Columbia's decision to ban former employee from its property may be 'unconstitutional' [Lancaster Watchdog]
Chris Vera [Columbia Spy file photo] The following information is excerpted from a December 6, 2025 LNP Watchdog article by LNP | LancasterOnline reporter Jade Campos. Still reeling from an abrupt firing from his role as head of the Columbia Market House in March, Chris Vera was surprised to get a letter in the mail from a Columbia Borough attorney two weeks later telling him he was banned indefinitely from borough property. The letter gave no reason for the ban. Nine months later, Vera, who has served as president of the Columbia Historic Preservation Society for more than a decade and has helped with the borough’s comprehensive plan, is still banned from borough property. He believes the ban includes borough parks, which is part of the reason he moved his annual Albatwitch Day festival, which celebrates the myth of a local cryptid, to Wrightsville. Vera said he’s not sure why the borough went to such lengths to keep him away from public spaces given his termination from the borough s...
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some people really need to wake up. this is the end of this Boro. Have you looked at the number of homes for sale? Have you looked at trhe number of homes being foreclosed on? Have you seen how many homes are up for tax sale and sheriff sales???? WHAT DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND???? And the school board is another big joke. Combine the schools with another district. Enlist state reps to help make it happen since no other schools want to. too bad. we are losing our battle here and NO ONE cares. Oh and the stray cat population is HUGE.....the Boro needs to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT and start FINE-ING people for feeding them and putting out boxes, etc for tthem to sleep in.....
another neighbor puts out 10+ paper plates of cat food a day and when she gets home from work - i am in no way exaggerating here - gets out a bottle of bubbles and blows bubbles for all her kitties. it is the sickest thing i have ever seen in my life.
all of the issues that you have listed make me wish i never bought a house here. i am the target demographic that towns like columbia should be targeting if they want to improve or have any kind of "renaissance" - well educated, middle income, young, starting a family. instead, we are treated to psycho neighbors and borough employees who are unable to do their jobs!
To post Oct 30 at 8:51 pm - You need to call and complain to the codes dept...EVERY DAY...AND if you have and nothing is being done CALL council persons, and the Boro Manager and the Mayor.......
and if it's a wild animal - it should not be fed. didn't you ever see the "don't feed the bears" sign? the borough code defines ownership of a pet as providing food and shelter. if people are doing this, then they are truly the ones responsible for that animal. the line between "pet" and "feral/wild" is blurred when these cats have constant daily interaction and are reliant on humans for basic needs.
i appreciate that they are helping to do something about the problem - but really they are part of it too. the primary offenders are the low lifes that let the cats out in the first place, but second prize goes to the idiots who feed them and provide shelter. that this county has adopted TNR instead of euthanization is beyond me. it is much more humane to euthanize than allow these cats to wander the streets and get hit by cars.