Politics & Government

B-W Patch Turned Away From Monday Night's Democratic Committees Meeting

The intention of the meeting was to officially endorse candidates for the Baldwin-Whitehall school board.

The Baldwin-Whitehall Patch was denied access to a joint meeting of the Baldwin Borough, Baldwin Township and Whitehall Borough democratic committees on Monday night.

The meeting was held at the at 8 p.m., and upon reaching the meeting, a Patch reporter was turned away.

When he reached the door to the meeting room, the Patch reporter spoke with Martin Michael Schmotzer, chair of the Whitehall Borough Democratic Committee and a member of the Baldwin-Whitehall school board. Schmotzer informed the reporter that the meeting was open only to members of the three aforementioned committees and to democratic candidates for B-W school board seats.

Find out what's happening in Baldwin-Whitehallwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Paul Hayhurst Sr., who identified himself as the chairman of the "committee to build a better board," informed the Baldwin-Whitehall Patch earlier on Monday that five candidates for Baldwin-Whitehall school board seats – Lora J. Kalwarski, Marion M. Shannon, Richard J. Kirsch, Tracy Macek and Kevin A. Stiffey – would not be attending the meeting due to prior commitments.

Hayhurst said that Kalwarski, Shannon, Kirsch, Macek and Stiffey are part of the aforementioned "better board" committee and that those candidates received a letter on Thursday, March 31, inviting them to the meeting.

Find out what's happening in Baldwin-Whitehallwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Hayhurst said that that was not enough time for those candidates to rework their schedules.

You can view that letter here. (Use your Web browser's zoom function to allow for easier reading. You can also see the letter in the photo gallery toward the top of this page.)

According to the Allegheny County Assessment website, the address at the bottom of the letter is Schmotzer's residence.

Hayhurst but did not acquire in February, this year.

Stiffey is a current school-board member hoping to remain on the board.

The intention of Monday's meeting, according to the letter, was to officially endorse school-board candidates.

"Candidates will be allowed to speak for 2 minutes," the letter reads. "Endorsements will then take place by secret ballot."

As of 12:52 a.m. on Tuesday morning, the Baldwin-Whitehall Patch was not informed of who was officially endorsed.

The Baldwin-Whitehall area will see races for school board and borough/township positions in .


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