Luzerne County Council received and released the names of the three top manager finalists Tuesday evening: prior county acting manager and chief solicitor Romilda Crocamo, county 911 Executive Director Fred Rosencrans and county Engineer William McIntosh, who oversees county buildings and grounds.
The county’s Manager Search Committee delivered the names, ranked in the above order, to council during the work session, and council Chairwoman Kendra Vough followed past practice by publicly releasing them.
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.
The three-citizen committee had decided to interview six of the 17 applicants, and Committee Chairman Charles Sciandra publicly presented an overview of the evaluation process during Tuesday’s council work session. The document is posted with the work session agenda at luzernecounty.org.
Brian Swetz, the county’s current acting manager, was among the six interviewed but not the top three. Swetz had 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.
Some background on the three finalists based on research:
• Crocamo, of West Hazleton, is an attorney and shareholder at the law firm Elliott Greenleaf & Dean. She also works as an assistant solicitor for Scranton city government.
She had worked at two New York City law firms and as managing attorney at the Barbara J. Hart Justice Center in Scranton before starting her county government employment in 2010.
Crocamo initially worked as a master of county juvenile delinquency and dependency court and then as a law clerk for county Court of Common Pleas Judge Tina Polachek Gartley.
In July 2016, she was hired as chief county solicitor to oversee the county’s law division.
Council had appointed Crocamo as acting manager when C. David Pedri left the manager position in July 2021 — a role she filled for approximately 10 months.
Crocamo applied for the previous permanent manager position. Council was unable to act on the hiring in March 2022 because no finalist secured the required seven votes, with six votes cast for Robertson and five for Crocamo. Citing the interest of council and the county as a whole, Crocamo subsequently withdrew her name from consideration, resulting in nine of 11 council members voting to hire Robertson.
Shortly before Robertson’s arrival, Crocamo left to accept a position at Elliott Greenleaf & Dean.
Crocamo has a bachelor’s and master’s degree from New York University and earned her law degree and a master’s of law degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York.
• Rosencrans, of Dallas Township, has more than 27 years of experience in municipal and county government.
He has worked in county government for more than 17 years, starting as a data/technical support manager in March 2006. He was appointed interim 911 director in May 2013 and was promoted to 911 executive director in 2014.
At the start of 2022, he served as the county’s interim operational services division head for 90 days while continuing to oversee 911.
Rosencrans was a full-time Dallas Township police officer from June 1998 until his county employment.
He has numerous certifications in the emergency services. leadership, 911 professional and law enforcement fields.
Rosencrans has an associate’s degree in criminal justice from Luzerne County Community College and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from King’s College. He also completed the Act 120 police officers training program.
• McIntosh, of Dallas, is a licensed professional engineer in Pennsylvania.
He has worked in county government since 2016, first as a staff engineer and fleet manager. In September 2018, he was promoted to county engineer and the manager of buildings and grounds.
Prior to his county employment, McIntosh worked as a senior engineer for PPL Electric Utilities.
He also held several positions at PPL Susquehanna LLC from 2008 through 2015 at the nuclear power plant in Salem Township, including work as a support engineer, senior assessor and senior engineer.
He previously worked as a construction manager supervising projects at Procter & Gamble in Mehoopany and as a senior engineer at Commonwealth Telephone Enterprises Inc. in Dallas, where he worked for more than 14 years.
McIntosh has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering technology from Penn State University, a master’s degree in organizational management from Misericordia University and a master’s degree in business administration, also from Misericordia.
He also has numerous other certifications and trainings in emergency services, roads and leadership.
Next step
Vough said the finalists will be publicly interviewed by council as they were the last time, and council plans an executive session with the search committee later this week before finalizing its interview plans.
Sciandra said all three committee members — which also included Danielle Ader and David Fusco — unanimously selecting the top three.
He also gave council the names of the other three applicants who were interviewed but not among the top three finalists. Two were not from this region.
Vough thanked the committee for its work.
When contacted after the names were released, the finalists offered these statements:
• Crocamo: “I am very pleased to have been selected by the search committee as one of the top candidates. I applied for this job because I know Luzerne County is a wonderful place to live and work in. This job is the perfect opportunity to better our home and serve our neighbors. I look forward to answering council’s questions during the public interview.”
• Rosencrans: “I’m humbled and honored that the committee chose me as a top-three finalist. If I’m fortunate enough to be chosen as the next county manager, I will, as always, give 110% for the the county’s benefit.”
• McIntosh: “I’m honored to be selected as a finalist. I hope I get the opportunity to serve in this new capacity to benefit the employees and residents of Luzerne County.”
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.
Robertson had been hired at an annual compensation of $181,500.
Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.