Attorney defends Arnold Mayor Peconi, denies that Facebook post was racist
An attorney for embattled Arnold Mayor Karen Peconi is asking state Senate leaders to ignore demands by Arnold’s council and others to have her removed from office because of comments that were widely condemned as racist.
Attorney Sean Logue said the Senate should not heed demands that it vote to boot Peconi from office because she created the controversial Facebook post.
Logue contends that Peconi’s post isn’t racist.
In June, Peconi made a Facebook post showing water cannons being used on protesters and said such hoses should be used on people protesting the June 19 fatal police shooting of 17-year-old Antwon Rose in East Pittsburgh.
“Bring the hoses,” her post said. She also said of Rose protesters, “None of them work. That’s how they can do this at 7 a.m….”
Peconi later apologized at a council meeting, but has refused to step down from office.
Logue sent a letter to state Senate leaders advising them not to try to remove Peconi on Constitutional and other grounds.
The letter says, in part, “At no time did Mayor Peconi criticize citizens peacefully exercising their rights. The Mayor’s posts were in response to unlawful behavior, threats of violence and those calling police ‘murders’ and ‘thugs.’”
Logue said Peconi “has never posted a racist comment and would condemn such in the greatest of terms.”
“We are asking the senators to ignore the request from council for three reasons,” Logue said in an interview Thursday. “One: It would be unconstitutional. Two: It would disenfranchise voters who elected her to office by a wide margin. And three: This is a local political issue. It has nothing to do with the state.
“This is all political posturing.”
The letter was addressed to Sen. Joseph B. Scarnati III, R-Cameron County, the Senate president pro tempore; Minority Leader Sen. Jay Costa, D- Allegheny County; Majority Leader Sen. Jake Corman, R-Bellefonte; and Sen. James Brewster, D-Allegheny/Westmoreland, whose district includes Arnold.
Costa said the legislative tactic that was last successful in 1898 was tried two years ago when Senate Republicans tried to remove Kathleen Kane from office as the state’s attorney general because her law license was revoked. That action came up short in a Senate vote.
A committee would have to first approve such a vote before the Senate could act on it.
Calls to the senators to whom the letter was addressed were not returned.
Chuck Biedka is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact at Biedka at 724-226-4711 or at cbiedka@tribweb.com.
