Jul 14, 2010 By Patty Yauger 3 min read

CONNELLSVILLE TWP. – A former Connellsville Township supervisor, who stepped down in May amid allegations he had not taken appropriate action to dispose of township equipment, said Tuesday that it was his decision to resign from the elected office. “They (Supervisors Rick Adobato and Bob Carson) couldn’t put me out as supervisor, but they forced me out as (supervisor) chairman and roadmaster,” said former supervisor Donnie Hann in recalling the May 13 action. “I thought, ‘why stay when these two guys were so down on me?’

“What good would it be for me to be a supervisor? I decided to resign,” he said.

Hann had just called the May meeting to order when a motion was made by Adobato to enter into executive session for personnel reasons.

An hour later, only Adobato and Carson returned to the public meeting.

Carson said Tuesday that the closed-door session was called to review with Hann what documentation had been compiled and showed that certain actions taken by the former administration had not been transacted in accordance with the Second Class Township Code.

“It included giving equipment away, not advertising the disposal of equipment, giving away stone or labor,” he said. “It was nothing that Donnie hadn’t heard before. There had been other executive sessions where he had been told the same things. None of this should have come as a surprise to him.”

During the course of the conversation, said Carson, Hann was advised that it was the intention of himself and Adobato to return to regular session and introduce resolutions that would remove him as chairman and from the paid roadmaster’s position.

“We couldn’t throw him out of office,” said Carson. “(To remove him from office) would require a petition signed by the public and a court hearing.”

Hann was not forced to resign, but came to the decision to do so on his own, Carson said.

“He could have remained a supervisor. It was his decision,” said Carson. “The resignation letter was in his handwriting.”

The current supervisors have agreed to investigate the disposal of equipment by the township beginning in 2004 to determine if it was done in accordance with the township code.

Adobato was appointed in April to replace Supervisor Sally Stoots, who tendered her resignation earlier in the month because of personal reasons.

“The township supervisors are the stewards of the township money and equipment,” he said. “(Hann) resigned under his own free will and walked out the door.”

Adobato added that the supervisors never took any action against Hann because he took matters into his own hands and resigned from office.

“When he resigned, he was no longer the chairman or a roadmaster,” said Adobato. “By resigning, he could no longer hold those two positions.”