Council lets soldiers vote by phone

[darrels joy]

Council lets soldiers vote by phone



By: ELIZABETH FISHER (Fri, Jan/11/2008)


TULLYTOWN - The Tullytown council disagreed on a number of issues at its Tuesday night meeting but one vote brought them together — the resolution to allow any council member on active military duty to vote on issues from his or her post via speakerphone.
The only question about the issue was raised by Councilman Rick Adams, who wanted to be assured by borough solicitor Michael Sellers that allowing a long-distance vote is legal. Sellers cited case law indicating that it is.

Discussion was brief and tame, nothing like the clashes council members engaged in last year when Councilman Joseph Shellenberger, the newly elected council president, was prevented from voting on a replacement for a vacant council seat while he was stationed with the Air Force in Afghanistan.

At that time, veteran Councilman Ed Czyzyk broke with then-council president Beth Pirolli, who contended that an official serving in a theater of war should not be expected to focus on hometown issues. Council members Matt Pirolli, Rick Adams and Mary Ann Gahagen supported Beth Pirolli's contention.

Despite vocal demonstrations by area veterans, Beth Pirolli wouldn't budge and the council voted to appoint May Kucher to the vacant seat. But times and some faces have changed. Beth Pirolli and Kucher were ousted in May's primary election, their seats taken over by Councilmen Ed Armstrong and George Fox.

But when the issue was resurrected Tuesday night, everybody was on board.

“Anyone serving in the military outside the boundaries of [Pennsylvania] may vote by speakerphone,” Sellers advised the board. The resolution was passed unanimously.

“I'm very much for it,” Adams said, after the legality issue was cleared up.

Even before the vote, several members of the Delaware Valley Vietnam Veterans, led by Bristol Township resident Jesse Hill, unfurled a patriotic banner and walked around the meeting room to silently show their support for the vote.

No one complained about the interruption, and Shellenberger, who returned from Afghanistan in May, responded with a simple “thank you.”

Armstrong later said the move was a long time coming.

“This is a sign of respect and gratitude for those who serve our country. It's a no-brainer. We don't expect someone in a foxhole to vote but, if they're not in jeopardy, they should be invited to participate in the process for which they were elected,” Armstrong said.
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/ar...cfm?id=1469397