Published Friday, July 26, 2002
Herald Staff Writer
It's been 33 months since the Shenango Valley Intergovernmental Study Committee began developing a plan for the proposed merger of five local communities, but committee members decided they're not ready to hear public input despite a petition that circulated through Hermitage.
The group of 25 members still doesn't have complete police and financial reports which they need to make a recommendation about the possible consolidation of Farrell, Hermitage, Sharon, Sharpsville and Wheatland. Committee members aren't expected to get the reports finished before September.
A lengthy discussion took place Thursday where committee members agreed that the public isn't armed with the knowledge it needs to give their input on the merger.
Hermitage Commissioner James "Pat" White said he thinks each municipality should hold a meeting with its respective citizens. "I want to hear from my citizens," he said.
One issue of concern for the committee is a petition -- signed by 700 Hermitage residents -- asking Hermitage commissioners to pull out of the study. The petitioned was presented Wednesday to the commissioners by James Bralski, 31, of Hermitage, who also attended Thursday's meeting.
"We need to educate the public," White said. He said the people who signed the petition may not be educated about the merger study. He said some people may have even signed the petition at the encouragement of a friend and not on the basis of an informed decision.
Joann Jofery, a Wheatland resident and committee member, said she thinks the individual municipalities should be able to host an educational meeting for their citizens without permission of the committee because the public is not being educated.
She said the 700 people who signed the petition are not educated on what they're saying but they're still in the community expressing their opinions.
"They're (the public) going to talk," Ms. Jofery said. "We're going to be playing this out in the newspaper every day ... If we tell the citizens of five communities, 'We'll ask for your opinion later,' we're shooting ourselves in the foot from a public-relations standpoint."
Tom Tulip of the Pennsylvania Economy League's Mercer County office pointed out that residents don't show up for the regular public meetings to get educated.
"Seven hundred people who didn't show up signed a petition that ended up at the Hermitage commissioners meeting," Ms. Jofery responded.
Sharpsville Mayor Kenneth Robertson offered the perspective that the people who signed the petition could be opposed to the study because they like things the way they are.
"I don't know what 700 signatures looks like. That's a lot of signatures; more than any issue you've seen in your time as commissioners," Robertson said to White and Commissioner Joe Augustine.
Bralski said the comments made by the committee that the people who signed the petition are uneducated are "unfortunate" because the comments are based on the assumption that the people are helpless. He agreed that there is public apathy but said the people circulating the petition are trying to educate the people.
Hermitage resident Bill Siefert said he signed the petition because he wants the current Hermitage commissioners to make decisions about his community, not the elected government officials from other municipalities.
Ms. Jofery suggested have Grove City College conduct another random survey of valley residents to get their thoughts on consolidation but the suggestion didn't garner much support among the rest of the committee.
The results of a Grove City College poll taken in October 2001 showed 46.3 percent of Shenango Valley residents oppose the idea of a merger and 36 percent support the idea. The poll also showed nearly 57 percent of the people support some of the municipalities merging, and 46 percent support their municipality joining with another.
"To me it would just muddy the waters more," said Farrell Mayor William Morocco.
Carl Eirich, a Sharon resident and committee member, said people have lost interest in the consolidation. "It's old news," he said.
Local residents don't think the committee is ever going to finish the study and make a recommendation, Eirich said. "We've got to get ourselves together on this," he said.
Sharpsville Councilman Thomas Lally said the committee is "so smothered in facts already" that another public opinion poll isn't going to benefit the committee.
White said he wants to see the public educated about the process the committee is going through and what has been accomplished so far.
"Are we going to give people a quiz before they can give their opinions," Ms. Jofery asked.
Sharon resident Stephen Theiss suggested the committee host an informational public meeting for residents from all five municipalities. Then each municipality could host their own public meeting where residents could ask questions and offer their opinions, he said.
"I think the consensus is we don't need public opinion. Let's move on," Ms. Jofery said almost an hour into the discussion. "We don't need to beat everything to death, and we've just beaten this to death."
You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Kristen Garrett at kgarrett@sharon-herald.com