Pa. Supreme Court limits Chester city officials of power, ‘whether they like it or not’

An attorney representing the city argued during the three-day trial that the move would be a broad overstep of power and a violation of administrative code.

Ceisler later ruled in favor of Doweary, writing that “a culture of denial, blame-shifting, arrogance, and nepotism” in Chester made this decision “not only permissible, but necessary.”

Unhappy with the decision, city officials sought remedy with the state Supreme Court.

Since then, an election has brought new blood into city government, most notably in the mayor’s office. Newly-elected Mayor Roots was once the lone city council member to support Doweary’s recovery plan — even if that means less power in the hands of city government.

In a statement to WHYY News, Roots said that a year of financial recovery was “wasted” as a result of his colleagues’ expensive appeal. However, he said the decision could have had an even worse impact if he had not worked on a compromise with Doweary.

“My compromise gives us a measure of cooperation with the receiver’s decisions moving forward, whereas the receiver originally sought total control of most administrative functions of city government,” Roots said. “The Supreme Court decision clears the path for city government’s total cooperation with the receiver’s plans to put Chester on a solid financial path to solvency after bankruptcy and for years to come.”