Editorial: A mayor’s ‘many’ duties

After hearing that his mayoral powers were stripped Thursday by Monessen city council, Matt Shorraw had a question.

“How have I abandoned office?” he asked in a statement. He also invoked his newest catch-phrase — “Attending a meeting is one duty of many for a mayor.”

We were curious about the “many” other duties Shorraw has as mayor that don’t require his presence or his vote during council meetings.

We examined the Third Class City Code and learned mayors have various duties, but Shorraw is performing precious few of them.

According to section 11003 of the code, the mayor shall “be the president of council; be a member of council; have the same rights and duties, including introducing bills and making motions, as pertain to other council members.” The mayor also supervises council meetings. 

Shorraw isn’t performing any of those duties.

According to section 11018, if council approves an ordinance, it must be signed by the mayor and the city clerk. In Shorraw’s absence, ordinances were being signed by Councilman Anthony Orzechowski as deputy mayor. Orzechowski is now acting mayor after last week’s action.

Mayors are supposed to call special meetings of council — a duty Shorraw hasn’t performed since June, when he called an emergency meeting to deal with insurance matters and then failed to show up. Orzechowski has been performing this duty.

According to section 11103, a mayor supervises the police department and appoints its major officers, including police chief. A mayor also examines complaints against any officer, but any punishment would have to be approved by council, according to section 11205. 

The mayor is supposed to present to council a monthly report written by the chief. Currently the report is given to council and read by a member in attendance.

According to section 14341, the mayor is a member of the police pension fund board, which does not meet regularly. While Shorraw asked the state auditor general last year to investigate potential fraud, he has not been part of council’s ongoing effort to resolve the issue. 

According to the code, a mayor is to submit an annual report to council that includes recommendations to improve efficiency of the city government and any other recommendations. To our knowledge, Shorraw has not given such a report to council.

A mayor is given the same powers as those given to a sheriff. He can “prevent and suppress mobs, riots and unlawful and tumultuous assemblies.” We’re fairly certain Shorraw has not had to do this.

A mayor can declare a state of emergency for five days. Any longer than that and he’d need council to vote on it. Shorraw has not yet had to declare a state of emergency.

A mayor — with the approval and consent of council — can appoint or demote a fire chief. Shorraw has not chosen to perform this duty. 

A mayor can close a street to vehicular traffic in an emergency situation, but Shorraw has not had to do so.

The mayor can perform marriages, administer oaths and affirmations of city business. 

We’re unaware of any marriages Shorraw has performed. He’s supposed to submit a report at the end of the year detailing the total number of weddings, and no report was read last month.

Shorraw has issued commendations, but not at public meetings.

Shorraw has administered the oath of office to Sharon Lewgood after appointing her to the redevelopment authority. When she resigned over public outcry that the appointment was made outside a meeting, Shorraw appointed Delmar Hepple to the authority and administered the oath of office to him.

It is the mayor’s duty to appoint members of the recreation board, and before the string of absences, he voted with council on an appointment.

The word “mayor” is mentioned in the code 126 times and the vast majority of duties and powers assigned to the mayor in that document require some participation on council.

We think the “many duties” Shorraw is likely referring to involve the social and community-minded aspects of a mayor’s role. But appearing at events to pose for photos and posting one-sided videos on YouTube are not duties. 

The argument could be made that those acts are for personal promotion, not for the betterment of the community. 

We don’t expect this editorial to change Shorraw’s opinion about his “many” duties, but we hope it gives him something to think about.