Penndel Council Votes 4-3 To Remove President Arlene Harms, Vice President Beverly Wolfe Resigns

The tension was immensely high Monday night when Penndel Borough Councilman Gianpiero Lo Piccolo motioned for an end to Arlene Harms’ term as borough president.

This is the second time in seven months that a Penndel Borough president has been removed from their position.

Lo Piccolo named a “forward thinking mentality” for his motion for the cease to Harms’ reign over the borough. Noting an insurance claim payout hidden from other council members, ridiculous subcommittees seven of which Barbara Heffelfinger is a member of, and a shady series of negotiations with the police department as reasons for his motion.

Newcomer Anne Marie Kinsey, Kali Sodano, and former president Sean Weckerly joined Lo Piccolo in denouncing Harms and electing Sodano to take her place.

Weckerly had been denounced from his position back in January after rumors circulated town for months that him and his wife had been suspects in a string of poison related dog deaths last year. The Weckerlys’ have repeatedly denied such allegations and the district attorney has maintained that an investigation never took place. 

While members voted either ‘I’ or ‘no’ to the swift change in borough leadership, the issue enthralled Heffelfinger- who remarked “absolutely not” to the motion. Heffelfinger called out Lo Piccolo before vacating the meeting all together.

“This Democrat, Republican bulls**t needs to stop,” said former council member Mike Smith.

Smith noted in particular a newsletter published by the Penndel Borough Democratic Party Officials, which called out Republicans on council for stalling the police building project, filling potholes, rejecting the use of Narcan (the heroin overdose saver) and passing a budget that brought an increase of seven mills.

“Some of the Republicans have been whining for months that everything done by council is completely political,” the newsletter reads. “Yet, recently, one of their representatives on council stated for the record at a public meeting “I can’t wait until November,” clearly a politically inspired reference to his belief that Penndel council will be under Republican control after the November general election.”

Smith called the newsletter a complete lie. “It’s not Democrat, or Republican, it’s Penndel. You guys are running this town into the ground,” he said.

According to Lo Piccolo, negotiations with the police department over a new contract without the use of a lawyer could get the borough into dangerous situations. Heffelfinger claimed the police getting screwed the year before was the reason for the lack of buffer. “That’s not for one person to decide that they got screwed,” said Lo Piccolo. “That’s why there’s seven of us that sit up here.”

After Heffelfinger left the room, Lo Piccolo noted that the police department, which is currently working to get it’s own building, accounts for 60 percent of the Penndel budget.

“I’ve been involved here for many years, and Gian and a few others have done some things that I’ve never brought to your attention,” said Harms.

Sodano, who remarked herself as still “green” in the Penndel process, has sat on council since February of last year. Following the commotion, Sodano thanked those that voted for her and promised to do her best in leading the borough in the right direction.

Following the meeting, Penndel Borough Vice President and Democratic Party Vice Chairperson Beverly Wolfe announced her resignation from the council to LevittownNow.com. Wolfe was not available following the notice for comment.

Penndel Borough meets the first Monday of the month for a council meeting as well as the second Tuesday and fourth Monday for council work sessions. All meetings are held at 7:30 p.m. at the borough hall.

Editor’s Note: Reporter Amanda Kuehnle offered a presentation for a separate social media consulting business during the meeting. The board did not vote to make a decision on the presentation.