FC Council Ousts Borough Manager and Interim Police Chief
by David Croyle
During its monthly public meeting last night, Ford City Borough Council fired their Borough Manager and the Interim Police Chief.
Ratliff’s last day will be April 1, 2016 as Ford City Borough Manager.
Borough Manager Eden Ratliff began an internship with the borough while in a Master’s degree program at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2014. He was offered an interim managerial position while Council conducted a search for a full-time borough manager. At that point, Ratliff applied for the position and was hired on October 13, 2014.
Last October, Ratliff was given an annual evaluation. The positive evaluation approved him for a 10% raise, but it was never acted upon. Last night, Council approved the raise and made it retroactive back to October 13, 2015.
While last night’s agenda indicated Council was eliminating the position of the Borough Manager, Council Vice-President Tyson Klukan said the Borough is actually looking for another Borough Manager.
“It’s a tough decision to let somebody go, but I believe - I’m personally speaking - it’s right for the borough at this time. In the upcoming tenure as Council has, I believe that we can find an appropriate manager for the borough, but at this time, it’s not Mr. Ratliff. He has done a good job for these two years, but has not - under (my) management assessment - acted on enough - line items, projects, for example,” Klukan said following Ratliff’s termination.
Ford City Borough President Carol Fenyes towers over Borough Manager Eden Ratliff prior to last night’s vote to oust Ratliff from his position. Fenyes now will take control of the Borough’s day-to-day operation along with Borough Secretary Lisa Bittner.
Klukan said Ratliff’s duties will be divided among current staff and Council members.
“It looks like Ms. (Lisa) Bittner (Borough Secretary) will be taking over a lot of his duties, along with Council President Fenyes as well, and along with myself. So we will be (dividing) out his activities among the different council members as well.”
Klukan said that Bittner will not receive additional compensation for the added duties “at this time” but left the door open to future increases.
The vote to terminate Ratliff was 4-2, with council women Beth Bowser and Kathy Bartuccio dissenting. Ratliff had served with both women under the former council.
However, it was both Bowser and Bartuccio who made the motion to terminate Interim Police Chief John Freel and hire a New Bethlehem-based police officer.
Interim Police Chief John Freel will be replaced with a new police chief in Ford City on March 28, 2016.
Freel from Pittsburgh was hired by the previous council when the two full-time officers elected retirement at the end of 2015 as a measure to continue police service in Ford City with a part-time force. Freel agreed to not receive an increase in pay and continued to receive his part-time officer pay of under $30,000 per year. He also voluntarily attended meetings without being paid.
Council approved the hiring of New Bethlehem Police Department Sergeant Roger Wright. That department serves the Clarion County communities of Hawthorn, New Bethlehem, South Bethlehem, Rimersburg, and East Brady. Wright has also been currently serving as a part-time officer in Ford City.
Wright will begin on March 28, 2016 in his official capacity as Chief.
Wright’s full-time salary based on 40 hours per week is $40,000. He will receive two weeks paid vacation per year, six days of personal time off annually, three days of bereavement leave, a uniform allowance of $500, and paid holidays that include New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. His salary will be reviewed after his initial six months of service, then annually thereafter on the anniversary of his hire. Wright will not receive any health insurance benefits under his contract with Ford City Borough.
Council President Carol Fenyes declined to make any public comment following last night’s meeting, refusing to answer questions from the Kittanning Paper.
Ford City, Local News | David Croyle March 15, 2016
By Just sayin, March 15, 2016 @ 10:23 AM
Wow… This seems so unfair to Ratliff and Freel, regardless of whether you like them or not.
They did so much and sacrificed money, family, and time. Now …their dignity. And THIS is what they get?
Seems like favoritism at a Little League ball game, to me.
What justification have they got to be so unfair?
By Just sayin, March 15, 2016 @ 10:31 AM
Please read my responses to the threads: “Tourist Bureau Local Entrepreneurs Network through HomExpo” and “Suspected Marijuana User Waives Preliminary Hearing.” My comments were ignored.
And for the second time, my VERY IMPORTANT comment about Ford City using lead pipes for their water system was ignored, as well.
By Just sayin, March 15, 2016 @ 10:37 AM
The lead-pipes-of-Ford City comment is on the thread, “FC Councilman Says He Can’t Guarantee Water Rates Won’t Go Up.”
Just don’t drink FC water.
By steve, March 15, 2016 @ 4:32 PM
Cya Eden! Better late than never.
By Flamingo1, March 16, 2016 @ 10:00 AM
What an embarrassment
By Rainbow Rider, March 17, 2016 @ 10:53 AM
Just sayin , they only update the comments when jenny posts. If he doesn’t then it sits for days and your comment gets shuffled back out of the top 5 and only someone interested enough to search ever gets to see it. jenny must be connected somehow.
By waldo, March 17, 2016 @ 11:19 AM
Everybody in America is worried about lead pipes for water lines and our council is worried about Jerry talking to much. We have a guy willing to work for hardly any money as boro manager and police chief and we are going to pay 20.00 an hour for a new chief. By the way chief the window by the high school gym is open and people are still having drag races on 5th ave
By jd718, March 18, 2016 @ 8:23 AM
Freel was not the right man for the job, in my opinion. Someone should have given Ray-Ray Klukan a Snickers bar! Way too Old for that kind of Temperament, Raymond.
By mad-2010, March 18, 2016 @ 12:55 PM
The embarrassment of this being on TV should help Raymond to tone it down. If Raymond can’t tone it down then he shouldn’t be on council! Straight-UP.
By savvynewshound, March 19, 2016 @ 9:29 AM
I was (am) a proponent of the new council and getting rid of Vicki and Jerry, however the firing of the police chief and borough manager looks like nothing more than more politics in Ford City. Shame on you…