Swarthmore Reopens Borough Hall and Approves Hybrid Police Car
At the April 12 Swarthmore Borough Council legislative session, members moved through their agenda with swift efficiency. After a brief discussion, they voted 6-0 to reopen Borough Hall and the Central Park amphitheater to the public. (Council member Ross Schmucki was absent.)
Council member Betsy Larsen decided not to make a motion to vote on whether to send a letter to Swarthmore College about reopening the Crum Woods. (The woods have been closed to the public since last summer.) At the council’s April 5 work session, Larsen had proposed writing to college administrators entreating them to allow access to the woods, an idea she first suggested at council’s March 8 meeting, and which sparked much discussion among members. At the legislative session, she stated that she didn’t think it made sense to move forward with a vote, explaining, “It’s become pretty clear to me that there isn’t any support for this in council.”
Larsen went on to express the opinion that council should have a “formal and official” way to communicate with the college. “There was a conversation between two gentlemen in the basement of Borough Hall about this,” she said, referring to Greg Brown, the college’s vice president of operations, and Swarthmore’s mayor, Marty Spiegel. “I don’t think that should be the way that we conduct business,” she added.
Spiegel disagreed, saying that Brown “relaying information through me, or any other member of council, is an official line of communication.” Spiegel also said that he will continue to be in conversation with the college about reopening the woods but that he understands it is “their decision to make.”
A First for the Police Department
The Swarthmore Police Department has purchased its first hybrid vehicle. Photo: Rachel Pastan
Public Safety Committee Chair Jill Gaeiski presented a resolution to approve the lease-purchase of a 2021 hybrid Ford Explorer for the police department. This is the devehicle. “So far, all of the officers that have driven it have been very impressed,” said Police Chief Raymond Stuflett. Stufflet invited any council member who might like to take a closer look to do so.
The police department made the decision to buy the car under a three-year lease-purchase agreement, because that will allow the car payments to be spread out. At the end of the three years, the department will own the vehicle outright and will not incur any additional fees. “It’s really a financing plan structured as a lease,” explained borough solicitor Bob Scott. Council voted 6-0 to approve the resolution.
The meeting was followed by an executive session to discuss negotiations with the Fraternal Order of Police and a personnel matter.
Watch a video of this or any other past Swarthmore Borough Council meeting.
The next council meeting will be Monday, May 3, at 7:30 p.m. Details are on the borough’s website.
