Feb 2, 2005 By Angie Santello 5 min read

Two Masontown councilmen say their consistent absenteeism is not affecting their jobs as councilmen. According to the 2004 attendance records of Masontown Borough Council, Councilman T.J. Salonick has the worst attendance record out of the seven borough council members put in public office.

He missed 20 out of 29 meetings, including all biweekly regular meetings and several Monday work sessions. Salonick attended the two regular meetings held in January.

Salonick said his reason for missing meetings over the summer was because he attended evening courses at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, on Tuesdays from 6 to 8:30 p.m.

Right after the summer, he started a job as a delivery driver for Pepsi-Cola in Youngwood and he usually works on Tuesday evenings.

Council meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in the municipal building.

Salonick said he doesn’t believe his absenteeism is affecting his job as a councilman.

“A lot of work is done behind the scenes,” Salonick said. “Being a councilman is a 24-hour job.”

Salonick chaired the grant and recycling committees in 2004. He chairs the street and highway and grant committees this year.

Councilman Frank McLaughlin was in a close second for the worst attendance record of 2004. He missed 18 meetings last year and attended 11. McLaughlin did not attend the two regular council meetings held in January of this year.

McLaughlin called the Herald-Standard from work at Allegheny Energy on Monday in response to his admittedly poor attendance.

McLaughlin claims his work schedule prevents him from attending regular borough council meetings.

Since the beginning of 2004, his shift schedule has changed to a lot of evening hours with his workdays sometimes mounting to 16 to 18 hours per day. He said he “usually” works when the council meetings are held.

“Sometimes it is just impossible to be there,” McLaughlin said. “I have to work and make a living.”

Despite his excessive absenteeism, McLaughlin said he’s there when the borough needs a helping hand.

“Although I may not make the meeting, if there’s a flood, I go out. If there’s a sewer break, I go out,” McLaughlin said. “When I don’t go (to the meeting), I go up two to three times a week to check my mail. …There’s nothing I can do. It’s just the way my shifts fall.”

McLaughlin chaired the police department committee in 2004 and continues in that capacity this year.

Councilman Charlie Popovich missed nine out of 29 meetings in 2004, while Daniels missed five.

Councilman Tom Loukota missed three meetings in 2004, and Council Vice President Harry Lee missed two.

Former Council President (now Councilman) Joe Volansky missed one meeting in 2004. The meeting he missed was a work session held in November.

In response to the absenteeism of her fellow council members, Council President Carole Daniels said anybody who has missed a lot of meetings had good reasons. She added that her absences were for hospital visits.

Former Council President Joe Volansky, who was council president in 2004, said the more meetings council members attend, the more effective the council can be.

The absence of one person is the absence of “one valued opinion we would like to hear from,” Volansky said.

“It’s important that people attend. The more input, the easier to find a solution to a problem,” Volansky said.

“It’s not fair to let the weight fall on the shoulders of a few…” he added.

According to the state Governor’s Center for Local Government Services Borough Council handbook, the council may remove a member from office if he or she has neglected or refused to attend two successive meetings of council, unless detained by illness or necessary absence from the borough.

Removal can also occur if any councilor attending a meeting neglects or refuses to vote, withdraws from the meeting or otherwise refuses to act in their official capacity.

Removal from office is accomplished by a majority vote of the remaining council members.

The handbook reads that the disciplined member must first be given an opportunity for a hearing to determine the necessity for absence or failure to act before the council with at least ten days written notice.

However, a case arose in 1995 where the unanimous opinion of the state Supreme Court ruled that the state Constitution only allows an elected official to be removed from the office through impeachment, conviction of crime or misbehavior in office.

McLaughlin, a council member since 2002, said he got on council for the betterment of the community. McLaughlin, 31, has lived in Masontown all of his life and has no plans to stray away from this year’s election. He said he enjoys the community and enjoys living there. If he didn’t feel that he was doing a good job as councilman, he would resign, he said.

Council, he said, needs to change.

“There needs to be a big change,” he said. “There’s not one time we have a meeting when it’s not against one of the employees. This isn’t about how we screw our employees, we’re supposed to be there for the betterment of the community and it’s not like that.”

Ultimately, he said, it rests on the shoulders of the community who have the power to vote those on council into office.

Besides voting, McLaughlin also urges members of the Masontown community to take an interest in borough affairs by attending meetings or taking a run for council this election year when the council seats of Loukota, Lee, Salonick and McLaughlin will be open.

Interested candidates can file petitions to run for local government on Monday at the Election Bureau office located at 22 E. Main St. in Uniontown.