Apr 1, 2013 2 min read

Five members of the Cecil Township Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to accept the resignation of long-time township police Chief John T. Pushak during a regular meeting Monday. Pushak has been on paid administrative leave since an executive session held by the supervisors in February pending the outcome of an independent audit. His resignation was effective Feb. 5 after having served in the township police department for 38 years.

Township resident attorney Phillip Binotto was hired as independent counsel and told supervisors Monday there was a fine line between discussing personnel matters and the residents’ right to know. The audit of the police department’s equitable sharing account established in 2009 was conducted by the accounting firm of Cypher and Cypher, Binotto told supervisors and a nearly overflow audience. Money in the account was used for sting operations and to purchase equipment, Binotto said. The audit uncovered some discrepancies under $10,000 through unauthorized deposits and withdrawls for extra duty expenses.

All of the discrepancies currently are accounted for and there are no missing funds, Binotto said.

He said Pushak cooperated fully with the investigation and “in no way tried to restrict the audit.”

Supervisors also approved a motion to appoint Shawn F. Bukovinsky as the new police chief.

Read more in Tuesday’s Observer-Reporter.