CHAMPION Feeling the heat, Hovanic returns to trustee position

CHAMPION -- Less than a month after resigning his trustee position to become township administrator, Jeffrey Hovanic has his old job back.
Trustees rescinded Hovanic's administrator appointment at a meeting Wednesday. Hovanic sent the trustees a letter asking that his appointment be canceled and that the process by which he was appointed be reviewed.
Some in the community had complained about the process.
"We were taking some heat," said Trustee Chairman Keith Bowser. "There's no doubt about that."
He said some people were concerned that the process didn't involve public input.
"There probably should have been," Bowser added.
Trustees also reappointed Hovanic to his trustee post. He will be sworn in Friday.
Hovanic has asked that he not be paid for the time he worked as administrator, Bowser said. He was to begin full time as the administrator this week. The administrator position was to pay $50,000 annually.
"There's a need for a township administrator, but we need to go through the process of getting public input into it," Bowser said.
Hovanic would still be considered if he applied for the position after the board receives public input, he said.
"He's done a fine job," Bowser said. "He's been here for six years and he has a lot of contacts in the area."
The township hasn't had a full-time administrator since the 1980s.