Dave Gulish, a previous resident of Ellwood and activist against the current Ellwood Electric situation, attended last nights council meeting in order to publicly state his concerns.
Gulish was the first of the visitors to speak, he started by asking Bob Villella, the borough manager, what changes have been made to the electric bills and the electric company window hours; he gave the example that he received a late fee on his most recent bill, however, he never got it in the mail, and he claims that the electric company was fully aware of him never receiving the bill.
Villella said that he presented his Managers Report to council over the weekend regarding the window hours, he then mentioned that any issues with not-received bills are not the electric companies fault and that it’s the responsibility of the post office. He also mentioned that he has been actively researching a user-friendly software that will provide residents more information on their electric bills and he is trying to propose new payment plans for those who have a hard time paying their bills.
Gulish was unimpressed with Bob’s production on the matter, he stated “so it took you two months to basically make a whole bunch of requests to the borough? I haven’t heard much about changes being made, I’ve heard a lot of ‘it took me two months to initiate a change with council’ but what changes have you actually made?”
Bob responded, “the changes that I am proposing, are changes that have to be authorized by council.”
Connie MacDonald, the council president, responded to Bob that as the head of the Electric Department there is no excuse for the window hours not being changed sooner and he wants the new hours effective immediately.
Many visitors applauded MacDonald’s authority.
Gulish then proceeded on, “when I submitted my first Right to Know, I asked for your employment contract, you said there was no employment contract, so I guess what is on the books is true: under the qualifications part it says that ‘you shall be required to move and become a resident of the borough within six months of your date of hire’ can you please give me your address in Ellwood?”
Bob answered “I don’t have an address in Ellwood.”
Gulish responded “but that’s part of the qualifications.”
Ed Leymarie, the council solicitor, said “when Mr. Villella was hired it was and understanding of all council members that he does not have to be a resident of Ellwood City.”
Gulish asked, “so what you’re saying is that independently from the ordinance, you guys can silently make your own rules?”
Leymarie responded “I’m not saying that, council will take action on that tonight.”
Gulish questioned Leymarie’s claims, “will there be action taken on it tonight because that is in the ordinance so either change the ordinance or I’m asking for your (Bob Villella’s) resignation because to take two months to address a situation- that has so many people angry in this community- is pathetic.”
Before voting on Villella’s position, Vice President, David DeCaria gave his opinion on the matter, “I wasn’t here at the time Bob was hired but part of his ordinance is a residential requirement that was probably instituted a long time ago, and currently even if you look at superintendents at schools residential requirements, chief of police residential requirements, police officer requirements, that sort of thing, they are no longer in effect. We didn’t vote to completely alter the ordinance it’s just suspended- it’s like what we do for the Oktoberfest, you’re not allowed to have liquor in the park but we suspend the ordinance for that one day, and this is the same kind of suspension.”
Council voted to continue the suspension.
To read the rest of the September Meeting Brief click here.
Kudos to Dave Gulish!! Bob Vilella needs to resign immediately!! This borough is a circus at best. It certainly sounds like council and the borough manager make their own rules. People are angry and want answers! No answers are being given. Council sits there with a “deer in the headlight” look on their faces when asked questions. WHY ARE YOU PEOPLE THERE!! No one cares about your ego! No ones cares that you beat so and so to get on council and we certainly don’t need any previous members back on. We need all new blood! Mr. DeCaria comparing the issue with Vilellas residence to the Oktoberfest is the most ridiculous thing I ever heard! That statement proves council makes their own rules!
NOT receiving a bill sounds like a typical excuse a deadbeat would use! If you are required to pay the electric bill because you own the property or that responsibility is part of your rental contract then YOU KNOW that bill needs to be paid whether the post office or some other entity messes up the bill distribution aspect! YOU know you’re receiving electric service because the lights are “on”. YOU know it is YOUR responsibility to pay for this service. YOU know when the bill is supposed to arrive based on historic practices. Therefore, using the “I didn’t get a bill” excuse is nothing more than a smokescreen for NOT paying for what YOU received, so let’s not be playing that card game! Of course, those who are responsible for providing electric service need to be POSITIVE their distribution of bills is problem free and the actual payment process by users of the service is “customer friendly”. If it is not, heads need to roll and people need to be put into place who are hired because they know what they are doing! As anyone who works for a living has seen, hiring somebody just because they have some sort of college degree while passing over qualified people who know what they’re doing leads to a poorly run enterprise!
People are angry with this council?
Must be unique to THE EC!
Federal debt surpassing $19.5T, no anger.
Wages are still below 1999 levels, no anger.
The country is in a perpetual state of war, no anger.
Pensions are underfunded and Social Security is a Ponzi scheme, no anger.
Social and family deterioration on every level, no anger.
A collapsing healthcare system, no anger.
A gov’t education system that ranks poorly among most countries, no anger.
Electric bills in THE EC are higher then average but taxes are less…
and “people” are angry? I doubt it. Seems to me all that needs to be done is: Allow for a payment program for people who get behind. Improve customer
service in person and online. Now on to the bigger problems that nobody seems to notice because of their “anger” over their electric bills!
They should have an ordinance that non-residents can’t speak at a council meeting! That way we don’t have to listen to this Gulishe guy whimper and nit-pick about the Manager. Sounds like a personal agenda with the nit picking. It wouldn’t matter what answer he gave to the FEW people left from the group, everybody is wrong except for them!
I agree. What’s the deal with Gulish?
Stand up to what exactly? Bad service
and pricing? Welcome to every enterprise
in the USA! “Anger” over electric bills and
service? What is the real agenda of this group??
Comparing the suspension of the residential requirement to the suspension during Oktoberfest really tells you a lot of the audacity of this council.
Penny ante civic leadership leads to a penny ante community…just make the rules as we go along that blind squirrel is still out there.
It’s called an “analogy”. Nothing more than a comparison! What does this Gulish guy’s supposed “Standing Up to Ellwood Electric” have to do with the Borough Manager’s residence? I just have a few questions where do the members of this group pay their Columbia Gas bill, Armstrong Cable bill, PA-American Water bill? Surely not at some window, and they claim they are moving forward? What percentage of residents actually in today’s day an age, pay their electric bill at the electric window? I would guess less than 10%! Go live out in Wayne Twp. or wherever you moved to and in a few months bring your Penn Power bill in and compare it to your EC bill. Don’t compare dollars, compare usage of KW hours, and only the electric portion of the bill! As to “people” are angry, you want to talk about egos, a few doesn’t represent the “people”!
The borough managers residence is relevant to the electric issue because he does not pay an electric bill here. A requirement to be a council member is to live in the borough and pay an electric bill to EC Electric. Why would that requirement be different for the borough manger? It isn’t; however, council obviously changed that to suit their need.
You are questioning where people opposed to EC Electric pay their other utilities. I would assume they mail their payment or pay on-line like myself. However, EC Electric’s availability for having electric transferred or turned on when purchasing a home is ridiculous. In no way is it as simple as dealing with other companies. I personally have no need to pay my bill at the window. However, it is my understanding that some people prefer to pay their bill in person to ensure they payment is received due to problems in the past. It is also to my understanding that if someone’s electric has been turned off, they want paid, at the window, in cash. In addition, if Ellwood is going to operate an electric company they should have weekly business hours as other companies.
You are a little behind. No one is comparing dollar amounts. I own more than one property. In comparison to my Penn Power bills, the kWh usage for my Ellwood bill using the rates charged by Penn Power would be much lower than what I pay for EC Electric. Sorry to burst your bubble, but I have it in black and white.
You say a few doesn’t represent the people. Ok, great! Those of us who are angry and don’t want EC Electric should be granted a choice to go with another supplier. Those of you who think EC Electric is great, you can make the choice to keep it. If the angry people are so few, our non-participation in the EC Electric farce shouldn’t be a problem for the borough.
I will fully agree with Mr. Gulish. It is absurd the ELLWOOD CITY BOROUGH MANAGER is not a resident of the Borough, the Borough he controls!! He does not pay the property taxes, which stated in the article, will be rising due to the $9 MILLION bond the Borough is seeking, he does not pay a Borough Electric bill, which he states should not be an issue to the Borough residents…he obviously does not think it should be an issue to Borough residents, because he DOES NOT HAVE TO PAY IT. This Borough Manager that Council voted to keep through 2017 is out of control. He seems to stick his nose into everything that occurs within the Borough, which pushes businesses and Borough opportunities away.