Cheltenham Township Appoints New Manager

CHELTENHAM TOWNSHIP, PA — The township has a new manager.

The Cheltenham Township Board of Commissioners has selected Jonathan Altshul as its next township manager.

The formal appointment will take place at the commissioners meeting on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Curtis Hall, 1250 Church Road in Wyncote.

After receiving 14 applications, the commissioners selected someone from Connecticut.

Altshul serves as the town manager in Newington, CT., where he leads a municipality of 180 employees and a $46 million budget.

He will take over in Cheltenham Township, which has nearly 300 employees, a $68 million budget, and a long tradition of strong public service.

“I am excited to serve the entire Cheltenham Township community — its residents, its neighborhoods, its businesses, its Board of Commissioners, and the dedicated team at the Township,” Altshul said. “Having spent the majority of the past 17 years living in the Delaware Valley, I’ve always admired the township for its rich history, diverse and tight-knit population, charming architecture, and vibrant business community."

He also served as township manager of Westtown Township from 2020 to 2024 and was director of finance and assistant township manager at East Goshen Township from 2012 to 2020, where he secured the township's first-ever AAA bond rating and managed two rounds of debt financing totaling $11 million.

His earlier career spans the U.S. Government Accountability Office in Washington, D.C. and Arlington County, Virginia, where he built a strong foundation in public finance and government operations. He also served as an Adjunct Professor in the Master of Public Administration program at West Chester University.

The search was facilitated by Nicole Beckett, Associate Director for Public Service at the Meyner Center for the Study of State and Local Government at Lafayette College.

Officials said the process was shaped by community input gathered at a public meeting in March and by conversations with township staff and commissioners.