After falling short in primary, Monessen mayor plans write-in campaign

After losing the Democratic primary this spring, incumbent Monessen Mayor Matt Shorraw is planning a write-in campaign to seek a second term in office.

“I’ve been able to leverage my bipartisan connections at all levels of government in order to secure funding and make our initiatives a reality,” Shorraw said. “We still have a lot more to do, and a lot of unfinished goals to accomplish, so we must be able to continue that work.”

Standing in Shorraw’s way is the primary winner, Monessen resident Ronald Mozer.

The two have gone after one another in civil court over the past two years: Mozer filed suit in January 2020, accusing Shorraw of violating the state’s open meetings law after Shorraw and a majority of council voted to fire the city solicitor and city administrator, changed the date and time of meetings without asking other council members, appointed committee members in a single motion and adjourned the meeting without allowing public comment, among other things.

A county judge determined that Shorraw and the city violated the law, which requires most government decisions be made in public and that the public have a reasonable chance to comment on government actions.

This past spring, just a week before they were to go head-to-head in the primary, Shorraw filed a lawsuit against Mozer as well as former Monessen Mayor Lou Mavrakis in their capacity as members of the Monessen Redevelopment Authority.

In it, Shorraw accused the two of also violating the open meetings law, by not publicly advertising the authority’s meeting dates.

That lawsuit was withdrawn, according to county court records.

In the May primary, Mozer beat out Shorraw by a 783-522 margin on the Democratic side of the ballot. On the Republican side, comprised entirely of write-in votes, Mozer also beat out Shorraw, 111-63.

Shorraw said he has worked during his first term to secure funding for infrastructure improvements in the city, in addition to updating outdated ordinances.

“If residents are happy with the unprecedented amount of progress that has been made, and the level of groundwork that has been laid to secure funding and projects, they should write my name on the ballot for mayor in order to keep that momentum going,” he said. “We can’t afford to slip backward again.”

Mozer said he doesn’t mind at all if the mayor wants to run a write-in campaign.

“He lost when he was on the ballot,” Mozer said. “He’ll lose a second time as a write-in.”