Committee wraps up manager applicant interviews

With interviews wrapped up, Luzerne County’s Manager Search Committee is still on track to recommend three finalists for the top manager position to council by the end of the month, committee Chairman Charles Sciandra said Tuesday.

The three-citizen committee had decided to interview six of the 16 applicants — four from this area and two residing outside Pennsylvania. Applicants were interviewed on April 3 and Monday.

Sciandra said he and committee members Danielle Ader and David Fusco plan to meet Friday afternoon to compare notes and settle on the top three.

Under the county’s home rule structure, the search committee must seek, screen and interview manager applicants and recommend the candidates it believes are the most qualified to council for its consideration. Council members then perform their own interview and selection process, with seven of 11 council votes required to hire the manager.

Sciandra said he does not believe the search committee as a whole will be supportive of advancing applicants from outside the area. Based on past experience, he said this county does not have the luxury of allowing a new manager an extended period to become acclimated.

“Culturally, the county has a special melody, and not everyone can dance to that melody.”

The committee plans to rank the top three finalists when they are submitted to council and provide a narrative on each nominee, Sciandra said.

Council did not specify parameters for the committee as it had in the past. In the prior two searches, council had asked the committee to present the top three finalists in alphabetical order with no ranking to prevent bias in council’s own independent review.

The search committee also recommends council members interview applicants privately, Sciandra said.

Council set a standard last year of publicly releasing the names and resumes of the manager finalists council received from the search committee and publicly interviewing the finalists. Council Chairwoman Kendra Radle has said she wants to follow that plan again to make the entire process as transparent as possible, although the decision is ultimately up to council.

Council Vice Chairman John Lombardo said Tuesday he understands both sides of the argument but personally supports public interviews to maintain openness and transparency. Unless a majority expresses an interest in closed interviews, which he does not expect to happen, the public would be permitted to observe, he said.

Sciandra said the committee, most importantly, will recommend council as a whole gets on board with the new manager once that person is hired to end a sense of division between the executive and legislative branches.

The search committee advertised the manager position at a base range of $116,322 to $180,000, although the final compensation determination is up to council. Council allocated $145,000 for the manager salary in the 2023 budget, but that earmark can be adjusted.

Brian Swetz, who is among the applicants, stepped away from his role as budget/finance division head to serve as acting county manager when prior manager Randy Robertson ended work in November.