The People’s Brief: The Moral Test of Leadership

Mayor Danene Sorace and Chief Richard Mendez at Press Conference about use of force 03.18.2025

The first obligation of leadership is to do what’s morally right. Everything else follows.

Morality Comes Before Legality

Lancaster is facing a simple but defining test: Will our leaders do what’s morally right, now that the court has made clear what is legally permissible?

A Lancaster County judge recently ruled that the city must release police body-camera and dash-camera footage from the March 2, 2025, arrests involving local teenagers. The city’s justification — that it needed to protect the minors’ identities — didn’t hold up. The judge determined that modern technology can blur faces and protect privacy.

In other words, it is legally permissible to release the footage. The question now is whether Lancaster’s leaders have the moral conviction to do so.

Transparency is not a political issue; it’s a moral one. When public officials hide behind legal gray areas or bureaucratic delay, they erode the very trust they claim to protect. The judge’s decision removes that excuse. The moral path is clear: release the footage, tell the truth, and rebuild trust.

The Duty of Local Government

Local government’s first obligation — and the first obligation of Mayor-elect Jaime Arroyo — is to the moral integrity of Lancaster City.

If you want to lead this city, you start by doing what’s right, not what’s easiest. The moral thing to do here is transparency.

Every member of Lancaster’s City Council — candidates and incumbents alike — has said they believe in transparency and trust. There is no disagreement on that principle. Now the court has ruled that it’s legally allowed. So what remains is a test of moral willpower.

The outgoing administration — Mayor Danene Sorace, Chief Richard Mendez, and the Lancaster County District Attorney’s office — were wrong on this. The court said so plainly. This is no longer a debate about legality; it’s a question of leadership.

The first step to improving trust is transparency. The first step to leadership is moral clarity.

The Football Analogy: Leadership Starts With Your Own Team

Mayor-elect Arroyo has said that a consultant has already been hired to assist in the search for Lancaster’s next police chief. But here’s the question no one is asking:

Who is this consultant? What is their track record? What is their philosophy on policing and transparency?

And perhaps more importantly — why is the old administration making this decision for the new one?

Think of it like football: when a new head coach is hired, they don’t inherit their coordinators from the previous regime. They bring their own team — people who share their values, philosophy, and vision for success.

If Arroyo is to lead Lancaster into a new era of trust and transparency, he needs the space to choose his own coordinators — his own police chief and his own hiring process — not one pre-selected under the old playbook.

A consultant hired under the outgoing administration can’t credibly design the foundation for a new one. That’s not leadership continuity; that’s a leadership handcuff.

The Real Question: What Kind of Chief Do We Want?

As Lancaster prepares to hire its next police chief, the most important question isn’t “Who?” It’s “What kind of leader do we want?”

Do we want a chief who believes in transparency — who understands that releasing footage and communicating openly is part of serving the public? Do we want a chief who explains his or her philosophy of policing — who defines what safety, accountability, and partnership actually mean for our neighborhoods?

These are the questions that matter. And they should be answered publicly, not behind closed doors or filtered through consultants.

The hiring of a police chief is one of the most consequential decisions a city makes. It defines the tone of justice, accountability, and community trust for years to come. The moral decision must come first — transparency, openness, honesty — and everything else follows.

A Call to Lead With Integrity

Lancaster City Mayor- Elect Jamie Arroyo

Will the Arroyo administration choose the moral path of transparency, or will it continue to hide behind a bureaucratic stonewall?

Leadership is not about managing optics; it’s about making moral choices when they matter most.

Lancaster’s residents are watching. They have seen the city stumble through secrecy before. This moment gives both the outgoing and incoming administrations a chance to reset the standard.

Mayor-elect Arroyo has spoken about “building trust” and creating a “community-oriented” city. That begins right here, right now — with moral clarity and transparent action.

Release the footage. Explain who the consultant is. Let the public see the process.

That’s how you lead a city. Not through delay, not through caution, but through courage.

Closing Thought

Morality is not a slogan — it’s a practice. It begins with telling the truth, continues with transparency, and ends with trust.

Lancaster has been given both the legal permission and the moral opportunity to do what’s right. Now it’s up to its leaders to decide whether they will.