Indicted Greenfield Township Supervisor a No-show at Meeting

GREENFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Greenfield Township supervisors fired one of their colleagues from three township jobs Tuesday night.

The move comes after a federal grand jury indicted Township Supervisor Bruce Evans Sr. on financial and environmental crimes.

But many say the township isn't doing enough to restore confidence.

For the second straight meeting, Evans was a no-show.

Last week, his fellow supervisors voted to ask Evans to resign. So far, he hasn't.

"Is there anything, that if he does not attend these meetings as a supervisor that he can be removed or can he just not ever show up?" asked Judy Shoenley of Greenfield Township.

As an elected official, Evans cannot be forced to quit.

When he and his son Bruce Evans Jr. worked for the Greenfield Township Sewer Authority, federal investigators say they dumped sludge and untreated sewage into a nearby creek.

But the feds also charged Evans Sr. with pocketing and mishandling public money when he worked at the sewer authority.

That is why Evans' fellow supervisors stripped him of his jobs as the township's treasurer, roadmaster, and secretary.

Supervisors say the move was made to try to restore public trust in this divided community.

"Not completely. I think their hands are somewhat tied by the litigation at stake going forward," said Jerry Snyder of Greenfield Township.

"We're trying to do everything we can," said Greenfield Township Supervisor Joseph Slebodnick.

Many at the meeting wonder why Evans Jr., his father's co-defendant on charges of violating the clean water act, was not also fired from his township job in the Department of Public Works.

Supervisors say it's because unlike his father, Evans Jr. was not charged with financial crimes.
