JOE LINTNER | COLUMBIA SPY
Jack Brommer sat quietly while being discussed at Tuesday’s meeting.
The announcement of Borough Manager Jack Brommer’s resignation was met with praise and criticism at Tuesday’s Columbia Borough Council meeting.
Council President Eric Kauffman praised Brommer’s dedication to transparency, saying he tried to be “as open as possible” and answered questions honestly even when the answers were difficult. Kauffman said he had planned to deliver a “state of the union” address touting the borough’s progress the same weekend Brommer’s resignation letter arrived.
Mayor Leo Lutz framed Brommer’s departure as the latest in a long line of borough managers, finance managers and other staff who have left the borough. Lutz argued that these people are professionals who won’t tolerate being labeled “a thief, a liar” in council chambers, offices or on social media, and warned that any future manager will face the same fate “unless some changes are made.”
Lutz credited Brommer with helping pull the borough out of what he called “one hell of a mess,” while acknowledging the transition “took its toll.” He said rumors of impropriety by employees have long circulated in the borough without any employee or council member ever being found to have done anything wrong. “People need to start respecting the people that are put in positions to take care of the job,” Lutz said.
Lutz: “Columbia people think worse of Columbia than the people outside.”
Lutz predicted the manager’s office will remain a revolving door if the treatment of staff doesn’t change. He added that Columbia’s reputation suffers most from its own residents’ negativity, rather than from outsiders’ opinions. “Columbia people think worse of Columbia than the people outside,” Lutz said.
Council Vice President Heather Zink backed that view, describing being confronted by peers from the state boroughs association who were surprised the resignation had become news at all.
Not everyone in the room agreed with the mayor. Longtime resident Frank Doutrich, who said he’s attended borough meetings for more than 60 years, argued that council made a mistake elevating Brommer, given his close ties to Lutz, and suggested the position itself — distinct from running a police department — may not have suited him.
Doutrich: “Until the mayor ends his position here, this town will never turn around.”
Doutrich called on council to explain publicly why Brommer was trained by two former borough managers, hired as acting manager, then promoted to borough manager. He concluded with a dig at Lutz: “Until the mayor ends his position here, this town will never turn around.”
Thompson: “You look at how you left our police department.”
The exchange grew more contentious when resident Robert Thompson told Brommer, “I don’t think you’re a dishonest man. Personally, I do think you’re an incompetent man. You look at how you left our police department.” Lutz shot back that the staffing shortfall dated back years, to a grant-funded hiring push the borough couldn’t sustain after the grant expired, and pressed Thompson on his own conduct, referencing a recent arrest and a batch of right-to-know requests Thompson reportedly has filed with the borough. (Earlier in the meeting, there was a discussion on how the abundance of right-to-know requests — more than 50, not all of which were from Thompson — added to attorney’s fees.)
