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Borough manager pink-slipped
Borough Manager Anthony C. DiGirolomo was given notice by borough council late Tuesday night of council's intent to terminate his contract.
A resolution reported out of a council executive session by Mike Handwerk (D-Middle) agreed "to provide Borough Manager Anthony C. DiGirolomo written notice of Council's intent to terminate his contractual agreement with the Borough."
The resolution passed by a vote of 5-3. AYES: Kendrick Buckwalter (R-West), Jeff Senley (R-North), Mike Speck (D-East), council president Henry Wagner (D-Middle) and Handwerk. NAYS: Carlos Ciruelos (D-East), David Gill (D-West) and Rich Kirkner (D-North).
During the 30-day notice period required under DiGirolomo's contract "and effective immediately," the resolution read, "Mr. DiGirolomo shall be placed on paid leave." A formal written letter of intent was delivered to DiGirolomo at the close of the meeting, near midnight.
Posted by
G.E. "Skip" Lawrence
A resolution reported out of a council executive session by Mike Handwerk (D-Middle) agreed "to provide Borough Manager Anthony C. DiGirolomo written notice of Council's intent to terminate his contractual agreement with the Borough."
The resolution passed by a vote of 5-3. AYES: Kendrick Buckwalter (R-West), Jeff Senley (R-North), Mike Speck (D-East), council president Henry Wagner (D-Middle) and Handwerk. NAYS: Carlos Ciruelos (D-East), David Gill (D-West) and Rich Kirkner (D-North).
During the 30-day notice period required under DiGirolomo's contract "and effective immediately," the resolution read, "Mr. DiGirolomo shall be placed on paid leave." A formal written letter of intent was delivered to DiGirolomo at the close of the meeting, near midnight.
Posted by
G.E. "Skip" Lawrence
posted by The Phoenix Files at
9:14 AM
40 Comments:
It's about damn time! What a debut for the new Borough Council!
"Borough manager pink-slipped" ... ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Anthoni Degirolomo is probably the most devisive force the town has ever experienced. He alienated staff and co-workers alike.
No one wins in these situations. People (council) that hire their friends end up being defeated in elections. Friends who are hired end up getting fired. The community gets shortchanged because of the situation. It is a sad, sad song.
Amen, Anon 2:48. It's encouraging to see the reorganized council make such a bold move so quickly; hopefully this is an indication of their commitment to work together in the best interests of the borough taxpayers rather than that of their party and friends.
Let's be civil here. A man just lost his job. No matter what differences you have had with him in the past, just show some common decency. It was a mistake to hire him. I believe that is pretty well known. There were a bunch of people in this town that voiced their opinion about that. Council decided to to go ahead and hire (with a pretty sweet contract) a person with no experience in municipal government management. A person that interviewed with Council and had vast knowledge of the Borough, it's workings and it's current direction. He also had a game plan for the job. Perhaps, I think most importantly, he had personal relationships with 7 of the 8 Council members. That could have clouded their judgment a bit.
Perhaps the jeers are from pent up frustration with the fiasco parts of the Borough has become. I think that if you ask 10 different people they would give you 12 different reasons. Lets just all accept what has happened. Accept that the experiment is over and move on. Anthony still is a resident of this town so lets all get together for a group hug, pray for a national search for a new Borough Manager, and cut the guy a break. This isn't a Greek tragedy and no mythical beast was slain. Just the ongoing saga of Phoenixville and its Borough managers.
George, thanks for always showing clarity. We may not agree on this point, and it's unfortunate that so many people couldn't look past their personal feelings towards Anthony to see a manager who embraced sorely needed change, inserted accountability after years of past mismanagement, and built processes and plans that had goals.
Whether you agree or not...don't be a simpleminded pig. It could be your job, your family, your life. Your venom only hurts the borough as a whole, and many of us work, live, and volunteer in Phoenixville with the hope that we're better than that.
Anonymous 6:26 said:
"..it's unfortunate that so many people couldn't look past their personal feelings towards Anthony to see a manager who embraced sorely needed change, inserted accountability after years of past mismanagement, and built processes and plans that had goals."
Excuse me? Whaaaaaaaaat?? Oh, come on.
"Whether you agree or not...don't be a simpleminded pig."
Martynick was being sympathetic to the situation. Where was he a pig?
"Your venom only hurts the borough as a whole, and many of us work, live, and volunteer in Phoenixville with the hope that we're better than that."
There was no venom in Martyinck's post. No foul, no harm.
This kind of response is what makes Phoenixville what it is. No one ever gets anything right.
Good grief.
So, does he get to keep the $500 chair? How about the $3,000 in vehicle allowance? Oh how my poor heart breaks for him, and now he's on paid leave? Congratulations to this Borough Council for doing what the previous one wouldn't do! Now we see who's really in charge in this town!
hire Messina as Manager!
good job council! now lower our taxes and provide better services! Oh yeah, Anthony was an OK guy, but you need a manager who will listen to council. Thanks to the new guys who made the difference.
He's getting more than the people that he laid off received.
Thanks Council, for recognizing you actually need a competent manager. Followed by a competent finance manager.
Government finally does something at midnight, other than give themselves raises, for the benefit of the community
How do you lower taxes and provide better services at the same time?
Hey 6:38 PM - my goodness, it's worse than I thought. I wrote in SIMPLE English. I was agreeing with George. All my other comments were directed at the infantile posts that include things like "ha ha".
Let he (or she) who is without faults throw the first stone...
I was born and raised in Phoenixville! I am 68 yrs.old.,I am truely amazed that the town has gotten as far as it has with the revitalization, considering all the fighting and bickering that has gone on with Borough Council for as long as I can remember!
We have come a long way....let's not stop now! Remember the Phoenix
the symbal of our town!
Well...So much for the Philly/fast eddie politics of Degirolomo. Messina rejected at the polls in november. Do you hear the drum Mr.kirkner?
Do ya think that for the next manager council would actually hire someone who meets ALL of their qualifications?
Let us hope that the council hires someone with experience instead of another friend. Digirolomo never in his life earned more than half of what he earned working at the borough. To him it was like hitting the lottery. His inexperience had him clashing with professional staff whose qualifications dwarfed his "lottery status". He made nonsensical budget cuts and created a very complicated budget structure as he put money in to departments and reaped the excess for his personal projects at the end of the year. He was a disaster, plain and simple. The worse part he was arrogant and “never wrong” in an egotistical self-congratulatory manner as he alienated citizens, coworkers and professional staff. We wish him well as he readjusts to the real world.
Well Phoenixville, get ready for the ever right, "it's my way or no way" Henry Wagner. Henry Wagner is a power hungry person who can not manage a family of 4 nor a simple household budget, but now he is deciding who should and should not be the borough manager. I am ashamed that our 3 new council men listened to Henry Wagner and went along with his vote. He is a man who is jealous of others and needs this "power" to make himself feel important. If you think council was a mess before, look out! This man divided the Phoenixville Jaycees and the group that runs the Dogwood Festival when he was in charge, and now, in his first month as council president, he is well on his way to ruining Phoenixville.
I see Karen Johns has been busy typing "anonymous" responses here. Thank God she is not on council. This woman is sooooooooo jealous of Mr. DiGirolomo, it is very obvious that she is the one who is typing all these responses.
Face the facts - Digirolomo was hired by the Democrat borough council, not because he was qualified, but because they thought they were going to get a party guy in place, and as a political payoff.
They were hoping they could run the borough like a miniature Philly, where the Democrats control everything (and look where that has taken Philly).
It was a political appointment, and it backfired on the Democrats. Terrible judgement on their part.
It's unfortunate that we, as a community, cannot look past one's mistakes. Are you perfect? How would you like to be the decision-maker for Phoenixville Borough? You try to make decisions in the best interest of the community, not one or two people, but there will always be those with their personal agenda. There will always be the malcontents. I give Anthony, and his family, a lot of support. He may not be perfect, but he lives in and supports this community and he can be proud that he stuck his neck out for what he thought was right. At least he tried. Now, get over it already and move on.
Large double cheese with pepperoni please!
C'Mon people. Be nice. Phoenixville is finally changing for the better. Out with the old, in with the new. Lets search for a truly qualified candidate this time!
>> Anthony still is a resident of this town so lets all get together for a group hug<<
Wow, this town really has been taken over by the kumbaya treehugger liberal kooks.... :-)
Mr. Martynick & Anonymous 10:46AM have properly summed up how those that want to see positive changes occur and momentum built back up in Phoenixville should be reacting to this turn of events.
A person lost his job and whether he deserved to have that job in the first place is irrelevant at this point - piling on is immature, juvenile and sadly - all too prevelant in this town.
An opportunity now exists to bring in someone with the experience, temperment and vision to finish the good things that have been started, fix the many things that are broken and plan for the things the future will surely bring.
Last I looked, the Council is still lopsided in favor of one party and had this decision been a totally party driven decision, it seems to me the man would still have his job.
Let's give some credit, until proven otherwise, to those that may believe that in a small town, party affiliation is and should be useless and irrelevant and until proven otherwise - those folks may just think that the decisions made going forward will be made for the good of Phoenixville, not the Democratic or Republican party they belong to.
The town needs new blood at its helm, it got a little bit the last election. If you have something to say, go to the meetings, run for office, volunteer - don't just post anonymously snarky, immature commentary...the town's needs are too important for that to be occurring.
Additionally, it's not a bad thing to seek the counsel of those that have "institutional knowledge" of the workings of this town. If Mr. Messina and his ilk can and want to contribute and they and their "agendas" can be managed closely and properly by those that are in power, how is that not a potential net gain for the town?
We all can and should applaud this move, help those WE put in power build on it, participate more in what's ahead and move beyond the past that seems to continue to cripple progress.
There's talent in this town, let's all get more involved and utiluze it better.
Rich Matosky
Anonymous 7:43 sounds like Henry Wagner’s next door neighbor. Why worry about Wagner's family's budget when there are much bigger fish to fry...namely the borough budget that was really a problem under the last borough manager. Many of the comments are not piling on but instead the bare naked truth. Everyone knows that unemployment in a recession, when you were fired is a tough position...but families survive these kinds of things. Let us not cast stones at each other and instead forget about the former borough manager and all the harm he did and focus on the bright future the town will have because he was fired. Good Luck in your job search, Henry Wagner gave a great quote about you being talented perhaps that could be selectively cut and pasted into your resume. Perhaps a change of scenery would also be in order, as you do not have to remember the past failures and move on to a new community where they do not know you.
I agree, we can not go on and on about this turn of events. I do not think he should be forced to move just because he was fired. He was and remains a valuable part of the Phoenixville community and he, like the Phoenix, will rise again from the smoldering ashes that currently comprise his career.
it's about time someone pulled the plug on Anthony....this creep is ruthless...will stop at nothing...he even made moves on me when i was pregnant!...made it hard for me to keep working...glad he's going...feel sorry for his wife...
about time Messina, a.k.a, "The Rugman" got the boot...for the love of Christ...did he really think no one knew he was wearing a wig??? pathetic....the hair piece made me very uncomfortable....
This town sucks.
Anonymous 2:43 PM - In terms of being unemployed, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I'm sure Rendell will get him a crony job again in state gov't, or he'll be working for the Hillary Clinton campaign.
Plus the unemployment rate in Chester County is 2.9% in this "terrible" Bush economy. Wow, 2.9%, that's real bad.
To 8:08 a.m.
I respectfully request you to refrain from using my name when making public or private defamatory and slanderous accusations, statements, or assumptions.
Please consider this my personal notice to you.
Karen E. Johns
Let me set all the people straight who keep on using the word recession. Please be advised that the government uses this to determine if the economy is in recession. (Two or more sucessive quarters of negative growth) This is not happening we have deminished growth during the last quarters not negative. Since most of the people commenting in this space are political to some extent or another it would be nice if facts are used or is political defined as the absence of facts???? As far as Degirolomo is concerned he lived by the sword he died by the sword. Time to get a new sword........
What goes around comes around. He's played his games. Its his turn. Will he take it like a man or continue to cost the taxpayers money by whining 'not fair'?
Rumour has it 'Rughead' is flipping a coin to see if he wants buro manager or Rebely's seat.
Oh my gosh, a man has lost a job. If I hear that line one more time, I'm gonna puke. In all honesty, he lost the job last May, but some of his buddies didn't have the gnads to nuke him. Now that there is some new blood in council, they did the right thing in cutting him loose. By the way, Anthony is still on 30 days paid leave, so he's still getting paid to go through the want ads. I wonder if he could fall back on his old job at T.D. Alfredo's? They would probably have to negotiate a free pie after every shift, with the option of them being pepperoni. Wow, gone are the days of $500 chairs.
A man's character is his fate...
Heraclitus (540 BC - 480 BC), On the Universe
I am sure Henry Wagner can manage more than what Anthony has put in place. A purchasing manager that still lives with her mother even after recently getting married! That's who I want managing boro money.
I have to laugh. I'd often see Mr DiGirolomo around town, at the Dogwood Festival, etc. He would speak to the person with me and never even say as much as a hello to me. I might as well have been invisible. It wasn't as if he had a problem with me-he didn't even know me. I thought he was rude and rather 'plastic' then and I think it even more so now. Messina did the same thing to me more than once, and to think now they are both gone, LOL! Good riddance to two arrogant men. BTW Anthony, I make more $$ than you did working. If and when I order one of your pizzas I'll be sure to leave you no tip.
That's right anon 6:41, The Anthony and John Show lead us down a path of insecurity and stagnation. We were always worrying when the budget would conveniently come back and bite us and all projects seemed to come to a halt. It is really sad when you think of all the progress the town made and now we have to regroup and start again. Let that be notice to other towns that would consider hiring him. Anthony is a rude, arrogant person with an eye for the opposite sex whether it is your wife or your daughter.
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