Lower Southampton will pay nearly $100,000 to its former zoning officer and fire marshal who alleged that he was pushed out in retaliation after exposing unexplained past financial losses and other discrepancies after taking over the zoning department.
William Oettinger received $95,000, according to a copy of the settlement agreement finalized earlier this year and obtained through a Right to Know request. The money was paid by township’s liability insurance carrier, according to the settlement.
The settlement brings an end to a controversial chapter in Lower Southampton history after Oettinger took control of the zoning department in 2018 following the retirement of longtime zoning director Carol Drioli.
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Among the allegations in his lawsuit Oettinger contended township supervisors wrongly blamed him for an expired performance bond and ordered him to stop talking to this news organization, which was investigating the zoning department operations under Drioli.
Oettinger worked in various roles for the township for 13 years. He was appointed fire marshal in 2010. He was appointed zoning officer in 2018, but was removed less than a year later. In January 2020, a divided board of supervisors voted against reappointing him as fire marshal.
Oettinger contended the supervisors retaliated against him after the 2018 release of a two-year outside audit of the township’s zoning...
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