Radnor strips Spingler of award after his conviction
Dem awaits sentencing for fondling 103-year-old woman in a nursing home
RADNOR » The Radnor Board of Commissioners voted 4-2 Monday to rescind “all awards” that have been given to William Spingler, a former commissioner recently convicted of two counts of indecent assault on a person with a mental disability for fondling a 103-year-old woman in a nursing home.
Commissioner James Higgins, who with board President Elaine Schaefer, voted against the resolution argued that any action was premature since Spingler has the right to appeal that conviction. Higgins made a motion to table the resolution that was proposed by Republican Commissioner Richard Booker, a longtime for of Democrat Spingler.
“I agree it’s premature. The appeal period has not expired,” said Schaefer. “I have to be honest. I also object to it because I find it mean spirited and gratuitous and frankly just a little ugly. I don’t want any part of it.”
Higgins added, “I share those points.” While Spingler was convicted “it does not take away the fact that he did serve meritoriously and honorably on this board of commissioners and with the county council of Delaware County.”
Board Vice President Phil Ahr asked township Manager Robert Zienkowski what honors and awards Spingler had received. Zienkowski said that the only award he knew of was when Spingler retired from the board in July 2015.
Higgins said that plaque given Spingler included his achievements with open space, budget management and sidewalks in 24 years of service with the township and eight years with the county council.
Booker said, “In early July 2015, prior to that meeting, Jim Higgins came to me, and asked me to support an award for Bill Spingler at his retirement. He said that he felt it very important, and that he wanted it to be unanimous as Bill left the board of commissioners, and implored that I join with the other members of the board of commissioners to make the recognition unanimous. I expressed my reservations, but did not object to the award at the time. Had I known then, what I know now, I would not have allowed myself to be included in the promulgation, award and recognition of Bill Spingler.”
Booker added, “The resolution I propose this evening, is to separate me, my actions and my township of Radnor, from those of an admitted and convicted sex offender. I hope and trust that this action is unanimously supported, for the good of this township and this board of commissioners.”
Radnor Treasurer John Osborne said that he agrees with Booker and cited an incident that occurred when he and Spingler were both running for the treasurer post four years ago.
“He did something that was a complete disregard of the Home Rule Charter,” said Osborne. “He went and directed a township employee to run off thousands of political pieces (on a township copier). That alone should have led to censure. Mr. Zienkowski recovered it all and charged him for what he’d done. And that’s just the beginning. That man was in here three times a week, running this township. And you people were not aware of what he was doing. He was the only one who was going to write a letter of recommendation for the disgraced former manager, a disloyal employee of this township.”
Spingler also turned in a 100 absentee ballots from “old people” who subsequently got a letter of warning from the county about their signatures when he ran for office, Osborne claimed.
“He was cheating the system,” said Osborne. “That man deserves nothing.”
A resident, Daniel Sherry Jr., said that he saw in the paper that the motion to rescind was moved to a mid-July meeting then back to June. After his conviction, Spingler was ordered by the judge to have a psychiatric sexual evaluation before his sentencing in September and Sherry asked if that was the reason to move the resolution to rescind back a month.
“I cannot imagine why this board would want to wait longer,” he said. Spingler had testified at his trial.
“You all read what he said, presumably,” said Sherry. “How can you miss it? More importantly, I’m sure you all read what he confessed to our superintendent of police. This is one of the most horrible things anybody could hear. And yet you somehow want to consider holding this back until Bill Spingler exhausts all criminal appeals. This is reputationally damaging Radnor Township, in terms of this motion to table. I have yet to see a solitary news report that just speaks about Bill Spingler in his individual capacity. It’s not ‘Local pervert commits unfathomable act.’ It’s always ‘Radnor Township Commissioner, former Commissioner Bill Spingler’ … It’s important that Radnor Township mitigate the damage by distancing itself from Bill Spingler ... Mean spirited? Newspapers in the U.K. have been picking up this story, madame.”
Another resident, Leslie Morgan, thanked Sherry, Booker and Osborne for their remarks.
Sherry had objected to Spingler’s behavior, including representing a resident who filed an ethics complaint over Spingler’s work at Villanova University basketball games and resulting payments to the little league, she said, but the commissioners voted on those previous issues along party lines. The township Ethics Board found no probable cause in that complaint.
She questioned whether Spingler had lived in Radnor during the latter part of his tenure on the board.
A vote on the motion to table failed 3-3, with Commissioner John Nagle absent.
Sherry again spoke and reminded the board that many institutions have revoked honors and awards they had given to Bill Cosby, who has not been convicted of a crime, merely indicted.
The board then voted to rescind Spingler’s award, with Ahr joining the three Republicans.