Michael Suley is my hero!! Does that name ring a bell? He wrote this letter to the editor of The Almanac, Lebo reassessment proposal pits neighbor against neighbor. (Saved in Google Docs) Mr. Suley spoke at the commission meeting tonight. I uploaded the podcast, which was recorded by two volunteers. Thank you, Guys. The podcast is available here on Lebocitizens.com. Mr. Suley speaks at the 00:16:30 time stamp.
Mr. Suley sympathized with a previous speaker who was caught up in the newcomers tax. He said that the commissioners should apologize to the newcomers and asked for the commissioners to withdraw the appeals. Suley identified the problem by comparing Dave Brumfield's house on Crystal with neighbors' homes. He also focused on Roycroft and Arden, Linfante's and Bendel's streets respectively. A homeowner on Roycroft is paying $500 more A MONTH for a similar home on the same street. John Bendel asked Mike to wrap up his comments, but then you hear Brumfield interrupting him. I love how Suley pointed out, while VP Bendel had asked him to wrap it up, Brumfield was stammering away (my words, not his.)
Thank you, Mike, for highlighting the problem and offering solutions. He disagreed with Dave Brumfield's quote in the paper that it was the County pulling the trigger. Suley corrected Brumfield by saying that the commissioners are pulling the trigger.
Suley is past vice-chair of the Allegheny County appeals board and also was the manager of the Office of Property Assessments.