The Mayor’s Silence: Thomas Reinhold, Jonathan Gerlach, and Ephrata's 'House of Skulls'

The Promotion to Failure

Thomas G. Reinhold isn’t a newcomer to Ephrata’s power structure; he is its architect. After spending over a decade (2012–2025) as Council President—rubber-stamping police budgets and prioritizing quick, unanimous meetings over deep scrutiny—Reinhold finally ascended to the Mayor’s office in January 2026.

It was supposed to be a seamless transition. He replaced 30-year veteran Ralph Mowen on a simple platform: Stability. A career Sales Engineer, Reinhold campaigned explicitly on maintaining the status quo, promising voters he would "keep the machine running" and preserve the Borough's relationship with its police force.

But just 48 hours after his installation as Mayor, the machine broke. On January 7, 2026, the Yeadon Police Department raided 100 Washington Avenue, exposing a grotesque bone-trafficking ring just 0.6 miles from the Mayor's new office. And Reinhold’s first act as Mayor wasn't to lead—it was to hide.

The Meeting That Should Have Been

Citizens expected answers. They expected the new Mayor to open the first meeting of his term with a statement on the atrocity found just three blocks away. We checked the official Borough Calendar for Monday, January 12, 2026—five days after the raid. The meeting at 6:00 PM was not an emergency session on public safety. It was a "Public Hearing - Zoning Ordinance Amendment."

While neighbors on Washington Avenue were scrubbing the smell of death out of their curtains, their elected officials were debating lot sizes and setbacks. This was a masterclass in Gaslighting by Omission. By refusing to put the Gerlach case on the agenda, they pretended it didn't exist.

The "Status Quo" Candidate vs. The Reality

To understand this silence, you have to understand the man in charge. Reinhold is a career politician in the truest sense of Ephrata’s small-town dynamics. As Council President, he was the legislative architect of the very police department he now oversees as Mayor.

• He presided over the budgets that bought the License Plate Readers.
• He signed the resolutions for the Pension Plans.
• He set the culture of "business as usual."

The "stability" he promised was actually stagnation. The "relationships" he vowed to maintain were actually blind spots. When the news broke that Jonathan Gerlach had been stockpiling human remains under the nose of the Ephrata Police for two years, it shattered the illusion of competence Reinhold had built his entire career on.

The Missing Press Conference

As the new Mayor, Reinhold is the statutory civilian head of the Police Department. When national news crews descended on Ephrata to film the "House of Skulls," the public expected leadership.

• We expected him to stand with Chief Chris McKim.
• We expected him to express horror on behalf of the victims whose family members were desecrated.
• We expected him to promise a full audit of why our officers missed a serial predator for two years.

Instead: Silence. We conducted a deep audit of the Ephrata Police Department’s official communication channels in the 9 days since the raid.

• Crimewatch PA Page: No mention of the Gerlach arrest.
• Social Media: Silence. The Mayor who campaigned on "local issues" vanished when a local issue became a national nightmare.

The Buck Stops... With Him.

Thomas Reinhold cannot claim he "inherited" this mess.

• As Council President: He approved the funding and the lack of oversight that allowed the police to become complacent.
• As Mayor: He is now directly responsible for fixing it.

He is the architect of the status quo. And now that the status quo has revealed a house of horrors, he is hiding in his office. There are only two possibilities for his silence:

1. Incompetence: He genuinely doesn't know how to handle a crisis that isn't a zoning hearing.
2. Complicity: He knows that any investigation will lead back to his own decisions as Council President, so he is choosing to bury the truth along with the bodies.

The "Official Oppression" Angle

This silence is not just bad politics. It is strategic. By refusing to acknowledge the failure, Mayor Reinhold is engaging in Official Oppression. He is denying the citizens of Ephrata the transparency they pay for. He is prioritizing the reputation of the Borough over the safety of its families. He hopes that if he stays quiet long enough, the news trucks will leave, and he can go back to discussing electric rates.

The Demand for Answers

We are not asking for a polished PR statement. We are asking for accountability. Mayor Reinhold, you wanted this job. You campaigned for it. You claimed you were the steady hand Ephrata needed. Now prove it.

1. Publicly apologize to the residents of Ephrata.
2. Launch an independent investigation into the EPD's failure to detect Gerlach.
3. Freeze all non-essential police spending until we know why millions of dollars in surveillance tech failed to catch a guy with a van full of bones.

If you cannot do this, then your first term should be your last.

🚨 Continue the Investigation

Thomas Reinhold is silent. The police are defensive. How did we get here?

⬅️ Previous: Chapter 16: Zoning as a Weapon

➡️ Next: Chapter 18: Ephrata Mayor Ralph Mowen & The 'House of Skulls'

More on Vocal from Sunshine Firecracker☀️🧨:

• Inside the House of Skulls: The Complete Investigation (Master Hub)
• The Man Who Collected Death: A Profile of Jonathan Gerlach
• Is Your Town Hall Breaking the Law? A Citizen's Guide to Official Oppression in Pennsylvania

COPYRIGHT & TRADEMARK NOTICE © 2026 Sunshine Firecracker / Dr. Jennifer Gayle Sappington, J.D. All Rights Reserved.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER The content provided in this article is for informational, educational, and advocacy purposes only.

EDITORIAL NOTE Mayor Reinhold’s career history and meeting agenda items sourced from Ephrata Borough public records and WITF election coverage (Oct 2025). Meeting dates sourced from the Ephrata Borough Official Calendar (January 12, 2026).