Suspended Gilberton police Chief Mark Kessler to get final chance to plead case to the public, but it likely won’t save his job

By John Luciew
on September 19, 2013 at 8:45 PM, updated September 19, 2013 at 10:08 PM

GILBERTON – It’s not the end of Mark Kessler as borough police chief here. But it likely was the beginning of the end.
The council voted 6-1 tonight to suspend their potty-mouthed police chief, pending his termination. The language of the motion, made by Mayor Mary Lou Hannon, was steeped in legalese, and she was flanked by borough attorneys on both sides.
But the meaning seemed clear enough, even if borough officials wouldn’t explain:
Kessler, whose shoot ‘em up Internet videos vaulted him to media notoriety and cult-hero status in Second Amendment circles, is marked for termination.
But the borough can’t legally pull the trigger just yet.
This, because Kessler has the right to a public hearing over his proposed firing. And the embattled chief, suspended without pay since July 31 for his politically caustic, profanity-laced videos, means to exercise it.
“There will be a public hearing,” Kessler’s attorney, Joseph Nahas confirmed to the media following the brief meeting.
The hearing, which will feature a newly appointed ‘independent’ attorney as hearing master, could occur as soon as ten days.
But would it be held in the cramped borough building that doubles as the coal town’s sewage treatment plant? The sparse space can barely contain the council, much less the dozens of media the Kessler saga has been attracting lately. Even Fox News was there tonight.
For Gilberton Council’s part, all members were mum following the meeting, with their hired legal guns shouting no comment and labeling the issue as a personnel matter.
Read more here: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/09/suspended_gilberton_police_chi_1.html

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