VILLAS – Lower Township plans to hire a full-time deputy manager, at a salary of $80,000 to $90,000, to assist Township Manager Mike Laffey.
The Township Council introduced an ordinance Nov. 4 creating the position, and is changing the salary ordinance to set the position’s pay. Adoption is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 2.
According to the ordinance, the council determined it was “necessary and appropriate” to “expand the role and duties of the position of deputy manager” and create a full-time position within township government. Currently, the municipal clerk becomes the acting manager at municipal meetings when the manager is unavailable.
Laffey spoke to the Herald after the Nov. 18 council meeting and said there is need for more help at the manager level.
“When I look at all the projects we have done over the past several years … we are the largest community in the county,” he said.
Lower Township comprises more than 27 square miles and has a population of more than 22,000.
Laffey said there are other, smaller municipalities that have deputy managers.
In addition, he said, the goal is to have successive positions, where someone is trained to take over at the next level. He said the township has been working at this for a number of years.
“It’s all about successive planning,” he said. “The goal is to have someone trained for the next position.”
Laffey took over in 2020, replacing Jim Ridgway as township manager, but he came in with experience as the county administrator and was the county zoo director.
Besides getting a deputy manager, Laffey will also get a raise. He was hired at $125,000 and this year was paid $131,968 On Monday, Nov. 18, the council approved the manager’s 2025 salary at $137,247.
The deputy manager, the ordinance says, would be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the township manager. The deputy manager, the ordinance says, would have to meet certain requirements, including having administrative experience, and would have to be able to perform all the duties of the manager.
A second reading and a public hearing on the ordinance expanding the deputy manager position is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 2, at 5 p.m. in Township Hall.
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
