Easttown Manager Left to 'Pursue Other Opportunities'

What happened to now-former Easttown Township Manager Mike Brown who abruptly left the job last Monday and was escorted out of the Easttown Township Municipal Building?

Officially, Brown left "to pursue other opportunities."

Under "township policy" an official answer may never go beyond the official statement sent to Patch Monday by the Easttown Board of Supervisors.

“Easttown Township is pleased to announce that Gene Williams will be serving the township as temporary interim manager, under and subject to consideration and action by the Easttown Board of Supervisors at its meeting on Tuesday, February 19th.  Mr. Williams previously headed the Easttown staff for more than 30 years.  Gene will assist during the transition period following the departure of Mike Brown to pursue other opportunities.  Easttown Township also announces the commencement of a search for candidates to more permanently fill the manager position.”

It remains unclear what "other opportunities" Mike Brown may have been interested in pursuing that would lead to an unusually sudden departure for the person holding the top management position in township government.

Gene Williams, previously worked for the township for 40 years all together gave the Board of Supervisors several years notice of his intention to retire. Brown was hired and worked for a year as assistant township manager under Williams so that he would be completely familiar with the township and the job after Williams retired at the end of 2011.

In interviews with Patch on unrelated subjects, Brown had likened the township manager job to being CEO of a $15million service business. Much of the township manager's job under Brown dealt with zoning issues and permit requests, managing the sewer system, and managing the day-to-day operations of township services.

Because Brown's sudden departure is a personel issue much of the official discussion by the Board of Supervisors will likely be done in executive session, which is closed to the public and the media.

The Easttown Township Board of Supervisor's meets Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Easttown Municipal Building.  The Work Session Agenda posted on the website had no items on it as of Monday night. The regular session agenda for this week's meeting had not yey been posted. A pubic comment period is a standard item on the Board's agenda and would be the time that the public might ask questions about the shake-up in the top non-political position in Easttown Township government.