Denlinger to be next Borough Manager

By -
Rebecca Denlinger
[2017 Columbia Spy file photo]

Rebecca Denlinger is on track to becoming Columbia's next borough manager. In a unanimous vote Monday night, Columbia Borough Council hired Denlinger as a full-time Community/Economic Development Director/Assistant Borough Manager, effective January 1, 2018. From there, she will assume the position of Borough Manager on January 1, 2019. She currently serves Columbia as an independent contractor with her company Rising Tide Collaborative, LLC, in the position of Economic Development Coordinator.

Denlinger will stay at her current salary of $65,000 throughout 2018 but will get a boost to $95,000 annually as borough manager. Beginning in 2018, her compensation package will also include fringe benefits.

Denlinger holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Economics from the University of Delaware, and a Master’s in Public Administration from Penn State. She has worked with the Elizabethtown Area Chamber of Commerce, Rettew Associates, Inc., and the Lancaster County Planning Commission and has also served as a consultant for Marietta Borough this year.

At Monday night's council meeting, Council President Kelly Murphy said Denlinger will assume the position of Borough Manager at the end of 2018, because current Borough Manager Greg Sahd has indicated "he is looking to retire" at that time.

Comments

Anonymous said…
It's about time this Borough put a Woman in charge !, things are going to change now !!
October 10, 2017 at 10:01 PM
Anonymous said…
It was interesting to hear the council president say that there's currently a handful of older employees that could walk in, at any time, and turn in their two weeks notice. This sounded like age discrimination. Council wants to have people trained and ready to jump into a potentially vacant position. I wonder how they would feel if their employer began training someone to take over their position in case they decide to turn in their notice. Most people would feel threatened, like their job was in jeopardy. Anyone young or old could for a variety of reasons quit, even without notice. The impression was that the opening for a borough manager will not be advertised to the public because it takes too long to find a suitable applicant and Ms. Denlinger already knows Columbia.
October 11, 2017 at 6:29 AM
Anonymous said…
The salary is ridiculous.
October 11, 2017 at 2:45 PM
Anonymous said…
Can someone enlighten me as to why in a small town someone is getting paid $95,000.00? I can see in Lancaster perhaps, but Columbia, seriously?
October 13, 2017 at 6:58 PM
Anonymous said…
to have the job the person should have to live in town
November 22, 2017 at 4:48 PM
Anonymous said…
she brings ideas from her other consulting jobs and presents them as her ideas
November 22, 2017 at 4:51 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Columbia's decision to ban former employee from its property may be 'unconstitutional' [Lancaster Watchdog]

By Columbia Spy -
Image
Chris Vera [Columbia Spy file photo] The following information is excerpted from a December 6, 2025 LNP Watchdog article by LNP | LancasterOnline reporter Jade Campos. Still reeling from an abrupt firing from his role as head of the Columbia Market House in March, Chris Vera was surprised to get a letter in the mail from a Columbia Borough attorney two weeks later telling him he was banned indefinitely from borough property. The letter gave no reason for the ban. Nine months later, Vera, who has served as president of the Columbia Historic Preservation Society for more than a decade and has helped with the borough’s comprehensive plan, is still banned from borough property. He believes the ban includes borough parks, which is part of the reason he moved his annual Albatwitch Day festival, which celebrates the myth of a local cryptid, to Wrightsville. Vera said he’s not sure why the borough went to such lengths to keep him away from public spaces given his termination from the borough s...
Read more

East Donegal man charged in Columbia hit & run

By Columbia Spy -
Image
NATHAN WILLISON | LNP Staff Writer An East Donegal Township man is facing criminal charges after police say he struck a 13-year-old with his truck and fled the scene last month.  Derek Scott Mohr, 28, is charged with causing an accident involving death or injury without a license, failing to stop to render aid, driving at an unsafe speed and related charges.  Mohr had been driving a 2013 Chevrolet Silverado through Chestnut Street in Columbia around 8 p.m. March 20 when he struck a 13-year-old boy riding a motorized scooter and continued driving, according to charging documents filed by police.  When police arrived, they found the boy with a broken leg and a cut to his forehead. His scooter was lying nearby, its handlebars completely snapped off.  Another teenager who witnessed what happened described the truck to police and said that the driver made no attempt to stop after striking the boy. Surveillance footage collected from the area shows the truck striking the b...
Read more

Mayor Lutz must accept responsibility

By Columbia Spy -
Image
  GUEST COMMENTARY [Name withheld by request out of fear of retaliation] For two decades, Leo Lutz has occupied the mayor's office in Columbia, and his supporters are quick to credit him with every positive development in our borough, but leadership is a two-way street. If Mayor Lutz is going to accept praise for Columbia's successes, many of which, frankly, he had little direct involvement in, then he must also be held accountable for our failures. The facts paint a troubling picture. Despite the mayor's repeated assurances that our streets are safe, we've witnessed a disturbing rise in assaults, shootings, and vandalism. His promises have fallen by the wayside: the foot patrol we were promised never materialized, nor did the bike patrol that was supposed to increase our sense of security. Fiscally, the situation is equally dire. Taxes have increased at least twice during Mayor Lutz's tenure, yet the borough now finds itself millions of dollars in debt. This isn...
Read more