October 5, 2006 Issue                                       

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©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Budnick approved interim community manager
by PETE MAZZACCARO

Ed Budnick has settled into his new job as Interim Community Manager. (Photo by Kristin Pazulski)

Ed Budnick, a 16-year resident of Chestnut Hill who often criticized the Chestnut Hill Community Association in the Local’s letter pages, was approved by board vote to direct the association as its community manager on an interim basis pending a thorough search. He has replaced former Community Manager Betty Brady, who resigned last month. The community manager is the title the CHCA uses for its executive director.

Budnick started work for the CHCA a week before his appointment to follow up on several crises for CHCA President Ron Recko. Budnik performed considerable work in securing funds from the Chestnut Hill Community Fund to cover more than $23,000 in unpaid printing bills for the Local.

Asked what his three top priorities were coming into office, Budnick replied that he wanted to reorganize the office, manage the budget with an eye at making sure the CHCA met income expectations, and to raise more money.

“I’ve done BID (business improvement district) writing and I can do grant writing,” he said. “I’d like to figure out what we want to do with the money, find our niche.” He said his goal is to write a grant every month.

Though the board approved him overwhelmingly (there were only three abstentions and no “nay” votes) Budnick’s appointment was not free from some open criticism from several board members who did not like the idea that he had been quickly picked by Recko and the Community Manager Search Committee for the job. Because he had already started work, some thought they had not been properly vetted.

“I have concerns about appointment by fiat,” said board member Dina Hitchcock. “I’d have appreciated the chance to talk with the candidate.”

Marie Lachat, a former community manager and now a board member, said she wanted to make sure that Budnick’s appointment did not mean an end to the search process. She also wanted to make sure the CHCA advertised the position broadly. “I think we need to put the ad elsewhere,” she said. “I’d like to get it on the LaSalle Non-Profit Center’s jobs page.”

In order to serve as the community manager, Budnick resigned his seat as a member of both the board of directors and the Executive Committee. Tom Hemphill was selected to take Budnick’s place on the executive committee and Lisa Sullivan-Mancuso took Budnik’s vacant position on the board.

Budnick brings a wide range of job experiences to his new position. He was recently a contract housing inspector who reviewed federal disaster claims and worked in Ocean Springs, Miss., following Hurricane Katrina. He was worked in both the telecommunications and real estate fields. He has undergraduate degrees in both sociology and architecture.