Ryan Sloyer decried the criticism of East Greenville's borough council on social media as disrespectful and cowardly. On Tuesday, the mayor called on internet critics, who he says ridiculed elected officials for the way they handled a decision on funding another full-time police officer for the Upper Perk Police District, to cease posting negative comments.

        "It needs to stop," Sloyer said during the public meeting.

        In December, council needed three votes to override a mayoral veto and approve the 2016 budget that held the line on taxes and allocated funds for the Upper Perk Police District to hire the officer.  The final resolution passed by a 4-2 vote. Council member Ryan Pugh provided the pivotal support.

        The mayor, this week, called those critics "cowards who sit behind a computer." He identified residents of Pennsburg, a neighboring municipality with whom his borough utilizes the police department, as the main culprits.

        "Some neighbors have trashed this board," Sloyer said during the public meeting.

        He also identified Keith Gerhart, an East Greenville resident and former member of borough council and mayor, as a vocal detractor.

        Sloyer said a post by Gerhart criticizing two members of the borough's elected officials, on the police department's Facebook page, motivated him to make the public statement.

        "Great job as always guys!," Gerhart wrote earlier Tuesday in response to police activity in the parking lot of the Rite Aid Pharmacy in Pennsburg the night before. "I'm sure there are two clowns in EG who will manage to find some fault with what you're doing for all of the Valley, as they always seem to do. But remember, there is no personal agenda going on....LOL."

        During the meeting, Sloyer said he shut down his mayoral Facebook page in December during the borough's budget deliberations due to excessive negative comments.

        After Tuesday's meeting, the mayor declined to quantify the number of negative posters. However, he described the volume of unfavorable messages as "constant."

        "It became nothing but a trash and b**ch session," the mayor said after the meeting.

        Additionally, Sloyer declared multiple Pennsburg residents he noticed videotaping an East Greenville borough council meeting in December as disrespectful.

        Residents of East Greenville, and surrounding communities, must respect the council's decisions, according to the mayor.

        "No one on borough council posted a response (on social media)," Sloyer said after the meeting. "Residents need to look at the big picture. People need to respect this borough and the decisions we are making."

        In March, the mayor made similar accusations against an anonymous Facebook user who accused him of looking for candidates for the upcoming election cycle who would support him in his effort to split from a joint partnership with Pennsburg and create the borough's own independent police department.

        "I'm not so concerned about somebody creating a Facebook page and really, in my eyes, I'm not going to waste more time on somebody that's a coward to have it posted and not include their name with it," Sloyer said during a public meeting 11 months ago.

        The page, titled "Keep the Upper Perk Police in East Greenville," was set up on March 12 and reportedly received 165 "likes."  The mayor categorically rejected rumors that East Greenville officials were actively engaged in a campaign to leave the Upper Perk Police Department, according to a March 25 story in the Town and Country.

        "We need to work towards affordability with Upper Perk Police to remain sustainable for the future," Sloyer wrote on his own Facebook page, according to the story.