West Easton had been running so long without a Borough Manager, some may have forgotten the purpose of a Borough Manager and what responsibilities have been assigned to that position by an existing Resolution.
Dan DePaul spent a lot of time at Borough Hall the first weeks of this new year and to his credit, things that needed to be done got accomplished with the help of those around him. He was acting as Borough Manager out of necessity, but the ultimate goal he assured us, was to hire a Borough Manager and not have to deal with the day-to-day business of the Borough.
Working together as a Council, a lot was accomplished in those first weeks. Some wrongs were righted and some good projects were discussed. Everybody did their part, or assisted as much as they were able.
He was urged to find somebody for the position, even if it was temporary. The login page on the computer in the Borough Manager’s office, which originally displayed “BOWE” (Borough Of West Easton) as the username, had been changed to “Dan.”
Council found an Interim Borough Manager in Mr. Pete Rossi. His background and knowledge headed off potential problems that Council would have missed and it pains me to have to use the word, “interim,” because eventually we will have to find a replacement, as Mr. Rossi has made it clear that he doesn’t want the job permanently. The username on his computer now reads, “BoroManager.”
I assumed that with Mr. Rossi as our Borough Manager, Mr. DePaul and the rest of us on Council would act according to our roles as defined in the Borough Code Book and by a Resolution set by a previous Council a decade ago.
The day-to-day business of the Borough is the responsibility of the Borough Manager. Oversight of the Borough Manager is the responsibility of the Council, to whom the Borough Manager provides monthly reports. The Council President and Borough Manager are expected to work in cooperation with each other.
I voiced my concerns about procedure and going around the Borough Manager on Monday. I don’t play politics and don’t care who I might piss off by bringing up a subject that is expected to be ignored.
When we lose Mr. Rossi and ultimately hire a permanent Borough Manager, the problems we are having in understanding how things must be done have to be addressed now, so that everyone understands the roles in running the Borough, their responsibilities, and proper procedure.
If not corrected, in the future we may end up with a permanent Borough Manager who might allow themselves to become a puppet of a Councilperson, or one who will rightly quit in disgust.
I used the appearance of a dumpster on Ridge Street as another example of not following procedure.
Though time was wasted by a fellow Councilman bringing up other issues to divert the discussion away from improper procedure in securing that dumpster, I did succeed in constantly bringing it back to my initial concern. It wasn’t about the dumpster, or the good intention of ordering it.
It was about not including the Borough Manager in that decision and the lack of proper procedure.
That led into another discussion about who is in charge of the day-to-day business. Monday night happened to bring up roads, but it could have just as easily been about employees of the Borough.
In regard to roads, which came up at the same Council Meeting, the Council President can not give the responsibility assigned to the Borough Manager to another person without the majority of Council voting to reassign that responsibility. Mr. Rossi is in charge of daily work assignments for roads and no Councilman can change that assignment, or divert them from their assignment on their own initiative.
Every Council member should approach the Borough Manager to discuss a need they might have, if it regards the daily operations of the Borough.
When Council President Dan DePaul claimed Councilman Henry Nodoline was in charge of roads and road employees because he was the Chairman of the Roads Committee it confirmed to me that we had a problem. His claim came only minutes after our Solicitor explained to him the roles of Borough Manager and Council, which contradicted Dan’s belief. (see video below)
Our own Solicitor either wasn’t heard, or was just ignored.
If we were to follow Mr. DePaul’s belief of who is in charge of day-to-day business according to Committee Chair assignment, that would mean I, as Chair of the Legal/Computers/Newsletter Committee could call the Solicitor at any time for an opinion and run up billing hours, order computer components for the office, or place this very opinion on the Borough website, because, after all, I Chair that Committee.
This Council has some independent thinkers which is why we don’t agree on everything, or even with each other on all matters. That independence was demonstrated when a 4-2 vote of Council approved a new computer system and support for that system over the objections of Mr. DePaul.
West Easton needs to operate as it was intended, including the checks and balances that are in place to prevent the chaos that can occur if every Councilman decides to go off on their own, ordering items, or assigning work to employees, with the justification that they did it for the good of the Borough.
Hiring a Borough Manager and not using that manager as intended is not only a waste of money, but simply a way to put a new face on the same old way of running the Borough that we had before.
Disclaimer: On January 4, 2016, the owner of WestEastonPA.com began serving on the West Easton Council following an election. Postings and all content found on this website are the opinions of Matthew A. Dees and may not necessarily represent the opinion of the governing body for The Borough of West Easton.
