After five years, Reading awash in suits

"There was a definite demand for a change," Mr. Bratt recalled. "The people wanted a mayor."

Reading had used a commission form of government for more than 100 years. Under this plan, each commissioner is responsible for a single and different phase of local administration.

Then, the city went to a strong mayor-council plan. Under this form - the most common in the United States - the taxpayer-elected mayor has considerable appointive and removal powers, a strong veto power, almost complete control of administrative department heads and full responsibility for the city budget.

"I think we have a good charter," Mr. Bratt said of the changes that have been made. "If used properly, I feel it gives a lot of freedom to run the city. The problem is, we cannot get really good people to run. When you have good people in office, you can really do some good things."

Mr. Eppihimer said he's always been a firm believer in the fact that it's not the form of government, it's the people involved who make it work.

Reading Council President Paul Hoh said the change to a strong mayor was made with the best of intentions, especially since council calculated residents would not accept what he believed to be the best form, a weak mayor-council plan.

"The problem with our charter is that there are so many checks and balances, it has created something of an adversarial relationship between the mayor and the council," Mr. Hoh said.

The situation is not unlike what is occurring in Wilkes-Barre and Scranton, where some may consider "adversarial" too mild a description of the mayor-council relationship.

Mr. Eppihimer said the trouble began when he, a Democrat, hired a longtime Republican as solicitor to work for both the mayor and council.

"I guess he (the solicitor) told the council 'no' too many times, so council fired him," Mr. Eppihimer said. "I hired him back as a legal specialist and promoted the legal specialist to solicitor.

"I won't give in to them," he added. "It's a matter of principle."

Since then, suits have been filed against Mr. Eppihimer for eliminating jobs and hiring friends. Individual city employees have sued the city. And the charter committee filed suit against the mayor for the firings, which they allege violate the charter.

Former police Chief Bill Heim sued over a disputed severance package when he lost his job.

It is these firings, observers noted, that has made it hard for the city to hire true professionals, since the mayor appears so arbitrary in who he hires and fires.

Mr. Eppihimer believes all the suits are frivolous.

"But they're still there and they're costing the city money, which I think is ridiculous," he said.

Mr. Hoh said he thinks the key to the process is to ask whether government will be better with a different plan.

"A school board can hire and fire its superintendent," Mr. Hoh said. "I think our schools are run better than our cities."

Mr. Hoh said he would argue against a strong-mayor system. He believes a better system would be to have six council members elected by district. The council president would be elected citywide. One council member would have the ceremonial title of mayor. In effect, he argues in support of a weak mayor-council plan.

"If the mayor continues to ignore the council, we'll go to court," Mr. Hoh promised. "It's a messy and stupid way to run a business, though."

Even though the changes have been made relatively recently, Mr. Eppihimer said there's already been talk about changing it again.

"But when you're a part-time council member and you have your one night every two weeks in front of the television cameras, you sometimes make remarks and you don't even know what you're talking about," he said.

Yet, he believes revitalization is occurring. A civic arena is being built, a facility that the East Coast Hockey League's Reading Royals, an affiliate of the NHL's Los Angeles Kings, will call home. The Reading Phillies stadium has also been refurbished. Companies are interested in relocating to the city's Keystone Opportunity Zones.

Mr. Eppihimer warned that a change of government is not an overnight process and should not be taken lightly.

"I am concerned about what happens to my city," said the Reading native. "I think we're still in the learning process; we're still trying to find where the limits are."

WEDNESDAY: A close-up look at the government of Lancaster.

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