[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township
of North Whitehall 9-20-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-5. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The office of Township Manager is hereby created by the Board
of Supervisors of the Township of North Whitehall, subject to the
right of the Board of Supervisors, by ordinance, to at any time abolish
such office.
As soon as practicable after the enactment of this chapter,
the Township Supervisors shall appoint, by a majority vote of all
its members, one person to fill the office of Township Manager, who
shall begin his term of office upon his appointment or as soon thereafter
as possible. He shall serve until the first Monday of January of each
year succeeding his appointment, unless and until his successor is
selected and qualified. The said office shall be filled annually thereafter.
In the case of a vacancy, the Supervisors shall fill said office by
majority vote of all its members. The Township Manager shall, however,
be subject to removal at any time by a majority vote of all the members
of the Board of Supervisors.
The Township Manager shall be chosen solely on the basis of
his executive and administrative qualifications, with special reference
to his actual experience in or his knowledge of accepted practices
in respect to the duties of the office herein outlined.
A. The Township Manager need not be a resident of the Township.
B. No North Whitehall Township Supervisor shall be appointed as Township
Manager during the term for which he shall have been elected or appointed,
nor within one year after the expiration of his term.
C. The Township Manager shall have no interest in contracts of the Township,
shall not be in debt to the Township, and shall not, at the time of
his appointment, be related to any of the Township Supervisors.
Before entering upon his duties, the Township Manager shall
give a bond to the Township, with a bonding company as surety, in
the sum as provided by resolution, conditioned for the faithful performance
of his duties. The premium for the bond shall be paid for by the Township.
The Township Manager shall receive such compensation as shall
be fixed from time to time by resolution.
The Manager shall be the chief administrative officer of the
Township, and he shall be responsible to the Board of Supervisors
as a whole for the proper and efficient administration of the affairs
of the Township. His powers and duties shall relate to the general
management of all Township business not expressly, by statute or ordinance,
imposed or conferred upon other Township officers.
Subject to recall by ordinance, the powers and duties of the
Manager shall include the following:
A. He shall supervise and be responsible for the activities of all municipal
departments, except those departments, if any, for which supervision
shall not have been delegated to the Manager by the Board of Supervisors.
B. He shall appoint and, when he shall deem it necessary for the good
of the Township, shall suspend or discharge all employees under his
supervision; provided, nonetheless, that persons covered by the civil
service provisions of any applicable municipal code or labor law,
or by a collective bargaining agreement, shall be appointed, suspended
or discharged in accordance with such provisions. Prior to appointing,
suspending or discharging any employee, the Manager shall provide
the Board of Supervisors with written notice of his intention to take
such action, which notice shall include a written rationale therefor.
Such notice shall be given to the Board not fewer than 48 hours before
a regular meeting of the Board, and the said employment action shall
not occur until such meeting has been held; provided, nevertheless,
that the Manager may temporarily suspend any employee under his supervision,
with or without compensation and without prior notice to the Board,
if the Manager believes such suspension to be for the good of the
Township. The Board shall be notified of a temporary suspension within
48 hours of the suspension.
C. No new position of employment shall be created without the approval
of the Board, which shall also determine the initial compensation
of such position. However, the actual hiring of persons to fill new
positions is the responsibility of the Manager. No person shall be
chosen by the Manager to fill any existing position at a rate of pay
which is more than 5% higher than that which was paid to any previous
occupant of the position without the express prior approval of the
Board.
D. He shall prepare and submit to the Board of Supervisors, not later
than October 1 of each year, a proposed budget for the next fiscal
year, together with an explanatory budget message. In preparing the
proposed budget the Manager, or an officer designated by him, shall
obtain from the head of each department, agency, board or officer,
estimates of revenues and expenditures and other supporting data as
he requests. The Manager shall review such estimates and may revise
them before submitting the budget to the Board of Supervisors.
E. He shall be responsible for the administration of the budget after
its adoption by the Board of Supervisors.
F. He shall, under the direction of the Board of Supervisors, execute
and enforce the nonpenal laws of the commonwealth and the nonpenal
ordinances, resolutions and bylaws of the Township.
G. He shall attend all meetings of the Township Board of Supervisors
and of its committees, with the right to take part in the discussion,
and he shall receive notice of all regular and special meetings of
the Board of Supervisors and of its committees.
H. He, or an officer designated by him, shall prepare the agenda for
each meeting of the Board of Supervisors and supply facts pertinent
thereto.
I. He shall keep the Board of Supervisors informed as to the conduct
of all Township affairs, submit periodic reports on the condition
of the Township finances and such other reports as the Board of Supervisors
shall request, and shall make such recommendations to the Board of
Supervisors as he deems necessary or appropriate.
J. He shall submit to the Board of Supervisors, as soon as possible
after the close of the fiscal year, a complete report on the financial
and administrative activities of the Township for the preceding year.
K. He shall see that the provisions of all franchises, leases, permits,
and privileges granted by the Township are observed.
L. He may employ, by and with the approval of the Board of Supervisors,
experts and consultants to perform work and to advise in connection
with any of the functions of the Township.
M. He shall attend to the letting of contracts in due form of law, and
he shall supervise the performance and faithful execution of the same,
except insofar as such duties are expressly imposed upon some other
Township officer by statute.
N. He shall see that all money owed the Township is promptly paid and
that proper proceedings are taken for the security and collection
of all the Township's claims.
O. He shall be the purchasing officer of the Township and he shall purchase,
in accordance with the provisions of the Township Code, all supplies
and equipment for the various agencies, boards, departments, and other
offices of the Township. He shall also issue rules and regulations
subject to approval of the Board of Supervisors governing the requisition
and purchasing of all municipal supplies and equipment.
P. All complaints regarding services or personnel of the Township shall
be referred to the office of the Manager. He, or an officer designated
by him, shall investigate and dispose of such complaints, and the
Manager shall report thereon to the Board of Supervisors.
Q. He shall perform such other duties as may be required by the Board
of Supervisors, not inconsistent with the Second Class Township Code, the law relating thereto, and ordinances of the Township.
Neither the Board of Supervisors nor any of its members shall
direct the appointment of any person to, or his removal from, office
by the Township Manager of any of his subordinates. Except for the
purpose of inquiry, the Board of Supervisors and its members shall
deal with the administrative service solely through the Township Manager,
and neither the Board nor any member thereof shall give orders to
any subordinates of the Township Manager, either publicly or privately.
In case of illness or absence of the Manager from the Township,
he shall delegate one qualified member of his staff who shall perform
the duties of the Manager during his absence or disability. The person
so designated shall not perform such duties for a period longer than
two weeks without the approval of the Board of Supervisors.
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this
chapter is for any reason held invalid, such decision or decisions
shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this chapter.
All ordinances of the Township prescribing the duties of heads of
departments shall remain in full force and effect insofar as they
do not conflict with the provisions of this chapter, in which case
the provisions of this chapter shall govern.
All references in this chapter to the pronouns "he," "him,"
or "his" shall be deemed to be gender neutral and shall be presumed
to include the provisions "she," "her" and "hers" as well.