Fontana not leaving Allgheny County Council just yet

Fontana not leaving Allgheny County Council just yet Mark Rauterkus, Libertarian candidate in the race, challenged Fontana last week to step down immediately from his council seat, but Fontana said he has opinions from the county solicitor and council's solicitor stating that he has 30 days from the time he was nominated to resign. The county home rule charter requires council members to resign when seeking other elective office.

The county solicitor didn't call me back. I called him a couple of days before I broke this story. I called him a second time after I broke it. His silence is telling.

The county solictor is appointed to his job by the chief executive and approved by the county council. If the county solicitor gave an unfavorable opinion to the county council members, he'd be steps closer to losing his job. He'd be sure to lose his favor among the council members.
People have asked me if I'm going to push this matter in court. That is a legit question.

I'm not going to run to the courts and judge. No thanks. I've got better things to do. I have a high threashold against litigation. Mayor Murphy has a bad habit of keeping things in the courts. He had ballot questions tossed off the ballot. The current cronies on Grant Sreet took a few cases to the PA Supreme Court -- and lost. Those cases cost the taxpayers dearly.

My approach is to present the facts and insights. Then we'll let the voters decide. That is the court of public opinion.

The next time you see Wayne Fontana, ask him to point out the part in the county charter that says 30-days after being is a candidate for another office a resignation from county council is necessary.

If Wayne wants to vote a certain way on a bill, Wayne should have been sure that that bill wasn't delayed on Council. They choose to do nothing on this matter last week.

I didn't complain in force until that meeting concluded, the Tuesday after the Sunday vote. That was the end of the grace period for my taste.

More news on this and other related topics shortly, I promise.