There is indeed some measure of justice in the world. The latest to discover this is Quakertown borough council.
They uttered nary a word when they learned that manager Dave Woglom had been caught manipulating the police pension fund in Hatboro just before resigning there, and coming here. They sat idly by for years while he scrooched the residents with his improper no-bid contracts, over-budget projects, and destructive policies.
They never blinked when he was caught overbilling Bucks County Water and Sewer, forcing Qtown to repay $800,000 from your tax money. They never protested when he gave councilman Special Favors Williams a free stone delivery for his alley. And they backed him to the hilt when it was revealed that for many years he had been making illegal purchases from their own businesses. After all, they profited from it.
Council is guilty of a great many sins, but disloyalty is not one of them. Heck, the Watergate guys might still be at large if they had been employed here. Of course, council had a huge motivation to stand behind Woglom: they couldn't stand on their own. All power in the borough, all decision making, all knowledge was in his hands. Council only had to show up twice a month and sign a few permits for the park. Thinking was optional.
When the tremendous weight of the wrongdoings eventually forced Woglom to resign, they gave him a going-away present that would have made Enron blush. More than $31,000 in severance pay, which was not required by law; permitting him to remain as manager for up to six months at full salary; a signed agreement not to sue him, not to disclose the terms of the agreement, and not to "disparage or make any negative statements" about him. And - get this - these muzzled, naïve folks actually believed that their loyalty would be returned!
So how did he repay council for everything they did for him? He scrooched them too!!! Like he did to Quakertown taxpayers, neighboring municipalities, and borough workers. He announced on January 2 that he would be leaving on January 5. Three days notice. From the guy who was the sole repository of most knowledge in town hall. And he is demanding $75 an hour (of your money) for all help in the future, including training his successor!!! Scrooch you all!
Our brilliant elected leaders never saw it coming! They were shocked. They had no clue about the business of the borough, but it was dropped in their laps. They might actually have to work! Can you even imagine a more delicious irony??? The people who enabled Woglom to repeatedly pull the shenanigans that drained your wallets, while enriching their own, finally got it just where you did!!!
Even the way they approved his January 2 resignation is suspect. According to one councilman, "I got Dave's resignation letter at 5:30, and voted at 7:30. We didn't have a report (on how the severance pay was calculated), but knew what the dollars, and provisions were, why and how it happened". But when I asked him for details a full week after the vote, he responded "I did not personally look at the numbers yet". How could council vote with just two hours notice, and, even worse, still not understand a week later what they voted on?
But there is a silver lining to this hilarious dark cloud.
The Greek philosopher Diogenes, who lived in a large wooden tub, spent his days wandering the streets of Athens in search of one honest man. A young Alexander the Great came to see him, and asked "Is it true that you live in that tub, or is it just one of those pranks philosophers do in order for the people to talk and admire them? Diogenes answered "Is it true you want to conquer Persia, and so unite all Greeks under your leadership, or do you do all this just for the sake of getting the admiration of the people?"
Alexander smiled, and said: "One tub full of wisdom". Diogenes replied "I prefer one drop of luck, than a tub full of wisdom". And so it is in Quakertown. No one would accuse council of having a tub full of wisdom between them, but they are blessed with that drop of luck, in the person of police chief Scott McElree. This is the guy Diogenes was searching for.
His tub runneth over with wisdom. Honest, ethical, and fair. Above reproach. The anti-Woglom. And he is now the chief and Interim Borough Manager. Council didn't even have to wander the streets to find him. He was sitting in the office directly below Woglom's penthouse in borough hall. The symbolism of Chief McElree rising in responsibility and in physical location, and Quakertown starting to rise from the depths to which Woglom had stomped it, is almost as ironic as the way it happened.
Not only did council luck into the perfect solution, they got him cheap. Real cheap. Two hundred dollars a week, in addition to his normal salary, and no additional benefits. An outsourced Rent-A-Manager would have cost more than five times that. Woglom was paid ten times that! And McElree is the man who council should be hiring permanently.
He understands the issues and personnel, and is as educated in Qtown business as Woglom allowed anyone to be. No assembly required. Plug and play. Instant credibility. No worries for a council which specializes in avoiding worry. As Diogenes discovered, good candidates are hard to find; there are currently five other manager's jobs open in Bucks County, and at least three in Montco.
And where will Woglom go from here? He isn't saying, but he leaves in exactly the same way he arrived - running from serious accusations, and not telling his former employer anything. Diogenes would not be looking for him.