Bristol Township has hired an outside attorney to represent three township employees who are being ordered to testify as part of an investigation by the Bucks County District Attorneys office.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
Edward J. Zanine announced the news Thursday night during a council meeting.
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Township Manager Bill McCauley and the three subpoenaed employees will be represented by Harvey Sernovitz of Philadelphia.
The employees were subpoenaed for a secret grand jury investigation related to a private contractor who is also a Bristol Township Zoning Hearing Board member, Zanine said during the council meeting Thursday night.
The grand jury investigation came to light on April 29 when a tip from an anonymous source called a reporter to say “Bristol Township offices are being raided” by county detectives. Authorities presented a sealed warrant and searched through files located in the License and Inspections Department headed by Glen Kucher.
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“What we are recommending to the board tonight is to appoint an attorney to represent the interests of the individual employees and the manager at this grand jury, as well as any other proceedings arising out of that,” Zanine said. “Allowing the employees to go to a grand jury, even though we are not the target of the investigation, is not something that the township wants to do. It wants to protect their employees and make sure they are doing the best for them.”
McCauley reiterated the newly hired attorney’s remarks.
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“I don’t want employees going into a grand jury without good representation,” McCauley said.
“We’ve been assured that they are just looking for records from the township, but we do not know the full scope of the investigation yet,” Zanine added.
Multiple sources confirmed investigators left with a copy of a contract with the as yet unnamed private contractor the day the warrant was served.
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Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler said at the time, “we’re looking to see if there was criminality.”
Council approved the hiring off Sernovitz, whose fee $295 per hour, with members Bob Lewis, Craig Bowen, Cynthia Murphy and John Monahan voted to approve .
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Council members Troy Brennan, Joe Glasson and Amber Longhitano were absent.
Township’s solicitor, Flager & Associates, could not represent the employees due to the potential conflict and the fact that the firm represents the township council, McCauley said.
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