The Reader Beat: County Council Notes March 11, 2025

Following our notes taken during the County Council meeting held on March 11 at 6 p.m.

I attended the County Council meeting on March 11 at 6 p.m. The meeting, which was open to the public, allowed for comments. Many of these emphasized concerns surrounding misuse of the official Erie County Facebook page at the hands of the County Executive – the ordinance that addressed this issue was up for vote. Borough Manager of Wesleyville Marcus Jacobs encouraged council to pass the ordinance, saying, "Make sure that county resources, especially public information resources, are kept clear, or at least transparent." During the meeting the council discussed the following ordinances. 

• An ordinance authorizing and directing the execution and delivery of a guaranty agreement for the benefit of Pleasant Ridge Manor, approving a $700,000 letter of credit agreement from Pleasant Ridge to First National Bank of Pennsylvania, directing the proper officers of the county to take necessary action, and repealing all inconsistent ordinances was passed unanimously. Jerry Servidio of Millcreek Township expressed his thoughts on the importance of funding the retirement facility, "We all know it causes a financial burden on the county but these people lived and worked in Erie County, they built Erie County, they deserve the care as we, as Erie County, can give them." 
• An ordinance for supplemental appropriation of $227,789 for line items in adult probation was passed unanimously. 
• An ordinance amending the Erie County Administrative Code to establish restrictions on the use of county resources and to limit their use to official government business passed unanimously. Vice Chairman Rock Copeland noted that since the ordinance has been written, the situation has changed. "[The County Executive] has, in essence, turned what was a county resource into a personal elected-official resource," Copeland said. "I think the reasoning behind that is to avoid enforcement of this ordinance." As of March 12, the Erie County Facebook page has been modified to limit comments. Any posts between March 6, 2018 and Nov. 19 2024 have been deleted. 
• An ordinance for supplemental appropriation of $138,793 for revised revenue and expenditures in the Courts Computer Bureau and Waiver of the Human Resources Code Section 7 was passed 6-1 with Council member Charlie Bayle voting no. 
•  An ordinance amending Ordinance 89, 2023 and approval of memorandum of agreement for public safety telecommunicators in the AFSCME Clerical/Technical Labor Agreement had its first reading and was not voted on. 
• The possible appointment of  Jill Seus Starr to the Erie County Drug & Alcohol Advisory Board was passed unanimously.