Penn Hills mayor calls for committee chair's resignation amid alleged cartoon creation

Penn Hills’ mayor is now calling for the resignation of the municipality’s Economic Development Committee chairman after he allegedly created a political cartoon that used profanity to describe the deputy mayor.

“This type of behavior is uncalled for, serves no purpose, it is hurtful and harmful — and cannot be acceptable behavior for an appointed official,” Deputy Mayor Catherine Sapp said, reading from a statement prepared by Mayor Sara Kuhn, who was absent from a Dec. 2 meeting held to discuss Penn Hills’ 2020 budget.

Tyler Tomasino allegedly created a political cartoon before the Nov. 5 municipal election that borrowed from the movie poster of the 1985 film “The Goonies.”

The faces of the movie’s characters were replaced with photos of state Rep. Tony DeLuca, Planning Commissioner Jerry Chiappinelli, Mayor-elect Pauline Calabrese, Councilman-elect Frank Pecora and Sapp.

Each political figure also received a nickname. Sapp’s was “Cathy ‘Deputy Dip Sh*t’ Sapp.”

Philip Vecchio, Penn Hills school board President Erin Vecchio’s son, said he shared the image on his personal Facebook account after a friend in Oakmont forwarded it to him via text message.

Vecchio said that, despite finding the cartoon funny, he deleted it from his Facebook account after learning Sapp’s feelings were hurt.

Tomasino did not respond to calls seeking comment. When reached by phone in November, he neither confirmed nor denied creating the cartoon.

The cartoon circulated on social media, including on Sapp’s personal Facebook account. Sapp has said she was offended by the cartoon’s suggestion that she was one of DeLuca’s “cronies.” She called the cartoon “shameful” and “unacceptable.”

The mayor’s call for Tomasino’s removal comes after Sapp made a motion during a Nov. 18 council meeting. Her motion never went to a vote because Kuhn tabled it.

However, according to the mayor’s statement, she has since “reviewed the context” of the political cartoon and decided to seek Tomasino’s resignation from the board.

Manager Scott Andrejchak said, as of Dec. 3, he has not received a resignation from Tomasino.

He said if Tomasino resigns, there will be a vacancy for the mayor and council to fill. If he doesn’t, council could vote for his removal.

“Appointees serve at the pleasure of mayor and council,” he said.

Kuhn declined to comment further on the matter through a text message sent to a Tribune-Review reporter.

“The Deputy Mayor gave my statement, I believe it will be on the agenda at the next council meeting for public discussion and vote. As always my comments will be given to my public before media,” she wrote.

Calabrese said she respects Kuhn’s decision to seek Tomasino’s resignation.

“Free speech is not absolute — but that has to do with the government not regulating your speech. I would expect an adult to regulate their own speech,” she said. “You can have political satire, but in my opinion it should be against people running for office. (Sapp) wasn’t. That’s tantamount to attacking a potential employer. It would be silly to do that. So it was really poor judgment on his part.”

In a separate interview with the Tribune-Review after the Dec. 2 meeting, Sapp said she was pleased with the mayor’s decision calling for Tomasino’s removal.

“It was the right thing to do,” she said.