Recently hired Harmar manager Rozzano resigns

Anthony Rozzano, who was hired May 7 as township manager of Harmar, has resigned after discovering that his hiring violated township rules. His last day was Tuesday.

With Rozzano gone, the board is scheduled to vote Friday on hiring former Arnold Mayor Karen Peconi-Biricocchi as acting manager until a permanent replacement is found.

Peconi-Biricocchi has been working in the Harmar office as a seasonal, part-time employee and told the Tribune-Review she was interested in applying to be the full-time manager.

The Harmar supervisors voted 3-1 to hire Rozzano less than three weeks ago. Supervisors Bob Exler, Linda Exler and Lee Biermeyer voted in favor of the move, while Harry Lenhart voted against it. Supervisor Bob Seibert did not attend the meeting but had expressed his opposition to the hiring.

Rozzano lives in Springdale Township, where he has been a township commissioner since 2016 and its president since 2018. He had planned to continue in that capacity while working in Harmar.

Neither Springdale Township solicitor Craig Alexander nor Harmar Township solicitor Chuck Means saw any problems with it.

“It’s not an issue,” Means said at the time when the Trib asked about Rozzano’s dual role.

However, at last week’s Harmar supervisors meeting, Seibert brought up manager’s Ordinance No. 436, which was passed in December 2019.

“The ordinance makes it very clear that Tony Rozzano cannot be an elected official and also hold the position of manager,” Seibert said. “That was an intentional requirement that we placed in the ordinance. This was not an unknown.

“At the public meeting, I said to Tony, ‘You’re going to have to make a decision if you want to continue on as manager in Harmar Township and resign in Springdale Township. It has to be one or the other.’”

Faced with that choice, Rozzano chose to resign as Harmar’s manager and remain in his unpaid township commissioner’s position in Springdale Township.

“I made a commitment to Springdale Township’s residents when I ran for commissioner that I would do my best to move the town forward,” Rozzano said. “Along with three other commissioners up here, we’ve accomplished more things in the past two years than has been done in the past 20 years. There’s more that we want to do, and I just want to be a part of that. I want to stay until my term in office is up.”

Rozzano said that if he knew he would be forced to make a choice, he never would have applied for the Harmar position.

“Nobody knew about this (Ordinance No. 436). The solicitors didn’t know. Once it was brought up, I gave it some thought and made my decision,” Rozzano said. “I do wish Harmar well. I really do.”

Rozzano had replaced Ian Fitzgerald, who was fired in a 3-1 vote by Harmar supervisors. Bob Exler, the supervisors chairman, declined to discuss the reason for Fitzgerald’s termination, saying it was a personnel matter.

Peconi-Biricocchi’s past issues

Peconi-Biricocchi, who served as mayor of Arnold from 2016 until 2020, was fined $10,000 by the State Ethics Commission in 2019 for violations of ethics laws during her time as a city official.

The Ethics Commission ruled that Peconi-Biricocchi violated state ethics laws when she intervened in her son’s application to the city’s police department and failed to file proper financial statements.

Peconi-Biricocchi also was criticized for Facebook posts she made in the wake of protests following Antwon Rose’s killing in 2018. A video the mayor shared on her Facebook page portrayed water cannons being used to disperse protesters elsewhere.

“I have been falsely accused of things,” she told the Tribune-Review on Thursday. “That doesn’t have anything to do with this. I’m putting Harmar first, and whatever benefits Harmar, that’s what we’re going to do.”

Bob Exler, who said he supports Peconi-Biricocchi’s hiring, added he was sorry to see Rozzano resign.

“He’s an honest guy, and he would have been a great help to Harmar Township,” Exler said.