ORDER

TO Chester City Elected Officials and Solicitor

FROM Michael Doweary, Receiver
DATE March 2, 2022
RE Order re: Council Action on Economic Development Liquor License
_______________________________________________________________

On Tuesday February 22, 2022, I became aware that an agenda item

for the Wednesday February 23, 2022, City Council meeting involved
a resolution in support of an economic development liquor license,
including consent for the use of the license, at a property partially
owned by a current City employee. The current City employee is
Ronald Starr who serves as the City’s business development director
and who I also understand to be the son-in-law of the Mayor.

I emailed the Mayor, City Council and Solicitor on Tuesday, February

22, 2022, at 3:39pm requesting that the item be pulled from the
agenda. A copy of the email is attached and reads “Good afternoon.
Please pull resolution 28-2022 (regarding liquor license for 418
Avenue of the States) from tomorrow’s Council agenda. We
understand that this property is partially owned by a current City
employee, and we need to discuss the ethical issues surrounding this
resolution.”

There was no response from the Mayor or City Council. On the

morning of Wednesday, February 23, 2022, the City Solicitor
informed my Chief of Staff that the Mayor and City Council intended
to move forward with the item despite my clear directive.

I then sent another email to the Mayor, City Council and Solicitor at
8:46am on Wednesday, February 23, 2022, stating “It is my
understanding that the City intends to move forward with this
resolution. Therefore, this email serves as a direct order to remove
this item from the agenda.”

Despite this direct order, the Mayor and City Council acted on the
resolution and it passed with Councilmembers William Morgan, Portia
West and Elizabeth Williams in favor. Councilman Stefan Roots voted
no and the Mayor abstained.

Receiver for the City of Chester

Commonwealth Keystone Building, 400 North Street, 4th Floor | Harrisburg, PA 17120-0225 | 717.231.5558 | dced.pa.gov
At no point at the council meeting, either before the vote or after,
was it disclosed that Mr. Starr, as a current City employee or as a
relative of the Mayor, had an interest in the property. Nor was there
any description of the restaurant or business for which he was
seeking the license. The applicant did not even meet with all the
council members to discuss the project.

Pages 89-100 of the Amended Recovery Plan deal directly with

economic development. The Plan states “The city’s resurgence will
be built upon a strong local economy and expanded tax base, which
requires a strategic effort to attract and retain businesses and create
job opportunities for the local workforce that provide a living wage.”

The ethical issues of this action should be obvious. If the City is to

attract businesses to invest in it, which it desperately needs,
businesses need to be assured that there is a level playing field in the
City and that certain individuals, especially those related to elected
officials, will not get preferential treatment.

Actions like these, which are not transparent and which directly
benefit existing City employees who are also related to elected
officials, create exactly the opposite perception and hurt Chester’s
ability to attract business investment.

Therefore, I am issuing this further order to the Mayor and Council to

immediately reverse the action that was taken supporting this
application. Given that the Mayor and Council has already twice
ignored my orders on this matter, I will seek to have this order
enforced via mandamus.

Receiver for the City of Chester

Commonwealth Keystone Building, 400 North Street, 4th Floor | Harrisburg, PA 17120-0225 | 717.231.5558 | dced.pa.gov