After resignations, transparency concerns & more, Halfmoon Township residents fear for the future
In the past three months, a small Centre County township has lost its manager, roadmaster, full-time road crew, an auditor, a planning commission member, and some respect from residents and others.
After an attempt to fire former manager Denise Gembusia without stating a clear reason, and later a brief attempt to seek a resolution between them and Gembusia, the Halfmoon Township board of supervisors came under fire for lack of transparency. During heated supervisor meetings, some have questioned if members have the residents’ best interests in mind. Those meetings have featured veering off course from the agenda, audible sighs from board members and frequent interruptions.
Marshall Mehring, a member of the Halfmoon Township Planning Commission, resigned from that position, along with his position on the Open Space Five Year Review Committee, in March. He declined an interview with the Centre Daily Times, but in his committee resignation letter wrote he “will not be affiliated on a committee in a local government organization led by Ron Servello and Dave Piper.”
“Since January 2022, I have been extremely disappointed with the leadership on the Township Board of Supervisors and in particular Ron Servello and Dave Piper. Their efforts to undermine and attempt to remove an outstanding Township Manager clearly demonstrates their motivation is not in the best interests of the residents of Halfmoon Township,” he wrote in his Planning Commission resignation letter.
Frank Keshvari, an appointed auditor for Halfmoon, also tendered his resignation in March. In a phone interview, he said he cannot work with people that he “lost trust for.”
Servello declined an interview with the Centre Daily Times, stating he has said everything he’s needed to say during public meetings. Piper did not respond to multiple requests.
Some Halfmoon residents have tried to take matters into their own hands. A “citizens meeting” of more than 40 residents was held in March at Way Fruit Farm. Residents were put into groups to brainstorm issues the township is facing.
The top three issues identified were long-term planning to manage growth, tension and dysfunction within the local government, and the board doing their homework on alternatives before making decisions.
Demanding accountability, dividing residents
Jennilyn Vallejera and Lara LaDage were in attendance at the citizens meeting. They’ve lived in the township since 2017 and said before the board’s reorganization meeting in January, they didn’t have much interaction with the local government. The citizens meeting was an opportunity for them to engage with other residents, too. There had been some vitriolic social media posts in a Facebook group for Stormstown neighbors, Vallejera said, which added to her nerves prior to the meeting.
LaDage said the dysfunction of the board was a big topic, as it came after an attempt to fire the manager. The lack of transparency among the board — and not knowing their true intentions — is a concern of LaDage’s.
It came to a head during a February meeting, when the agenda had “manager action” listed, but there was no additional context or explanation. Piper, chair of the board, declined to give additional information when asked, saying “we’ll get to that when we get to it” and that it was related to a previous meeting. During a March meeting, supervisor Chuck Beck told residents to “wait and see” when questioned about what the plan was if the board fired the manager.
“I think it’s difficult as a citizen who doesn’t know the board members, as, like, close family or ... friends, what their intentions are. The ‘wait and see’ tactic makes me feel like I’m being patronized, one. And then, two, it also doesn’t make me feel like I’m a constituent of which these are elected members,” Vallejera said during a Zoom interview in April.
“There needs to be accountability in terms of how they perform this duty as supervisors,” LaDage added.
Danelle Del Corso, a former Halfmoon supervisor and planning commission member, agreed. But, she noted, there’s not much residents can do legally to hold the supervisors accountable.
“The biggest frustration I think from myself and all of the residents is, what is going on? There’s just nothing coming to us,” Del Corso said.
“Unfortunately in the state of Pennsylvania, there are no repercussions for supervisors who are not fulfilling their obligations. So unfortunately, we’re stuck. Pennsylvania does not offer local government any way to hold supervisors accountable to the residents. We have to wait four more years for another vote.”
At least one resident has asked the board to reorganize and appoint a new chair and vice chair, currently held by Piper and Servello, respectively. Supervisor Robert Strouse has made a motion to do so at least twice, but each time the motion or vote failed.
Del Corso echoed the calls for the board to reorganize so there is someone in the leadership post who is able to better facilitate meetings. She said because there is a lack of consistency in how meetings are conducted, the content is getting lost.
But not every Halfmoon resident is concerned about the board. During a phone interview in April, Halfmoon resident Tonya Pick said the board is reflective of how the township residents feel. Democrat Del Corso lost the last election to Servello, a Republican, shaping the board to have a stronger Republican majority.
“The board has changed in 2022. The people of Halfmoon Township elected a conservative to the board and they’ve done that the last two elections. So the people at the township have voted and let their wishes be known via their vote. And the people in this township, overall, want to have a more conservative approach. They want to have lower taxes, they want to have more freedom, they don’t want to be a cog in the big Centre Region machine. They want to keep their individual freedom and keep our township the way it is,” she said.
She sees the board reviewing resumes and looking at job descriptions during April meetings as a sign that they’re moving forward, which is what the township needs, she said.
She does want to see more fiscal responsibility and the board being more intentional with the money they have budgeted. Roads need to be repaired, there needs to be a viable fire department and the township staff needs to move back into the building the township owns at 100 Municipal Lane (the township has been leasing a space in Stormstown while updates are being made at the building), she said.
“I think as a township, especially a small township, you only spend money if you have it and you spend it on things that are necessary and things that are part of what municipal townships are supposed to pay for,” Pick said.
What should happen moving forward?
During an interview last month, Halfmoon resident and Way Fruit Farm owner Jason Coopey said because of the nature of the farm and its status, he hears about a lot of the issues the township and residents are facing.
“One of the things that I feel very proud about is the fact that Way Fruit Farm is sort of our local community’s meeting spot, so we get to know and see just about everybody. So even if we’re trying to avoid being involved in township politics, we’re at least going to know and hear what’s occurred,” Coopey said.
Overall he’s heard that the community is confused and just wants a functioning government. And his impression of the local government? “It’s just a mess.”
It’s important for the community to get back to having a functional government and road crew, he said.
“Every spring they normally go through and sweep off the intersections to make sure that all of the loose stones are (gone) that can cause accidents, and fill the potholes, things like that. Things that you expect out of your local government aren’t going to get done, and I just don’t see an easy way for us to get back there. You know, we lost a lot of our brain trust, if you will, a lot of our experience in the township and I’m a little nervous that we’re rudderless,” Coopey said.
The impact the government’s dysfunction is having on residents — and will continue to have — is also a concern, Del Corso said.
“My biggest disappointment is how degraded the reputation and the quality of the township operations has declined in such a short amount of time. And I’m worried for the future because of the bridges that are being burned, the relationships that are being tarnished and again, the reputation that is being presented about our township, is going to do nothing but hurt the township and the residents going forward, unless something is done,” Del Corso said.
The board’s top priority, Coopey said, should be hiring a new, independent manager. That person should be ready to help guide the community through the changing nature of the area, he said.
The board has had several meetings since the former roadmaster and manager resigned. Still, both positions are vacant. The board approved advertising a new job description for the roadmaster position April 28, two months after the roadmaster resigned.
More than a month after the manager resigned, the board has yet to post the position or have an in-depth discussion about it in public. During the April 14 meeting, Servello said he didn’t think the position could be posted until the job description, ordinance and personnel manual were “revised and corrected.” There are various issues the board needs to discuss, he said.
On April 28, Servello said he needed more time to review those items and suggested he present his ideas and comments during an executive session.
Strouse stressed that hiring a new manager should be the board’s top priority “so we can get things back to normal.”
The next supervisors meeting is 7 p.m. May 12.
