Joe Murgia quit last week. But on Monday night, Borough Council offered him a new beginning. And it may spell the end for manager David Woglom.
You probably never heard of Joe Murgia. He is the superintendent of the Qtown Public Works department. The second-in-command to Woglom. The guy who knows everything Dave has done - right and wrong. And the guy who had the hardest, most ethically-convoluted job in town: be loyal to a boss who he knew was doing wrong, and still be supportive and protective of the men under him who counted on him for honesty and integrity.
Whenever Woglom took a shortcut, or didn't follow the law, or "misplaced" documents, Joe knew. Friends say that he was developing an ulcer. When you care about the men you supervise, you can only see them screwed for so long. Something had to give. So when he quit last Thursday, he asked council to personally hear why. Monday night they held a special private session for just that reason.
According to his co-workers, Joe Murgia loves Quakertown. For more than eight years he maintained the parks, the pool, the playing fields, and the tree-lined streets. He loves the friendly people. And he especially loves the guys he worked with, and supervised. It could not have been an easy decision for a man with two children to quit the third-highest paying job in the borough, over $66,000 a year, plus benefits.
Witnesses say that whenever there was a story in the press about Woglom, or problems in Quakertown, Dave would summon Joe to the office and berate him. Not that Joe was the cause, mind you. He was loyal to his boss despite what he knew. But he was constantly blamed for the actions of the borough employees, who saw their pensions, health care, and working conditions deteriorate, and were not permitted to make their dissatisfaction known to council. Everything stopped at Woglom's desk.
Finally, back in April, Joe had seen enough. According to multiple sources, he met with several councilmen, and explained briefly how Dave had repeatedly wronged the men in his department. These initial revelations were a major impetus behind council's current plan to seek a company to investigate Woglom's actions.
But after more than two months, they have not hired anyone. Reports and recommendations are long in the future. Joe could not wait. Friends say that the final straw was the on-going health insurance fiasco, which is also what convinced town workers that they need a union. Woglom personally opted out of the borough's Blue Cross plan, and then changed it so that the workers have what they describe as the "worst coverage possible".
He then refused to allow them to change to another company, or even to leave the borough plan and pay for coverage out of their own pockets! Why? Because the Blue Cross plan requires that 75% of the workers be enrolled. This was especially harmful to Joe Murgia. He has a special needs child, and the local doctors who had been treating the boy for years are not part of the new Blue Cross plan. Joe would now have to drive three hours round-trip to Philadelphia. Ah, the irony: Dave's shabby treatment of his own lieutenant - the man most loyal to him - will bring him down.
The unhappy employees were eligible for a much better plan with Aetna, but Woglom delayed meeting with them until after the June 1 sign-up deadline. Murgia personally persuaded Aetna to postpone the deadline until June 21. When Woglom learned this, he decreed that only three men could switch to Aetna (to preserve the 75% with Blue Cross), and tried to force them to pick names out of a hat! Pick names out of a hat for your family's health care??? Only in Quakertown.
And, most ridiculous of all, Woglom is doing this right before the June 23 union election. If council had any visions of workers having a last-minute change of heart, like last year, fuhgetaboutit. The men are tired of sacrificing themselves to bail Woglom out of the problems he creates. According to their attorney, the watch-me-pull-a-health-plan-out-of-my-hat scheme violates the employees' constitutional due process rights, and they are preparing a federal lawsuit, which is very expensive to defend.
When council heard all of Murgia's revelations, which surely went well beyond health care, they were so concerned that they convinced him to un-resign. He agreed, and promised them that he would not publicly comment at this time, but it isn't hard to figure out the scenario. If council believes Murgia, they no longer believe Woglom. This is Dave's worst nightmare. And the issues raised must be made public. Soon. Woglom is paid over $100,000 of taxpayer money each year. The citizens have a right to know what is going on. There are one or two councilmen who have personally benefited from Woglom's friendship, and they will no doubt try to keep everything secret. David Zaiser is not one of them.
He issued a statement before the meeting, saying in part, "Unfortunately a man can only take so much. Joe deserves better than what our council has provided to him, he loves the borough and this town. We need to work to keep people like Joe, not lose him. Conditions in the borough warrant Joe's resignation, he is being stretched in many different directions and I feel for him."
"This loss is one of council's making, not Joe's and I take responsibility. The time is now to reorganize, make major changes in the borough and to keep hard working, knowledgeable and decent people like Joe."
It is not hard to read between the lines. There can be only one way to "reorganize, make major changes in the borough".
UPDATE..........UPDATE..........UPDATE
A miracle happened!!! Tuesday morning, after Joe Murgia met with council (but too late for The Free Press publication deadline), Woglom announced that there were actually eight Aetna spots available to borough employees, not three! No need to draw from a hat. No need for a federal lawsuit. Joe, and any worker who wanted to switch, would be covered. What an amazing coincidence! Only in Quakertown.