Delco GOP's McNichol leaving office

JOHN F. MCNICHOL, a longtime Republican power broker in Delaware County, said yesterday he will step down next month as the county's data-processing director, a job which he has held for decades and which pays him $94,100 annually.

McNichol, 71, chairman of the Upper Darby GOP, said he made the decision last year because he's losing money through IRA penalties.

"I retired, not resigned," he said.

McNichol said he notified the county's retirement board in November and has been using up his accrued comp time, vacation and sick days. He has worked in the department since 1965.

The political rumor mill has been abuzz this month after a TV news reporter confronted McNichol at Upper Darby GOP headquarters about his data-processing job.

It's no secret that the county's 3,100-person payroll is chock-full of GOP loyalists and party leaders like McNichol. But the Fox 29 report, which hasn't aired, might raise questions about whether McNichol earns his paycheck, a political source said. A Fox spokeswoman declined to comment yesterday.

McNichol called such allegations "slanderous" and "absurd." He defended his work overseeing the 38-person data-processing department - even if he spends a lot of time at Upper Darby Republican headquarters.

"I'm on call 24/7," he said. " . . . I'll bet if you sat down and saw what my real comp time is, I'm probably owed two years."

Frank Catania, the retirement board's solicitor, said McNichol, in November, "definitely indicated an intent to retire in June." Catania, the treasurer of several Republican campaign funds, declined to release a letter McNichol said he had written to the board, citing the county's policy for personnel matters.

Leonard Maloney, director of the county's personnel department, which maintains employee records, said yesterday he hadn't heard anything about McNichol retiring or resigning. "I didn't know about it until today," Maloney said, adding that it wouldn't necessarily be unusual for McNichol to discuss the matter directly with County Council.

Council Chairman Andrew Reilly said McNichol had mentioned prior to last Thanksgiving that he likely would retire in mid-2007. Reilly runs the Middletown GOP.

McNichol's department has had high and low moments in recent years, from successfully implementing a new financial-management system to failing to post election-night results online in last week's primary.

McNichol said he plans to spend more time assisting Republican candidates in Democrat-controlled municipalities such as Darby Borough and Yeadon. *