Residents seek to bar newly elected mayor from taking job

YORK, Pa. -- Six residents have filed a complaint seeking to bar a newly elected mayor of a Pennsylvania city from taking office, saying his 1991 felony conviction makes him ineligible to hold the job.

The York Dispatch reports the residents are asking a judge to grant injunctions barring Michael Helfrich from being sworn in as York's mayor on Tuesday.

A judge previously ruled that Helfrich's crime didn't prohibit him from serving as a city councilman when he was elected to that post in 2011.

Helfrich pleaded guilty in 1991 to felony drug possession after he was arrested with a man carrying psychedelic drugs. He spent 45 days in county prison.

An attorney who filed the complaint Thursday says Pennsylvania's constitution makes clear he can't hold office.

Helfrich's attorney didn't return a message seeking comment.

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