Morrisville council OKs first step in potential discipline against police chief

A divided Morrisville council approved formally notifying its police chief it is considering taking employment action against him for the second time this year.

The council voted 6-2 Wednesday night to issue Chief George McClay a Loudermill notice, which is a letter outlining charges against him that could result in the borough taking employment action including suspension or termination.

Council members Kathryn Price Engelhard and Nancy Sherlock cast no votes.

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In July the council also voted 6-2 to approve issuing a Loudermill notice directed at McClay, according to meeting minutes.

Morrisville's employment attorney Chris Gerber emphasized Wednesday night that the council decision would not result in immediate disciplinary action against McClay, who has been chief since 2014.

The notice is part of a process under a 1985 U.S. Supreme Court decision that requires employers to take specific actions before considering imposing discipline against certain public-sector workers.

The first step is issuing a formal written notice of charges and an explanation of an employer’s evidence, and the employee must get an opportunity to respond, correct investigation errors and address the type of discipline under consideration.

The Loudermill notice must be issued before a formal hearing is held where the employee has the chance to present his or her side before the employer makes a decision involving discipline.  Loudermill hearings can be public or private at the discretion of the employee.

McClay will have until Nov. 1 to respond to the allegations in the letter, Gerber said.

Residents speak in support of police chief, but does McClay have boundary problems?

Residents who attended the special meeting expressed frustration over the secrecy surrounding the borough's concerns with McClay, who attended the meeting, but did not speak. The chief did not immediately return a text message after the Wednesday meeting seeking comment.

“I understand you want to know the basis of it, but they can’t divulge it,” Gerber said. “We’d be violating the chief’s rights.”

Seven residents spoke in support of McClay, who they called a community asset for the riverfront borough sandwiched between Lower Makefield and Trenton.

The residents described McClay as a straight-shooter, compassionate and professional who runs an efficient and effective department with an open-door policy for residents. His supporters allege the chief is being targeted by council members who don’t like him.

“Why would you want to get rid of a police chief who cares about this town?” resident Hal Wilcox said.

Robert Perry, who is running for an open council seat in November, urged officials to research what has happened in other communities that have terminated a police chief, and the associated legal costs.

“It has cost them millions,” Perry said.

One woman who spoke at the meeting, expressed concerns about McClay’s behavior that she felt crossed boundaries.

Holly Harman alleges that the chief and his officers have harassed her over social media posts since 2015 including sending her random unsolicited emails critical of her posts.

“The whole thing seemed inappropriate,” Harman said.

In 2020, Harman said she filed a civil rights complaint about McClay with the borough, and spoke with an attorney who, she said, was investigating complaints against the police chief.  She later learned the investigation had concluded, but the findings were not released.

Harman also said that she knows at least three other women who allege they got police visits about their social media posts, too.

In a phone interview, Morrisville resident Deborah Thompson, described a 2015 interaction with McClay over a social media post he didn’t like as “extraordinarily intimidating.”

The post recounted how her daughter, who is on the autism spectrum, had a frightening experience in kindergarten with a Morrisville police officer and she suggested officers should be better trained to interact with children with autism.

A few days later, Thompson alleges that she got a call from McClay who berated her about her Facebook post and demanded that she remove it.

“He got really incensed,” she said.

Thompson said she didn’t delete the post, but modified it, noting that her daughter’s experience happened before McClay was chief.

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This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Secrecy surrounds Morrisville council and police chief conflict