Mayor Laurence Keller had deposited the $150 fee and distributed the money to various nonprofit organizations.
By: Linda Seida
NEW HOPE The Borough Council has passed an ordinance requiring couples married by the mayor to pay $150 to the borough instead of a private account controlled by the mayor who distributed the funds to nonprofit organizations.
The ordinance was passed in response to rulings by the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania and the state Ethics Commission and designed to bring the borough into compliance with those rulings, according to Borough Manager John Burke.
The new regulation establishes a $150 fee for the wedding ceremony and allocates the funds. It also mandates all checks from couples be made out to the borough.
Seventy-five percent of the money will be earmarked for the New Hope Eagle Fire Company. Twenty-five percent will go to the Lambertville-New Hope Ambulance and Rescue Squad.
The resolution passed Jan. 11 by a vote of 7 to 0.
Previously, Mayor Laurence Keller collected the money and deposited the funds into a personal bank account, later disbursing it among about 20 nonprofit organizations, including the fire company and the rescue squad.
Mayor Keller said the suggested donation for a wedding ceremony was $150. He said he sometimes charged less and sometimes nothing if couples could not afford the full amount.
The Ethics Commission in 2003 ruled the mayor’s practice of collecting and distributing the money benefited him by generating favorable publicity. According to the commission, Mayor Keller collected almost $17,000 during his tenure as mayor. He has held the office since 1998.
Mayor Keller appealed to the Commonwealth Court. In November, the court decided the mayor’s practice of collecting and distributing the funds was improper. The court also said the mayor had to turn over to the borough the $1,500 remaining in the bank account earmarked for charities.
Mayor Keller confirmed Friday he gave the $1,500 to the borough after the court ruling. He also said he decided against an appeal to the state Supreme Court.
"After the court’s decision, I chose not to appeal," Mayor Keller said. "I thought enough was enough."
The case he fought in Commonwealth Court allowed him to "set the record straight," he said.
Mayor Keller said he kept "copious records" that "showed every penny received went to a nonprofit organization."
Mayor Keller still was performing weddings last week.
Friday evening, before another ceremony, he said, "To just walk away and say I’m not going to do weddings anymore would have been silly."
He said he understood the council’s decision to disburse the funds to the rescue squad and the fire company, but he seemed to regret the loss the other organizations would bear now. Those organizations included the library and FACT or Fighting AIDS Continuously Together.
"That’s just the way it is because the Commonwealth has made its ruling," Mayor Keller said.

