Jul 16, 2005 By Jenny Susa 3 min read

CALIFORNIA – The California Borough Council gave its OK for a referendum on merging the borough with Coal Center Borough. While council adopted the ordinance supporting the merger, the residents of California and Coal Center will make the final decision on Nov. 8 when the ordinance goes to referendum on the general election ballot.

Council President Arthur Harris and Councilman John Mariscotti voted against the merger, but council members Amelia Gajan-Mitchell, James Maddiex, Patsy Alfano, Robert Sepesy and John Difilippo voted in favor of it, passing the ordinance with a 5-2 vote.

California Mayor Gerald “Galvie” Gardner said he would not make a decision in support of or opposing the merger until he had more information about what it would mean for California Borough.

Gardner commented that Coal Center is such a small borough that they may need to merge.

“They have trouble filling the seats on council and I know they have a lot of vacant homes,” said Gardner. “But we have to consider a lot, like that we will have to pick up police protection in that area. We have to think about this before making a decision.”

Gardner said there will be numerous public meetings to keep people informed of the pros and cons of the merger.

“The public will be totally informed,” said Gardner.

He said the other major topic of Thursday’s meeting was the borough police department.

“Because of a lack of maintenance, they burned up a police car,” said Gardner. “Three garages said the car blew up because it didn’t have enough oil. It will cost $5,000 to put it back in service.”

Gardner said there will be repercussions for the neglect of the vehicle, and he plans to take action to make sure that police vehicles are better maintained.

“With the support of council, I will have a policy drawn up about vehicle maintenance and anyone who does not follow that policy will be suspended,” said Gardner.

He also commented that Shirley’s video store had been robbed, and the police department did not send a report to local media.

“As the mayor I am going to take total charge of this police department,” said Gardner. “They will have to follow strict guidelines.”

Gardner said that the they were able to hire six part-time police officers, which they “needed desperately.”

“I want to make sure the borough has proper police protection,” said Gardner, adding that the police department would likely be joining a Task Force in the near future that would help crack down on drug dealers and sexual offenders in the area.

“Those two things are a problem in this whole valley,” said Gardner. “They are a concern for me and I will do everything that I can do to run those people out of California.”