4 vie for Greensburg mayor after police, community shaken by former chief's arrest

Candidates for Greensburg mayor have cited a range of issues they say they’d like to tackle — among them supporting Greensburg’s business community, improving downtown access and restoring citizen confidence in a city police department that has been rocked by recent arrests of its officers.

The field is evenly split for those voting in the May 16 primary.

On the Democratic ballot, incumbent Robert L. “Robb“ Bell faces a challenge from Jerry Vernail.

Bell, 66, is seeking his third term as mayor. He previously served on the city planning commission and the parking authority. He works in private industry as a national project manager.

Vernail, 60, is retired from a 37-year career in law enforcement. A member of the Greensburg Volunteer Fire Department, he served on the Greensburg police force from 1994 to 2015, advancing to detective. He later worked as an agent with the state Attorney General’s Office, where he investigated drug and public corruption cases.

Seeking the Republican nomination are Jonathan O’Brien and Gerome Domenic Spino.

O’Brien, 52, is completing a four-year term on the Greensburg Salem School Board. A former truck driver, he currently has a maintenance position at a Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County wastewater treatment plant.

Spino, 52, a former family therapist and health care administrator, is the program director of Dr. Spino Kids, a nonprofit that has a mission of “bringing mindfulness and mentoring to a vulnerable population,” according to Spino. The organization is named for the candidate’s late father, a longtime Greensburg physician.

Vernail said he decided to seek the office of mayor in the wake of arrests of three city police officers.

Former police chief Shawn Denning, 42, of Delmont resigned after he was arrested by federal authorities in January, charged with acting as a middle man in connecting a confidential informant with drug suppliers in California.

Kenneth Burke, 36, of Greensburg was arrested in July in connection with a domestic violence incident. His trial is scheduled for August in Westmoreland County Court.

Robert Shapiro II, 50, of Latrobe completed one year of probation for falsifying commercial truck inspections. He was arrested in 2016.

“I think we need stability and we need a strong police chief,” Vernail said of the city force, noting there has been a series of five chiefs in charge since he left the department. Before Denning’s arrest, a string of retirements led to changes in those occupying the chief’s spot.

“You have to come up with solid leadership, and that starts with the mayor,” Vernail said.

Speaking at a recent forum for city candidates organized by the Greensburg Business and Professional Association, Vernail called for police officers to have greater visibility in the community.

During his time on the force, he said, “Monday through Friday, an officer was uptown at the businesses from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., and then in the evenings, we were outside the trouble bars. There weren’t any shootings, and there weren’t stabbings outside of them.”

O’Brien said he also wants to bring stability back to the police department. He suggested some related policies “need to be looked into.”

Still, he said, “We have a good police department here. One or two people don’t ruin everything.”

Spino has proposed that the city’s public safety professionals should have monthly “supervisory and personal case management meetings oriented to the professionals’ needs to be effective and well.”

Noting that he has grant-writing experience, Spino proposed at the candidate forum that the city “find some ways to get (officers) some training in the uses of holds and other aspects that people pick on the police about.”

All the candidates agreed that the current charges against two city police officers should not reflect on the remaining members of the force.

But, Bell said, the cases nevertheless have colored public perception of the entire department.

Denning’s arrest “shook the entire department,” Bell told those attending the forum. “It shook the total law enforcement community, and it shook me very badly.

“Part of the fallout of this was 25 other (Greensburg) officers became victims. They were labeled as untrustworthy and lacking in integrity.”

But, he said, “They really are high-quality individuals, and all they want to do is serve the community. They all know they’re going to have to rebuild their reputation.”

Bell said Greensburg officers participate in outreach activities that can build good relations with residents at an early age, including visits to a local elementary school and a Shop With A Cop program.

Bell and City Council members followed the recommendations of consultants from the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association when they recently went within the Greensburg department’s ranks to select the current chief, 18-year veteran Charles Irvin.

The department has “a very high discipline standard,” Bell said. “You step out of line, you’re going to get disciplined.”

Bell and O’Brien both placed high importance on supporting the growth of Greensburg’s business community.

Greensburg has “had a lot of development in the past four or five years,” O’Brien said. “I want to keep the revitalization going. I want more businesses to come here and do business with us. It helps everybody out.”

O’Brien said he wants to encourage more young people to come into town and patronize businesses.

“Once the courthouse lets out, most people leave town,” he said at the forum.

He said he wants to talk to business owners to learn about their concerns.

Vernail said he also would like to get to know business owners.

Having heard numerous complaints about inadequate parking downtown, Vernail suggested the city consider setting aside parking spaces that would be designated for those patronizing businesses, “so the courthouse people don’t have them taken up all day.”

Competition for downtown parking spaces has been heightened since March 2022, when the two-story underground garage at the courthouse was closed for reconstruction. Work is expected to be completed in June.

Spino said parking concerns and getting parking tickets are among hassles that can add up to dissuade merchants and their customers from doing business in town.

“Businesses don’t need nickel-and-dimed,” he said.

At the forum, Spino said helping to promote Greensburg’s business community is “huge to me. I want everybody to shop there and spend money.”

“But is money the answer? No,” he said. “Character is the answer, leadership is the answer; money helps.”

“My highest priority is to continue the momentum of the growth and development within the Greensburg business district,” Bell said at the forum. “It has been my main purpose in the past and it will be my main purpose moving forward.”

Bell said the city has secured funding to develop a downtown master plan, with input through workshops and seminars to be included as an important part of that effort.

“To help small businesses, we have to continue down the path of filling Main Street,” he said.