West View Leaders Say More Changes Likely; New Strategy A Work in Progress

West View Council's  decision Wednesday to lay off borough Manager Ken Wolf is part of a new management strategy officials said they were in the process of crafting.

“We’re experimenting,” said West View Borough Council President Mary Bernhard. “We don’t know where we’re going with a lot of stuff.”

Mayor John R. Henry said the decision is the “first step” in what will likely be a series of other changes.

“It’s part of a transition we don’t have all the answers to yet,” Henry said.

The council voted 6-0 Wednesday to lay off Wolf and appoint Police Chief Bruce Fromlak as interim manager. Councilman Barry Schell was absent. The decision was not on the agenda and came following a 20-minute executive session.

An employee of the borough for 25 years, Wolf was hired as a bookkeeper and promoted to the manager position two years later, in 1988. He oversaw the borough’s 23 full-time and 16 part-time employees and not only ran each of the city’s departments, such as public works and parks and recreation, but also handled the borough’s finances and land use issues.

Wolf learned of the layoff Wednesday afternoon, before the vote was taken, officials said. He did not attend the council meeting and could not be reached for comment Thursday.

He was paid a salary of $68,411, according to borough records. A severance package is being negotiated, Henry said.

“There was never any question about his integrity, and he did a good job managing the borough finances,” Henry said.

The layoff had been discussed in executive sessions for three months before the vote was taken, but was the recent outcome of a more than yearlong discussion on how the borough could reduce operating costs, officials said.

The borough has an operating budget of $3.24 million. It is not facing a shortfall this year, officials said.

“Most municipalities are facing some degree of financial challenges,” Henry said, adding that the council formed an administrative budget and finance committee nearly two years ago to head off potential problems in West View.

“They were charged with looking at all aspects of the budget,” he said. “Over the last three months, they were pursuing the idea of consolidating the police chief and manager’s position.”

The retirement of Police Chief Charles Holtgraver in March and the appointment of Bruce Fromlak to the position presented an opportunity because of Fromlak’s military management experience, he said.

Fromlak, who has been employed with the borough’s police department since 1985, served 32 years in the Air Force — 14 on active duty — and earned the rank of chief master sergeant in 2005, the highest rank a noncommissioned officer can reach.

“We looked at Bruce’s ability to manage both, and we felt he was the better candidate,” Henry said.

Indeed, “everything started to snowball from there,” Bernhard said.

Fromlak’s appointment to interim manager is temporary, Henry and Bernhard said. He was not given an increase in salary to take on the added responsibilities.

Borough officials are exploring hiring a financial clerk to handle borough finances. There also may be other layoffs, Henry said.

“There is a potential that we’ll be losing our wage tax collection position,” he said. “We are reviewing everyone’s responsibilities.”

At the same time, it's possible, Bernhard said, that borough leaders may end up back where they started. 

"We're still in the middle of everything," she said. Residents will "just have to ride along with us as we try and work things out."