The more things change, the more they stay the same. And that is bad news for Quakertown manager David Woglom. His past sins are catching up with him. Unions are back. And one of those unions should be of great concern to council.
Borough employees are upset about their new health insurance plan - which Woglom himself actually opted out of, before imposing it on the workers! Little communication exists between council and employees, just like last year, when council begged them not to unionize. But the ripest Gripes of Wrath involve pensions...
Since 1994, employees have questioned how their plans have been handled. They went years without statements, and got non-answers from Woglom such as, "I could not explain the old formula to employees when they made an inquiry into their pensions". He even changed companies without telling them.
Given Woglom's sordid past with pension money, and the way he handles Qtown accounts today, workers' concerns are understandable. As borough manager in Hatboro, Woglom misappropriated the police pension funds, and then left to take the Quakertown job before the story became known. It appears that he may have withheld this rather important information from council to get the position here.
It all started in July, 1983, when he was hired in Hatboro, and moved there from Bethlehem. Before the end of that year, he had improperly taken the police pension fund and used it to pay the borough's taxes. A later report by a special Hatboro Council committee found it to be part of a "pattern of improper transactions".
And a memo from the state Auditor General's Office made it clear that such conduct was illegal. "A transfer of money from a municipal employees' pension account to that municipality's general fund constitutes a conflict of interest and a violation of state law, even if the money is later returned to the pension fund".
Though nothing was said publicly, within months he apparently began looking for a new job, because in November, 1984, he was hired as assistant manager in Quakertown. Did he tell them about the problems in Hatboro? Unlikely. Even Hatboro council didn't seem to know yet. Woglom's resignation letter stated, "At the very least I feel that I helped restore faith in the Council-Manager form of government while bringing public respect to the position of Borough Manager in Hatboro".
It wasn't until 1985, after Woglom skeedaddled, that police lieutenant (later Chief) Frank Campbell first raised public questions about the missing money. "The councilmen were upset and shocked the transfer was done without their knowledge", he said. And even Woglom's job search may have been kept secret. His Confidential Employee History, released by Hatboro, has a space to check either "Yes" or "No" for "Recommended for Re-employment". It was left blank, perhaps because he already had the Qtown job before he announced that he was leaving.
Hatboro now has "Woglom Laws" - special safeguards, called for by the council committee that investigated him, to prevent a repeat of those misappropriations.
Did he act improperly anywhere else? Prior to working in Hatboro, Woglom held a similar position in Fountain Hill. In response to my request for information, the FH solicitor wrote, "...the Borough is denying your request to examine the general personnel file of Mr. Woglom...". Maybe it is just coincidence that Woglom's long-time cohort in Quakertown, solicitor Chuck Fonzone, also represents the Fountain Hill Zoning Board.
There are striking, and very worrisome, parallels between what happened in Hatboro, and what has become business as usual in Quakertown. In Hatboro, Woglom transferred money between accounts, using dollars from one to cover a deficit in another. He has made the same procedure routine in Qtown. Millions have been shuffled between the electric, water, sewer, debt service, and general funds. That isn't per se illegal, but it certainly isn't good municipal finance. Year after year, money was transferred out of those infrastructure accounts, instead of being used for badly needed maintenance and repairs. All done to make the borough's general fund balance, and Woglom, and council, look good. At least on paper.
In 2005, borough workers narrowly voted against unionizing, after impassioned last-minute promises that council would satisfy their many concerns. But employees now say that council did not address "even one of our issues that we had with them". So when word of the new union meetings got to Woglom, he immediately visited all the departments to "try to open lines of communication". Damage control, a year late.
One worker said, "It was a joke. He had no answers for any of our questions. He changed our health insurance for the worse. Gave us the second worst plan you can get. We asked him if he looked at different prices of insurance, and he did not even compare how much each plan cost and what the difference was for each upgrade of the plan. I don't understand how you can change insurance and not even get prices for different plans. I, along with other workers, think that since he (opted out), he did not care what coverage he gave us."
It seems that all of council's talk about addressing workers' concerns was as lame as their attempts to control electric rates, manage the infrastructure, and act ethically. On Thursday, February 23, employees will decide whether to cast their lots with the Operating Engineers, or Teamsters Local 830, which, ironically, also represents workers in Hatboro! The union contributed over $3000, plus manpower and advertising, to successfully vote out the council there last year! Wouldn't it be juicy justice if Woglom's shabby treatment of borough workers leads to council's defeat at the polls??!!
If you were on council, would you still trust him to run Quakertown?