Newtown Gets Rid of Old Administration, Appoints New Manager and Solicitor

NEWTOWN SQUARE–A special Board of Supervisors reorganization meeting was held on Wednesday evening, where old administration were removed from their positions and new appointments were made to fill the positions.

The meeting began with appointing Supervisor Joseph Catania to the position as chairman, who last took the seat as chairman in 2007-2009. Dr. Ross Lambert was also appointed to fill the seat as vice chairman of the board. Former Chairman George Wood was absent in the beginning of the meeting and the motion carried unanimously 4-0. The appointments were carried and were effective immediately at the meeting.

After the re-shuffling of supervisors positions, changes to administration were then carried forward. Jim Sheldrake, former township manager, was placed on the table to be removed from his position and be replaced with Mike Trio, who currently serves as the vice chairman of the town's Planning Commission, as the acting township manager.

Trio has been serving on the Planning Commission for the past 14 years and is a resident of Newtown for 15 years. He received his degree in government planning from West Chester University and has a background in design and engineering. Trio said he will remain on the Planning Commission for the short-term while he serves as interim township manager.

"The only reason that I thought it would be appropriate for me to remain on there [Planning Commission] was until someone could fill the seat," explained Trio. "There really was just a transitional issue as opposed to having an empty or lack of personnel on the commission. That was the only reason. I didn't want to leave them high and dry on that."

Houldin read a statement from Wood, who stated his disapproval for Sheldrake's dismissal.

"I regret that the majority of the board has chosen to terminate the employment of Jim Sheldrake when he has served the community over 10 years without question of morale, professionalism and integrity," read Houldin from Wood's statement.

"Jim is well respected in government and administration, and is one of the finest outsanding public servants," Houldin continued to read. "I know we will miss him, his leadership, and, most of all, his ability to keep the cost of operating the township at a minimum without jeopardizing the quality of life which we have come to enjoy in Newtown Township."

Trio will be paid $300 per day plus medical insurance if needed. The vote carried 3-2 with Wood, who was present at the time of this vote, and former Vice Chairwoman Linda Houldin against it. The appointment was carried and was effective immediately at the meeting.

Next on the table was former township solicitor Bruce Irvine, who was also placed on the dismissal list to be replaced by current Vice President Richard Sokorai as the interim solicitor. Sokorai, who recently ran in the , is currently an attorney at High Swartz, LLP, in Norristown.

Sokorai will be paid $3,000 per month except for litigation and land development escrow accounts which he will be paid $175 per hour, the same amount that Irvine received.

"I love being an attorney; I love serving my community and I'm honored to do both for this board here," addressed Sokorai to the public. "I think I will be a nice addition for as long as they want me."

The motion carried 4-1 with Houldin voting the lone nay. The appointment was carried and was effective immediately at the meeting.

Catania also mentioned Megan Hopkins, who originally replaced Patricia Gannon of the Human Resources and Pension Committee and took on the role as bookkeeper as well when the former bookkeeper retired, announced her resignation this week. According to Catania, Hopkins' last day will be June 10. A motion to advertise to hire a bookkeeper was made and passed unanimously.

Catania also proposed the idea to hire Newtown resident Larry Fischer as a temporary financial assistant to Trio, and will be paid part-time on an hourly-based salary. From now until the next supervisors meeting on June 13, Catania said he hoped to iron out the details of the proposed job description.

"Larry has a very keen and sharp understanding of what goes on here," said Lambert. "He comes up and informs the board and township manager of where our budget should be. Larry has a very, very clear picture of our budget. It’s a great idea."

After the meeting, Houldin commented with Patch that she was uninformed with the new appointments and was only aware of the special reorganization meeting through email.

"I did not have any information whatsoever...like resumès as you can see," said Houldin, who asked for both Sokorai's and Trio's resumès during the meeting. "So I'm not going to vote anybody that I don't have any information on."

Lambert said the reorganization of the board and new administration really came about after the election.

"It was kind of a mandate," said Lambert. "The public made it known that they wanted change."

Catania also shared the same sentiments.

"Because of that overwhelming mandate that the voters gave us, I saw there was no reason to delay the new appointments," said Catania. "We knew they [voters] wanted a change and I think the change starts at the top and it goes down."

Though the board must officially reorganize in January, reorganization may happen anytime throughout the year. Catania sounded hopeful with the new changes at the end of the meeting.

"We've got a lot of work to do and it's just starting," said Catania.