Without a township manager for months, Halfmoon officially abolishes position
The Halfmoon Township board of supervisors voted unanimously to abolish the township manager position after being without a manager for months.
The board held a public hearing Thursday to repeal the “township manager” ordinance. Supervisor Ron Servello said the way the ordinance is currently written limits the ability of an employee to do certain things and goes “far beyond a manager in a township the size of Halfmoon.”
Because it is an ordinance rather than just a job description, the board can’t modify it. They have to repeal the ordinance and, if they choose to, write and adopt a new one. Board Chair David Piper said there are numerous issues in the ordinance and that they’d like to have more flexibility with it.
“There were powers and duties given to the last manager when the ordinance was modified that probably should not have been given and basically usurped the authority of the board to change operational procedures and hire and fire employees. I know some managers have the authority to hire and fire employees, and that can be a good thing but also that can be a bad thing,” Piper said.
For Servello, the ordinance reads like “a CEO of a company with plenary power.”
“The manager should be subordinate to the board and when I read that ordinance, it reads the opposite,” Servello said. He also said he had an issue with the residency requirement and said it was tailored for a particular person.
Halfmoon Township is the only township in the Centre Region without a manager. Its previous manager quit in March, after the board attempted — but failed to — fire her.
Township resident Virginia Squier asked Piper — who once served as township manager for nine years — what has changed since he was manager that the township no longer needs a manager, even though the township’s population has only grown.
“The difference is, when I was manager, I wore many different hats and the last two managers that we had only wore one hat and that hat was to drop stuff on the employees and have them do it instead of doing their job,” Piper said.
He acknowledged the manager position is valuable, but said after discussion with numerous people, including legal counsel, the board was advised they repeal and rewrite the ordinance.
Barbara Spencer, Halfmoon resident and former township supervisor, said a township manager can help the board with many things such as meeting with other managers and networking, helping research problem solving and applying for and writing grants.
“I think that we’re … selling ourselves short not having a manager. We’re just going to be sort of floating along, shooting in the dark sometimes because a manager does a lot of the research for us that frankly, you guys shouldn’t have to do. That’s their job, and then brings it to you all the research that’s been done on particular projects, and then you discuss it and you decide on it,” Spencer said.
Supervisor Patti Hartle said due to second class township code requirements, once they identify what they need and want out of the position, they can call it something other than a “manager” position and they’ll have more flexibility to modify it. She said although they may have someone in the future who will fill a lot of the duties that a manager would, and perhaps more, it won’t be called a “township manager.”
An outline has been put together for a new ordinance, Piper said, and it will be made public after the board has the chance to review it. Squier suggested a citizens advisory committee be consulted, too, and Piper said that could be a possibility.
Piper said the board is still also gathering information from staff to see where the strengths and weaknesses are. Servello said he doesn’t see any current issues.
“As far as I can understand from the operations of this township, the administrative staff here ... are handling all the tasks, all the necessary requirements, getting all the work done that’s required to be done. The Public Works crew is handling public works operation just fine. There are no holes,” Servello said.
