House passes Walsh elected officials accountability bill

By KRISTIE LINDEN
klinden@yourmvi.com
The state House of Representatives approved legislation that would provide a way to remove local officials from office.
State Rep. Justin Walsh, R-Rostraver Township, authored the legislation that would amend the state constitution to create methods to remove elected municipal officials from office.
“Voters expect those who they elect to represent them will show up and do their jobs,” Walsh said. “If they can no longer fulfill their duties, it is expected the person would resign.
Last month, Walsh said that Monessen Mayor Matt Shorraw’s year-long string of absences from city council meetings inspired the bill. City Councilman Gil Coles has also skipped every meeting except for one over the past 16 months.
“Unfortunately, some of my constituents have not been represented fully due to a mayor refusing to attend to his elected responsibilities for more than a year,” Walsh said. “We need to create a way to remove those from office who don’t do their job.”
House Bill 1444, which was amended in committee, would put a constitutional amendment before the voters to decide if the General Assembly should be allowed to outline in law for what reasons municipal officials can be removed for office.

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