Published: May 21, 2008 11:24 pm      

City finance director asked to resign after 16 years

An official who has overseen Johnstown’s finances for 16 years has been asked to resign.

Tuesday was Finance Director Joe Bunk’s last day of work at City Hall.

City Manager Curt Davis stressed that no allegations of impropriety are involved in his decision.

“Mr. Bunk was a hard-working employee, an honest employee,” Davis said. “But I felt that the city needed to go in a new direction and needed some new skill sets to move forward.”

Bunk was hired in April 1992, when the city was teetering on the brink of financial disaster. In August of that year, Johnstown entered Pennsylvania’s Act 47 program for financially distressed municipalities. The city has not yet shed that distressed designation.

And while Johnstown’s financial outlook improved in the late 1990s, the situation has taken a turn for the worse in recent years.

Johnstown’s latest recovery plan notes that the city had a budget surplus of more than $700,000 in 2001 but recorded a “core operating deficit of over $1 million” by 2005.

With the city still struggling with stagnant revenues and increased expenses, a 2006 audit showed a budget shortfall of more than $800,000.

Contacted Wednesday, Bunk thanked his “quality staff” and said he enjoyed his work.

“I can understand how the city needs to move in a different direction because of the financial problems they’re having,” Bunk said. “It’s unfortunate that my skills did not fit into their plans.”

Davis said a search for a new finance director will begin immediately.

Officials plan to advertise the job in newspapers and online. Applications for the position, which carries a salary of $48,000 to $52,000, will be accepted until June 11.