Tuesday night’s Morrisville Borough Council meeting was filled with comings and goings of officials.
Almost three years to the day when Lower Bucks Source reported Morrisville Borough hired a new manager, Judith Danko turned in her resignation Tuesday.
She was hired months after the tragic passing of Scott Mitchell.
Her resignation is effective as of June 22nd.
Judith Darko
Credit: Kutztown Borough
Danko, whose salary was prorated upon hire, according to borough documents obtained through an open records request, was paid $135 K annually with a performance review clause. If approved by council, that will bring her yearly salary to $140,000.00 annually. When hired, she declined to answer question related to traveling back and forth from Morrisville to her home in the Bethlehem area. A Lower Bucks Source 2021 open records request of her contract did not spell out the specifics of a pay-back plan for the cash strapped municipality at the time.
The Bucks County Courier Times, around the time budget discussions were ramping up, reported the borough paid for Danko’s hotel stays and Pennsylvania Turnpike fees.
Bristol Borough Manager Jim Dillon agreed to temporarily take on an interim role in Morrisville as he maintains his fulltime duties in Bristol Borough. Both boroughs are similar in population size.
Dillon did not respond to a request for comment Thursday morning.
Morrisville Borough Council President Helen Hlahol, at Tuesday night’s meeting, thanked Bristol for allowing Dillon to help.
Council also approved the hiring of Richard Ciampa as the new Chief of Police.
In recent weeks, then Officer in Charge William Smith, turned down offers from Morrisville to lead the police department sources told this publication.
The borough terminated former Chief George McClay late last year.
Credit: YouTube Screen Shot
McClay told Patch.com he reached an agreement with Morrisville for $200 K as part of a termination settlement, last month.
Councilman John Vitarelli’s submitted his letter of resignation as third ward councilman effective June 18, 2024.
The borough is currently taking applications to fill the vacancy.
Mayor Gary Wallace did not immediately respond to requests for comment on this story Thursday morning.
