South Heidelberg is poised to hire a new manager

by Steve Reinbrecht

South Heidelberg Township supervisors are planning to vote to appoint a township manager at their meeting tonight, Supervisor Richard Hummel said.

The latest township manager, Ron Seaman, left the township Aug. 12 to be Berks County’s chief administrative officer.

Hummel said he was happy with the process to select a new manager, adding that he’s been through it before.

The search attracted qualified candidates from across Pennsylvania, he said.

The township has operated “very smoothly” since Seaman left, Hummel said, crediting competent department chiefs.

So is he sure the township, with a population of 7,300 or so, really needs a manager?

“I’ve given a lot of thought to that,” he said, laughing.

His conclusion is that the position is vital for township operations, considering how responsibilities, requirements and demands for services for municipal governments have expanded over the past 20 years.

“It’s difficult to run a township of any size without a manager,” he said.

The township hired Seaman in May 2003.

Office manager Shelly B. Keehn, who has managed operations since Seaman left, would not release information about the search for a new manager.

She said the best way to find out is to come to the meeting tonight, at 7 p.m.