Editorial: State won’t solve Monessen’s problem

While we support Monessen City Council in its latest attempt to unseat no-show Mayor Matt Shorraw and absentee Councilman Gil Coles, we don’t expect it to be successful.

The three council members who actually show up for meetings — Anthony Orzechowski, Dave Feehan and Lois Thomas — sent a letter in late December to Gov. Tom Wolf expressing their frustrations over Shorraw and Coles.

Shorraw has missed 21 consecutive meetings and doesn’t show any sign of returning. Coles has been to one meeting since Feb. 10, making a brief cameo in late June to make sure the city’s insurance premiums were paid.

The letter from council to the governor cited “great strain” caused by both men and their “intentional absences,” adding that Monessen is “suffering from great financial distress.”

To read the rest of this story, please see a copy of Monday’s Mon Valley Independent, call 724-314-0035 to subscribe or subscribe to our online edition at https://e.monvalleyindependent.com.