the resolution from 2001 was illegal because it appointed Strickler, Spotto and Trimpey to five-year terms, even though the Municipal Planning Code orders no more than four-year terms.
He also pointed out that the terms of those three would expire simultaneously, again going against the planning code’s order of having only two terms expire at once.
Noting that the prior administration “already exercised its authority” to appoint the three men to the planning commission, Leskinen said he would not void Strickler’s appointment in the latest round of arguments earlier this month.
But the law required him to bring the expirations of their terms into compliance with the Municipal Planning Code, so Leskinen had to decide when each of the terms would expire.
Leskinen first noted that he could find no legal authority on how to decide when each of the men’s terms expire.
He then went on to note that the terms of two current commission members expire Dec. 31, 2003, (Kristen Porter) and Dec. 31, 2004, (David Leeder).
With Leeder’s expiration in 2004 and Porter’s in 2003, Leskinen said one each of the three appointed in 2001 would have to join them in those dates.
And because the term could not go more than five years, one of the three men appointed in 2001 would have to have his term expire in 2002.
To determine the order of expiration for Strickler, Trimpey and Spotto, Leskinen wrote, “This court has researched this question exhaustively, and can find no reported Pennsylvania case that authoritatively resolves it.
“However, there is a case that suggests the common-sense proposition that, where there are multiple vacancies, the first person appointed is appointed to the vacancy that has been open the longest … and so on. This approach gives the first person appointed the shortest available term, and the last person appointed the longest available term.”