Chester city councilman: Compromise is the best way forward through bankruptcy

In November, the City of Chester filed for bankruptcy. As a member of the City Council, I understand Chester’s challenges firsthand. In many ways, we have hit rock bottom, and unless we in Chester city government are ready, willing, and able to make bold adjustments, not even the capable people sent here from the state in the form of the receiver and his team will be able to help us.

Two days before the bankruptcy filing, the receiver, Michael T. Doweary, asked Commonwealth Court to suspend the administrative duties of Chester’s elected mayor and city councilmembers. Doweary is asking the court to give his team the sole ability to develop policies for the city and navigate our financial path forward. He recognizes, as do I, that the current situation of elected officials running day-to-day operations isn’t working in Chester and needs to change.

I’m the new guy on the Chester City Council; I’ve been here for one year. In my first year, the biggest truth I have discovered is that the city needs professional management. I’ve seen numerous instances where elected officials have made decisions that yielded terrible outcomes, most notably the recent loss of $400,000 due to an email phishing incident in June. I’ve seen an alarming number of staff members in HR, finance, payroll, and in executive positions — including an interim CFO hired by the receiver — refuse to work in the toxic environment that is our city government and quit. I am at a loss for words trying to explain incidents that call into question the ethics, employee policies, and cybersecurity procedures of our elected officials.

That is why I agree in principle with Doweary’s request to suspend the administrative duties of Chester’s elected officials, even though I think it goes too far in some areas. Prior to going before the judge on Monday, Doweary offered Chester’s elected officials the opportunity to negotiate a compromise in an effort to avoid having the court decide the matter. For some strange reason, my colleagues on the City Council chose to draft a counterproposal among themselves without even talking with Doweary. It should not have come as a surprise that their counterproposal was rejected by him.

I was not in favor of the counterproposal, and I arranged a meeting with Doweary to offer a compromise that would ensure that the city has professional management and also provide for the City Council’s input on policies and key decisions. Doweary has agreed to this compromise, but the mayor and my colleagues on the council have not.

My compromise would prevent elected officials from running day-to-day operations outright, in favor of creating committees that are permitted under the Chester City Charter. Councilmembers would chair these committees, which are designed to gather public input and craft policies to be implemented upon mutual agreement of the City Council and Doweary. If the City Council and Doweary cannot agree on a particular issue, the dispute would be sent to Commonwealth Court with a request for a ruling within 21 days.

This compromise would allow the city’s chief operating officer to do his job by running the city in a professional way that would improve services to residents and bring much-needed order and consistency to government operations.

Like everyone else, I want bankruptcy and receivership to end as soon as possible. The best way to do that is to implement changes that will fix the city’s problems. With that in mind, I hope that other elected officials support my proposed compromise, and if not, I hope that Commonwealth Court approves it.

Doweary’s team implies that they have never encountered the degree of rock bottom that they see in Chester. In their opinion, to get the job done, they need to take the wheel of city government.

The government affects people’s safety, comfort, and life opportunities, and it’s critical that government is set up properly to achieve the best outcomes for our citizens. I am certain Doweary was sent here to leave us in better shape than he found us. The sooner we begin to work constructively with Doweary’s team, the sooner they can get us through bankruptcy. This is the way forward to a new beginning for our city.

Stefan Roots is a city councilman in Chester. @seroots