'He's A Baby': Monessen Mayor Still Absent As Council Avoids City Shutdown

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MONESSEN (KDKA) -- There was high drama in Monessen on Friday night with the city on the verge of being forced to shut down.

It's been ugly. Will the Mayor show up? And will the City of Monessen be forced to shut down? Simple answer to both questions: no.

What needed to happen, happened quickly. Enough Monessen council members showed up to have enough votes to get approval for all essential city services to get paid.

"The city's not gonna shut down now," Councilman David Feehan said. "The business is completed. The police vehicles can be in use. The fire vehicles can be in use. People can enter city hall and city buildings on Monday, just like normal business."

So, fire trucks can answer fire calls. Police cars can go on police calls. Everyone will be insured.

"Insurance is back on the city. That's the foremost. That's the most important thing," Councilman Anthony Orzechowski said. "Nothing else matters at this second. That's all that, hopefully, was gonna happen."

Of course, none of this was easy. Mayor Matt Shorraw, a no-show. He hasn't been here since May.

Former Mayor Lou Mavrakis describes the Mayor's actions as cowardly.

"He's a baby," Mavrakis said. "You know you don't get your way, you take your ball and you run. You know what? You want to play a man's game, you know what you do? You be a man. You don't be a kid. And he's a baby."

Insiders call it "political maneuvering." Experts say the Mayor is hoping a judge will soon appoint a new council member who is politically favorable to the Mayor. The new member will replace a council member who died.

Council members who show up for all of these meetings take a different view: disgusted with the Mayor.

"He has shown nothing but disrespect to every citizen in this city," Councilman Orzechowski said. "We have business to do."

The Mayor did respond to KDKA-TV's Ralph Iannotti on Facebook on Thursday night. He said it would be horrible if the city shut down. He said nothing is preventing the city's insurance from being paid, except for a couple council members who refuse to let it happen. It did happen Friday night: Monessen will not shut down.