The appointment of Anthony Burdick as the new township manager in Sumpter met with harsh criticism from Trustee Peggy Morgan who cast the lone no vote on the motion during the June 28 meeting.
When the motion to accept the unanimous decision of the Hiring Committee to appoint Burdick to the job was presented to the board members during the study session prior to the meeting, Morgan insisted that the board had no authority to name him to the position.
Morgan claimed that the board had only discussed and approved the hiring of a township administrator not a township manager and that the two titles were not interchangeable. Trustee Matt Oddy, a member of the Hiring Committee, attempted to explain to Morgan that the terms have been used interchangeably during discussions for several months and that Burdick's title was discussed at the Hiring Committee meeting.
“We simply felt that the term township manager was more appropriate,” Oddy explained. Morgan became confrontational regarding the issue, shouting, “I have the right to speak. I want to speak about this. I’ve never seen his resume. I’ve never seen any township minutes of the hiring committee interviewing him and you want to vote on this?
“I don't recall the board voting on a township manager. I don't remember voting on this position,” she stated. She then protested Township Supervisor Tim Bowman's attempts to quell her confrontational tone and bring order to the contentious meeting. She shouted over him, “You can't dismiss me, I don't think it's right. Are we going to throw policies in the garbage?”
Morgan then suggested that the other board members may have been provided information denied to her and claimed that she did not receive a copy of Burdick's resume in her board packet.
“You've had the agenda for five days, Ms. Morgan. I would say you didn't do your job. When we (board members) don't have the information we need, we make a phone call and get it,” Oddy reminded her.
Morgan continued her loud criticism and was reminded that Burdick submitted his resume to the hiring committee for consideration. “Who's on the hiring committee?” she questioned which prompted responses from several board members obviously offended by her comments.
Bowman again attempted to regain order over Morgan's contentious behavior without success prompting township attorney Rob Young to caution Morgan that Bowman, as the chair, was running the meeting and correct protocol requires that the chair recognize speakers, not her.
Bowman was able to restore order and the meeting continued with Burdick's hiring approved by a 6-1 vote.
