What’s happening in Halfmoon Township? A timeline of events from the past 3 months
A lot has happened with the local government in Halfmoon Township since a new board and leadership began in January.
Attempts to fire the manager, resignations and more have filled the board’s agenda in recent months. Here’s a look at what has happened in the past months:
Jan. 3: The new board, consisting of Republicans David Piper, Ronald Servello, Chuck Beck and Patti Hartle, and Democrat Bob Strouse, met for the first time. Servello was the only new member, beating out Democrat Danelle Del Corso in the November 2021 election. The board reorganized and appointed Piper to board chair and Servello to vice chair with a 3-2 vote; Strouse and Hartle voted against it.
Feb. 24: During a February Board of Supervisors meeting, supervisors had a full agenda of business to tend to, with items including continuation of services from C-NET and “manager action.”
During the meeting, Piper made a motion to dismiss Gembusia effective immediately, with two weeks’ severance pay. It was seconded by Beck. The motion failed 3-2, with Piper and Beck voting in favor, and Hartle, Servello and Strouse voting against it.
Piper and Beck also voted to leave C-NET services; Piper was concerned about the cost, which is paid for with franchise fees from Comcast (not by the taxpayers). That motion failed as the rest of the board voted to keep the services.
The board voted 3-2 not to accept Scott Brown’s resignation as roadmaster, with Piper, Servello and Beck voting against accepting the resignation. Piper motioned to give Brown “31 days to reconsider his action” and to allow him to remain on if he’d like to. That motion failed. The township’s solicitor Zachary Rice said the board’s acceptance, or non-acceptance, is just a formality and doesn’t keep Brown employed.
March 10: The board heard an outpouring of support for Gembusia during the March 10 meeting. The board voted 3-2 to add “manager action” back to that meeting’s agenda and voted to attempt to move toward a resolution with the manager. That included a “corrective performance process” that’s expected to be 60-90 days, though few details were given about the process.
March 23: Gembusia tendered her resignation, effective March 31.
March 24: The board met and accepted Gembusia’s resignation. They also discussed a letter from a State College-based design architect, Michael Siggins. He had submitted a proposal for alterations to the Halfmoon Township Municipal Building, but withdrew it.
“I attended the last board of supervisors meeting and watched the previous two meetings on YouTube. I came away with the opinion that there are some serious issues concerning the way the Board of Supervisors conducts their business for the township and with the citizens of the township,” Siggins wrote.
The board also discussed the lack of township staff. After March 31, the township would be without a manager, a roadmaster (who resigned in February) and public works crew. The board voted to have Servello compile information for the roadmaster job description, then review and take the action to get it posted.
March 24: Frank Keshvari, an appointed auditor for Halfmoon, tendered his resignation. Later, in a phone interview with the Centre Daily Times, he said he cannot work with people that he “lost trust for.”
March 31: Marshall Mehring, a member of the Halfmoon Township Planning Commission resigned from that position and from the Open Space Five Year Review Committee. He declined an interview with the Centre Daily Times, but in his committee resignation letter he wrote he “will not be affiliated on a committee in a local government organization led by Ron Servello and Dave Piper.”
April 14: Servello said there are “some serious errors” and issues within the manager’s job description, ordinance and the personnel manual that the board needs to address before the job can be posted.
The board voted 4-1 to rehire Scott Brown, former roadmaster, at $30/hour as a seasonal part-time employee to oversee and train new employees, and help with road maintenance.
Strouse voted against this, stating they were walking down a dangerous road.
“This is a leading down the road of being tremendously improper. Scott Brown stepped down which triggered the attempted firing of our previous manager twice. And then she resigned. And now suddenly, we are bringing Scott Brown back on to staff,” Strouse said.
April 28: Servello said he’s been working on a revision to the job description and ordinance for the manager position, as well as the personnel manual, but he wasn’t ready to present his ideas to the rest of the board. The board scheduled an executive session to discuss his ideas and comments.
The board unanimously approved a revised roadmaster job description and approved advertising the position. They also planned to review applications for the full-time public works laborer position during a future executive session.
