The township will hire Laurence Fronk, who works for a government consulting firm RL Record LLC in Cincinnati. Fronk will be paid $60 an hour in the interim position.
Trustee Board President Mark Welch told the Journal-News the township will need to be deliberative in finding Boyko’s replacement.
“The candidate for this interim position is not a candidate for the full-time position, they’re here to basically batten down the hatches, to keep things going in the right direction, to get through the day-to-day stuff,” Welch said. “Judi was a visionary when it came to the township. Under her leadership the last 13 years she understood the identity and branding of West Chester, she got that altogether. That’s the kind of person we’re going to be looking for, this person doesn’t have to be like that.”
Welch said the township plans to hire a national search firm to find someone who “can fill the very big shoes of Judi Boyko.”
Trustee George Lang said Fronk used to be in administration at a number of townships in the area. The trustees reached out to six recently retired township leaders and Fronk came out on top.
“The trustees interviewed a couple of people and Mr. Fronk was the one we felt would be best suited for our needs,” Lang said.
Assuming the trustees vote to hire Fronk Tuesday, Lang said he would start work Wednesday and he could be there for as long as four months. He will be a contractor so the township will not be paying benefits.
Lang said Boyko was a huge asset to the township.
“We have been able, unlike most communities our size to get by without an assistant just because of everything Judi brings to the table,” Lang said.
Boyko announced her resignation earlier this month. She has been with the township for 25 years in various positions and has been administrator since 2005. Boyko told the Journal-News she couldn’t pass up the opportunity in Hamilton County.
“I hope for everyone that they have the experience that they know in their gut, in their heart that it’s something you need to pursue,” she said. “And that’s the feeling I had when I saw that position.”
During Boyko’s tenure, West Chester was named five times to CNN/Money Magazine’s list of America’s Best 100 Places to Live. The Square @ Union Centre, MidPointe Library West Chester, Beckett Park, fire headquarters and Station 71, as well as several infrastructure projects were completed during Boyko’s tenure.
She says it is not those types of accomplishments that make her proud about what she has done here, it’s the people.
“I really think it is the team of professionals we’ve created and the staff,” Boyko said. “You just couldn’t imagine their professionalism, their commitment, their interest in supporting one another to elevate our service and our interaction with the community, the residents, the businesses. I think being part of creating such a beautiful team and this team working so well with the board of trustees, people can work their entire lives in a career and they don’t have the fortune of working with the people I work with.”
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