Current, former mayors of Pa. testifying in the police trial because they were not promoted

WILLIAMSPORT — Current and former mayors of Williamsport we say the lawsuits filed by a veteran police lieutenant had no bearing on their decisions not to promote him to assistant chief.

Mayor Derek Slaughter and his predecessor, Gabriel J, Campana, testified Tuesday in U.S. Middle District Court on the second day of a civil trial.

The two and the city are defendants in a suit brought by lt. Steven Helm, now retired who claims he was passed over for promotion in retaliation and in violation of his right to free speech for his past legal actions.

The issue in this case is not whether Helm was the most qualified, but whether being passed over for promotion was retaliation, said Magistrate Judge William I. Arbuckle, who is presiding.

Helm’s attorney, Michael J. Zicolello, called Slaughter, his executive assistant Janis Holmes and Campana as witnesses.

When it comes to promotions, Slaughter said he tries to find the people who are the best fit in his administration and lead the police department in the direction he wants it to go.

This led Zicolello to question how, in December 2020, the mayor was able to appoint Lt. Marlin Smith as assistant chief when he testified that he barely knew him and had never interviewed him.

The mayor responded that he had obtained information about Smith from others.

In the fall of 2019, after Assistant Chief Aaron LeVan resigned, Chief Damon Hagan recommended Helm for the position. The campaign chose Mark Sechrist, who had been a patrol officer his entire career.

Sechrist testified at his deposition that he did not apply for or express interest in the assistant chief position.

Applications were sought for assistant chief and captain when Sechrist in September 2020 announced his retirement.

Slaughter created a committee that included Hagan, Sechrist and Holmes to review Helm’s claims and those of five others.

Hagan and Sechrist recommended Helm, but the mayor chose Smith. He withdrew his name before Sechrist retires in January 2021.

Slaughter then chose not to fill the assistant chief position, instead creating a patrol captain position and filling it with Lt. Jason Bolt.

When Hagan retired in May 2021, Justin Snyder, the captain of the investigative unit, was named chief and Bolt his assistant. They remain in those positions today.

None of those promoted filed lawsuits unlike Helm, the testimony pointed out.

Slaughter acknowledged receiving recommendations for Helm’s promotion and said he considered them, but the final decision was his.

Campana, a two-term mayor who preceded Slaughter, claimed he had no idea what Helm’s lawsuits were about because he allegedly delegated that responsibility to him.

Marvin “Doc” Miller, a retired officer whom Campana named chief in 2019, testified that he wanted Helm as an assistant, but the mayor has not said it’s not possible because of the lawsuits.

Helm “was the kind of guy you wanted to work for,” he said. “It was the best choice in the department.”

Miller opted out of the chief’s job days before he was to be sworn in, and Campana appointed Hagan.

Holmes, when questioned about her role in determining who was promoted in the police department, recalled attending the meetings and that she favored Sgt. Jody Smith for Chief. She reiterated that the mayor made the final decisions.

Helm, a police officer from May 17, 1993 to April 29, 2022, was the longtime president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 29, the bargaining unit for police.

He filed two lawsuits accusing the administration under former Chief David J. Young of being anti-union. They were settled out of court for $150,000.

A Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board examiner found that Helm had been transferred wrongly in 2017 in retaliation for union activity.

He lost most of his supervisory responsibility when he was transferred from a patrol supervisor to a new position as a personnel services lieutenant.

The trial is due to resume on Wednesday.