FOND FAREWELL
Township sends off retiring manager Rob Ford
TOWAMENCIN >> After a decade and a half in Towamencin and over four decades of public service, Rob Ford has called it a career.
Township officials honored Ford for his service Wednesday night, May 26, sending off the manager with gifts and naming his interim successor.
“We had gone through a series of managers and interim managers, and things were a little bit in turmoil. Rob came in, and righted the ship, and he’s kept us on course since then, for almost 17 years,” said supervisors Chairman Chuck Wilson.
“Professionalism, integrity, honesty, patience, gentleman,
and understanding, are all good words to describe him. They’ve made him a good manager, and a good leader,” he said.
A U.S. Navy veteran who had previously worked in Whitemarsh Township, Ford was hired as Towamencin’s township manager in the summer of 2004, the fifth manager in just over a year at that time, according to Wilson and MediaNews Group archives.
Ford oversaw widening of Forty Foot Road from Sumneytown Pike to Welsh Road, realignment of the intersection of Troxel/Orvilla and Allentown Roads, expansion of Fischer’s Park, repairs and upgrades to the township administration building, and separation of
what had been a joint sewer authority shared with Upper Gwynedd, with studies underway now on its possible privatization. Ford also acted as township liaison for the widening of the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and renovations to two North Penn School District elementary schools and the district’s high school stadium, and private projects like construction of the Bridgeview Apartments, Marriott Courtyard hotel, Montgomery County Community College’s Culinary Arts Institute, renovation of a former factory into the headquarters of SKF Inc., and opening of an Amazon distribution facility.
Those accomplishments, and more, were listed by state Sen. Bob Mensch, R24th, who read and presented proclamations from both branches of the state legislature congratulating Ford on his tenure.
“One of the things that really makes Towamencin stand out to me is the comprehensive plan: the planning that has been done successfully, and successively by the various boards. But it takes someone with real skill and talent to implement that plan,” Mensch said.
“It’s apparent when you go up and down Forty Foot Road, and other areas of the township. You see evidence of the planning” in various projects completed by Ford, he said, including a recently-completed lane widening on Forty Foot at Tomlinson Road: “I’m sure you’re as gratified as I am to see the road widening in front of Christopher Dock, finally.”
Mensch’s proclamation also cited Ford’s Navy service from 1979 to 1991 and as a Navy reservist from 1991 to 2010, retiring at the rank of captain: “that would be equivalent to an Army colonel, a significant achievement in the military,” then 12 years in Whitemarsh before arriving in Towamencin, and serving on various local boards and commissions in addition to his daytime duties.
“Throughout his career, Mr. Ford has striven to adhere to the highest standards of service, and has rightly earned the respect and admiration of his many friends and colleagues,” Mensch said.
In addition to the state proclamations, the supervisors presented Ford with a gift Wilson said was meant to be more innovative than a traditional plaque: a miniature globe that supervisor Laura Smith spun as she handed it to Ford.
“Where are you gonna go?” she said, and Ford joked, “Well, I’ve been all around it,” before supervisor Rich Marino joked that the board had specially marked Towamencin on the globe.
Wearing sports hat
Two more parting gifts for the departing manager came from Jeff Baer, president of the Towamencin Youth Association, which has worked with Ford on countless baseball, softball, basketball and soccer field and court upgrades over the years.
“We’re in the business of making memories. We may not put out a whole lot of major leaguers, but hopefully they all come away with positive memories of the youth sports they had, and you’re a big part of that,” Baer said.
“As a Navy guy you are probably used to wearing a hat. So we had to get a Hatfield-Towamencin Baseball hat just for you,” he said, handing the black cap over to the manager. “You may be moving into the next stage in your life, and there may be a little stress, the bedroom needs to be painted, things like that, so this is an official TYA 50th commemorative anniversary stress ball,” Baer said, handing one to Ford and a bag of stress balls for township staff to finance director Brooke Neve, “because you’re going to be left with the stress, now that Rob is moving on.”
Tim Dickinson, the township’s recently retired police chief, received a similar pair of gifts from TYA, and said his time with Ford “had a lot of laughs, and we had a few pretty dark days as well, but we got through those with the help of the staff and the board.”
Ford thanked each for the parting gifts, and deferred credit to his staff and the board: “It really is a group effort, and as I’ve learned, working here with this board and other boards and volunteer committees, I’ve learned a lot from them.”
“Hopefully I’ll be a better citizen now that I’ve retired,” he said, before recalling his very first day on the job as Towamencin’s manager in 2004.
From the beginning
“My very first day here, I showed up in Towamencin, I never saw the office before, and I’d just come to a new job. You know when you leave a job and leave all of your mistakes behind, and all your experience you bring in, you feel confident, and ready to roll,” Ford said.
“I sat down at the desk, and opened up the top drawer. And the only things that were in there, were a bottle of White-out, and half a pack of Rolaids. I thought that was very symbolic,” he said, drawing laughs from the board and guests.
“Once in a while, you’ve gotta look back. You’re always onto the next problem, fix that, go to the next problem, fix that. But if you turn around, like when you sail a boat and turn around and look behind you, and see how far you’ve come, we need to do that once in a while. And the township has certainly grown and changed in my time here.”
The commendations and farewells for Ford were presented at the start of Wednesday night’s supervisors meeting, his last as manager before his official departure on June 1. Wilson read a township commendation thanking Ford “for his many years of exemplary service to our township,” and supervisor Dan Littley added more.
More accolades
“I think a couple of things we left out were: he’s a true patriot, and very, very ethical,” Littley said. Supervisor Rich Marino added that “it’s been a pleasure” working with Ford, Smith said she felt “life will not be the same,” and supervisor Dan Bell said “it’s been nice having you” to learn from during his first year on the board.
“We will miss your sense of humor,” Littley added, and Ford retorted “I’ll still be texting you guys” during future board meetings. After the meeting, Ford said he plans to stay in the area, and residents may still see him on various township trails and at events commemorating
veterans.
After roughly an hour of other board business, the final action item for the supervisors was to appoint an interim township manager, and Littley motioned and Smith seconded an appointment of Neve to fill that role.
“I’m sure we’ll be in very good hands with Brooke. We look forward to working with you, more than we currently do,” Wilson said.
Neve was appointed the board’s finance director and assistant manager in January 2019 after previous finance director Maureen Doyle passed away the year before, and brought over two decades of prior work in finance and accounting. Ford said his advice to Neve so far has been to lean on department heads and township consultants, learn from volunteers, and be patient with residents.
“I tell her, whenever people call their government, it’s not usually to say that you’re doing a good job. Don’t take it personally, just see if we can come out and try to understand the situation, and see if we can help,” he said.
Wilson said the board may make an announcement in the next month or two on a permanent manager, and Bell said he thought the township was “very, very blessed” to have Neve in charge of the township’s finances, particularly during last winter’s budget season.
“Everything was precise, put together, thoughtful, well-articulated, everything you could ask for as a board — she’s just a complete rock star,” he said.
Neve said she “absolutely” feels ready to take over, isn’t planning any major changes, and Ford has encouraged her to keep in touch, just in case.
“I’m looking forward to it. This is a great board, and a great staff, and I have big shoes to fill.”
“Throughout his career, Mr. Ford has striven to adhere to the highest standards of service, and has rightly earned the respect and admiration of his many friends and colleagues.” — state Sen. Bob Mensch, R-24th