When former Lancaster Township manager Danielle Rich resigned March 24, she told township supervisors it was for “personal reasons.”

But in reality, Rich left her post because of ethical disagreements with at least one supervisor, documents obtained via an open records request show.

In an April 9 follow-up email to township solicitor Chris Reese, Rich stated that supervisors Chairman Joe Plesniak told her March 19 he didn't want to hire or find temporary help to replace resigning secretary-treasurer Chrissy Senft “because he didn't want the news of Chrissy leaving to get out to the public or the media.” Plesniak, Rich said, explained he didn't want news of the resignation to get out to prevent John Meyer, a candidate in the Republican primary for supervisor, “from using the information to fuel his campaign.”

“I was disturbed by this for a few reasons: First and foremost, I believe actively withholding information from the public and the media is unethical,” Rich wrote in her April 9 email. “I also believe using the powers of your position to affect the outcome of an election is unethical.”

All three Lancaster supervisors — Plesniak, Vice Chairman Kris Kniess and Tim Zinkham — wrote in a June 4 letter they “strongly disagree with (Rich's) statements and allegations,” but have not specified with which statements they disagree nor whether they specifically deny Rich's allegations.

“However, we are committed to letting Strategic Solutions have the freedom necessary to investigate any issues they deem appropriate in their efforts to better understand our recent personnel turnover and help us improve and move forward,” the letter states.

Strategic Solutions is a firm the township brought in to temporarily help in the office and formulate a plan for future staffing. The supervisors have announced a special meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the community center next to the municipal building where the interim management team will report.

Rich said on June 9 that she continues to stand by her account in the April email as accurate.

Meyer did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Structural changes

The supervisors don't specifically reference Rich's allegation regarding Plesniak's view toward hiring a replacement for Senft. Instead, the supervisors state in their letter that Rich asked if they would assign her the duties of secretary-treasurer and manager while hiring a zoning officer.

“We told her that she had our support in making those changes if she thought that was best,” the letter states. “Two days later, while Ms. Senft was still an employee, (Rich) resigned.”

Although she agrees she asked the board about becoming both manager and secretary-treasurer while hiring a separate zoning officer, Rich presented a different perspective on how that conversation went. When Plesniak and Rich's conversation ended March 19, Rich alleged in her email, they agreed to see how the other two supervisors felt about the topic.

“When we reached that topic during the meeting on Monday (March 22), to me, the conversation felt possibly orchestrated,” Rich stated in her email. “Joe (Plesniak) did not voice his true reasons in the meeting and yet, somehow, we ended up with the plan to research and make a plan that coincidentally would take the same amount of time that Joe wanted it to take when he spoke to me on Friday (March 19).”

Rich, in her April 9 email, added one more reason she resigned in light of not having a replacement for Senft: “I also knew that I would not have been able to keep up an adequate level of service to the residents and maintain all of the daily responsibilities of the township by myself.”

Reese too had a differing view of the conversation, saying Rich's interest in hiring a separate zoning officer is part of what made him “very surprised by her resignation” two days later.

“I mentioned it to give an example of why I was surprised when she resigned — that I was a part of the conversation where she expressed her interest in being secretary-treasurer and that the board supported her and asked her to tell them what she needed,” Reese said in an email. “In short, it seemed like she was engaged and interested in her future at Lancaster Township and was receiving pledges of the support she needed and then she resigned two days later.”

But to Rich, the March 22 executive session was part of why she resigned.

“The whole situation just didn't sit well with me and, on Wednesday (March 24), I decided if that's what working here was going to be like, I couldn't be part of it,” she said in her April 9 email. “Maybe this is how things are done in Pennsylvania and I'm the odd one. Apparently, I have zero tolerance for it.”

Despite Rich's allegations, she said June 9 that she believes the township has a “bright future,” was “grateful” to serve there and wishes staff and residents success. And despite their disagreement with Rich's allegations, the supervisors on June 4 wished her “well in her new endeavors.”

Outside help

Shortly after Rich's resignation, the need for help was apparent in Lancaster.

“I just saw this,” Reese wrote in a 5:18 p.m. email to supervisors, about four hours after Rich resigned. “Does anybody know what is going on?”

“Yes, she is leaving, but that is all I know,” Kniess replied at 5:56 p.m. About three hours later, he added, “We are going to need to take some rapid steps moving forward here.”

Zinkham, at 9:59 p.m., wrote back, saying Cranberry Township manager Dan Santoro recommended a firm to help Lancaster on the accounting side, and suggested reaching out to the county Council of Governments to see if anybody seeking part-time municipal work could help.

A week later, on March 31, Zinkham forwarded a proposal from Strategic Solutions, saying he'd worked in the past with three employees. “I am familiar with their work and that's why I asked for a proposal,” Zinkham wrote. On April 7, the board approved contracting the company for help.

When Rich sent her follow-up email to Reese two days later, Reese passed it along to the supervisors with a blunt message.

“In my opinion, this underscores the need to have Strategic Solutions start as soon as possible,” he wrote. “I think it will be best for the township to have a third party look into all of these various issues and help chart a path forward.”