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Media Borough coup d’état explanation: Alyanakian

Aug 27

Media Borough coup d’état explanation: Alyanakian

Part 4 of 7: Outlining the recent changes in Media Borough Council. (Part 1: Introduction, Part 2: Ms. Rehoric, Part 3: Ms. Roe)

Mr. Alyanakian, the primary beneficiary in the “coup,” was asked for an explanation by a resident at the end of the August 19th, 2010 borough council meeting when much of the audience had dispersed. In the July Borough Council meeting, he read from a prepared statement about the reasons for the change, specifically:

  • 1 West State St. (Old Borough Hall aka Brodeur’s)
  • Empty lots on Baltimore Pike
  • Declining services and rising costs for public safety (Police and Fire Department)
  • The MBA which has 5 web sites promoting State Street
  • “Partisan politics which have left us with mounting infrastructure and financial issues which need immediate attention.”

And finally:

The big difference will be in how meetings are run and will focus the attention away from administrative tasks and deal more with strategy and long-term planning issues.

So that was in July, according to the Delaware County Times article.

His statement at the end of the August meeting about how this came about:

“In July, I was contacted by the Mayor and asked who I would support in in fact, Mr. Williamson decided not to continue… Quite frankly, I said myself… I did find it an … odd question for someone like that to ask me. During that following week I ascertained that potentially the seat could be … available or in play, however you want to say it… and set about talking to other members of council who may want to support somebody like myself for this position. After meeting separately with Ms. Roe and Ms. Rehoric I realized at that time that I potentially had the support of them for a change for council president. It happened not a day or two before the council meeting and at that time both Monika and Dawn asked me to keep it private and to not discuss it with the other members of council.”

So, Mr. Alyanakian implicates:

  • The mayor, Bob McMahon
  • Ms. Rehoric and Ms. Roe asked him to “keep it private”

Mr. Alyanakian ran for Mayor in November 2009 and was defeated by a 2 to 1 margin by Mayor Bob McMahon.

Media, PA News has attempted to contact Mr. Alyanakian for comment on Monday, August 23rd, however, at time of press, he had not responded to our questions.

Next: Mr. Cunningham implicates Mayor Bob McMahon