Reading City Council rejects plan to place a council member on the Reading Parking Authority board

City Council will not have a seat on the Reading Parking Authority’s board of directors.

Council last week turned down a proposal that would require an elected council member to be appointed as a voting member of the authority board.

Only two councilmembers, Melissa Ventura and Jaime Baez Jr., supported the proposal.

Ventura introduced the measure in March, after crafting the proposal with the help of council solicitor Michael J. Gombar Jr.

“I introduced this ordinance because I felt like having direct representation from City Council is important,” she said last week. “It’s to ensure that there’s oversight and to enhance the accountability, transparency and collaboration between the parking authority and City Council and ensure that the interests of the community are effectively represented and considered in parking related decisions.”

Ventura said there are issues with and public concerns about parking throughout the city, not only in District 3, which she represents.

She also said she is concerned about the qualifications of some of the mayor’s appointees to the authority board.

“It appears that there’s many concerns regarding the qualifications of some of the individuals appointed to the parking authority by the mayor (Eddie Moran), and it’s very concerning what’s going on,” she said without elaborating.

State law authorizes the mayor to make appointments and caps the number of parking authority board members at five.

The proposed ordinance would have given the mayor the ability to select one of the seven councilmembers as a member of the authority board.

Although there are no vacancies on the board, Ventura said, a seated member of council could be appointed to the first opening.

According to the city’s website, four of the five current board members were newly appointed last year. Their terms will expire at the end of 2028. The remaining member was reappointed in March to a term expiring at the end of 2027.

Several former board members resigned and were replaced in the months before and immediately after the board’s decision in December to end former RPA executive director Nathan Matz’s employment agreement effective Dec. 31.

Reading Parking Authority terminates contract with executive director

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At its January meeting, the board voted unanimously to appoint Rafael Batista to the top leadership position.

The board also approved a contract with Batista, running from Jan.10 through Dec. 31, 2027, with an annual salary of $125,000 and a 5% annual increase beginning next year.

Reading Parking Authority board appoints new executive director

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At a council meeting in February, Batista spoke vaguely of the authority’s progress under his leadership, calling it a new start for the authority, but offering no specific plans or details.

“I will not enter into the details now,” he said, “because I believe I would like to come back and say, ‘This is where we are going.’ Not only the promise, but with the facts.”

In answer to a question by Baez regarding overnight parking enforcement, Batista said there have been no changes but offered no details.

“Actually, there are many questions I’m going to say that I cannot go deep and get back with some answer at this moment,” he said. “Remember, I have had only six weeks enjoying my new position.”

Baez voiced support for Ventura’s proposal at last week’s meeting and said he had heard from constituents, who also supported the failed ordinance.

“I agree with this ordinance because of the information that has been brought to light to me,” Baez said without explanation.

City solicitor Fred Lachat previously told council that the proposal was not legal.

Gombar said although Allentown set a precedent for similar legislation, he could not guarantee the amendment would not face legal challenge.

“My opinion is that this is a gray area,” Gombar said. “I’m not saying that the legal challenge to this, if it was approved, wouldn’t be warranted at all. There’s just, from what I found, there’s no case law to further interpret or provide any clarity on it.”

City Managing Director William Heim said Moran was prepared to veto the proposed requirement if passed by council.

Council President Donna Reed, who served on the authority before becoming a councilmember, thanked Ventura and Gombar for their efforts, and said she understood why the legislation was proposed, However, Reed noted, she is concerned about maintaining a separation between council and the authority.

A seated council member appointed to the authority would be privy to executive session discussion in both positions, which could pose a conflict of interest, she said.

“I think it’s a murky area,” she said. “I think it muddies the water.”

Based on some of the comments made at the meeting, Reed said, there may be valid reasons for council to consider investigation into the parking authority, provided it can be done in a cost-effective way.

During public comment period, the Rev. Evelyn Morrison urged council to reject the ordinance for reasons similar to those raised by Reed.

Morrison, who has previously alleged corruption in the authority, also urged council to begin an investigation.

“I asked City Council not more than six months ago to do an investigation of the Reading Parking Authority,” she said, “but it fell on deaf ears, and now you’re going to see that the parking authority is in serious trouble. Some of us go to the meetings. We do our research. We do our homework.”

Source: Berkshire mont