Harris re-elected as mayor after long campaign, heated debates

For a span of two or three weeks before the Nov. 3 mayoral election, both Ken Harris and Frank Monteleone Jr. campaigned heavily in hopes of becoming mayor of Slippery Rock. Both men put time into the campaign and even exchanged in a heated debate online about issues pertaining to the borough.

But of the 1,999 voters in the Slippery Rock Borough area, only 24 percent (475) turned out to see Harris re-elected to his position.

Even with the low turnout, Harris said he spent more money on this campaign than when he ran for his first two terms.

Harris won the mayoral position when he beat Monetelone 303-172.

Harris was elected to his third consecutive term, but this was the first time he had an opponent.

"On this campaign, I spent a little over $1,000," he said. "During my one campaign, I remember this very vividly, I spent $9.95 to buy some software to make business cards."

The two main issues in the campaign were about the police department.

The first was over the disorderly house ordinance in the borough.

Several students had complained to Monteleone that they were being unfairly targeted by the police.

After hearing these stories, Moteleone started to bring the concerns to the borough council.

When Monteleone said he felt the ordinance was unconstitutional and the borough was targeting students, Harris became upset over the accusations and released a lengthy prepared statement at the Oct. 20 SR Borough Council meeting.

The debate over the issue on the message boards on theonlinerocket.com led to Harris challenging Monteleone to come to the Borough's budget meeting Oct. 27 to share his views on the budget.

Monteleone was not given an opportunity to speak at the meeting, much to the embarrassment of Harris.

"If we had a debate it should have been a few weeks before Election Day, in a public forum," Harris said. "But I'm old school in that I believe that the challenger should challenge the incumbent to a debate."

The second issue was over the role of the mayor and the police force.

"We both had radically different opinions on the role of the mayor," Harris said. "I think the mayor should keep an eye on the police force, but not micromanage them. I can-and will-participate in any discussions

In a public statement read by Vice President Blase Tucci at the council meeting Nov. 3, the Borough Council admitted that Monteleone should've been allowed to speak.

Monteleone will be given three extra minutes to speak at the next citizen input session.

Several phone calls made to Monetelone went unreturned.