After 27 1/2 years of working in Spring Township, manager William MacMath will retire on Feb. 4.
The Township Board of Supervisors announced on Nov. 11 it didn’t have to look too far for his replacement, as current police chief Michael Danneker has been appointed to the position. Danneker has been a township police officer for more than two decades.
MacMath said that after such a long stint with the township, retiring is bittersweet, but he is looking forward to having a little more leisure time and traveling more.
He said he is proud to have worked with a staff of “good people,” and he is glad they were able to have kept the budget in order and taxes down during his time there. He said he is also proud they were able to keep the township zoning and subdivision plans up-to-date over the years.
He said he is going to miss the people he has worked with and told Danneker to let the staff help him.
“They are your biggest asset, let them guide you,” he said.
MacMath said he will remain in the community and will be close by to offer guidance if needed.
Danneker has served for 28 years as a law enforcement officer (just over 20 years in Spring Township) and said he is excited to try something new. After eight years as chief of police, he knew he was planning on retiring from the position sometime in the near future, and he figured he better try for the manager position when he heard MacMath was retiring. He feared it might not have been available if he waited.
He said that he knows there will be a learning curve as he picks up some of the new terminology and learns the ins and out of codes and planning, but he said he is glad to be in a place that he is familiar with in Spring Township.
When he started as a police officer in Spring Township, the department employed just four officers, but now, it’s eight men deep. He was also instrumental in adding a school resource officer at the Central Pennsylvania Institute.
He said that at the beginning of the year, the township will appoint an “officer in charge” of the department as he starts to learn the ropes. The supervisors will then evaluate the situation later in the year and determine where to go with the chief position. In the meantime Danneker will be transitioning to the new position in a familiar place.
“It is going to be a big change, but in other ways, not such a big change,” he said, “because I have the blessing and luxury of staying in Spring Township.”
