The need for long-term financial stability provided the major motivation for East Greenville Borough Council's decision to withdraw from the Upper Perk Police Commission, according to Mayor Ryan Sloyer.

                During a 69-minute interview at East Greenville Borough Hall on Monday night, Sloyer laughed at the suggestion that he is orchestrating the dissolution of the Upper Perk Police Commission in order to create an East Greenville Police Department that he would oversee.

                If that assertion was true, Sloyer argued, it would make more sense to wait until after his reelection contest next year for the council to end the commission, which was founded in 1973.

                "For people to think this is for me to have control of my own department is a joke," the mayor said. "This could be political suicide. Wouldn't I tell my council, 'You do not vote on this until I secure my next four years so I could be the God of East Greenville?'"

                Sloyer, who has served as major since July 2000 and was a council member for two-and-a-half years before that, also scoffed at the notion that he controls borough council. He called the idea that he is "pulling the strings" of council members "hilarious."

                "I am not the puppet master of East Greenville," the mayor said. "If I was, I would get seven votes on every issue. The people on council have their own minds, and they make their own decisions. We don't always agree on issues."

                According to Sloyer, East Greenville's decision to leave the commission on March 6, 2017 has nothing to do with the officers who work for the Upper Perk Police District.  The decision was made based solely on the borough's relationship with Pennsburg and the financial strain on the borough, he said.

                Pennsburg officials "did not treat the East Greenville council with respect and dignity," Sloyer said.

                "I think Pennsburg pushed (East Greenville) council into the wall where something needed to happen," the mayor said. "They kept pushing and making demands, and then wouldn't give us any information. We were not treated like a business partner."

                He said East Greenville's elected officials also grappled with the need to fund the police department and simultaneously make the borough affordable for several years.

                On Monday, the mayor staked his claim as an ardent financial watchdog for the municipality.

                 "If you do the history and go back to when I first started serving, I have always questioned finances of the police department," Sloyer said. "I've been saying we need to be financially smart to be sustainable."

                The mayor said he has spoken privately with "quite a few" seniors and working people since 2000 who say they like the Upper Perk Police District, but can't afford to pay the taxes to maintain the department.

                "Enough is enough," he said. "We can't afford to keep going. We need a financial break. We need to work out the financial differences with Pennsburg, and then go from there."

                Percieved disrespect by East Greenville officials' Pennsburg counterparts and financials concerns, coupled with procedural conflicts with Pennsburg's commission members exacerbated East Greenville's issues, Sloyer said.

                He identified three recent events that helped facilitate East Greenville's decision to leave the commission.

                During the April 25 commission meeting, Kris Kirkwood – the president of Pennsburg Borough Council and a police commission representative – read a statement both inviting the neighboring community to leave the commission "quietly and amicably" or asking East Greenville to "put aside petty differences and start thinking about what greater possibilities exist."

                The mayor also claimed Pennsburg officials unfairly criticized Bob McCluskie, an East Greenville council member and chair of the commission, for seeking the history of previous contractual issues from Solicitor Phil Gazan.

                Pennsburg's absence at the Aug. 22 public meeting "had a good amount of influence on the decision" to vote to dissolve the commission, according to Sloyer.

                He called the behavior "obnoxious and rude."

                "They wouldn't even send one person so we could pay the bills," the mayor said.

                On Sept. 6, during an executive session held before the controversial vote, the council members discussed "possible litigation that has to do with everything within the borough, with the police and everything else," Sloyer said. "It was all perfectly legal, and in accordance with the Sunshine Law."

                During the executive session, there was no vote taken on the police issue, according to Sloyer. He said the members did not come to an agreement on the vote during the executive session, and that he did not take a head count.

                The mayor said the vote, though the issue was not specifically identified on the meeting agenda, fell under the Police Commission agenda item. Sloyer said he could understand why some people might be upset with how the issue was handled.

                "On the other hand, you have this chain of events going on and there's nobody (at the meeting) to ask, 'What's going on?' So you can look at it both ways."

                Sloyer expressed hope that the mediation between the neighboring boroughs can preserve the commission and its multi-borough police department. He said that once the communities work out their personality issues, they can move on to the financial ones.

                "It would mean a lot less headaches if we could work it out to maintain the Upper Perk District and be one big happy family," the mayor said.

                "If we can figure out how to make the commission function and if we can figure out how to financially support the department for the next 20 years, then that is the best option."