A familiar face in local government has been appointed to serve as the Centre Region Council of Governments’ interim executive director until the position is filled on a permanent basis.
The COG General Forum on Monday unanimously approved appointing longtime College Township Manager Adam Brumbaugh as interim executive director beginning July 8.
Current executive director Eric Norenberg informed the General Forum earlier this year that he planned to retire effective June 1 after four years in the position,. He will stay on in a part-time role through June 7, working six hours a day, four days a week.
The plan was endorsed by the COG executive committee and the executive director search committee.
The search committee “has been making progress” and is scheduled to meet soon to review candidates who have been screened by consultant GovHR, Norenberg said.
“Despite that progress we anticipate that there may be points along the way here where by the time I’m ready to retire they might not have a new executive director in place and on site,” he said.
Brumbaugh will remain on the College Township payroll during the appointment, and the COG will reimburse the township for his time worked as interim executive director at Norenberg’s current rate of $78.08 per hour, or about $13,742 per month.
While the appointment is expected to be effective for the months of July and August, Brumbaugh said he is hopeful that it is only a “contingency plan.”
“I’m very optimistic and fingers crossed that the search committee will have some success here and that any amount of time and the need for an interim executive director will be extremely short, if it’s needed at all,” he said.
Brumbaugh, who has been College Township’s manager for nearly 27 years, expects that he will spend a few hours a week at the township for staff meetings, but will otherwise be working with COG and its agency directors during the appointment.
He added that the time period will be during a lull between when the township completes its Capital Improvement Plan and begins drafting its 2025 budget.
“College Township is very fortunate in terms of our management staffing at the moment,” Brumbaugh said. “We have a very capable assistant township manager on board. The timing for us is very good in July and August, even into September, relative to the time of preparation of our budget documents…. From a timing perspective I think it works very well for College Township. I wouldn’t be able to say that if there were not good management folks in place at the township.”
Norenberg will work with Brumbaugh on orientation in June. For the 10 days between Norenberg’s retirement and Brumbaugh’s interim appointment, human resources director Rebecca Petitt and Centre Region Code Administration director Walt Schneider will split acting executive director duties.
Brumbaugh said he expects his familiarity with the COG through his long tenure with the township, as well as the agency directors and staff, should make for a smooth transition period.
“My role in this process is essentially to keep things between the lines, keep things moving forward at what I consider to be a very busy time of the year for the COG — finishing up the [Capital Improvement Plan], the program plan as well as the preparation for budget,” he said. “I think that with the background I have, with the agency directors that are in place and with the balance of the staff of COG, I think this is something that can be done.”
The Centre Region COG executive director works with the 32 elected officials from its six member municipalities — State College Borough and College, Ferguson, Halfmoon, Harris and Patton townships — while overseeing a staff of nearly 100 full-time and 40 part-time employees and a budget of $27 million.
Norenberg’s successor will be just the fourth COG director since the organization’s formation in 1969. His predecessor, Jim Steff, held the position for 36 years.
