BREAKING NEWS....JIM TUNALL'S LETTER!!!

The following is the letter that will appear in the paper on Saturday. You will read it here first!! Special thanks for getting me the letter, you know who you are!!

I agree with everything Jim has to stay, way to stand up to the Good Ol' Boy network Jim. Thanks for your service. Jim is a man with integrity........

My name is Jim Tunall, I am a 39 year resident in the borough of Lewistown.During those years I have been a member of many many boards of directors in the community including Lewistown Borough's Planning Commission, Parking Authority and Revitilization Committees. I am a long timesupporter of the Lewistown Police department and supported the formation of the Mifflin County Regional Police Department. However, I havenever witnessed a board so totally out of touch with reality as the current Regional Police Board.

The total disregard for legal council following District Attorney Steve Snook's resignation as Solicitor in November of 2007 shows the level of professionalism at work in the board. The character assassination of both Chief William Herkert and Lt. Steve Knudsen in the unbelievable manner in which they were demoted, degradedand in Chief Herkert's case terminated, is deplorable. Only one current member of the board was involved whenHerkert was chosen from a field of over 50 applicants.

The county was facing an influx of street savvy minorities with drug connections, street gangs forming in nearbycommunities, drive-by shootings as close as Harrisburg and non-English speaking population growth. Chief Herkert brought experience to Regional Police that was not available within the rank and file to deal with these new challenges. He also brought a tough cop professionalism that was needed to deal with a growing force of 27 officers. The board today includes several members who are in their first year of elected office with no history of the Regional Police or understanding of municipal government. This band of rookies has led the board to thedecision reached to exclude Lt. Knudsen from leadership of the force and termination
of Chief Herkert.

I direct my questions and comments to Nelson Rieffannacht, representative of the Lewistown Borough Council on the Mifflin County Regional Police Board. Are you a "free agent" or a representative of the Lewistown Borough Council?When I was a boy growing up in the rural community of Kane, I learned a tough life lesson ....the kid who owned the game ball controlled the end of the game. It didn't matter how far into the game, if he went home, the game was over. Let me point out to you, Nelson, by defying the mandate of the Borough Council concerning Chief Herkert's termination, you have declared "game over".

Don't you realize the Lewistown Borough spends over a million dollars per year for regional Police service. Ad to that Derry Townships share and you will find that the two entities invest 83% of the funds necessary for the function of the Regional Police department. 17% comes from the combined support of the remaining fivemunicipalities: Armagh, Burnham, Brown, Union and Bratton. I strongly suggest that the obvious mission of the decisions made were to destroy the Regional Police System.

Further investigation of the members who voted for the termination shows many conflicts of interest. One member is a brother of a recently retired officer, another is a cousin of a current officer, another is from a municipality whose chairmen of the supervisors is a current officer and another is a cousin of a Regional Police administration employee.

In your case you voted in direct opposition to the Borough Council mandate. Do you have any idea of the legal implications of your actions? Is the Regional Police Board insured for the litigation you may well be facing? For what limit? You as a board appointed Sgt. Moyle as Acting Chief, passing over Lt. Knudsen. When questioned you replied that your reasons were personal and that you had been watching him for a year.

Nelson, there is no room for personal issues. I would like to know how you could be qualified to judge a 34 year veteran of the force and discredit his career by suggesting that the highest ranking officer on the force isn't qualified to lead the force. Sgt. Moyle's first official decision was to take three weeks vacation. Don't you find that a total lack of responsibility on his part? Or in reality is someone else leading the department?

Last week you presented a news release to the press to validate the board's action. At what cost to the regional Police was this boilerplate narrative prepared by the Philadelphia law firm? How much investment in their services has already been expended? Why not a local firm? I was recently lobbied by a prominent county elected official. His telling formal statement was a clear indication of one of the issues at play, "we don't need an outsider running the force, we need to promote from within".

Nelson, I feel you are being led by a desire to achieve one of three missions;
1. Destroy the Regional Police Force or

2. Rid the force of "outside leadership" or
3. Launch a personal political career by garnering free press or ALL OF THE THREE.

In conclusion, I enjoin you to surrender your position on the Mifflin County Regional Police Board of Directors at once. You have failed to listen to the mandate of the Borough Council and are operating as an individual with apersonal agenda. Please do the right thing and resign now.

I again would just like to call for the entire board to resign.

Integrity, or Lack There Of....

So the news of the day in this unfolding saga is the letter sent by Jim Tunall. First of all, congratulations Jim way to stand up to the good ol' boy network.

We did get this great quote from Lewistown Borough Council Member Nelson Rieffannacht. I cant make this stuff up. Strap into your seat this is a good one..... he said, "I would much rather have my integrity than their approval." Go ahead I know this is hard to believe go ahead and read it again......

The irony here is that as a result of his actions, he is left with neither integrity or approval.

A man of integrity would stand up for those whom may not have the voice to stand up for themselves.
A man of integrity would take down the good ol' boy network.
A man of integrity would stand up for someone that is being put down and say no, not now, not on my watch.
A man of integrity does not go simply with the vocal majority.
A man of integrity does the right thing, he resigns when people ask him to.

Do the right thing Mr. Reiffannacht resign, thats the only way for you to get approval you so desperately desire.

Questions Still Remain...

Give the public a little information and maybe that will keep them quiet. Is that now the credo of the Mifflin County Regional Police board? It seems so because the explanations they gave for firing Police Chief Herkert are vague at best, leaving everyone to speculate about what was actually behind his dismissal. A reader of this blog commented earlier that we got it all wrong because the facts have yet to come out.

Well…We’re still waiting. What we were given doesn’t complete the puzzle. Again, I question why Herkert’s request for a public hearing was denied? Denying his request also denies the public its right to know why he was fired.

Board member Nelso Rieffannacht said that he did not want to comment further on the reasons for Herkert’s dismissal out of respect for his privacy. Are you kidding me? Herkert offered to give up that right at a public hearing and the board refused.

Now, the board has adopted the strategy of hiding behind Herkert’s right to privacy as justification for not giving us any answers.

It makes you wonder why the police chief hired before Herkert abruptly resigned and left town after working the job for only a short period of time. Perhaps he knew something we didn’t.

I smell a skunk here. Do you?


I hope the members of the board do the right thing, resign as soon as possible.

Police Board List...

I think this list is like a bad version of the top ten list.

1. Providing false information to the MCRPD Board of Directors concerning budget matters- The board claims they have information to back up the budget matters. I am concerned then that if they knew this was taking place, why did they wait for it to get to this point before making a decision? What if the information that was provided was simply not the information the board wanted to hear?

2. Failure to follow the directive of the MCRPD Board of Directors in making unbudgeted purchases - What were the things that were purchased? What if the things that were bought that were things that were needed for the day to day running of the department? What if the things that were bought were needed to protect the safety of the public? What if the things that were bought were needed to protect the safety of the officers?

3. Providing false information to a state agency concerning non-attendance at an unemployment compensation hearing- What information was provided? What if the state agency made a mistake in how the recorded the information? What if the person that usually makes these conferences was not the chief?


The three claims by the police board do produce something. A lot of "what if." I am concerned about the lack of information provided by the board. I believe this rogue board believes that are above answering questions of the public. It is a sad day when the people of a community can not get the answers to questions they are asking. It is also sad that people are the ones that put these people in charge. They feel they no longer have to do that.


I again, for the third post in a row call for your resignations.

The Board Without Direction

Known to nearly everyone in the area is the Mifflin County Regional Police board’s firing of Chief William Herkert. The board says they fired him for willful misconduct and insubordination but would not allow a public hearing that details how Herkert’s actions warranted his dismissal.

Interestingly, when a board makes a decision to fire someone, its members usually want to state their reasons publicly so the populace would understand that their decision was reasonable, not arbitrary and capricious. They often feel frustrated because confidentiality and possible litigation prevent them from doing so.

This leads to the $64,000 question. Why would the board not welcome Herkert’s request for a public hearing if they believed their reasons for firing him were valid?

One explanation could be the validity of the “internal investigation.” I suspect it is full of holes. As any police officer will tell you, conducting a valid investigation involves finding tangible evidence of wrongdoing. This requires that investigators separate fact from opinion and verify the evidence they have without bias toward the accused or accuser.

This begs a second question. How can an accurate internal investigation be conducted against the boss without bias when those conducting the investigation are affected by the boss’s dismissal?

The board could have hired an external investigator with no ties to the regional police force to conduct the investigation if they truly wanted the facts to come out. Instead, they chose to trust the word of the officers who stand to gain the most from Herkert’s dismissal, over the word of Chief Herkert.

It sounds to me like Chief Herkert wanted to make changes in the force and these changes upset the officers who were comfortable with the way things were done before he came. And because they didn’t like his new way of doing business, they successfully conducted an end-run around him and got him fired.

The board’s action to fire Herkert emphatically states that they believe the regional police officers know best how to run the force. If so, then they should not hire another police chief and simply allow the officers to conduct police business on their own the way they want with no direction from a higher authority. Or perhaps, the board could buy a cardboard cutout to serve as police chief, prop it up behind the desk, and rig a voice-activated tape recorder to it that says “yes” anytime someone makes a request.

I again ask for all members of the board of directors of the Mifflin County Regional Police to resign. Do the right thing now, because you could not do the right thing earlier.

The Path ...

One only need look at a map to recognize the potential value of real estate in Mifflin County. One hour from Harrisburg; one-half hour from State College, and a major 4 lane highway linking Lewistown with both cities. Why then doesn’t business want to relocate here? Why does Mifflin County continue to decline?

Let’s first look at the community college, or rather, the lack of a community college. Mifflin County received a grant 3 years ago to lay the groundwork for a community college. 3 years later; no community college. Why? Because community government and local school districts do not want to contribute their fair share. The formula goes like this: state government pays a third, the student pays a third, and the community pays a third.

Investing in a community college is an investment in infrastructure. A community college creates jobs and provides youth an inexpensive college education. Local students benefit and parents benefit. The students attending the college spend their time not in class in the downtown area at local restaurants and stores. In other words, it gives the local economy a boost.

Let’s now turn our focus to the school district. Mifflin County School District is building a new high school. A shiny new building is a plus for industries considering relocating here. However, when one looks beyond the walls, he finds a system vastly under-funded, not adequately preparing students for higher education or the work force.

If you think that industry doesn’t look into the educational system, think again. Executives of any company make the decisions. They also have children. If they think their children will not get a good education, they won’t relocate their company here.

If you don’t believe me, then ask yourself why State College has a booming economy. Of course, having a university there helps. But remember, the university pays no local taxes and taxes there are significantly higher than they are in Mifflin County.

Wouldn’t it make sense for a company to relocate here as opposed to State College because of the low taxes? After all, State College is only a half-hour away. Apparently not, because time and time again businesses have set up shop in State College, even though they would pay higher taxes. Drive through Lewistown sometime and look around. If you were an out-of-towner, would you want to move here?

Local officials in Mifflin County believe in addition by subtraction. Keep taxes low; cut services, programs; and don’t invest in infrastructure. Then, maybe we will attract business to the community.

It hasn’t worked for so far. So why do they keep on doing the same thing and expect a different result?