Was a candidate for an opening on the Upper Darby Council treated fairly? 

Michael Law attended the Nov. 19 council meeting and said that while he appreciated the opportunity to be interviewed for the 2nd District Council seat, he objected to being asked by Councilman Myron McNeely about which political party he belonged to.

“I was asked two questions about my political affiliation, and my question is, why?” Law asked. 

“The way I looked at it was, we’re filling a Democratic seat,” McNeely said. “And we wanted to make sure the person that held that seat was a Democrat, OK?. And we’re a Democratic Council, OK? So, I felt as though the question I asked was being fair. The fact is, why would we want anybody in the seat other than the person that was in there… I asked you how long you voted as a Democrat.” 

Law told McNeely he was wrong. McNeely apologized.

“I would expect you to be more professional and ask everybody the same question. Was that question asked of anybody else?” Law asked.

McNeely said it was not. 

“You already know what the rules are. You need to follow the rules,” said Law.

Councilor Laura Wentz argued that asking a candidate for office what their political party is was a violation of the township’s administrative code.

“It’s discrimination, and you’re not filling a Democratic seat. You’re filling a 2nd District Council seat. There’s nothing that says it must be held by anyone of any political party. It’s discrimination. And the fact that the question was not asked of every political candidate, it should have never been asked. Because in fact, when we had the 5th District interviews, Councilwoman (Danyell) Blackwell tried to ask that of a different candidate, and I stopped it. 

“My point is it’s discrimination to ask any candidate interviewing for any position in Upper Darby what their political party is. That’s discrimination. 

And no candidate should ever be asked that. Just like you don’t ask what their disabilities are. You don’t ask them what their age is. Those are all discrimination aspects. You don’t ask them those things. That was discrimination, and there’s a huge problem with that.”

Because McNeely had been chosen for the 5th District in that same process, he should have known, Wentz said.

“We represent everyone in the township, everyone in your district, regardless of their political party. The moment you ask that question, you are discriminating. That is blatant discrimination, and it’s unacceptable,” she said.

Brian Burke, a former Council president, agreed that McNeely had discriminated against Law and told Broad + Liberty later that Law should sue. 

“When you blatantly say it was a Democratic seat,” said Burke. “It was a Republican seat for 30 years before that. It is a seat for the people of the 2nd District.” And not only Republicans but Independents should feel discriminated against, he added.

Council voted to appoint Jonathan McMahon to the seat and Mayor Ed Brown swore him in. 

However, at the Dec. 3 meeting, Township Solicitor Michael Clarke announced that no discrimination had taken place when McNeely asked the “potential candidate what his party was.”

“It is not a violation of the administrative code,” said Clarke. “The administrative code only deals with employees. These seats are inherently political. That’s why they run as part of political parties. The question that was asked by Councilman McNeely did not violate the administrative code.”

McNeely declined to discuss the matter further, saying that he relied on the solicitor’s opinion. 

Wentz told Broad + Liberty, “I do not agree with Solicitor Clarke’s interpretation of the administrative code. Chapter VII is clearly talking about Council and all elected positions. It’s a clear violation of 7.02 B 1. 

“As elected or appointed officials, we represent every resident/business in our district regardless of political party. Political party has no place in the conversation, and by asking the questions, it becomes biased discrimination if their answer is not what the asker is looking for.”

When asked to comment on Clarke’s decision, Law said he might sue but planned to start with the state Human Relations Commission because he believes that he was discriminated against.

He said he laughed when he heard Clarke’s comments from the audience because a council member is a paid position and therefore covered by the administrative code. The councilors are paid $5,000 plus additional benefits, including health care and pension, although they pay ten percent toward those costs, and can decide whether to join those plans, Wentz said.

“Can’t he read?” asked Law. “I applied for a job.” 

He believes McNeely asked him how often he voted as a Democrat because he’d recently registered with that party. Also, he made a right-to-know request for the job posting and got a reply with it listed on the township’s Facebook page, not a legal advertisement in one of the papers of record. 

“That’s what they sent me,” he said. “Nothing else.”

And McNeely said, “We decided,” to ask the questions, Law noted. In addition to McNeely, he was questioned by Council President Hafiz Tunis Jr., Vice President Marion B. Minick, and Secretary Michelle Billups.

At the Nov. 19 meeting, Tunis referred Law’s questions to McNeely as the councilman who asked those questions during the interview.

Linda Stein is a Philadelphia-area journalist.