New Board

It started out as a night of harmony for the Cheltenham school board, but ended on a familiar note of discord. Several members of the deeply divided board called for a new spirit of cooperation after electing a new president and naming a replacement for former President Neil Sklaroff, who stepped down in July when his wife was being considered for a teaching position in the district. But by the time Wednesday night's meeting ended, board members were sniping at each other again and new board President Lois Kligerman had stopped a live cable telecast of the meeting because a resident was trying to recruit members for a taxpayers group.

After more than three years of talking about how to use the Naval Air Warfare Center when the Navy abandons it next year, Bucks County officials are taking their first steps toward implementing the plan that will chart the commercial future of the 824-acre base. Although the county Board of Commissioners on Wednesday delayed the completion of that plan until the end of February, Friday was the board's deadline for accepting resumes of people interested in serving on the organization that will have legal authority to take possession of the base from the Navy.

HELENA, Mont. - The charity cofounded by Greg Mortenson said Thursday that it has added seven new board members, an expansion that is part of a legal settlement over accusations the Three Cups of Tea author mismanaged the organization that builds schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The new Central Asia Institute board of directors includes academics, people with business and finance backgrounds, philanthropists, and an attorney who are familiar with the region where the institute works.

The Bensalem Township Council wants to create a new Disability Persons Advisory Board, strongly favoring a recent proposal by President Joseph Szafran. The council flatly rejected Szafran's two other attempts to form special- interest groups this year, but approval of his latest plan seems certain at a meeting tomorrow night. "This (disability board) is something that we definitely need in the township," said Councilwoman Trish Dornisch. Early last month, she joined her colleagues in blocking Szafran's proposed subcommittees for marketing Bensalem to attract new businesses and assisting in municipal budget preparation.

After one year of Republican domination, the Gloucester County Board of Freeholders went back into Democratic hands last night, with the highest elective positions going to members of the new party in control. John R. Maier, a Democrat and 11-year veteran of the board, returned to his former job as freeholder director. His appointment to the $14,900-a-year post was unanimous. Maier, 48, was freeholder director from 1983 to 1985. James G. Atkinson, also a Democrat, was elected deputy director of the seven-member board.

Supporters of the YWCA of Germantown, 130 years old and showing its age, say the organization has made a new start. Beginning yesterday morning, with a locksmith. As newly elected directors and others cheered, a man with a chisel and hammer gouged out the old locks from office doors in the building at 5820 Germantown Ave. It was a gesture both pragmatic and symbolic. They did not have keys to the old locks, and said they wanted no reminders of the administration they ousted the night before.

The three Republican members of the Warminster Township Board of Supervisors characterized the new appointment to the board as "getting a fresh perspective. " The one dissenting member, Democrat Ray Regan, said those three members were trying to keep public controversy to a mininum and maintain their control over the board by appointing a political novice. The board voted 3-1 Tuesday to appoint Republican Alice Kralik to fill the vacancy left by Republican John P. Cataldo Sr., who retired in December.

The Philadelphia Parks Alliance yesterday called for the abolition of the Fairmount Park Commission and creation of a new Fairmount Park Board of Directors composed largely of members from the "private and nonprofit sector. " But the alliance, the largest friends group of the park, said a resolution now being considered by City Council that would merge the park with the Recreation Department was inappropriate. "It doesn't go far enough," alliance board member Graham Finney said.

The first business meeting of the new Radnor Township school board erupted into a contentious session as members disagreed sharply on budget issues for 1990-91 and clashed on other questions. The rhubarb began when R. Alan Miller, a newcomer to the board, questioned President John F. McNulty about a memorandum related to a Dec. 5 discussion on budgetary guidelines for the 1990-91 school year. Miller said he was disturbed that McNulty's memorandum asked for a ceiling of 4 percent on spending over the current budget of $21.67 million.

Under pressure by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the James C. Giuffre Medical Center named a new 15-member board of directors yesterday, ousting Dr. James C. Giuffre and appointing Philadelphia businessman G. Fred DiBona as its chairman. The ouster of Giuffre from the board appears to end his nearly 40 years of control of the North Philadelphia hospital, which has been cited by the state Health Department for serious lapses in the quality of patient care. The department had held Giuffre and the hospital's board responsible for the problems.

Philadelphia voters in November overwhelmingly approved a measure aimed at fixing what City Council President Darrell L. Clarke regarded as a serious flaw: The city water commissioner could approve his own rate-increase requests. "We wanted a more balanced approach," said Clarke, "as opposed to the current process, which said, 'This is what I want, this is what I need. OK, I'm going to give it to myself.' " On Thursday, Council is set to vote on a bill that would establish a five-member commission formally known as the Philadelphia Water, Sewer and Storm Water Rate Board.

Here's hoping the Philadelphia Housing Authority's return to local control means it can stay out of scandals while meeting its mandate to provide "decent, safe, and sanitary" housing. After two years under federal receivership, PHA was returned to local control last month by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, bringing to an end an odious chapter in the housing agency's history that will be hard to shake. HUD took over PHA in March 2011 following an audit of the authority's legal expenses that revealed numerous irregularities, including "block billings" that failed to itemize services; contracting lawyers to do work that could have been handled by PHA staff; hiring multiple firms for the same assignment; and hiring lawyers to block auditors' scrutiny.

Federal officials handed over control of the Philadelphia Housing Authority to a new local board Friday, ending Washington's two-year receivership of the beleaguered agency. In a public meeting at PHA headquarters in Center City, the Department of Housing and Urban Development transferred power to a new nine-member board of commissioners selected by Mayor Nutter and approved by City Council. "The reestablishment of local control with a new governance structure means real accountability," Nutter said in a statement.

Paul T. Murray has been appointed to the board of A Woman's Place , a Chalfont organization committed to the empowerment of women and to ending intimate and domestic violence for all. He is president of PTM Wealth Management. Eric Pritchard, a partner in the business and finance department at Kleinbard Bell & Brecker L.L.P., has been appointed to the board of the Montgomery County Industrial Development Authority, which helps companies finance projects with money secured from private-sector financial institutions.

As the next step in its post-bankruptcy evolution, the Prince Music Theater has named a new board of directors and an executive director. James E. Hines, 35, is the new chief staffer, joining the Prince after three years as artistic administrator of the Mann Center for the Performing Arts. The Prince, a former movie house on Chestnut Street, exited Chapter 11 on Oct. 15 after being won at bankruptcy auction by a group of business investors known collectively as 1412 Chestnut Street Corp.

When Montgomery County's commissioners were sworn in 11 months ago, incoming Chairman Josh Shapiro promised an end to the bitter words and political infighting that poisoned the previous administration. "We're hoping our county meetings are a lot more boring," Shapiro said, "but a lot more efficient and better-run for the taxpayers. " The meetings have indeed been more boring, with monotonous readings of requests for competitive bids and frequent refrains for the commissioners to pat their colleagues on the back.

By Jennifer Lin In a first pass at approving a new board for the Philadelphia Housing Authority, City Council on Wednesday voted out of committee all nine nominees, with a final vote expected Jan. 24. In a hearing before Council's Committee of the Whole, nominees faced Council questions and comments after reading a brief statement. Only one candidate - the city's chief integrity officer, Joan Markman - appears to face any resistance. Councilwoman Marian Tasco, said the other nominees have deeper experience working in the community in general, or with PHA residents in particular.

In a first pass at approving a new board for the Philadelphia Housing Authority, City Council on Wednesday voted out of committee all nine nominees, with a final vote expected Jan. 24. In a hearing before Council's Committee of the Whole, nominees faced questions and comments after reading a brief statement. Only one candidate - the city's chief integrity officer, Joan Markman - appeared to face any resistance. Councilwoman Marian B. Tasco said the other nominees have deeper experience working in the community in general or with PHA residents in particular.