Commission weighs incorporating Allentown Fire District into charter and reviews nuisance powers after reported shooting

Commissioners spent a substantial portion of the April 16 meeting reviewing proposed charter language to incorporate the Allentown Fire District into the city charter and debating how oversight, hiring and discipline of the fire chief should be framed.

The mayor (name not given in the record) said the district had originally joined the city by a vote of taxed residents and that, while the city manages budget and purchasing, the commission’s authority over hiring and discipline of the fire chief needs clear charter language to avoid confusion. Legal counsel (Kevin) warned that adding oversight language brings liability and labor-law considerations and urged coordination with personnel and legal departments: “When you’re talking about a fire department, you’re asking people to be ready... we have to make sure that if they have voted... that they’re getting both the benefit of being a city department and the oversight that comes along with that,” counsel said.

During the discussion a commissioner said they had witnessed a shooting as patrons left Via Jetty's restaurant and asked whether the charter or local ordinances provide tools to address establishments that generate recurring public-safety incidents. Counsel replied municipalities have broad nuisance tools — police response, coordination with health, building and zoning, and the ability to involve the state liquor board — but nuisance typically requires repeated incidents; he offered to locate existing charter language and recommend prescriptive language for council consideration. The mayor and counsel said police response should be the first step for violent incidents and that staff can prepare specific draft language for the commission to review.

No formal action was taken to change charter language at the meeting on the fire-district or nuisance items; counsel said he would circulate additional draft text and commissioners agreed to continue the items at a future meeting.