DAVID A.

BASHORE
216 Spruce Tree Road. Radnor, PA 19087-3716.610.341:0338. bashoredave@comcast.net

April 6, 2009

Board of Commissioners
Radnor Township
301 Iven Avenue
Wayne, PA 19087-5297

Re: Position Statement of Dave Bashore

Dear Commissioners:

I do not relish ""hatsoever the thought of any further public airing of our dispute. Those'
of you who know me best know this is not and never has been my style. While this public
spectacle is not the road I would have ever chosen, you have left me no choice as to how I go
about defending my actions - and my reputation -as Radnor Township Manager.

On March 16, my attorney exercised my right under the Home Rule Charter to respond to
and comment upon Board Resoluti~ns 2009-12 and 2009-13, by which you initiated the process
to terminate my employment with Radnor Township, You have every right to terminate my
employment whenever you wish. In fact, I would not wish to continue as your Township
Manager if you no longer. have confidence in me. Nothing, however, required you to humiliate
me.

As we all know, the Board had several termination options available to it. It could
unilaterally have terminated my employment under 94.A of my Employment Agreement, paid
me the severance to which I would then have been entitled, and have thereby allowed me to
.leave in adignified manner, ~th my reputation and career intact. It could also have sought to
negotiate with me a separation on terms that might have differed from those contained in 94.A,
but were nonetheless mutually agreeable.

Both of these approaches would have been legal and reasonable, and any separation
agreement would be a public record for all to examine. Either of these approaches almost
certainly would have cost the Board less than the fees and expenses they are incurring in taking
the approach that they have instead chosen, would have taken less of your valuable time and
energy, and would not have had such a devastating effect on the morale of my former staff, upon
whom you have to rely for the continued day-to-day operations of this Township.

You chose instead not only to terminate my employment, but also to publicly pillory me.
As I am sure you have been advised by your lawyer, that gives me the right, under the United
States Constitution and federal law, to a name-clearing hearing. My lawyer expressly asked for
such a hearing. It seems to be the Township's position, however, that! am not entitled to a full
and fair opportunity to contest the charges leveled against me.

Your attorney has been quoted as saying that it is "absurd" to suggest that I am entitled to
due process. He has belittled my request for a hearing to clear my name as a "delay tactic so (I]
can stay on the payroll a few weeks longer at taxpayers' expense." He has said that all I have
the right to do is "make a statement and publicly say what he wants to say. That's all."
Referring to the seven Commissioners, he said, "Their mind has already been made up, but he
has a right to address it before it's made formal." To my knowledge, none of you has requested
him to withdraw those remarks, so I have to assume that they represent your position.

As my lawyer has already explained, it is critical to my ability to clear my name

effectively that I be able to establish the Board's 10ngsumaing accessioiiofaiscretion and
authority in compensation matters to the sitting Township Manager, including me. Establishing
the knowledge or involvement, or intentional hands-off approach, of individual sitting
Commissioners is an important part of my defense. I need the opportunity to present witnesses
and to cross examine my accusers. While you have the right to decide my termination, I have
the right to a fact-finder who is not also my accuser. I have a right to a fact-finding body that is
not composed of critical witnesses. A fair proceeding is impossible under those circumstances.

You have not even allowed me access to my own files to assist me in preparing this
presentation. On March 20, in a letter to your lawyer, my lawyer wrote:

In order adequately to prepare, and to submit the written statement of position that
is due seven days earlier (April 6), Mr. Bashore needs access to his paper files,
and to electronic documents on his work computer and the Township's network,
including making copies of some of those documents in hard and/or electronic
format. Mr. Bashore has no objection to the Township knowing exactly what he
is looking at and copying, so he has no objection if a Township representative is
present at all times to satisfy the Township thatthe integrity of its documents and
electronic records are maintained.

This request was refused, on the grounds that the procedure in the Home Rule
Charter does not permit it. That further proves my point that the procedure you have
offered to me is not the name clearing hearing to which I am entitled by federal law ... It
is not a hearing in any respect at all. It is just time set aside for me to make a, speech.

In addition, as I have previously pointed out, and will address in greater detail later in this
letter, the relationship between my requests for Board action to protect Township employees
from the improper conduct of the Township Treasurer, and the attacks which have been leveled
against me by the Board, must be explored in the context of potentially improper political
considerations or biases that individual Board members may bring to this decision-making
process.

I will repeat what my attorney has previously written to your attorney: I think it is
contrary to every tradition of American justice and fair play to suggest that a public agency has
the right to accuse a long-tenured public servant of serious wrongdoing, without affording that

2
individual the opportunity to pubIi~iy prove that those accusations are baseless. That right is the
essence of due process, and is the underlying theory upon which violations of 42 U.S.C. ~I 983
are based. .

Personally, I respect all of you, and I do not want to think any of you desires to punish
me for the laissez-faire approach taken by prior Boards.

I do not think that any of you feels that it was my responsibility to see that my
employment contract was adopted at a public hearing. That was a Board decision.

While some of you may now suggest in hindsight that you woUld not have agreed to
some of the provisions in my employment contract, none of you has suggested that any of the
provisions of that contract are illegal or unenforceable, or that the contract terms were concluded
by anything other than arms-length negotiation.

I do not think that any of you feels that it was my responsibility to present each
newly-elected commissioner, upon his or her election, 'with a copy of my contract.

I think you all know that prior Boards trusted my judgment in regard to maintaining the
overall competitiveness of the Township's compensation structure, so lorig as I stayed within
budgets that each Board approved. -

I think none of you will disagree with the proposition that I was entitled to rely upon past
practice unless and until I was told otherwise.

I think none of you will disagree that it was appropriate for me to rely upon the express
provisions of my contract, and then'Board President Pierce's letter of June 27, 2002, I a copy of
which was provided by me to all Board members at the time (and which I did not write),
describing the scope of my authority, until I was told otherwise.

With that introduction, I want to address the nine specific allegations of purported
wrongdoing contained in the Resolutions. I will take them in a different order, however.

First, I want to discuss the Board meeting of December 15,2008 because the events of
that night continue to trouble me the most.

I The letter states in part: " ... with respect to compensatiOn of Township employees, it is the
position of the Board of Commissioners that the TOWnship Manager has bmad discretion under
our administrative code to set compensation levels, including promotions, in-grade/step
increases, and bonus payments, for all employees, in accordance with collective bargaining and
other employment agreements where applicable. Funds available for employee salaries, pay
adjustments and bonus payments are approved annually by the Board as part of its adoption of
the Township's budget."

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Charge 7: The December 15, 2008, Board Meeting

In Charge #7, you state that "At a public meeting on December 15,2008, the Manager,
when questioned about bonuses paid in 2008, denied that bonuses had been paid in 2008. In
fact, bonuses had been paid to the Manager and Township employees in 2008 .... "

We all know what happened that night - it is on tape. I had just returned to the Board
room to find the Township Treasurer at the podium asking if200S bonuses had been paid to any
Township employees. There was some back and forth between the Treasurer and the
Commissioners, and then one of the Commissioners looked over to me and, in a tone that
expressed his understandable frustration with the Treasurer, asked me whether any bonus or
incentive pay had been paid in 200S. If you look at the tape, you will see that I paused, hedged,
and finally said in part, "they get paid their normal compensation ... you saw that package over
the weekend ..., no bonuses were in those numbers."

When asked by a Commissioner about whether bonuses were paid in 200S, I answered
"no," thinking the question was whether bonuses were paid FOR200S. Remember that these
special pay adjustments were paid in one year for work in the prior year. Lump sum payments
were in fact paid in April 200S FOR work in 2007. When I was later asked about bonuses being
paid in prior years, I said in part, "yes, off and on throughout the years, where deserved, based on
meritorious performance ... not all employees get them every year. . .. In fact, there are some
years where very few employees get them."

The meeting continued with heated exchanges between the Treasurer and a number of the
Commissioners, who expressly relied upon my answers to say to the Treasurer that no bonuses
were paid in 200S. I never interrupted to clarify my prior answers, and to make sure that the
Commissioners had all of the facts.

I feel that I let you down. I Want to address the question of why. To do so, you need
to understand my state of mind as it related to John Osborne when he was speaking from the
podium that night.

You, I and a large number of Township employees know that John Osborne is a vicious,
vindictive, hostile and intimidating individual. ,He has by virtue of verbal attacks, threatening
words, gestures and body language physically intimidated a number of Township employees,
most of them female. He has created a hostile work envirorunent in this Township that has tom
away the esprit de corps that has been built over the last 20 years. Mr. Osborne has worked long
and hard to destroy the morale of my staff, including the repeated use of racial and ethnic slurs,
harassment and intimidation. Thus, by way of example (and I reference only complaints that.
have previously been documented and .. '.reported .to you):
(a) In 2005, an African-American female intern assigned to Mr. Osborne had to be
reassigned after repeated complaints by her of "a very uncomfortable work
envirorunent because of Mr. Osborne's continuous inappropriate comments about
members of various racial and ethnic groups. He often made comments regarding
my race and these comments were offensive. On the final occasion of us working

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I .

together, he informed me that hewanted to do a personal background check on me

because he wanted to know 'who he was working with.' " He used a very intimidating
tone and was visibly upset when I denied his request to provide himwith my date of
birth, home address and social security number.:: t

(b) Five different employees reported that Mr. Osborne several times asked customers
who were 'people of color or presumed Middle Eastern descent questions like "Is your
name African" and "Where are youJrom." Two employees reported that more than
one customer appeared uncomfortable with these questions. When I questioned him
about this, he said he meant no harm, was just cUrious, but you can never be too
, careful nowadays, the world is a different place after 9- I I .

(c) A management employee reported to me regarding our accountants, McGladiey &

Pullen, that Mr. Osbotnesaid to him: "Don't let that name fool you, they are really
Jews underneath that name."

. (d) Mr. Osborne undertook his own "investigation" of a management employee who he
'claimed might be the ghost owner of a company that did business with the Township.
The charges were ridiculous, and proved to be unfounded. '

(e) In,the presence of two other employees and me, Mr, Osborne informed us that "one
of the reasons that gay people shouldn't be allowed to marry is that they're all
pedophiles." .
'.~ )

(f) On an occasion that Mr. Osborne chose to hand deliver a real estate tax bill to a
resident, the conversation turned to religion, she mentioned that she was Catholic but
her husband was Jewish, imd Mr. Osborne asked her "how or why could a good
..Catholic marry a Jew?" •
..
(g) Two management employees reported. that Mr, Osborne had iiUormed them that we,
should just get rid of all the "dead wood, older employees" in order to cut expenses,
Later that day, three older employees, visibly upset, asked me if they were going to be
fIred.

(h) A management employee reported that several times in 2005, Mr. Osborne had
complained to him about "Jews being the cause of the war in Iraq," that "New York
Je'Ys" run the bailking industry and media, and that "we need to stop being told what
I to do by Jews and Israel." It was reported that many of the comments were made in
a "real hateful tone." '

(i) Mr. Osborne confronted a management employee, asked ifhe used a township
vehicle to commute with, and when the employee said no, Mr, Osborne angrily said
"Well I am going to make sure you never do. , ,,;'

(j) A management employee reported that at a summer employee picnic, Mr. Osborne
observed that the parking lot ~as fIlled with black people, and said that they get hot

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 and would need to take cover.

(k) Mr. Osborne inf~rmed an employee who reported to me that he expected the
employee to report certain types of information to him. The employee resisted, and
Mr. Osborne attempted to physically intimidate him.
"
(I) An employee reported that Mr. Osborne questioned her about who a number of
Hispanic-looking workers who were doing landscaping work for us worked for,
where.they.came from, and how long they had been in this country. ,
•
(m)Mr. Osborne has walked around the building with a clipboard, ostensibly taking
attendance .
•
(n) When two African-American high school students came to pay a parking ticket, Mr.
Osborne asked them if they had a car and if they played basketball.

(0) A management employee reported that Mr. Osborne told him that a female candidate
for public office was using her maiden name because "she is married'to a HE!"'B."

(P) A management employee reported that Mr. Osborne was observed interrogating a
woman in full Islamic clothing about whether she was "staying" in the US' and
whether she was a citizen. '

(q) A management employee reported that Mr. Osborne commented to a male employee
"Nice beard.. Do you have any Arab in you?" The comment made him
uncomfortable.

(r) A female employee reported that Mr. Osborne said to her, about another female
employee, that he"likes looking at her hot little body at the gym. The employee who
was the target of this comment reported it was very "creepy" and that if it happened
. again, "we will have a problem."
,,"-.,

(s) Mr. Osborne requested a Township police officer to perform background checks on a
number of individuals that a friend'ofhis was investigating.

(t) Two employees reported that Mr. Osborne told them that he had asked the
Philadelphia Sports Club management to remove shower curtains in the men's locker
room because the curtains promoted homosexual activity.

(u) An employee reported that Mr. Osborne had told her that the solicitor, Mr. Blake, was
"a little shit."

(v) An employee reported that Mr. Osborne approached him and accused'him of being a
"double dipper."

(w) A management employee reported that following the death of a female commissioner

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 from breast cancer, Mr. Osborne asked him "Does it make a difference if you have
large or small breasts?"

(x) A teller at our local bank informed one of our employees that Mr. Osborne had said to
her, in public at the bank, that he was concerned that a lot of Jews were "infiltrating"
Villanova University.

(y) The attorney representing RATE complained to Mr. Osborne, "It is my understanding
that you have been questioning members of this organization in violation of our
collective bargaining agreement. .. We must insist that you cease and desist your
actions or we will have no alternative but to file a grievance with the township."

(z) A female African-American employee reported that once when she was filling in for
our receptionist in the main lobby, Mr. Osborne approached her and said, in what she
reported to be a condescending tone, Isn't the person that sits here supposed to be the
Township's best first impression, then what are you doing here? The employee
reported that she was offended, and wondered whether he was referring to her race2

Because it was my job to do so, I formally reported all but the most recent of these
events, as well as others, to the Board by memos dated December 30, 2005, June 23, 2006 (in
which I appealed to you, saying, "please help me to address this before John's behavior causes
any more damage") and March 26,2007. 3

Finally, at my urging and that of the Board President, the then sitting Board authorized
the hiring of outside counsel in March, 2007 to conduct an investigation, but insisted that it be
limited substantially to item (r), above. Mr. Osborne refused to cooperate in the investigation.
The lawyer ultimately reported that he considered the complaints of the female employees
involved credible, but felt that this one incident (which is all he was permitted to investigate) did
not rise to the level of a gender based hostile environment, but that the actions and words of Mr.
Osborne, if true, "dearly" were inappropriate work place conduct.

The official written report was not generated by the attorney until after the November,
2007, elections, out of concern by at least one Board member for the fact that Mr. Osborne's
wife was on the ballot for judicial retention. The report, dated December 31, 2007,

2 All of these events occurred before December 15, 2008. In January, 2009, two management
employees reported to me that at a recent meeting that included a Delaware County official, Mr.
Osborne commented that the influx of "Asians and other minorities" were resulting in the drop in
property values in the Township.

3 I reported the most recent events on February 12,2009 (in which I stated" ... I can no longer
provide a workplace that is productive, safe, and free from harassment. As a result, I am
respectfully requesting that the Board immediately conduct a new and thorough investigation
into the following complaints as well as the complaints not previously investigated, which I
brought to your attention in 2005 and 2006 .... " I have not been informed that any such
investigation has begun.).

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recommended that Mr. Osborne and the remaining female employee be physically separated at
work as much as possible, and that a letter be sent to Mr. Osborne in the form attached to the
report. Ultimately, a letter was sent, but not until May of 2008. It was substantially watered
down from the lawyer's draft, deleting all reference to the conclusion that Mr. Osborne had
engaged in inappropriate behavior.

You are all well aware that he has physically threatened me on more than one occasion,
which I have reported to you. Since the summer of2005, he has declared that he is "at war"(his
words) with me. He has proved that to be the case, by word and deed, repeatedly since then. In
particular, he has stepped up his attacks whenever he has perceived that I have been passing
along reports of his misconduct to the Board.

His personal attacks upon me have been unrelenting. For example:

(a) In June, 2005, I refused to kowtow to his u~easonable demand to be given a different
office than the one I assigned to him in our temporary space in 2005, and I explained
my business reasons for.my decision. He then twice within the space of 30 seconds
came within six inches of my face, put his finger right next to my nose, told me he did
not appreciate my actions, spoke in a very, threatening tone, then walked away.

Later that day he confronted the female employee who was going to get the office he
wanted, and angrily told her not to move her belongings into that office. He later
emailed me saying: "Make the office changes that I requested. I expect to be in the
requested office on Monday." . A few days later he confronted this female '.
employee again, intimidated her, demanded that she not move into that office, and
advised her that he was "at war" with me.

(b) In December, 2007, Mr. Osborne wrote a letter complaining about the office that had
been assigned to him in the new building,4 and a second lengthy letter raising a
number of grievances relating to my management of the Township and its workforce.
On February 10,2008, I responded to all of you with a lengthy memo, from which I
want to quote but a small portion:

This is the last.time I will respond to any of these issues. If what I have related
to you in my responses to his December l7'h letter and what I relate to you below
about his December 28th letter isn't enough, then I'm sorry, but that's all I can and
will muster to respond to the attacks from a bitter, bigoted, bully of a man who
• has had a target on my back as well as Hank's and other members of my staff and

4 I also note that I informed a11'ofyou that among the principal reasons I located the Treasurer's
office where I did in the new building was to separate him from the female employee who had
complained about his conduct, as recommended by the outside attorney, to limit his access to
other employees who had complained about his conduct, and because he had" ... created an
increasingly hostile work environment by having consistently made dozens of bigoted and other
offensive comments to and about Township employees since his appointment in 2004 and by an
interpersonal style that is perceived by many staff as bullying .... " Frankly, I was disappointed
when you did not back me up on this, but instead gave in to his demands.

8
 the Board for far too long ....

. This war, to use Mr. Osborne's words, has been largely one-sided - it's been John
Osborne's war against me and a few others who have disagreed with him on
important issues or have stood up to Iiis bullying tactics ... .If I were at war with
him, I'm rather certain that a copy of the more than 40 -- count them, 40, not the
one or two complaints the Board recently asked [the 1 attorney ... to look into -
workplace complaints from Township employees would had long ago been
released to the papers, the Ethics Board, the EEOC, and the PHRC.

'" I'vehad enough ofMr. Osborne's outrageous allegations about me and about
the increasingly hosti!e' workplace he has created with his bigoted, harassing and
intimidating words and' style, which has had a significantly detrimental impact on
employee morale, mine included ....

(c) In July, 2008, Mr. Osborne sent a letter to all members of the Board questioning
portions of the early retirement program' offered by the Board in 2007, and threatened
that there might be a Treasurer's surcharge. This threat was directed not only to all.
of you, but to' me personally. .

(d) On November 7, 2008, just one month before the December 15 meeting, Mr. Osborne
wrote a letter to the Board President, which reads in part:

Attached isa copy of a Facebook.com personal interest page for the Township
Manager. This page is being discussed in a derisive manner by employees
throughout the Township. I have also heard some negative comments from the
community regarding this Facebook page ....

It is of concern that the Manager is identifying himself as the Radnor Township

manager while publicly expressing interest in two premium cable programs, one
of which follows the life of a man who has a sexual addiction combined with use
of illegal drugs, and the other of which glorifies the life of a woman who is a drug
dealer. ...

The Facebook information came to me following another relatively recent

discussion heard in the Township building about "swinger magazines" reported to
have been found.by Township employees in the Manager's home recycling ....

(e) Just before this letter, a management employee informed me that Mr. Osborne had
asked her if she knew that my wife aiJ.dI were "swingers," that he had heard it from
public works employees who said "thatmagazines had been foUnd in my trash. Just
after this letter, I was told by other Township employees that Mr. Osborne has been
asking them and others if they had heard about my alleged "alternate lifestyle". It
was also reported to me at about the same time that Mr. Osborne may have offered
one or more employees $100 cash to produce the "mysterious swinger magazines" or
any other disparaging information about me.

9
 (f) On November 18, 2008, a management employee reported to me that Mr. Osborne
told her that Mr. Osborne or his daughter had witnessed three Township employees in
a Township truck stop at my house and work in my yard for hours picking up tree
branches and yard waste, and that he was going to write a complaining letter to the
Commissioners.

(g) On November 26, 2008, just weeks before the December IS m~eting, Mr. Osborne
sent an email complaining about an allegedly unlicensed 50/50 raffle at the Township
building, and threatening to make a report to the District Attorney's Office.

On the night of December IS, as I watched Mr. Osborne in full atta~k mode, I was well
aware of his gutter campaign to brand my wife and me as "swingers" including the fact that it
had been reported to me that our Treasurer - a former careerlaw enforcement officer -- was
offering people money to gather evidence against me, that he was accusing me of theft of Radnor
employee services to do work at my house, and that he was threatening to make a report of
illegal gambling at the Township building to the District Attorney. Plus, as a result ofthe
Board's audit over the previous five months of vacation leave carryover practices, I had become
subject to repeated questioning and began to sense that i was being set up by Mr. OsbOrne and by
certain members of the Board for a set of long-standing past practices that had been established
under a previous Board and Township Manager and which, by the way, the Board and its outside
attorney have admitted in public were not the blame of anybody but were the result of differing
interpretations of the Administrative Code and Township policy. It was not far from my mind
on the night of December IS that Mr. Osborne was becoming emboldened in the depth, breadth
and ferocity of his attacks by the unwillingness of the Board as a whole (notwithstanding the
efforts of certain individual Board members) to rein him in, even though the Board had received
written opinions from the solicitor advising that Mr. Osborne was consistently attempting to
exercise powers beyond those that were rightfully his under the Home Rule Charter.

To say that my level of anxiety as Mr. Osborne spoke was quite high would be an
understatement. To be more, accurate, my heart was pounding, my teeth were grinding, I was
working hard to keep from visibly shaking in a combination of frustration, anger, and, yes, fear.
I knew that this man was determined to deprive me of my job, destroy my reputation and career,
and ruin my family.

In short, I "choked." I did not fully and accurately answer the questions asked of me. I
heard, because it was what I wanted to hear, that the question was, were any bonuses paid "for"
2008, and I said no because that was true, and it was the best way to end the conversation that
Mr. Osborne was having with the Board. As the interchange between the Board and Mr.
Osborne continued, it became obvious that the Commissioners were relying upon my statement
to tell Mr. Osborne that no bonuses were paid "in" 2008, so they could get him to sit down and
move on to other things. In that highly emotional and politically charged environment, I just
could not emotionally figure out any way to interrupt or clarify.

But right after that meeting ended, I went to Mr. Mahoney, who was still Board president
, and told him that I had misspoken. He asked me to call him the next day at work; which I did

10
and told him again what happened with my answer.

He told me to not "worry about it for now" and to see how things proceeded. I followed
that advice, which I believed then and believe now was well intended, because neither Mr.
Mahoney nor I could have predicted the subsequent events: ,

And so, I apologize for not being as strong, clear-headed and candid as I wish I could
have. been when it most counted.

Charges 1 and 2: The "bonus" payments

Next, I want to address the special lump sum "bonus" payments themselves. In doing
so, I will discuss Charges I and 2.

Charge # 1 states: "The Manager authorized payment to himself of bonuses [in years
2000 through 2008 totaling $141,500] which were not approved by nor disclosed to the Board of
Commissioners." .

Charge #2 states: "The Manager adopted Policy Nos. 01-01, 01-02, and 01-03 without
the consent or approval of the Board of Commissioners."

My answer to this is simple: (a) I did not submit those policies to the Board for approval
because the Board, expressly and implicitiy, gave me the power to adopt them without express
Board approval; and (b) I did authorize.those payments to myself because the Board, expressly
and implicitly, gave me the power to do so. In hindsight, there is no doubt that, given the
changing naiure of elected Boards and the shifting winds of political pressure, I made a major
error of judgment in not expressly informing and seeking the approval of each new Board
concerning the existence of the policies and concerning the individual payments to me before
they were made. I accept full responsibility for those errors of judgment. But I reject any
suggestion that I ever intended to deceive the Board, or acted beyond my authority as I in good
faith understood it.

I sent the Board extensive memoranda on February 16,2009, and a followup after
February 17, 2009, explaining the background and justification for these payments. I attach
copies of these memoranda to this letter, as Exhibits A and B. Mr. Crofford before me
administen:d these year end special pay adjustments for.himself, the directors, and supervisors.
The payments were never referred to as bonuses governed by section 5-60(H)(6) of the
Administrative Code. Whether you now agree or disagree with that approach, that is what
happened.

'Mr. Crofford was responsible for awarding these year end special pay adjustments to
himself and his staff. I was aware of the unwritten guidelines he used. Those guidelines
essentially tied each job's total compensation to the total compensation of comparable positions
in the competitive marketplace, in accordance with the direCtion of section 5-60(A)(3), which
states: "Pay rates of employees shall be sensitive to the pay of comparable positions with both
public and private employers in the region and in other markets with whom the Township must
~:.

11
compete to attract and retain the employees needed to sustain a successful operation." . Exempt
employees who attained or exceeded their annual job goals and who worked an excessIVe
number of hours in the prior year were eligible to receive a special pay adjustment. To my
knowledge, these year end special pay adjustments were never submitted to the Board for
approval, but at least some, if not all, Board members knew that they were being made.

A side benefit of these special pay adjustments was that they replaced a long-standing
prior practice of permitting management and supervisory employees to accrue' over a long period
of time comp time for excess work hours. Thus, the new practice reflected sound management
decisions that also eliminated additional unfunded liability for accrued comp time earned by
eligible employees under that prior practice.

This was the landscape I inherited when I became Township Manager. It was reflected
in Section 5(C) of my employment contract, which expressly entitles me to "special pay
adjustments at the same rate and at the same time as similar consideration is given to other
civilian employees generally." There is 'nothing -inthis subparagraph that requires that the
Board approve each such special pay adjustment.

My contract was the result of an arm's-length negotiation involving then Board President
Jim Pierce, and Commissioner Hank Mahoney; both of whom are lawyers and were members of
the Personnel and Administration Committee. Ibelieved that they were fully aware of the
practices Ihave described above.

My contract was unanimously approved at an executive session of the Commissioners on

February 26, 200 I. My contract has been available to every sitting commissioner to examine at
any time he or she would want to do S05 • '

As far as Iwas concerned, my understanding that Messrs Pierce and Mahoney were
aware of the special pay adjustment practice was confirmed by Mr. Pierce's letter to our auditor
dated June 27, 2002, the relevant portion of which is quoted in footnote I, above. So that there
will be no question, Idid not write this letter. However, after it was written, Iincluded it in the
weekly package of information that was sent to each Commissioner, as Idid with every letter
signed by the Board President on behalf of the Board, so Iam certain that each sitting ,
Commissioner received a copy of that letter.' No one ever informed me that he or she disagreed

5 As an aside, a major brouhaha has developed over the relocation allowance provisions in my
contract. This is not raised in the Resolution relating to my proposed termination because it
turned out to be a trumped up ,non-issue, but Ideeply resent the manner in which this was -'
handled by certain members of the Board, because it most definitely poisoned the well of public
opinion against me. Mr. Crofford had a housing allowance of a different sort, which probably
cost the Township much more than'mine has cost. Relocation allowances taking many different
forms are common in employment contracts. This was mutually agreed upon. No one twisted
anyone else's arm., It has been expressly disclosed in every single audited ToWnship financial .
statement since then. The imputed income has been reported on my W-2 by the ToWnship each
year, and Ihave paid taxes on that imputed income. Section 14(B)(4) of my contract allows the
Township to purchase an insurance policy on my life, with the Township as beneficiary, so that
the Township may be reimbursed substantially in full for this benefit upon my death.

12
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with the content of that letter.

The policies that I wrote in 2001 did nothing more than put on paper the policies that Mr.
Crofford had been implementing for a number of years. Putting these past practices into writing
was a sound management practice. S,uch authority is granted to,the Township Manager by the
administrative code in section 5-19, which says one of the powers and duties of the Township
Manager is to "prescribe such administrative rules, practices and procedures as shall be deemed
necessary or expedient for the,conduct arid operation of administrative departments."

Rightly or wrongly, previous Boards have delegated to the Township Manager - meaning
me and Bob Crofford before me - virtually complete authority and discretion regarding
compensation, with YITY minimal input from Commissioners on any employee's individual pay,
including mine. For years I requested performance and salary reviews and never received them.
Finally when I began to rece'ive performance reviews, I never received a salary review. With all
due respect, that is not my fault. I am not intending to criticize Commissioners, past or present,
for their hands-off styles over the years. I am just stating a fact. '

The present Board has the right to change that approach prospectively. It is, however,
grossly unfair, to apply that change retroactively. You are seeking to punish me for failing to
follow a rule that I reasonably believed did not exist.

Charges 3, 4, 5 and 6: "Misrepresentations"

In Charge 3, you accuse me of misrepresenting to the Board in a salary review on

December 2,2008, that my total compensation was in the $130,000 range when I knew it was
well in excess of $200,000 per my W-2.

First, this was not a salary review. There was no "salary review." You know there
was no salary review. The meeting was a performance review, and a one-sided one at that
because it was top-down only, and invoked new performance criteria without any substantive
input from me or my approval-a violation of section 6 of my employment agreement, which
says:

"Said performance reviews and evaluations shall be in accordance with specific criteria
developed JOINTLY by the Employer and the Employee.... Said criteria may be added
to or deleted from as the Board may from time to time determine appropriate, in
consultation with the Employee."

I recall that at the end of the meeting, one commissioner, I believe Mr. Masterson, asked
whether the Board was going to conduct a salary review, which would have been the first ever
such review during my tenure as Manager. Another commissioner, I believe Mr. Fisher, said
he thought the Board was thinking about a pay freeze for all non-union employees. At that
point, another commissioner asked toe what my salary was, to which I replied; "in the
$130,000s." The subject of bonuses, lump sum payments, or any other type of compensation
was not raised.

13
r------------------------ --- -----

Contrary to statements by some Board members, at NO time during that meeting did
anyone ask me what my "total compensation" was. I regret that I did not go beyond the
question, and describe,my full compensation package. In hindsight, it would have been better
for all if! had. But I did not "misrepresent my total compensation." My mistake was
answering the question I was asked. _

In Charge #4, I am accused of ll}isrepresenting and misleading the Board in a doculnent

entitled "2008 Compensation Package" in which my total compensation was represented to be
$167,851, and in which I failed to disclose and include the $15,000 "bonus" I received in 2008.

Yo~ are ~fairl y distorting that document. As noted above, at the end of the December 2
performance review, you talked about discussing a salary review. You had made it clear'that
there was going to be a pay freeze in effect, and I interpreted that to include the fact that I should
not be paying any year end special pay adjustments to me or my staff for work in 2008. Yet I
foolisWy thought that there was still a chance to show you that I should get a pay raise. So I put
together my 2008 compensation package, which did not include any extra payment for 2008
because there was to be none, together with information on comparable salaries at the Radnor
School District, Lower Merion Township, Upper Merion Township, and Tredyffrin Township,
which I presented to you so that I could argue my case.

In the Resolutions, you only attached the first page of what I submitted. The entire
document is attached to this letter as Exhibit C. The balance of the document, which you chose
not to attach, makes the context clear. I was primarily coinparing base pay to base pay - apples
to apples. I did not include the year end special pay adjustment for 2007 (received in early
2008), because it was part of my 2007 compensation package.

Had I ever been given the opportunity to explain these tables to you, I would have shown
you that my 2008 compensation package was low compared to my position's benchmarks - the
pay of the Radnor School District Superintendent, the school district's business administrator,
the Lower Merion Township Manager, and the Radnor Township Superintendent of Police.

My base pay plus longevity pay in my 2008 compensation package was $135,851.

The Radnor School Superintendent's 2008 base salary was $194,000.

The Radnor School business administrator's 2008 base salary was $155,000.

The Lower Merion Township Manager's 2008 base salary was $175,350.

The Radnor Superintendent of Police's 2008 base_salary plus longevity pay was
$140,360.

My plan was to try to convince you either that I should get a salary increase, or to explain
to you the calculation procedures underlying the year end special pay adjustments, to convince
you that under those long established guidelines, I should get a lump sum payment of about
$18,000, which would have put me within the guidelines, and made my total package for 2008

14
I.
competitive with my benchmarks. At that time, those of you that did not know about the year
end payments would have learned about them, and had the history and reasoning explained to
you. We never got to that point because events overcame all of us.

In short, it is simply wrong to take this document out of context and twist it into
something that it is not, and never was intended to be.

In Charge #5, you say I misrepresented to the Board of Commissioners and its Personnel
and Administration Committee in calendar years 2006 and 2007 that the total pay of the Manager
as represented in the Salary Human Resource Schedule was $140,262 and $146,078,
respectively, when the total pay for Manager was $181,070 and $199,999, respectively. In
Charge #6, you say I similarly misrepresented the total pay of other Township employees by
failing to disclose "bonus payments" made to them. .

Once again, you are taking documents out of context. First, I provided these documents
at the request of then Commissioner Ann Michele Higgins, a member of the Personnel &
Administration Committee. I gave her what she asked for: a list of base and longevity pay for
all employees. I do not recall why she asked for what she asked for, but that was her business.
I gave what was requested.

Second, the numbers I provided were in 2006 and 2007 were budget figures, not actuals.

Third, my W-2s reflect, in addition to my payroll checks, my deferred compensation, my

year end special pay adjustments, the annual forgiveness of my relocation loan, the gross up on
that amount to cover my increased tax payment, and a life insurance policy. If Commissioner
Higgins had asked me to provide her with an itemization of my last year's W-2, I would have
done that.

The only thing I can be accused of here is failing to realize, in 2006 and 2007, how these
documents would be twisted and used against me in 2009. I plead guilty to that offense.

Charge 8: "Falsification" of Documents

In Charge #8, it is alleged that I altered, falsified, and/or manufactured Township

business records by preparing on or about February 23, 2009 new SalarylHuman Resource
Schedules for calendar years 2006 and 2007, including in those records for the very first time the
unapproved and undisclosed bonus payments and misrepresenting to the Board of
Commissioners in executive session on February 23, 2009 that the aforesaid records were not
newly created documents; hence, intending to mislead or falsify the records and facts.

I asked for, but was denied access to, my computer to prepare this position statement.
Unless someone has subsequently deleted it, on my computer there will be a compensation
spreadsheet that I created for all employees each year, which shows all of the compensation
budgeted for each employee, including the year end special lump sum payments. On February
23rd, apparently in preparation for his well planned (but unknown to me) attack,

15
cross-examination and public humiliation ofme,6 the Board president sent me two emails
demanding copies "now". of various years' salary budgetlhuman resource schedules. To fulfill .
these requests, I copied and pasted columns from the historic spreadsheets on my computer that
contained the information he requested into new spreadsheets. You are technically correct that
these specific computer files were newly created. .You are dead wrong that the documents
containing this information did not previously exist. .I neitherfalsified records nor facts.

Charge 9: Solicitor's Pay Increase

Finally, in Charge #9, I am charged with. unilaterally granting, without notice to, consent
of or approval by the Board of Commissioners; an increase in the Township Solicitor's
compensation from $5,865 a month in 2008 to $6,500 a month in 2009 even after the Board had
decided on December 15,2008, that there would be no compensation increases in 2009.

When I was confronted by the Board President about the increase to Mr. Blake's
compensation, I replied honestly that I did not know the answer, and that I would get back to the
Board with the answer. That was true because I did not at the time recall that he had received an
mcrease. I was never given the chance to get back to you before you passed your resolutions on
March 5.

Without access to my computer records, I cannot be certain of the precise facts .. '!
understand that you do not want to give me that opportunity; that's your choice. But piecing
things together the best I can, having had an opportunity to review things in my mind,.! believe
the following is correct.

Late last summer, during an executive session in which he was advising the Board about
the status of a lawsuit against the Township, Mr. Blake advised the Board that he had been
spending a lot more time in the past few years dealing with litigation matters on behalf of the
board and on appeals of Zoning Hearing Board decisions.

A day or so after that, Mr. Mahoney, as Board president, asked me what I thought about
Mr. Blake's time in dealing with litigation. I told him it was my impression that Mr. Blake was
indeed spending a lot more time in court than he used to. So Mr. Mahoney asked me to ask Mr.
Blake to prepare an outline of his time spent on routine solicito'r duties versus his time spent on
litigation matters and in court and what that extra time for those services would likely cost on an
hourly basis.

I believe the effective hourly rate Mr. Blake was charging, when you compare the time he
spent on Township business to what he was being paid, worked out to about $75 to $85 per hour.
But while Mr. Blake is more than capable of speaking for himself on this matter, I believe that he

6 All of which was completely gratuitous because, several days before February 23, I had
provided the Board with written answers to all the questions the President cross-examined me
about (other than those relating to the solicitor, a new issue I address below).' The President did
not gain any new information, but he did establish without question his ability.as an experienced
trial lawyer to catch unawares and effectively cross-examine a person who has no lawyer or
judge present to protect his rights.

16
I
was somewhat reluctant to rock the boat with anything to do with restructuring his retainer with
the Township.

Nevertheless, Mr. Mahoney, believing it was proper to consider an adjustment in the

solicitor's retainer for court work, advised the entire Board at the next executive session that Mr.
Blake had been asked to submit a cost estimate for this extra work.

Knowing this was an issue, when I was preparing the preliminary 2009 budget last
September, I included an extra allowance in the retainers for both township solicitor Dave Blake
and the Zoning Hearing Board solicitor John Ryan on my spreadsheets.

Fast forward to December 15, 2008. The Board that night adopted the 2009 budget with
a freeze in pay for all non-union employees. Resolution 2008-33 is quite specific: there is to
be "a 0% increase for non-union employees." Neither Mr. Blake nor Mr. Ryan is an employee
of the Township. They are independent attorneys in private practice, who in 2009 are not being
paid out of the salary line items in the budget but rather as contractual services, and receive Form
1099s at the end of each year, not W-2s.

Having a pretty good idea what the Board planrted on doing on December 15 regarding
salaries, in the week leading up to that meeting I had created an adjusted 2009 salary budget
schedule off of the original 2009 salary budget file to reflect the Board's likely approval of a pay
freeze for non-union employees. For convenience, I have always included the solicitors,
commissioners and members of the Zoning Hearing Board on those spreadsheets.

When I was changing individual non-union employees' salary figures in the adjusted file
to reflect a pay freeze, I simply did not focus one way or the other on Mr. Blake and Mr. Ryan.
The result of that was that I left intact the retainer increases I had programmed last Fall. I
believe that the increase I had programmed for Mr. Ryan was $1,000 - from $10,000 to $11,000.
I want to make it clear that at no time did either Mr. Blake or Mr. Ryan ever solicit ari increase in
their retainers. I was following what I took to be Mr. Mahoney's suggestion that it would be
prudent to budget for additional solicitor expenses in 2009 to reflect the increased hours of their
work. It is not a pay increase to pay a private practice lawyer more if he works more hours.
To the contrary, ifhe works more hours but you pay him the same, that would be a pay cut.

The two things that strike me the most regarding this last charge are: (a) this ~as a simple
spreadsheet error that could have been easily corrected were a member of the Board to have
made a simple phone call to the Finance Director or me as opposed to presuming a nefarious
motive and using it as a "gotcha" moment at a public meeting; and (b) the Board has chosen to
highlight only the error affecting Mr. Blake's retainer and not the one affecting Mr. Ryan's. Is
that a coincidence because perhaps you didn't know about Mr. Ryan, or is it because Mr. Blake
was a much easier target, since he was viewed to be associated with me, and was another target
of Mr. Osborne's bile? '

Nevertheless, I accept that my failure to focus on these two solicitors, and to ask the
Commissioners what they wished to do about solicitor compensation given the discussions
several months earlier, was an oversight for which I accept responsibility. However, there was

17
 -.

no effort - covert or otherwise - to compensate Mr. Blake against the wishes of the Board. No
conspiracy, no ill intentions, no cover-up_

Final Thoughts

Over the la~t two decades, in~luding the last eight as Manager, I have been instrumental
in bringing Radnor Township significant, long-lasting improvements to our organization and our
community's quality of life_ These improvements and benefits include:

~ A long-term reduction of $4.2 million in personnel costs as a result of our 2007

early retirement incentive plan.

~ A reduction of over $1,000,000 in outlays over the next ten years as a result of
having successfully negotiated with RATE and the FOP the transition to a new
hybrid, premium-based health benefits plan in 2006.

~ Other long-term expenditure reductions and revenue enhancements since 2000,

excluding the savings noted above, totaling over $2.5 million.

~ Annual budgets since becoming Manager with real estate tax increases averaging
a mere 2.0% per year, well below the rate of inflation.

~ A new comprehensive land use plan, the Wayne Master Plan, the Wayne Business
Overlay District ordinances, the town center residential and mixed-use
ordinances, the student rental housing ordinance, and the historic preservation
ordinance.

~ Acquisition .of over 50 acres in land for active and passive recreation, and the
opening of the Radnor Trail.

~ Establishing the framework for the preservation of Ardrossan, including the

acquisition of 90+ acres of open space.

~ And, as we all so proudly proclaim, Radnor Township has been named the Best
Place to Live in the Suburbs and the 37th Best Place in the Us. to Live and
Launch a business.

I am honored to have been a contributor to this distinguished record of accomplishment

and, again, commend my co-workers over the years for making our success a truly team effort.
Now I can only hope and pray that you - the elected representatives of the citizens of Radnor
Township -- will do the right thing for all our citizens, including Kelly, Jake, and Hannah
Bashore, and take into account the 21 + years of productive, dedicated, and loyal service thatI've
given to our community.

That's the Radnor Township and the quality and character of its elected leaders that I
know and remember. And that's the quality and character that the overwhelming majority'of

18
 -'
- -

our entire community is calling for now so that we all can begin to heal and move on with our
_lives.

'" , I can accept a decision that you don't

.
think
.. I am the right person for this job any longer.
- But remember, if you fire me for cause, John Osborne wins his selfcdeclared one-man war
against me, and every citizen of Radnor Township - of every race, every gender, ~very sexual
orientation, every religion, every national origin •• not to mention everymemberof this Board __
is a tasualty.

Sincerel y, .

\
%t#3d~~"--,.../,-,
---
Dave Bashore
,-

.-

19

.
,-
 - I ~ .

• • 1'.

.,

+.. •

.~ , ;., .
,'

..

EXHIBIT "A"

........