Petition Online to Remove Hansen as Lansdale Council President

A petition to remove Jack Hansen as the council president of Lansdale Borough has shown up online at MoveOn.org—and it was created by Lansdale Business Association President Doug DiPasquale.
The petition can be signed at this link.
"Seeing and hearing the public outcry of those citizens who are not in favor of Mr. Hansen as borough council president confirmed my individual thoughts on his nomination," said DiPasquale. "Furthermore, the number of business owners and residents that I have spoken with after Mr. Hansen's election inspired me even more to stand up to this pay-to-play politics."
Hansen, a Democrat, was appointed president of Lansdale council at the Jan. 6 reorganization meeting by a 5-4 vote. Those voting in favor included new council members Liz Troy and Leon Angelichio, Hansen and new council Vice President Steve Malagari, all Democrats. Voting against Hansen were Democrats Denton Burnell and Mary Fuller, Republican Tom Work and Independent Jason Van Dame.
Van Dame was also nominated at the meeting for president, but lost in a 5-4 vote.
Those signing the petition support Van Dame as leader of council and not Hansen.
A petition as this would have little to no pull in the municipal level: Council presidents and vice presidents are elected by majority vote of council members, not the public.
Councilmembers would have to vote to remove Hansen from the post via a majority vote and vote again to re-elect a president after offering a nomination via a motion.
DiPasquale said the recent Lansdale election showed that the local community has lost control, and compared it to the "nonsense politics" of Washington.
"The people of Lansdale thought they were voting for the right candidate, if they look at the facts now, it's much different. How can Jack's 'puppets,' on the night they were sworn into office, make motions to remove certain firms without giving fellow council members and residents adequate time to know who they are and their qualification?" he said.
"For that matter, how are they educated enough to take any official action when they rarely attend council meetings in the first place? It's just plain wrong and someone has to stand up and put a stop to it," DiPasquale said. "I am more than happy to do that with the support many others."
DiPasquale made his feelings known about Hansen at the meeting, during a public comment period after Hansen attempted to nominate new borough officials, most whom had donated to his campaign and his Friends of Lansdale PAC.
"You got what you wanted—for now," he said, referring to Hansen's presidency win. "Stop. You make yourself look like a fool."
According to the petition, DiPasquale wrote that Hansen is doing everything he said he was opposed to in the past four years.
"He wants to bring pay-to-play politics in to control Lansdale and that has to STOP," claims the petition. "Sign this petition to tell our Council to remove him as President, or even from Council all together!"
DiPasquale wrote that too many people have worked hard to make Lansdale a destination.
"We need to keep that going and Jack Hansen is not the person to do that because he has shown that politics are more important than community! We need to get him out of politics here in Lansdale," wrote DiPasquale.
As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, the petition, which went live Tuesday, had garnered three signatures, including DiPasquale himself.
Hansen has denied pay-for-play politics, but admitted some of his nominations Monday night were for those who did contribute to Democratic campaigns in Lansdale.
"The motions I brought up of these people are people I have met, people that do a good job all the way around," Hansen said Monday night. "I want people here I know personally can reach out and help me at other levels of government also to get funding and clearances to get things done in the borough ... The people I wanted to bring in can help me reach out to other levels to get things done."
Hansen was emailed for comment, but had not replied as of Wednesday night.
DiPasquale hoped the petition will show the council members who align themselves with Hansen that the people of Lansdale are not going to stand by idly and let it happen.
"There are too many of us that put our time and effort into bringing Lansdale where it is today to see it be destroyed because of promises made to those who made financial contributions," said DiPasquale, who ran unsuccessfully for Lansdale mayor on the Democratic ticket. "This is not for my personal gain, this is because I love Lansdale and I cannot sit back and watch the town I live and own a business in regress."