Visit our online community forum here for more information on these topics or read the 2009 Community Newsletter here  or the prior year Community Newsletter here .

Over the past four years John has worked very hard to address quality of life issues in our Township, personally took on local Government corruption and has worked hard to transform our local Government into a more efficient, honest and transparent operation.  During this time our nation has faced the toughest economic times since the Great Depression so John has worked hard setting policy to reduce debt, debt service costs, cut spending and done much to keep our municipal taxes from increasing drastically.

The past two years has been most challenging in the wake of the Manager scandal (see below).  Since our former Manager's removal from office in 2009, nearly all of our top level administration has been replaced including our Manager, Directors of  Finance,  Parks & Recreation, Public Works, Superintendent of Police and Township Engineer.  Our Auditor, Solicitor, Labor Counsel have all been replaced too.

Budget, Accounting and Finance
After further cuts in spending we were able to drive down the proposed 17% tax increase to 9%. Even after trimming much waste over the past two years, we still needed to cut about 10% of our workforce (14 layoffs in 2009), we allowed attrition to take our police force from 46 to 42 officers ( as many as 5 more are expected to retire).

We have a great Township because of the conscientious efforts of our Township staff but we will need to look closer at programs that are not considered core services and make sure the usury fees cover more of the costs associated with those programs. For example, our Parks & Recreation programs and related services cost about $2.2M a year yet we only collect about $600K in revenues. Modest increases in fees could help balance the program budget. Engineering costs will also need to be completely covered by applicants seeking building permits, subdivision and land development applications. The Commissioners will be voting on a new 2011 fee schedule at our second meeting in January.

Before we raised taxes, we needed to cut spending. Unfortunately, we needed to cut contributions to outside organizations like Radnor Public Library, Wayne Senior Center, Wayne Art Center by 10%. We appreciate all of the great work these organizations that serve our community do and appreciate their help to reduce their spending and accept a lower contribution for 2011. This will not come easy and I hope increased volunteerism can help fill the gap in resources.

To put our proposed tax increase in context, please remember that a 9% increase on the Township Real Estate Tax is comparable to a 1.4% increase on the School District. To see the comparison, for each thousand dollars of assessed value of your home, you currently pay the following amounts:

Radnor Township $3.34 (3.3411 mils) 3.64 mils (passed)
Delaware County $5.18 (5.184 mils)
Radnor School District $20.41 (20.4085 mils)

Township Manager
On Monday, March 8, 2010 the Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to hire Robert Zienkowski as our a new Township Manager effective May 1st. Robert has over twenty years of public service experience and he comes to us from Brunswick, Ohio (pop. 38,000) where he served as City Manager and Director of Public Safety for the past seven years. Robert has experience in budgeting, finance, labor negotiations, operations and strategic planning. His salary of $182,000 is commensurate with his skills and experience and comparable Manager salaries in our area. We welcome Robert Zienkowski and his wife Susan and his two children to Radnor Township and I ask that everyone hold him up and support him in leading our Township government to keep Radnor one of the best places to live in the area.

John was heavily involved in the investigation and subsequent action by the Board to remove the former Township Manager.  In 2008, John began reviewing past and current practices of the Township Administration. The review has included the financial reports, audit management letters and audit management Representation Letters from 2000 until 2008. The results of this review are many and have already lead to significant policy changes, removal of the Township Manager and other personnel changes in 2009.

Last month, the Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission released their findings from their investigation of our former Township Manager David Bashore. The Commission found that our former manager violated Section 1103 when he used his authority of his public position for private pecuniary benefit by annually authorizing annual lump sum payments to himself without approval by the Radnor Township Commissioners. According to the report, Bashore paid himself over $167,367 in lump sum payments from 2000 until 2008, and he also directed payment to himself of $5,575.22 in a special lump sum payment and $4,477.25 for accrued leave payment without proper authority. However, due to a five year limit in the statue, the order only required that Bashore make restitution in the amount of $55,331.21 to the Township. To see the complete order click here.

In addition to the restitution, in light of the State Ethics Commission findings our insurance carrier has made a $500,000 payment to the Township to partially cover the claim of losses associated with the Bashore's actions. This money will help make our Township whole again.

The State Ethics Commission did what they could within their limited statutes but I fully expect the criminal justice system to pursue a criminal investigation  because in my opinion it is pretty clear from reading this Ethics report that there is adequate cause. In particular, I hope that this Commission's findings compel G. Michael Green, the Delaware County District Attorney to pursue a criminal investigation to help recover all of our losses.

For a more detailed list of issues, please visit the Radnorward7 online community forum here.