The Gettysburg Action Coalition
PURPOSE STATEMENT:
The purpose of the Gettysburg Action Coalition (GAC), is to act as a watchdog group to the Borough of Gettysburg (Boro).
It has come to our attention over the past few years, that through Code Enforcement, and more specifically, Selective Code Enforcement, the Boro has been abusing their powers. In many cases, the enforcement of codes has been suspect at best.
In some cases, enforcement has been unlawful, as well as blatantly unconstitutional. The GAC has uncovered many instances of abuse of power by the Code Enforcement Office as well as the Historical Architectural Review Board (HARB).
The Historic Preservation Officer, Walter Powell, is one of the most visible and consistent violators. He has taken it upon himself to become the "saviour" of Gettysburg in spite of the laws that govern the Boro or the State of Pennsylvania. Because of this "abuse of power", many similarly affected people began to find each other. We decided that it was time to combine forces, and therefore, the GAC was formed.
In the past, the Boro officers have been able to pick on individuals and bully them into submission. The numbers of horror stories that we have become aware of, could fill a book. We will attempt to document some of those stories, as we have the time and resources to do so.
It is our intention to continue observing the actions of the Borough Officials, in order to ensure that their actions don't continue to negatively impact Gettysburg. In this way, we feel that the town will once again be properly, and lawfully, represented.