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Concerns over transparency shifts to concerns over salary

Amid some of the public's anger over the Lower Merion Board of Commissioners' lack of transparency, some are calling into question how much Lower Merion Township Manager Doug Cleland makes in comparison to other local township managers. (See Carla Zambelli's post on the Save the Ardmore Coalition blog.)

Though Cleland's salary is public information, a table compiled by the Administrative Human Resources Committee showed Cleland's salary of $193,324 ranked the highest among 11 local townships. (Under the terms of his 2011 contract, Cleland collects a total of $224,449. The additional $31,125 comes from deferred compensation and a longevity bonus.)

The closest salary to Cleland's for a township manager is Radnor Township's Robert Zienkowski, whose salary is $182,000.

Cleland, who has been with the township since 1984, began as township manager about 10 years ago. Zienkowski began in Radnor in May 2010. Prior to coming to Pennsylvania, Zienkowski served as the city manager of Brunswick, Ohio for approximately seven years. At the end of his tenure, his salary stood at $101,000.

Larry Gentile, who became Haverford Township's manager in 2007, makes $141,710, ranking seventh in the table provided by the committee. Neighbors listed the Top 7 and added the names of each township's manager at the bottom.