Radnor replaces its scandal-tarred manager

Radnor has chosen the 49-year-old city manager of Brunswick, Ohio, to replace the township manager fired last year amid claims of fiscal mismanagement.

The board of commissioners last night unanimously approved hiring Robert A. Zienkowski after a search that began last year.

Zienkowski will take the helm of the township's administration May 1. His salary will be $182,000, "less than Lower Merion and more than Haverford Township," said John Nagle, the board's chairman.

"He's had 25-plus years of public service, and he's even been on a town council as part of his history," Nagle said.

Since 2003, Zienkowski has been Brunswick's city manager and safety director at a salary of $101,000. He served 11 years before that as chief administrator in Maple Heights, Ohio, including two years on its town council.

Nagle said an experienced leader was needed to re-instill public trust in township government and improve sagging morale among township workers who have seen their colleagues laid off.

"I don't know how the morale could get any lower than it's been," Nagle said. "We've got a great bunch of people, and they've been beaten up pretty good."

Zienkowski said yesterday from his office in Brunswick that he knew "there were challenges, but I look upon them as opportunities."

He said the linchpins of his tenure would be openness and transparency. "Honesty and integrity and ethics that is above reproach is the standard we have set here," he said of Brunswick, which is southwest of Cleveland. "I expect to transition that right over" to Radnor.

Radnor's former manager, David A. Bashore, was fired in April, accused of paying himself $151,500 in bonuses during his eight years on the job.

A forensic audit released last year suggested that Bashore misspent $377,000 in taxpayer money. Of that, $165,470 came from personal or undocumented use of a township credit card.

The audit also said Bashore allegedly altered documents detailing some of his purchases, an act that could be criminal, officials said.

The township is seeking $1 million from Bashore, including the allegedly misspent money and $600,000 in bonuses that he is accused of giving to township workers without board approval. The figures come from a surcharge action filed in Delaware County Court by the township treasurer last year.

Bashore has denied misusing taxpayer money and maintains that the board authorized him to issue bonuses to himself and others. He has sued the township and the auditing firm, alleging invasion of privacy.