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 seemed, for the most part, polite and amicable.
March 12, 2025 LETTER OF NO TRESPASS from borough solicitor Evan M. Gabel, provided to Columbia Spy by Chris Vera The letter attributed Vera’s firing to “performance concerns.” Since then, borough officials have said that the Market House is not generating enough income to justify a full-time manager while also holding events, which Vera said made up a large part of his work at the Market House.
The decision to issue a blanket banning across all public property to a former employee puts Columbia in a legal gray area, according to some experts.
Calls to borough solicitor Evan Gabel were not returned.
Despite being a standard practice in the borough, how officials decide which employees will be banned from public properties appears to be somewhat arbitrary.
The Watchdog attempted to obtain a copy of the borough’s policy outlining the reasons an employee would be banned from its property. The borough declined the request, claiming no such policy existed. LNP | LancasterOnline appealed the borough’s denial, which was ultimately upheld by the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records, confirming the borough does not have a formal policy on banning employees.
Borough Council members in June also stated there is no official policy for banning former employees. Michelle Jenkins, a former finance manager whom the borough let go in May, after Vera’s termination, has not been banned from borough property.
“This is not unusual, but it is unconstitutional,” [Attorney Sara] Rose said. “There has to be due process.”
The full LNP article can be read HERE.
Columbia Spy posted a letter from Chris Vera to friends and supporters of the Columbia Market House HERE.
Citizens spoke in support of Chris Vera HERE.
Columbia Spy posted a March 31, 2025 article on the banning HERE.
Conflicting statements about the ban policy were noted HERE.
Borough officials attempted to set the record straight HERE.
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