Residents in Evans City need to wake up to what is happening to their borough and police department.

I served on council in Evans City for 12 years, and I was there at the onset of the Evans City-Seven Fields Regional Police Department. I was also an inaugural member on the commission which governs the department. The idea was to save money, and we saved both boroughs hundreds of thousands of dollars! However, the department no longer works. Seven Fields says it wants to dissolve the department, but it needs help from Evans City.

Evans City has apparently decided to cave to demands from the police, “negotiating” to buy out the officers and pay one of them health care. For this to happen Evans City will need a new police partner, so they are planning to trade public land for police service with Jackson Township? Excuse me?

We created the regional department to save taxpayer dollars, but now the council in Evans City wants to throw out $200,000 or more to make its problem go away. That is not leadership, that’s lazy. The idea to trade valuable public land for police is crazy. That is a bad combination, especially in government.

Two officers are not enough to cover one borough, let alone both. If the chief has not done anything to add more officers is he violating the Pennsylvania Oath to well and faithfully discharge the duties of his office?

Sincerely,

Kim Armstrong,

former Evans City Council member