Mar 25, 2014 3 min read

Greg Sulc, who was under investigation for improperly using his township cellphone and computer, resigned from his position as North Strabane Township’s parks and recreation director Tuesday.

North Strabane supervisors during their Tuesday night voting meeting unanimously accepted Sulc’s single-sentence resignation letter he submitted to the township earlier in the day.

He had been the parks and recreation director since September 2011.

Sulc was under scrutiny over the past month after he briefly used his township email and cellphone for the political campaign of his girlfriend, Supervisor Sonia Stopperich, as she runs for state House of Representatives.

Sulc, who did not attend township meeting, did not give an explanation for his resignation in the letter and could not be reached for comment. He had been suspended with pay since Feb. 18 as the township investigated whether he performed political activities during work time.

Stopperich, who abstained from the vote to accept his resignation, said after the meeting the township’s investigation of Sulc was “excessive” and politically motivated. She said he mistakenly used his township email for her political announcement while working as her campaign’s assistant treasurer, and he is no longer formally working for her campaign.

She said Sulc was eagerly anticipating clearing his name during a disciplinary hearing originally scheduled for March 25 before the township postponed it. That hearing and the investigation have been terminated with Sulc’s resignation, township Manager Frank Siffrinn.

Siffrinn said the parks and recreation director vacancy won’t affect activities, pavilion rentals or field requests. Township employees have been handling the scheduling of events since Sulc’s suspension began.

“I feel very comfortable that we won’t skip a beat in that regard,” Siffrinn said.

However, he does not expect the township to hire a new director soon. Siffrinn said the township supervisors will likely re-evaluate the position this year before hiring a replacement in 2015.

Sulc’s personal use of his township cellphone prompted the supervisors to consider rewriting the municipality’s outdated policy regarding employee work phones. Township solicitor Jim Jeffries said he is continuing to work on a new policy that encompasses “today’s culture of cellphone usage” and passed out a rough draft to the supervisors for initial review.

Stopperich questioned why township employees even have cellphones and suggested they stop that practice. Board Chairman Brian Spicer said they will review the updated policy and could continue to make changes or vote on it during next month’s meeting.