The Pocono Township Manager position will be vacant next month and the township has yet to advertise the job. Officials are considering amending an ordinance to allow a person to be appointed manager within a year of serving as township commissioner.
Some residents are upset that the board is discussing changing an ordinance just in time for one of them to possibly benefit from it.
"It just leaves a very bad taste in my mouth," resident Debby Johnson said during public comment at the March 19 commissioners meeting.
“I just firmly believe that the ordinance should remain the same," resident Dawn Eilber said. "If you want the job, maybe it’s not your turn right now."
The current Pocono Township Manager Ordinance states, "No Commissioner shall be appointed as Township Manager during his or her term for which he or she shall have been elected nor within one year after the expiration of his or her term."
“The ordinance is over ten years old," Board President Richard Wielebinski said. "Now is an opportunity, with Taylor leaving, to update [the ordinance]."
The commissioners voted 4-1 to prepare an amendment that would eliminate the latter part of the stipulation, in bold:
No Commissioner shall be appointed as Township Manager during his or her term for which he or she shall have been elected nor within one year after the expiration of his or her term.
Commissioner Ellen Gnandt voted against it.
“When a job comes up, we’re the first to know and by default we get first dibs,” she said. “If more than one commissioner applies for the job, what are you going to do then?”
Gnandt believes that it would be a conflict of interest if a commissioner who wants the manager job votes on the Township Manager Ordinance. She is also worried about the timing.
The current township manager, Taylor Muñoz, will leave for another job on April 5.
“We’re not going to hire a manager until this ordinance is changed, so you’re telling me we’re giving priority to a commissioner over any other applicant,” Gnandt said during the board's discussion Tuesday.
After Gnandt raised those issues, the board voted unanimously to authorize Township Solicitor Leo DeVito to seek an advisory opinion from the State Ethics Commission.
The next Pocono Township Commissioners meeting will be April 1 at 6 p.m.
