Masontown council members vote to layoff entire police force
UPDATE: Masontown council president John Stoffa said members will meet on Saturday to make a motion to repeal the decision to lay off the police force. He said moving forward, council will ask police for more details about what officers do.
The previous story from Jan. 7 is below.
Borough council members in Masontown voted this week 6-1 to lay off its entire police force.
Currently, the police department has two full-time officers and four part-time officers, according to Timothy O'Barto, the Masontown Borough police chief.
Council members made the decision shortly after being sworn into office on Monday during a reorganization meeting.
"It was right out of the chute for the first meeting with brand new council members and it was quite unexpected," said Masontown Mayor Michael Washko.
KDKA-TV reached out to all council members on Wednesday. Only two answered our calls. Councilman Mickey Upole told KDKA-TV that he had nothing to say. Councilman Gregg Adamson said the layoffs weren't his idea.
"We're trying to cut property tax down," Adamson said. "There's not high crime in the area. I've lived here all my life."
Adamson said council is trying to make it easier on taxpayers, saying Masontown has some of the highest millage rates in the county. He said state police in Uniontown will cover the area until a final decision is made. KDKA-TV asked state police if there'd be any strain on them covering Masontown, but they had no comment.
O'Barto said the police force is absolutely necessary in the borough.
"We have every type of crime that a major city has in our borough. We have homicides down to the smallest internet cryptocurrency cases," O'Barto said.
"We have a good community, and we need the police presence here," said Masontown resident Stacie Rude. "Priorities are in the wrong spot."
"They did not do this the proper way. They didn't put this out to the public to have them say, 'We're going to reduce your taxes in exchange for getting rid of the police. Are you for that or against it?' They didn't do that. They waited to appoint a councilman, then they voted two minutes after their butts hit the seat, to eliminate the police, a decision would be the biggest one in 20 years," O'Barto said.
O'Barto said he believes the move is aimed at him.
"This was not about taxes. They are not eliminating property taxes. They are not going to cut anything. This was a political hack job to get to me and my members of my department," O'Barto said.
In 2025, data shows Masontown's millage rate at 5.92%.
If you compare Masontown's population to other municipalities similar in size, Brownsville's millage rate stands at 11% while a larger district like the City of Uniontown is at 13%. The overall average millage rate in the county is 2.9%.
"Last year, we passed the budget for 2026, and the police department was fully funded," Mayor Washko said. "So, the issue of money was not really the point, because it has been funded, and it has been funded for the last five years. The last time we raised taxes was in 2019 and we've been working within the budget ever since then, and the police department actually has a surplus in their budget at this time."
O'Barto said the decision doesn't make sense as the borough just spent tens of thousands of dollars last year for new police equipment like body cameras and tasers and new police cars.
"You spend $100,000 to then vacate the police department two minutes after your butts hit the seat in the new council," O'Barto said.
"What do they have against you?" KDKA reporter Erika Stanish asked.
"There's animosity from things that occurred in past," O'Barto said. "There's animosity because the department has made arrests of council people for infractions and I get it. People have their animosities, but you have to take the welfare of the town ahead of what you want from me. If you want to fire me, fire me for cause, fire me for not doing my job. They can't do that. So, they went this route. My officers are some of the best they have."
O'Barto said with state police responding to calls, it will increase response times from 1 to 3 minutes to 30 to 40 minutes.
"It's greed and one day someone is going to need a police officer like the good ones we have here," Rude said, adding, "State police aren't going to show up and then they're going to realize they messed up."
Council is expected to vote to disband the department during next week's council meeting on Tuesday. The public is invited to attend.
"I hope they come. I really do. I think they'll show up. I think they'll think, but I think it's going to fall on deaf ears," O'Barto said.
Meanwhile, Fayette County District Attorney Mike Aubele said neither his office nor state police were notified that the borough intended to take this action during the reorganization meeting.
"It wasn't on the agenda and shouldn't have been voted on," Aubele said.
Aubele said his office plans to file a lawsuit against the borough to undo the action that they took on Monday.
"I can't stress enough that state police and the chief of law enforcement of the county should have been notified. Their action has put the entire community at risk without police," Aubele said.