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  • Tom Sansone, a 26-year veteran of the New Castle police force, was first appointed chief in 2004 by then-mayor Wayne Alexander. Mastrangelo reappointed him in 2008, at the beginning of his first term.

    Sansone.jpg

  • William Panella, opposed reappointment of Tom Sansone as police chief. He has a daughter who is a city police officer.

    Panella.jpg

  • Council president MaryAnne Gavrile, opposed reappointment of Tom Sansone as police chief.

    Gavrile.jpg

  • Richard Beshero, opposed reappointment of Tom Sansone as police chief.

    Beshero.jpg

Discussion

January 31, 2012

Our Opinion: Why didn’t council keep Chief Tom Sansone?

By Staff New Castle News

NEW CASTLE — (First of two editorials)

In New Castle city government, the department heads serve at the pleasure of the mayor.

There’s a certain amount of sense in that system. As the city’s main elected official, the mayor is directly accountable to the people, and has an incentive to ensure department heads are handling municipal business properly.

But the flip side of this relationship comes with a heavy dose of politics. Department heads who want to keep their jobs likely will want to see the mayor retain office at election time.

Conversely, others seeking to lead given departments might throw their weight behind competing mayoral candidates in hopes of capturing a top slot in a new administration. In short, the existing system in New Castle is a highly politicized process, and helps to create the conditions for behind-the-scenes maneuvering that have little to do with proper municipal management.

Plus, whenever city council wishes to flex its muscles, a department head must serve more than one master. That adds another layer of uncertainty to the job.

Thomas Sansone found that out last week, after a majority on city council refused to confirm Mayor Anthony Mastrangelo’s appointment of Sansone to continue as police chief. For the moment, the city has no police chief, and city residents are left to wonder why.

The explanations (if you could call them that) offered by council members were less than persuasive. While we can understand the reluctance of city officials to offer public criticisms of municipal employees, some of the facts surrounding Sansone’s rejection are puzzling.

For instance, Councilman Ed Yerage voted to retain Sansone, declaring that he was in no position to question the mayor’s selection. If there was a legitimate personnel concern, why didn’t other council members inform Yerage of this fact in an executive session prior to the vote on Sansone?

Besides that, why would the mayor move to reappoint Sansone as chief if some real problem lurked out there? Wouldn’t it have been appropriate on Mastrangelo’s part to pick someone else in order to avoid a problem with the council vote?

After all, the mayor acknowledged to the New Castle News that he was aware Sansone faced stiff opposition on council.

That brings up the fact that even though Mastrangelo sought to reappoint Sansone, he didn’t exactly put up a fight for his police chief when council balked. It was as if he had no problem with council’s vote.

It’s all very strange. And combined with other recent events, there’s reason to look deeper. More on that tomorrow.

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