Committee Spars Over Towing Services

Swarthmore Collision Center

Should the Swarthmore Collision Center continue to arrange towing for the Swarthmore Borough police? Borough council’s public safety committee meeting on February 16 considered the no-contract informality of the current arrangement, as well as concerns that tow trucks are frequently slow to show up. 

Committee chair Jill Gaieski explained that Swarthmore Collision has been acting as the borough’s tow company since 2012, an arrangement she said had been made between owner Ron Ippolito and a previous Swarthmore mayor. In Swarthmore, the mayor and the public safety committee oversee the police department.

Swarthmore Collision does not own a tow truck, instead engaging Keyes Towing of Media when the police request a tow after an accident or an arrest. Vehicles damaged in accidents are brought to the Swarthmore Collision garage, where they are stored. 

According to borough solicitor Robert Scott, the current arrangement is legal, Gaieski reported. The borough is not required to issue a request for proposals for towing services, and no borough regulations govern the definition of a towing company: Its towing company does not need to own a tow truck.

The central issue, Gaeiski said, “is whether Swarthmore Collision is able to provide adequate towing services at a reasonable cost.” She also expressed the opinion that the mayor is not the right party to contract for towing services for the borough. She proposed that future towing contracts be formally undertaken between the borough and a towing company, specifying rates, response times, and confirmation of insurance coverage.

Gaeski suggested that Swarthmore Collision could continue to offer services under a formal contract, and that Ippolito should have the opportunity to address any concerns about his services. “I think we should be doing everything we can to support local business,” she said. “If Mr. Ippolito has found a way to make money for his body shop by providing towing for the borough, then good for him.” 

Ippolito explained that he is hired to repair damage to 10-20% of the vehicles towed to his shop. The borough pays nothing for the towing service. Car owners or insurance companies pay Keyes for the tows.

Committee member Betsy Larsen asked why Gaieski believed the mayor should not arrange for towing services. “As I understand it, that’s how it’s always been done,” Larsen said.

Council president Mary Walk, who is not a member of the safety committee, said that things having been done one way for a long time was not a good reason to keep doing them that way. The current arrangement “makes me very uncomfortable,” she said. “We are handpicking one business in the town.”

Walk also said she thought a company in possession of its own tow truck might better serve the borough, and that supporting local business should not be the sole criterion for selecting service providers. “We deal with lots of companies as a borough,” she said. “We get trucks fixed all over the places, police cars fixed.” Walk suggested putting the contract out for public bidding.

Larsen defended prioritizing Swarthmore companies. She called Ippolito a community resource who provides equipment for the Rotary Club Fun Fair and other town activities. “I think we need to support local businesses, especially the ones that come back and support activities in our borough,” she said.

The Mayor, the Police Chief, and the Fire Company President Weigh In

Mayor Marty Spiegel said he had brought the towing situation to the attention of the public safety committee because he was uncomfortable with the mayor “handing out favors” on behalf of the borough. Arranging towing for Swarthmore “should be a more open and transparent process,” he claimed.

Spiegel said he learned of the mayor’s role in choosing a towing company last October when he was copied on an email from Ippolito to fire company president Rick Lee. The email concerned Lee’s complaint about tow truck response times after an accident. 

Lee said he didn’t have an issue with Ippolito, but he complained that Keyes, the company Swarthmore Collision uses for towing, “has a terrible reputation.” 

“We waited on Chester Road for over 45 minutes for your tow company to show up,” Lee told Ippolito. “You’re tying up volunteers,” he continued, asserting that delays have been common. “You’re closing roads. You’re tying up the police department.” 

“I just want him to get a tow service that will get a decent response time to Swarthmore,” Lee said.

Ippolito said that he was unaware that response times were unsatisfactory until Lee’s complaint in October. “If we do have an issue, I never knew about it,” he said.

Police Chief Ray Stufflet, who took over the department in 2019, said “there have been long delays in tows throughout the life of contract.” He reported that when he was a Swarthmore police sergeant, officers filed numerous complaints with then-chief Brian Craig. Ippolito said those complaints were never passed on to him.

Stufflet indicated that he has not received any complaints from officers about tow times since becoming chief. “I think the officers stopped complaining about it,” he said, because “nothing was ever done about it.” 

The committee agreed to bring the situation to borough council for further discussion.