Fourth Oakmont manager in 8 years resigns post
Council is in no hurry to hire a new Oakmont manager following the resignation of the borough's fourth manager in eight years.
This month, council appointed Assistant Borough Secretary Lisa Cooper Jensen as interim borough manager.
"She's been with the borough for 25 years and has handled transitions between borough managers," said Nancy Ride, council vice president. "We knew from past experience that you need a manager in place."
Ride said council isn't considering a candidate search yet.
"We'll see how this goes," she said.
Former manager Bruce Jamison, who was hired in 2009, resigned last month. He could not be reached for comment.
Borough Solicitor Bob Shoop said it appeared Jamison may have had other job opportunities. His contract with the borough was to expire soon, Shoop said.
Jensen is the fifth person to serve in the borough manager position since long-time manager Adeline Brown retired in 2005.
Prior to Jamison, Daniel Mator was interim borough manager for 10 months. Oakmont hired him in July 2008 after going nearly a year without a borough manager following Roger Dunlap's departure.
Prior to that Jerry Depo served as borough manager for six months.
Dunlap, who left Oakmont for the same job in State College, speculated that the turnover might be because, in Oakmont, the position requires an extensive knowledge of local government.
"You need to be able to do every job," Dunlap said. "Because that's how it was when Adeline was there. Maybe they haven't found the right fit for that yet."
Based on his own experience, Mator, who is manager in West Deer, has a different take on managers' brief stints.
In a September 2011 letter to Oakmont Mayor Robert Fescemyer, which Mator sent when Fescemyer asked him to describe his experience as interim manager, he said the board he worked with was selfish and micromanaging and let politics get in the way of progress.
"Strange how Oakmont rips through managers who are well thought of in other communities, but in the borough it's always the managers who are bungling buffoons, not council members, not the treasurer, not the solicitor, nor members of the staff or volunteers," Mator wrote.
"I'm from Oakmont and my heart was in that position," Mator said in an interview. "No matter what I did it wasn't going to make a difference."
Paula Calabrese, former councilwoman, said the turnover has created an air of instability in the borough's administration.
"I believe that doesn't put Oakmont in good stead," she said. "I don't want it to happen again, that's all."
Fescemyer agrees that things need to change.
"A lot of time people in control want to micromanage things," he said. "A person that's supposed to be doing that job has to do their job the way other people dictate."
