During the Sept. 21 Catasauqua Borough Council meeting, a motion was made to officially censure Mayor Anthony Alcalde. The motion ultimately failed to pass due to lack of support from council.

Councilman Howard Cunningham made the motion to censure the mayor for “conduct inconsistent with the duties of public office and detrimental to the effective operation of borough government.”

According to his statement, “the borough council finds that the mayor has made statements concerning borough operations, borough officials and borough employees that were materially inaccurate, misleading or unsupported by the available facts.”

He continued to say “such statements have undermined confidence in borough government, impaired working relationships among elected officials and employees and contributed to an atmosphere of hostility, intimidation and unnecessary conflict within the municipal workplace.”

Cunningham’s statement called for a formal censure from council and called on the mayor to “conduct the affairs of the office in a manner that promotes professionalism, civility and respect for borough employees, appointed officials, fellow elected officials and members of the public; refrain from making statements concerning borough operations or personnel that are false, misleading or made with reckless disregard for the facts; foster a workplace free from intimidation, retaliation, harassment or conduct that undermines the borough’s ability to provide effective public services; and work cooperatively with the borough council, borough manager, solicitor and borough staff.”

Holding up a stack of papers, Cunningham said he had copies of emails and statements made by the mayor that were “attacking the administration.” He also cited a number of social media posts that were disparaging to the borough staff and council members.

Cunningham’s big issue was Alcalde’s alleged tendency to tell inaccuracies, partial truths or falsehoods publicly and reportedly public disparaging of borough officials and undermining the administration.

It was reported these sorts of comments undermining the work done by the borough leadership have been coming from the mayor since December, before he was sworn in and officially working with them.

A borough employee spoke about the issues they have on a daily basis in the office fielding calls from residents about the things reportedly posted on Alcalde’s Facebook page. She urged Alcalde to come and speak with them if he has any questions or needs information instead of sharing incorrect information.

Another issue brought forward from some council members was Alcalde’s reported overstepping of his role. It was said he has signed contracts and met with potential borough business vendors, which is reportedly beyond the purview of his job.

There was also concern from council members and the borough’s insurance company about a recent incident in which Alcalde was allegedly attempting to direct traffic at the intersection at Front and Race streets in the borough using an air horn. Alcalde noted none of the council members actually saw this happen, but many said they watched a video of the incident.

It was questioned why he did not reach out to the police department for traffic control. It was mentioned his actions, while they may have had positive intentions, were dangerous and could have resulted in a vehicle and/or pedestrian accident.

Council President Virginia Schlegel urged Alcalde to slow down and listen to the feedback being shared and to think about his actions. She also noted that now that he is working in public service, all of his actions reflect back on the borough.

“Good intentions or not, there are consequences to our actions,” Schlegel said.

Alcalde said he is there to be a leader for the people and there to serve the public. He talked about how he went from working in the private sector to public service, and things in his work life are very different from what he has experienced in his mayoral role. He expects things to get done up to a certain standard, and that is not always been his experience working with the borough, he said.

“I am a leader. Leaders take action,” Alcalde said.

Alcalde called out Cunningham, saying he tried to meet with Cunningham when he first took office but was allegedly told by Cunningham that he “doesn’t meet with people like you.” This comment was allegedly made in an executive session.

After another exchange with Cunningham regarding the emails and Facebook posts in which Cunningham urged Alcalde to admit he was guilty, Alcalde again turned to the public in the audience and continued stressing that he is a leader and will do what he believes he needs to do.

“At the end of the day, I’m a leader. I’m going to lead. I’m going to do something about things when things need to be done,” Alcalde said. “Many leaders in our country, in the world, have done things to get things done that some other people might not see as right. It is what it is. We’ll move on from this.”

Cunningham also cited an alleged exchange Alcalde had with an IT rep in which he threatened to kick the door in. Alcalde denied it.

Council Vice President Kim Brubaker said she had no idea many of these issues were happening.

Borough Treasurer Deanna Decker said the borough employees and borough Manager Glenn Eckhart have reportedly been reaching out to council for assistance since they have been unhappy and concerned with their interactions with the mayor. Decker said they also contacted the borough solicitor back in February about their concerns.

After the meeting, a borough employee mentioned Alcalde has allegedly been threatening the borough employees, saying he’ll get them fired.

Brubaker also said she did not like the way everything happened with the censure, saying it felt like they were attacking Alcalde and the follow-up conversation was akin to “airing out our dirty laundry” for the public. She stressed and encouraged more effective communication between borough council, employees and the mayor.

Cunningham continued referring back to his stack of emails and social media statements from Alcalde, saying he is tired of seeing the borough administration attacked. He said Alcalde insinuated he wants Eckhart fired many times, a comment Eckhart said was true, and cited a message sent to the public works department in which Alcalde allegedly admits to being inebriated.

“And then you go on Facebook and b**** about us not doing the right thing. You didn’t do the right thing,” Cunningham said. “I’ve sat here since December listening to your nonsense. I’ve had enough.”

Schlegel encouraged Alcalde to strive to work with council and borough staff since they are all supposed to be on the same team to support and benefit the borough and its residents.

Councilman Sean O’Boyle said he believes the “digging and animosity needs to go away” and he wants to see the mayor represent the borough in a positive way while appropriately performing his duties.

After approximately 40 minutes of discussion, council voted on whether to formally censure Alcalde. The final vote on the censure had Cunningham vote in favor, Brubaker vote against and Schlegel, O’Boyle and Tara Nicholas and Robert Zakos abstain.

Solicitor William Platt said normally a tie vote would be broken by the mayor, but he could not vote on this matter since there is a personal conflict of interest. Since there was not a majority vote, the motion failed to pass.

Mayor Alcalde said he would take the feedback offered and work to move forward.