On the 1-Year anniversary of historic flooding in the borough, Tremont Mayor Ricky A. Nye Jr. submitted his resignation Wednesday evening at the borough's council meeting.
Nye, who was sworn in as Mayor of Tremont in 2017, read the following submitted it to council during the meeting.
"We, as elected officials of the borough of Tremont, have each taken on the challenge as we took our position and the oath of office the responsibility to become deeply involved in our common interest in seeing our community succeed and flourish. As my mission statement and campaign was for a Safe and Strong Community! Together as Mayor and Council, we have been hurled many issues with the change in parking meters, ATV issues, drug activities, speeding and traffic control issues, quality of life and code enforcement concerns, attempting the crime watch program, and the major flooding we all have been devastated with. I believe we reach the lives of a lot of Borough residents in one form or another. During our time together, we have won friends, made enemies, riled the media, and most importantly, persevered in our mutual mission of progress and improvement. The gratification I personally feel when we assist someone who lacks the ability to help themselves. To me, this is why we are all here.
With this in mind, it becomes unsettling when conflict erupts internally. Naturally, disagreements within the local, state, and federal government are expected. Council is deliberative body and should be discussing contrasting points of view. However, the hostility that has still been present over my tenure, it has compromised the civility and objectivity we pride ourselves in exercising. Rather than helpful suggestions, we have been subject to brutal and unilateral demands both of ourselves and of employees. The art of compromise (the mark of good government) has been abandoned, and in its place a hostile environment of mistrust and strife has erupted. In such a scenario, we who still strive to govern through courtesy, deliberation, and respect to our colleagues and employees feel increasingly irrelevant and pushed away from the table. Discourse between calm and conscientious members of our administration is no longer present. Sensibility and rational decisions have given way to an unquenchable drive for absolute authority and concentrated micromanagement done at the peril of employees and the stability of our government at large. With the increase number of complaints lodged against the department and the time involved and lengthy investigations have made a burden to my mind and lately the past flooding has all taken weight onto me and giving me some health concerns. I cannot continue to feel this way to I hope everyone can respect my decision to resign.
It is for these reasons that I feel I am no longer able to effectively exercise the duties of Mayor. By continued sidelining and marginalization, my policies and legitimacy as Mayor has lost momentum. The budget is not sufficient to effectively run a professional police department and with the infrastructure issues which I am forever grateful locally we have been trying to work on but without the state and federal aid and the folks above us aiding in our needs of our destruction the countless hours, days, and weeks we all have fought is meaningless. So, as a citizen if we don't get them fixed, we will not have a community. Our homes values have gone down and no one is helping us, they all call and stop and show up but don't help us prevail and my apologies to the residents of this community. I have work years as a medical professional and I want to keep my name as a medical professional of value so I need to give up this cumulative stress and hostile environment. Even the simple act of doing my payroll, and managing my employees has undermined the professional relationship I had previously enjoyed with Council in the past two years. I have spent hours on hours into working with this department and gaining the public trust in our department, defending the men in uniform, and with all the recent personnel matters, and the community members with all hours of the night and day with snarling remarks I feel my sponge for advocating is full and will not soak up any more water. I will see my kids' graduate school, have grand kids, and spend time with my family. Therefore, I submit my resignation to Tremont Borough Council to be effective immediately with the receipt of this document. I humbly ask that this letter be accepted as soon as possible. All Borough-owned materials and keys will be immediately turned over to the Borough Secretary.
As per 1030 of the Pennsylvania Borough Code, Council President Robert Donmoyer will carry out my duties until a successor can be named by Council or a Vacancy Board in accordance with 901. All relevant documents, scheduled meetings, weddings, and other appearances will be turned over to him upon my departure.
On a personal note, my time with the Borough of Tremont has been the best experience of my life, and my decision to leave this position is without regret. I have been defined as a person by my experiences as a Paramedic and being an advocate for the people of this Borough, and I hope that my involvement and the assets we brought as a team to the table have benefited those who I was elected to serve. It is with a heavy heart that I submit this letter, but have immensely enjoyed getting to know all of you and feel privileged in calling you friends and colleagues for the betterment of the community that we all love.
Best regards,
Rick A. Ney Jr., Mayor