Radnor's suspended township manager defends bonuses

Radnor's beleaguered township manager, facing possible dismissal Monday, said township officials are making him a scapegoat for disputed policies on how he received salary bonuses.

"You are seeking to punish me for failing to follow a rule that I reasonably believed did not exist," David A. Bashore wrote in a 19-page letter filed with the township this week.

Bashore was suspended in February when commissioners discovered that he had paid himself $128,500 in bonuses since he became manager in 2000. The board says it never approved the bonuses.

But in the letter, Bashore said the Board of Commissioners "expressly and implicitly" gave him authority to award bonuses to himself and other employees.

Bashore argued that the board approved the bonuses as part of the overall budget, a practice he says was used by his predecessor, Bob Crofford, who died in 1999.

If the board wanted to specifically approve each bonus, including the approximately $15,000 Bashore paid himself each year, all the commissioners had to do was ask, Bashore said.

"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," Bashore wrote.

To further underline his point, Bashore also cited a letter signed by former Board President James Pierce in 2002 that says the township manager "has broad discretion" to "set compensation levels, including . . . bonus payments."

When asked to comment on Bashore's letter yesterday, a lawyer who represents the township discounted the relevance of the Pierce document.

"Bashore, when he goes to meet with the . . . board, asks for their input for approval of longevity payments, raises, promotions," said Neil A. Morris, a lawyer with Archer & Greiner in Philadelphia. "Why wouldn't they have to approve the bonuses, too? Why would a bonus not be involved there?"

Commissioners allege that Bashore misled them about how much he was making, lied at a public meeting when questioned about bonuses, and altered budget documents to show he had previously disclosed the bonuses.

At a March 5 meeting, six commissioners voted unanimously to take steps to fire Bashore. Commissioner Lisa Paolino was not present.

On Monday, the commissioners are scheduled to take a final vote on whether to terminate him. Bashore said yesterday that he would attempt to address the board then.

In his letter, Bashore denied charges that he falsified documents. He also said he never intentionally misled commissioners about his compensation package, saying they are taking documents out of context.

The dispute over his bonuses first became public at a board meeting in December. In response to comments from Township Treasurer John Osborne, the board asked Bashore whether bonuses had been paid in 2008.

In his letter, Bashore admitted that he wrongly stated at that meeting that no bonuses had been paid. Saying he felt intimidated by Osborne, Bashore said he "choked." Bashore said the two had been at odds over a series of personnel issues.

Osborne declined to comment yesterday.

Bashore declined to comment yesterday on the letter, but his attorney, Ronald H. Surkin, said Bashore should not be blamed for following a policy that was acceptable to boards in the past.

"If you change the rules, then you ought to tell the people so that they can follow the new rules," he said. "What I don't understand is why they didn't come to Mr. Bashore and just say, 'Dave, things have changed here, now we want to do things differently.' "