MAHANOY PLANE - The Gilberton borough council voted unanimously Friday to extend indefinitely the 30-day suspension of police Chief Mark Kessler.
The special meeting lasted fewer than five minutes and was attended by all seven council members. Two attorneys - Joseph J. Joyce and Larry Moran of the law firm Elliott Greenleaf & Dean - also sat at the council table. The law firm was retained at the Aug. 14 council meeting as special counsel involving all matters dealing with Kessler.
Kessler and his attorney, Joseph P. Nahas, did not attend Friday's meeting. About 10 members of the public attended, and the small meeting room was filled with members of the media.
Kessler was suspended effective Aug. 1 after the borough council suspended him July 31. The suspension was related to YouTube videos Kessler posted in which he used profanity and automatic weapons. Council members said the suspension was for the use of borough weapons without their permission, although Kessler claims he did nothing wrong because his contract permits him to use the weapons on his own time.
At the beginning of Friday's meeting, council President Daniel Malloy announced that the borough council, Mayor Mary Lou Hannon and special counsel met in an executive session Tuesday to discuss personnel issues concerning Kessler. No action was taken during that meeting.
The council then explained that a disciplinary meeting had been scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday with Kessler, Nahas and the borough's special counsel. The meeting was an opportunity for Kessler to respond to the borough's concerns, but it needed to be rescheduled because Nahas was due in court at the time.
"(Elliott Greenleaf & Dean) gave us a two-day notice," Nahas said earlier Friday. "Mark got the notice on Wednesday evening. Mark told me about it. I asked for it to be postponed because I was in court. There will be a hearing scheduled next week whereby we will address specific claims made by the borough, after which the borough will decide what type of disciplinary action, if any, they will take. Due to (Vice President Eric) Boxer's prior solicitation of Gilberton's citizens to fire chief Kessler, I believe the borough will be heading in that direction regardless of the outcome of the hearing."
Nahas previously accused Boxer of going door-to-door encouraging Gilberton residents to support Kessler's firing.
As Friday night's meeting continued, Hannon read a letter from Nahas in which Kessler, through the letter, makes a request to special counsel attorney John G. Dean.
"I received notification from my client, Mark Kessler, at approximately 4:06 p.m. that he would be willing to extend his unpaid suspension so that he and I may attend the newly scheduled meeting. Please proceed accordingly," Nahas wrote.
Hannon asked the council for a motion to accept the letter requesting the extension. The motion was made by Boxer and seconded by William Hannon.
After several comments posted on Kessler's Facebook page encouraging violence at Friday's meeting, Kessler himself posted a request for restraint from his supporters no matter what the borough council decided.
"Regardless of the outcome of this meeting in Gilberton, I ask everyone to refrain from using any type of violence! This will be fought in the courtroom by nationally renowned defense attorney Nahas," Kessler wrote.
In a related matter, Boxer said Friday that rumors about him applying for a protection from abuse order against Kessler are just that - rumors.
"I am not going to press charges against Kessler. I'm not getting a PFA. I'm not getting anything," Boxer said. "There are no hard feeling against Mark."
Earlier in the week, Kessler posted yet another video on YouTube in which he holds two posters of angry-looking clowns. He refers to one as "Eric" and the other as "Danny," then shoots at both posters with an AK-47. It is unclear in the video who "Eric" and "Danny" are, although they are the first names of the council vice president and president, respectively.
Responding to questions from the media Friday night, Moran said, "There's going to be no more comment, certainly from the attorneys, the council and the mayor. We're talking about personnel issues, and we won't comment on personnel issues."