Apr. 19—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Johnstown City Manager Ethan Imhoff is planning to resign and take a job closer to his home in Hollidaysburg.
Imhoff gave his 60-day notice Wednesday to Johnstown City Council. He will resign in June to take a position as Hollidaysburg Borough’s manager.
Imhoff said he was not looking for a new job, but Hollidaysburg Borough officials reached out to him after the Blair County borough’s longtime manager left for a new job, he said.
“With Hollidaysburg making an offer, it was too hard to resist,” he said. “There are no other jobs I’d have left Johnstown for.”
Imhoff lives in Hollidaysburg and worked for the borough from 2004 to 2011 after earning a master’s degree from Penn State University.
He said his plan for his remaining days in Johnstown is to assist City Council and the community with a seamless transition for projects.
That includes implementing the city’s $24 million federal Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grant for infrastructure work; working to secure new management for the city-owned Frank J. Pasquerilla Conference Center; and continuing the plan to move the Johnstown police and fire departments from the nearly century-old Public Safety Building to a new location.
Imhoff has served as Johnstown’s city manager since January 2022, and before that was the Cambria County Planning Commission’s executive director.
About three months ago, in January, City Council unanimously approved an agreement to retain Imhoff as city manager. The contract was effective through the first Monday of January 2026, providing Imhoff an annual salary of $137,500.
The job entails running day-to-day city operations, hiring personnel and answering to City Council.
Imhoff recently made two key new hires for the city. Nina Ndichu was hired two weeks ago as Johnstown’s community and economic development director, filling a position that was vacated after John Dubnansky resigned in late 2023 for a job in the private sector.
Imhoff also hired former Westmont Borough treasurer Melissa Millard to succeed Johnstown Finance Director Robert Ritter, who is set to retire this month.
“I’ve really enjoyed working here with fantastic people committed to moving the city forward,” Imhoff said. “From that respect, it’s difficult to leave. I will miss the City Council and staff here at the city.”
Johnstown Mayor Frank Janakovic said the city has already begun a search plan to replace Imhoff.
The council hired Imhoff while it was still in Pennsylvania’s Act 47 program for financially distressed municipalities. The city exited that program in April 2023, but some of the state’s Act 47 services are still available for helping search for a new city manager, Janakovic said.
“We were caught off-guard completely with Ethan’s resignation,” Janakovic said. “I know it’s an opportunity for him, but what we plan on doing is we’ve already made contact with the previous Act 47 team, and we will be contacting the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development to assist us in finding a replacement for the city manager shortly.”
Imhoff said candidates to succeed him as Johnstown’s city manager have already reached out to him about the job.
“I take that as affirmation that the work we are doing is really well received regionally, statewide and nationally,” he said. “The narrative in Johnstown is different now than it was five, 10 years ago. It’s a lot more positive. Whether I’m here in Johnstown or Harrisburg, people are talking about the good things are happening here.
“I’m proud to have played a small role in that, but certainly City Council gets a lot of credit for that, and the community gets a lot of credit for that. I’m hopeful when I depart a couple months from now that there will be somebody here to continue to help the city move in a positive direction.”
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