Mar 21, 2024 By Paul Paterra 4 min read

A familiar face is returning to the borough manager post in Charleroi.

After an executive session of about 30 minutes, followed by another 30 minutes of discussion Tuesday, Joe Manning was approved to return to the position he held from June 2021 until January 2022. Council accepted Manning’s resignation the following month for undisclosed reasons.

Manning will earn an annual salary of $63,000, but the agreement does not include medical benefits. He will receive one week of vacation, two personal days, three sick days and 15 holidays.

Manning, 62, is expected to start the position April 2.

The borough manager’s position was on the agenda at council’s March 13 meeting. However, after it was determined more discussion was needed the meeting was recessed until Tuesday, with the borough manager vote being the lone agenda item.

The motion was approved by a vote of 5-2 with council President Kristin Hopkins-Calcek and Councilmen Jerry Jericho, Paul Pivovarnik, Robert Whiten Jr. and Tom Santoro voting yes. Larry Celaschi and Joe Smith voted no.

Celaschi believes Manning does not meet much of the criteria in a job description written by the state Department of Community and Economic Development when it assisted the borough in filling the position in 2021. Those criteria include Manning’s educational and professional background.

“This candidate doesn’t remotely meet the bare minimum,” Celaschi said. “We’re the only borough that is apparently waiving education and experience. He doesn’t meet any of the requirements.”

The job description called for a four-year degree from an accredited college. Manning is a graduate of the Harrisburg Area Community College Fire Academy.

Celaschi also said the borough was not acting as an equal opportunity employer.

“We are not even abiding by that. We are totally sidestepping what should be a professional interview process and then a hire,” Celaschi said. “What you’re proposing railroads providing equal opportunities, and frankly it stinks of a backroom deal and cronyism.”

Manning was not in attendance Tuesday, which also concerned Celaschi, who said questions remained to be answered.

Hopkins-Calcek said with the desire to have someone in the position quickly, a formal interview process didn’t take place. She also said she spoke to a number of Manning’s former colleagues, as well as references, each of whom she said spoke glowingly of Manning.

“He let me know he would really love to finish what he started,” she said. “He doesn’t feel he had ample time to accomplish what he set out to accomplish. He’s very committed to Charleroi. He has a passion for the town and revitalization of the town. Due to the fact he was already interviewed by the borough and hired by the borough and was on the short list from the DCED, I thought that due to the fact that we need a borough manager and have it budgeted with our borough citizens’ tax money that we owe it to the citizens of this town to have a borough manager in here that can run the show and be at the helm and not have to go through months and months of an interview process.”

When contacted Wednesday, Manning said he’s looking forward to returning to the job.

“I’m excited,” he said. “I’m looking forward to it. I enjoyed my time in Charleroi the first time around. It’s a great community. I’m looking forward to working with everybody on council. I’m excited to have this opportunity. I’m familiar with the community and a lot of the stakeholders there. It’s definitely an advantage to have had this position in the past.”

Manning, a former Washington councilman and city firefighter, reiterated that he wants to finish things he started to put into place during his previous stint.

“We were looking for ways to eliminate blight, so I would like to see that through,” Manning said. “When I was there before, (Whiten, who also is the fire chief) was interested in starting a fire board, which is like a police board that the regional police department has. There were a few things that were in the works when I left the first time.”

Charleroi has been without a borough manager since July, when council terminated Matt Staniszewski from the job after being suspended for 10 days, citing “disrespectful behavior.”

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