Tinicum supervisors hire Judith Danko as township manager and approve $148,000 compensation package

The Tinicum Township Board of Supervisors voted by voice to appoint Judith Danko as township manager, with a planned start date of June 25, and approved a compensation package that the board described as intended to match the candidate's experience.

Board members approved an annual salary of $148,000 for Danko, plus fringe items that the motion specified as $3,000 per year for vehicle expense, $1,200 per year for cell phone expense, enrollment in the township medical plan with vision and dental, a health savings account front-funded at $6,500, life insurance with a $100,000 death benefit, short- and long-term disability insurance, and four weeks of paid vacation. The motion asked staff to put those terms into a written contract and authorized the chairperson to execute the contract on behalf of the township; the board approved the motion by voice (individual vote tallies were not recorded in the transcript).

The board discussed the form of the manager contract and whether it changes at-will employment status. A staff member explained that under the Second Class Township Code a manager contract is typically used to put compensation, potential raises and any severance terms in writing but does not remove at-will employment; the agreement is time-limited and generally must be renewed after intervening municipal elections.

Not all members supported the compensation level. A board member said, “I don't I don't agree with it — I think it's just a little too rich for our community,” and questioned the vehicle allowance and the length of paid vacation. Other board members replied that the local candidate pool was small, that the selected candidate has extensive municipal management experience and a track record as a grant writer, and that securing grant funding could offset higher salary costs.

The board also accepted the resignation of Interim Township Manager Terry Fedorek effective when the new manager begins. The supervisors approved appointing the incoming manager as the township’s Right-to-Know (open records) officer effective June 25, and they authorized Fedorek to provide transitional support to the incoming manager on an as-needed basis at an hourly rate discussed in the meeting as $125 per hour. Staff said they will draft and circulate the written contract for signature.

The board did not record individual roll-call tallies in the meeting transcript; actions were approved by voice vote. The contract documents and the new manager's official start date were the next procedural steps identified at the meeting.