Mt. Pleasant borough manager gets 27% pay raise; council fires part-time cop

Mt. Pleasant Borough Manager Sharon Lesko’s duties have expanded once again, following her promotion from assistant borough manager shortly after the May 4, 2023, death of Jeff Landy.

Her salary’s growing, too, after council this week approved a contract that gives her a 27% pay raise, from $55,000 to $70,000 per year.

Lesko now also works as borough secretary and treasurer, council President Susan Ruszkowski said.

The new contract, which includes benefits, is retro­active to June 1 and continues through December 2025.

“It’s three positions into one,” Ruszkowski said of Lesko’s responsibilities. “I think Sharon has been doing a wonderful job. She’s very conscientious about the time she puts into her work.

“I think we’re lucky to have her and her commitment to this borough.”

Lesko joined the Mt. Pleasant staff as borough secretary in 2018. She took on additional responsibilities as Landy recovered from a liver transplant in December 2022. Landy, who had served as borough manager since 2006, eventually died from related complications.

In August, council approved a $5,000 bonus for Lesko in recognition of the workload she had assumed.

Lesko will continue to work with part-time secretary Kenzie Whipkey, who is paid $15 per hour for up to 24 hours per week. Whipkey was hired after completing an internship with the borough.

Lesko said she’s looking forward to moving ahead with proposed borough improvement projects. That includes major upgrades planned at Frick Park, a softball field near the borough municipal building.

Mt. Pleasant is awaiting word on its application for a grant of about $500,000, sought to shore up and improve a hillside between the park and Spence Way.

“They put railroad ties along there, kind of in steps, and some shrubs,” Lesko said of the hillside. “It just got overgrown, and the railroad ties are starting to give way.”

If funded, Lesko said, the project will create a space where spectators can view the ballgames and a handicapped entrance, while renovating a gravel parking area to accommodate about a dozen cars.

The borough paid Gibson-Thomas Engineering $5,000 to create an initial site plan for the park project.

Borough fires cop

Mt. Pleasant Council members voted unanimously to terminate the position of part-time police Officer Mark Price, effective immediately.

Solicitor Leslie Mlakar instructed borough officials not to comment on the reason for the disciplinary move.

With the June hiring of new part-timer Joseph Brelund, fresh from the police academy, at $20 per hour, the size of the borough force hasn’t changed.

Lesko and Mayor Diane Bailey indicated the borough is hoping to hire additional part-time officers to augment the ranks. In addition to police Chief George Grippo, the force includes three full-time officers and four part-timers.

“We always run into a little bit of overtime because four part-timers really is not enough when you take into account vacation and sick time and holidays for our full-timers,” Bailey said. “Recruiting police officers is a major problem everywhere. Sometimes we’ll advertise for two months in a row and get one application.”