Hunt on for Borough Manager

NEWTOWN BOROUGH, Pa. -- If a Help Wanted advertisement had been posted, it might have read like this:

NOW HIRING: Chief Administrative Officer in Office of Borough Manager. Duties could include oversight of all municipal departments; enforcement of ordinance regulations; preparation and submission to Borough Council a budget message and budget proposal; preparation of meeting agendas, and attendance at meetings. Borough has a population of 2,296, with a 4.8 percent annual growth rate, a $198,158 average annual household income and is 11.9 square miles in size.

The employer? Newtown Borough might hire it’s first-ever manager to handle the many day-to-day operations, as well as work with Borough Council regarding administration, planning and code enforcement.

In its search for a candidate to fill the post now run by a fulltime treasurer and secretary, Newtown Borough Council recently has taken its recruitment process to the next level and named a nonprofit company based at Lafayette College in Easton to assist in the search and hiring of a borough manager.

Meyner Center for the Study of State and Local Government will be paid $110 an hour not to exceed $8,500, according to Nicole Beckett of Meyner. She said Meyner’s responsibilities might include meeting with Council members to determine accountabilities, setting an expected salary and benefits for the new position, and set terms of employment.

“This is a very important step,” said Councilor Kris Bauman. “This is, in essence, a specialized search. Unlike a lot of hires, it’s a unique position with a limited number of qualified candidates.”

The search comes at a time when longtime borough treasurer Pat Ours has retired after 26 years in the financial department paying bills, balancing the budget and developing a new borough budget.

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