Freeport Mayor James Swartz Jr. resigns: 'It’s time to get out'

After serving the borough as a councilman and mayor collectively for 38 years, Freeport Mayor James Swartz Jr. resigned over the weekend because of recent disagreements over borough operations.

The mayor has been in the news recently for questioning a proposed police department merger with Gilpin, as well as police officer turnover last year. Behind the scenes, Swartz said, he recently had to deal with a borough worker who didn’t want to file certain reports for code enforcement issues.

“My heart was always up to it until now,” Swartz said. “When your heart’s not into it, it’s time to get out.”

Swartz added he soon will turn 70.

“I’m not batting myself against the wall anymore,” he said. “Not being mayor will relieve stress and headaches.

“I can hold my head high for putting in 38 years.”

Swartz applauded for decades of service

Swartz received a standing ovation from council and meeting attendees during Monday night’s council meeting as his resignation was accepted. Swartz briefly attended as a member of the audience.

Council President Clint Warnick will serve as acting mayor until one is appointed.

“He was a spokesman for us as a borough,” Warnick said after the meeting. “Jim has big shoes to fill. He did a lot for the community.”

Letters of interest and resumes are being accepted at the borough office.

“I’d like to get somebody that has some governmental experience, whether it be local or greater,” Warnick said about potential candidates. “Hopefully, they’re a team player.”

Solicitor Matt Kalina said council has 30 days to appoint a new mayor.

If one is not approved in that time, the borough’s vacancy board has 15 days to fill the position.

If the board cannot find someone in that time frame, residents can petition the courts to appoint someone, Kalina said.

Whoever is appointed mayor will serve through the end of the year and will run for what will be a two-year seat in next year’s election to keep the post.

Problematic police merger?

Swartz said he doesn’t agree with the way the council is pursuing a proposed police merger with Gilpin. He would like to see a free study done by the state Department of Community and Economic Development.

“I would dig a little deeper before I jump into anything,” he said.

Warnick, who is heading the merger proposal, said he respectfully disagrees with the mayor’s approach.

Warnick is proposing a trial run of the merger. He said the regionalization of police departments can be undone if it doesn’t work. A government study isn’t needed, he said.

“A big part of what the mayor does is oversee the police,” Warnick said. “It is something that is important to him, and he doesn’t agree with the direction we appear to be going.”

Swartz’s recent grievances aside, some of his finest hours were landing grants — big ones.

He estimates during his tenure that he has been involved with bringing in at least $14 million to $15 million.

Last year, Swartz helped land an $11 million grant to pay for a new sewage treatment plant. Without it, borough residents would have been faced with unthinkable rate hikes.

Although Swartz said he and Warnick didn’t see eye to eye, Warnick said, “He has been a fantastic mayor, and he’s done a lot for the town. His knowledge and expertise will be missed.”

Warnick described Swartz as strong-willed in his mission to make the borough the best it can be.

The making of a mayor

Of all his duties, Swartz took great pride in making the borough along the Allegheny River look nice.

He led an effort to plant flowers in the shape of an “F” for Freeport near the former Laneville Bridge.

“I always begged, borrowed and got what I could get for free,” he said.

It wasn’t uncommon for Harbison’s Nursery in Harrison to give him 40 flats of flowers.

Swartz’s long run in the borough is explained by his desire to improve the borough with skills acquired in local politics and as a retired trainer and negotiator of labor contracts for Allegheny Ludlum.

He began as a utility worker at ATI’s former Bagdad plant and retired after more than 37 years of working for the specialty steelmaker in 2013. Swartz said he would have kept working if not for a leukemia diagnosis in 2012. He beat cancer.

Swartz said he remembers his political battles. He fought for about 20 years to get the Freeport Bridge fixed. At one point, the Freeport Bridge was in the second-worst shape in the state, he said.

Then there were the community must-haves, such as the veterans monument in Riverside Park and the new ramp and dock along the river.

Swartz still serves on the Freeport International Baseball Invitational committee and helps with efforts to restore Freeport Community Park.

He will continue to serve as president of Freeport’s volunteer fire department.

Swartz is stepping down at a time when the borough is experiencing a renaissance in its business district.

“Most of the storefronts are filled,” he said.

Swartz has watched the population decline over the decades. People walked away from small towns such as Freeport, he said, lured by suburban living and shopping malls. Shopping malls ousted the small-town economy, he noted.

“Look at the shopping malls now,” Swartz said.

Staff writer Michael DiVittorio contributed.