Shorraw returns: fires solicitor, administrator

By EMILY BENNETT DILULLO
ebennett@yourmvi.com
After more than a year and a half of skipping council meetings, Monessen Mayor Matt Shorraw returned with a vengeance Monday night, firing two city employees.
Shorraw was equipped with a police presence and left the building accompanied by two officers. He took up his gavel to terminate two employees and appoint their replacements for positions in city hall.
Let go were City Administrator Judith Taylor and Solicitor Joseph Dalfonso. John Harhai replaced Taylor, and Tim Witt of Watson Mundorff & Sepic, LLP, will replaced Dalfonso.
Harhai previously served as city administrator under former mayor Mary Jo Smith and is a former councilman. Witt, who didn’t attend Monday’s meeting, allegedly provided personal legal services for Shorraw during the arrangement of a June 2018 special meeting.
Shorraw denied any claims of personal connection to Witt, and said he has never been his personal attorney.
Council members Donald Gregor, Gil Coles and Shorraw walked into last night’s meeting together and took their seats among the standing-room only crowd. This is the first time Coles has attended a meeting since February of 2018, aside from one brief appearance.
The room, which was filled with growing chatter and verbal jabs directed at the mayor, fell to a hush when the clock struck 6 p.m. as Shorraw brought the meeting to order for the first time in nearly 20 months.
Shorraw brought a personalized agenda to the table and dismissed the printed agenda made ahead of time by council.
Council received public comment on agenda items at the start of the meeting, but Shorraw rejected a call for public comment before adjournment, even though it had been listed on the original agenda.
Shorraw used his gavel for the first time, combined with an impassioned, “Order!” less than four minutes into the meeting, when the audience began speaking out during the public comment segment.
Residents Ron Mozer, Sue Thwaite and Orzechowski’s wife, Rosaline Orzechowski, asked Shorraw to explain his long absence.
“It’s been about 20 months since our mayor has been here,” Mozer said. “… I think you owe an explanation to those present here in the city. Why should we even pay attention to what we’re doing here today? After missing 40 meetings, I think you owe it to the city, the community, to explain why you weren’t present.”
“Thank you for your comment,” Shorraw responded.
Thwaite, who is captain of the Salvation Army Mon Valley Citadel, echoed Mozer’s call for justification.
“You owe us an explanation,” she said. “Where have you been? Why haven’t you been here? You’re elected to represent our community –– that doesn’t mean you had to agree with anyone. … You left the burden of running an entire city on three people and you threw daggers at them the whole time, even while they had deaths in their family. … Can you give an explanation?”
Similar calls followed, and residents were heard exclaiming, “We need an answer.”
No comment was made from either Shorraw or Coles following Thwaite’s statement, and Shorraw followed by saying, “There will be order or you will be removed.”

To see the video from last night’s meeting, go to monvalleyindependent.com.

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