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Nazareth, Pa., United States

Tuesday, May 03, 2022

Under Investigation, Stockertown Mayor Resigns

Stockertown Mayor Ken Zemencsik is now former Mayor Ken Zemencsik.  He resigned at last night's borough council meeting.  Back in November, I told you he had a criminal past.  Of the 17 borough mayors in NorCo, he was the only one with a criminal history.

I'll agree it's ancient history.  In 1998, he was accused of being part of a crime ring stealing stereo equipment from cars in Nazareth, Bethlehem and Upper Nazareth. He  was charged with a multitude of crimes in both counties for theft, conspiracy and receiving stolen goods.    

The cases against him lingered until 2003, when he entered a guilty plea to receiving stolen goods as a third degree misdemeanor instead of as a felony.   

A felony conviction would prevent him from holding office. 

In a Borough government, the Mayor is pretty much a poster boy. But he does have one power that should concern us all when he has a criminal past. A borough mayor runs the police department. 

I tried reaching out to Zemencsik a few times to get his side of the story when I first wrote about this. He chose to ignore me. 

But Stockertown Borough Council decided an internal investigation was necessary. As a result of that investigation, he's stepping down.   

It's unclear to me whether he's also resigning his position in public works. 

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, it looks as though that illegal activity is a pre-requisite for any government position.

Anonymous said...

Reminds me of good ol'e boy Carl Strye Jr.

A thief who stole 100K + from all of his buds, FD, town, and they voted him back in office I believe.

You can't fix "st*pid"

Anonymous said...

Recently, a judge in Northumberland County removed a council person from office for a prior felony drug conviction. Despite the DA efforts to block the person from being seated, the councilperson served 3 months before the Judge's decision. After another councilperson abruptly resigned, one councilperson and the Mayor appointed the ousted councilperson spouse. The ousted is now trying to lobby legislators to revise election code and allow convicted felons to serve. The swamp is deep up there.

Anonymous said...

Hey Ken put your big boy pants on. Look at it this way, our past President Trump tried to take over America which is treasonous. His coup failed but the Republican Party is still fully backing him. Really Trump will never be held accountable and perhaps he should become our first dictator. Maybe you should try becoming a miniature Trump and become the first dictator of Stockertown bourough. I’ll bet you have truck ball on your hitch, good luck.

Anonymous said...

I think the district attorneys office and the attorney generals office should look deeply into the operations of Stockertown Borough Council along with a formal audit

Anonymous said...

Definitely agree. But they won’t

Anonymous said...

How do we make that happen

Anonymous said...

I’m sure if there’s a way Bernie will find it, and put the works in motion

Anonymous said...

And the new mayor … https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/nazareth/2016/06/councilwoman_has_60_days_to_cl.html