[Amended 12-28-1989 by Ord. No. 1661, approved 5-15-1991]
The Township shall have the following departments:
[Amended 6-8-2009 by Ord.
No. 2776, approved 11-3-2009]
The Department of Administration shall be headed by the Deputy
Mayor as Director. The Department of Safety shall be headed by the
Mayor as Director. The Department of Operations shall be headed by
the director who shall be appointed by the Mayor, with the approval
of the Board by a majority vote of the total number of the Board.
The Director of the Department of Operations shall possess bona fide
operations, public works or engineering experience at the time of
selection.
The Board shall, by ordinance, determine the powers and duties
to be performed by the departments and bureaus thereof.
[Amended 6-8-2009 by Ord.
No. 2776, approved 11-3-2009]
A director of a department or a bureau chief may be suspended
or dismissed by the Mayor at any time, with or without cause.
All appointments and promotions of Township officers and employees
which do not require the approval of the Board shall be made on the
basis of merit and fitness demonstrated by examination or other evidence
of competence.
[Amended 11-11-1991 by Ord. No. 1748, approved 4-28-1992; 6-8-2009 by Ord. No.
2776, approved 11-3-2009]
A.
All full-time Township police, including managerial persons (which
are defined as those persons with the rank of Lieutenant and above)
in the Township Police Department, whether or not part of any employee
bargaining units for that Department, but excluding the Chief of Police,
shall be appointed by the Mayor pursuant to civil service testing,
and shall be entitled to the protection of the provisions, rules,
regulations, and procedures of the Township Civil Service Commission,
as amended from time to time, applicable to hiring, promotion, demotion,
suspension, removal, firing, and all other personnel matters, but
only in their capacity as full-time police.
B.
Part-time police shall not be entitled to such civil service protection, but shall be supervised, appointed, hired, promoted, demoted, suspended, and removed by the Mayor, pursuant to the provisions of Section 5.08H of the Home Rule Charter, as amended from time to time.
C.
The Chief of Police shall be nominated by the Mayor, and the nomination shall then be subject to confirmation by a majority vote of the total number of the Board of Commissioners. Thereafter, the nominated Chief of Police shall be subject to a noncompetitive examination by the Civil Service Commission, which shall be functioning solely as a testing agency. If such nominated person shall be certified by the Civil Service Commission as qualified, which certification shall not be an entitlement to civil service protection, then that person may be appointed as Chief of Police by a majority vote of the total number of the Board of Commissioners. The Chief of Police shall not be entitled to civil service protection, and may be suspended, dismissed, and removed by the Mayor for cause as set forth in the Administrative Code of Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania, as amended from time to time. And further provided, that any existing officer who is appointed as an acting, interim, or temporary Chief of Police and who serves in that capacity for a period of less than one year shall not forfeit the civil service protections, if any, previously accorded to that officer. This Section 9.06C shall apply to the Chief of Police who is incumbent at the time of this amendment to the Home Rule Charter.
[Amended 3-14-1994 by Ord. No. 1872, approved 5-16-1995]
A.
Any member of a Board, Commission or Committee established under
authority of the statutes of the Commonwealth, the Home Rule Charter,
or other ordinance of Whitehall Township may be removed from their
position only for malfeasance, misfeasance, or nonfeasance in office
or for other just cause. Such removal shall be by majority vote of
the total membership of the Board of Commissioners. Such motion may
be presented to the Board of Commissioners only after the member and
all Commissioners have received 15 days advance notice of the intent
to take such vote and has had the opportunity to request a hearing
in front of the Board of Commissioners. Procedures for a hearing shall
be in conformity with 2 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 101 et seq. The
member who is subject to removal may make a request to the Board of
Commissioners for a hearing in writing within 10 calendar days of
the date when the party knew or should have known that the motion
for removal had been submitted for consideration by the Board of Commissioners.
If a hearing is requested, any vote on removal shall be postponed
until the Applicant has had an opportunity for a hearing.
B.
Procedures for hearings. Hearings for members of Boards, Commissions
and Committees shall be conducted in the following manner:
(1)
Each hearing shall be open to the public unless a closed hearing
is requested by the member subject to removal.
(2)
All testimony presented at the hearing shall be given under oath.
Oaths may be administered by a Court Reporter engaged to record the
hearing testimony or the Chairperson, or in his or her absence, the
Vice-Chairperson shall have the power to administer oaths.
(3)
The President or Vice President of the Board of Commissioners shall
state the general purpose of the hearing and have the Secretary read
the allegations, charges, or statement for which the member is being
removed, together with the record of any other action taken against
such member. In addition, the Secretary shall read any written reply
or response received from the member subject to removal.
(4)
The Chairperson shall afford each person making charges, or his or
her counsel, an opportunity to make further statements in support
of such allegations of cause, charge, or example of misfeasance, malfeasance,
or nonfeasance. Any party shall have the opportunity to produce witnesses,
with the proponent of removal advancing first with the burden of proof
by a preponderance of the evidence, and the member subject to removal
shall go last.
(5)
The Chairperson shall afford the member to be removed, or his or
her counsel, an opportunity to question or cross-examine any persons
or parties making allegations, and shall also afford the opportunity
to question or cross-examine any witnesses produced by such person.
(6)
The Chairperson shall afford each person making charges an opportunity
to produce any witnesses and to cross-examine any witnesses produced
by the member subject to removal.
(7)
The Board of Commissioners shall determine the admissibility of any
evidence and procedures and shall not be bound by technical rules
of evidence.
(8)
A stenographic transcript of the proceedings shall be kept and filed
in the archives of the Board of Commissioners, together with any and
all documents, exhibits, or records pertinent to the case. The records
shall be retained or disposed of in accordance with the Township's
Record Retention Ordinance and Schedule.
(9)
At any time during the course of the hearing, the Board of Commissioners
may question or cross-examine the person making charges, the accused,
and any witness.
(10)
Within 20 calendar days after the hearing, the Board of Commissioners
shall issue a decision in the form of a written order. This written
decision shall be forwarded to the member subject to removal. Following
the hearing, the Board of Commissioners may then take action on a
motion to suspend or remove the member.
(11)
Decisions of the Board of Commissioners may be appealed to the
Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas.
C.
Grounds for "just cause" removal. For "just cause" removal shall
include, but not be limited to:
(1)
Non-attendance at three consecutive regular meetings of the group
or more than one half of the total number of regular meetings during
a calendar year, without acceptable excuse.
(2)
Conviction of a crime of the third degree or above, a crime involving
moral turpitude, or a crime involving the office of the member.
(3)
Moving domicile to a location other than Whitehall Township.
(4)
Such other cause as the Board of Commissioners might deem appropriate,
so long as the conduct of the person would make him or her unfit to
continue to hold public office.
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This procedure shall prevail over any other policy or ordinance
to the contrary, and shall further apply to positions created by state
statute unless this procedure is deemed to be specifically preempted
by state statute by a court of competent jurisdiction.
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This provision shall apply only to appointed uncompensated offices,
and shall not be construed to apply to any employee or independent
contractor of the Township, whether or not covered by a collective
bargaining agreement, civil service, or otherwise.
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