Jan 6, 2015 3 min read

CECIL – Cecil Township’s board of supervisors appointed a new official to fill a vacancy left when Frank Ludwin died of natural causes Dec. 20 at the age of 81.

Donald “DJ” Johnson, who grew up in Bishop and formerly served as a volunteer firefighter, was unanimously appointed and sworn into office Monday.

“I’m looking forward to taking the position,” he said. “Unfortunately, no one can fill Frank’s shoes. He was a special individual.”

Ludwin, who was the foreman of maintenance for Montour Trail, will be remembered for his hard work. The board voted to name a connector trail of the Montour that runs through Southpointe “The Frank Ludwin Memorial Trail.”

Johnson was appointed to serve until the end of 2015. A new supervisor will be elected in this year’s election. In an introduction to the township, he said he worked for nearly 26 years with US Airways and traveled a great deal, but “Cecil has always been home.” He said his proudest accomplishment was helping to coordinate emergency services for the township in 1977.

Immediately after Johnson’s appointment, township resident Frank Egizio took the board to task for what he considered “unfair hiring practices.” Egizio ran an unsuccessful campaign against Vice Chairwoman Cindy Fisher in the May 2013 primary election and then ran as a write-in candidate in the general election.

He claimed he was discriminated against because he was not contacted or considered for the vacant position, and he filed a complaint with the Pittsburgh branch of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He also accused the board of violating the state’s Sunshine Act by holding interviews during an executive session.

“We need to stop the back-room politics in Cecil Township,” he said.

Chairman Tom Casciola said he, Fisher and Supervisor Elizabeth Cowden brought in four prospective candidates during a Jan. 2 executive session, but said they were not formal interviews and the board did not “owe advertisement” of the vacant position.

Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel for Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, said any discussion pertaining to an appointment to fill a vacancy is ”expressly disallowed by the law” during an executive session.

Discussions surrounding those appointments “should be no less public than the election process that originally was used,” Melewsky said.

Fisher said in a statement the board conferred with its solicitor, Christopher Voltz, and the board stands by its actions.

“While characterized as an executive session meeting at Monday’s regular meeting, these gatherings were not ‘meetings’ under the Sunshine Act because they did not involve deliberations,” Fisher said in an email. “Instead, these gatherings were held solely for the purposes of the collection of information and education.”

“Nevertheless, the township takes the concerns of its residents very seriously and, while certain processes must remain private, the township strives to be as open and transparent as possible.”