A Coaldale councilwoman has publicly criticized the mayor for making inquiries about an officer who works part time for the borough.

Councilwoman Angela Krapf expressed concerns at Tuesday night's council meeting that Mayor Joel Johnson has been overstepping his authority as mayor, and leaving the borough open for a lawsuit.Councilwoman Krapf is the wife of Keith Krapf, Coaldale Police Department's officer-in-charge.Addressing Johnson directly during the public meeting, Krapf said she learned that he has been making calls to local police departments asking about a part-time police officer who currently works for the borough. According to Krapf, the calls started after an acquaintance of Johnson's was cited by the officer.She said it amounted to harassing behavior."The point is, just because they pulled over one of your friend's children, does not give you the right to then call their past workplaces to find out about that," she said.Council President Tom Keerans initially planned to discuss the issue in executive session, but Krapf asked him to keep the discussion public.She said the issue began with Johnson calling the officer's former employers. At some point, the officer and mayor had a 3 a.m. conversation inside the officer's cruiser.Krapf said she heard that the citation against Johnson's friend's child was discussed, and that Johnson tried to get the officer to skip the hearing on the charges."So you decided to try to look into all kinds of stuff on him, and you made a comment along the lines, I can't remember the exact wording, that you would like it if he didn't go to the hearing because this person pleaded not guilty," Krapf said.When asked by Johnson, Krapf declined to say where she heard those details.Johnson defended himself by saying that the calls were made to follow up on concerns that had been expressed to him, but he did not elaborate."There are some rumors about him that have been verified. Calls have been made to me, and they verified them," he said.Krapf said she's concerned that Johnson's behavior will come back on the rest of council in some way. She said regardless of rumors about what happened at a previous job, the employee in question has been more than adequate in doing his duties."When you get calls, your response should be, 'I'm sorry that happened, we have no concerns with that officer here, he's doing a great job,' " she said.