A picture of the Chester's downtown business district along Avenue of the States in December, a month after the city filed for bankruptcy.The legal team representing Chester’s retirees — whose pension payments may be cut when the city emerges from a rare bankruptcy — said in a court motion filed Monday the city was playing “bait and switch” by backing out of an agreement to pay it over a half-million dollars in fees.
It asked U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Ashely M. Chan to order the city to pay the bills. It also said that if the city couldn’t, the state should assume the responsibility. The pension crisis notwithstanding, the city’s financial woes have been 70 years in the making, as it has endured the erosion of manufacturing jobs, population, and a diminished tax base, exacerbated by crime issues and a high poverty rate.
They added that it “undermines” efforts to “represent the interests of retirees impacted by Chester’s bankruptcy.” Davis is a 27-year veteran of the police force, and Bolgunas, a former fire battalion chief.