Picking up where they left off last month, Lower Saucon Township Council resumed a discussion about a proposal to operate Se-Wy-Co and Southeastern volunteer fire companies under a single combined command structure Wednesday night–but the discussion turned testy after councilwoman Priscilla deLeon asked that a letter to Northampton County 911 Center Acting Director Todd Weaver specifying that the township recognizes the agreement also specify that it has three volunteer fire companies, one of which is Steel City.
“Whatever the language, I think the county needs to know that we didn’t lose Steel City,” deLeon said. “That letter should address the fact that we have three companies now… I don’t know why anybody would be opposed to that.”
Others were opposed to that, however.
“It’s not necessary,” council president Ron Horiszny said of the proposed addendum.
And, Southeastern Fire Chief Ty Johnson said, “the county already knows because Pris was up to see them.”
Later, deLeon would accuse Johnson of laughing as he sat in the audience. He said he simply had his hand over his mouth.
“I don’t like your attitudes,” deLeon told a large group of firefighters from both companies who were present at the meeting. “I have supported you guys forever… I’m very, very disappointed here. We’re supposed to be adults here.”
She said she agreed with councilwoman Donna Louder’s reassessment of the need for a single command structure–which Louder said she learned won’t interfere with the police department’s frequency and was why she was no longer “skeptical” about the change–but nevertheless voted against sending the letter to Weaver.
“I will be asking more questions because of the attitude, so get ready,” deLeon warned the fire companies’ leadership.
Se-Wy-Co Fire Co. President Sal Ghazi addressed deLeon’s remarks in comments made after the council vote.
First, he said he wanted to clarify that despite the change in command structure, “there’s still three fire companies in the township.”
“Southeastern and Se-Wy-Co have not merged,” Ghazi stated, noting that this is a different situation from when the former Leithsville Volunteer Fire Co. was absorbed by Se-Wy-Co several years ago due to declining membership.
Ghazi–who was not present at the April meeting–said he was disappointed to learn that the discussion about the change to a unified command structure had become one about the fire companies’ finances; a discussion he said “got totally out of hand” and led to him later being questioned by community members.
“We took a lot of heat over what was in the paper and what was said at this meeting,” he said.
Nevertheless, deLeon put Ghazi and the other representatives on notice that their finances “will be coming up under budgets this fall, and I expect anybody that we donate to to be transparent.”
Councilman Glenn Kern was absent from the meeting.