Union Township handling the absence of a superintendent

by Jason Antoniewicz

Union Township's decision to work without a superintendent and delegate the office's duties to the supervisor and treasurer is going without a hitch so far.

Newly elected supervisor John Barker has been holding staff meetings previously delegated to the superintendent, and has been getting on the ground floor with the utilities in Union.

"We hope this will be a short term situation," he said. "And by short term, that could mean a matter of a couple of months or longer."

Barker hopes to have a position similar to the superintendent return for handling the administrative details of Union Township's government.

"There's a lot to do," Barker said. "Thousands of transactions take place every month. Those administrative details could and perhaps should be handled by a professional manager."

Barker plans on visiting other townships to assess their governments, and create a system that will meet the needs of Union Township.

"My preferred model, just because of my background, is the township manager model," Barker said.

At the first meeting of the new Board of Trustees, Barker talked about wanting to keep the policy making side of Union separate from the administrative side. A township manager would function like the city manager of Mount Pleasant.

"A lot of townships have superintendents," he said. "A lot fewer have professional township managers. It's a different kind of approach to managing local government."

Barker and the rest of the Board of Trustees start training this week. The township will soon renegotiate its service contract with the Mt. Pleasant Fire Department, as well as begin talks with the county.

"They're all anxious to sit down with us," Barker said. "We have opened our arms to the concept that when we all work together, the taxpayers are better served."