'Police Matters' Topic Of Special Morrisville Council Meeting

MORRISVILLE, PA —The Morrisville Borough Council will hold a special meeting Thursday night to discuss "police matters," its mayor told Patch.

Mayor Gary Wallace said that the meeting at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the municipal building on Union Street will be about "the police chief and staffing."

The mayor did not go into further details until the meeting takes place.

In December, the Borough Council voted to hire Gerald Simpson to serve as interim police chief after voting to fire Police Chief George McClay.

McClay told Patch in mid-November that he would contest his firing, which was approved by Borough Council while he was on vacation. McClay could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

The council relieved McClay of his duties, taking disciplinary action it had considered when it had authorized a Loudermill notice against the chief.

A Loudermill notice is a form of disciplinary action in which public-sector employers may give notice to employees of their intent to suspend, demote, or terminate them.

McClay previously said the borough offered him a 30-day suspension which he believed was "outrageous." McClay said he countered with a five-day suspension but that was not decided upon by the council.

McClay was seeking to appeal his ouster at a borough Civil Service Commission hearing, but that meeting never materialized. Instead, a mediator was approved, the mayor said.

McClay has served 10 years as chief and a prior 28 years working in the Philadelphia Police Department.

He said this was the first punishment he ever received during his career. McClay said he also never spoke to any of the council members about the situation.

The Borough Council did not reveal why it fired McClay.

Simpson had served as the first chief of police for the Southern Chester Regional Police Department for New Garden, West Grove, and Avondale in Chester County.

The former New Garden Township police chief retired in December 2022 and was working as a consultant with Rarefied Leadership Group LLC.