WILKES-BARRE — While Luzerne County Council initially planned on interviewing eight more candidates for the search committee that will find the next county manager, only four were interviewed on Thursday night.
The interview session was held over Zoom on Thursday evening after having been rescheduled due to concerns over whether it was permissible to have a virtual meeting now that the COVID-19 emergency order had been lifted. But acting county Chief Solicitor Vito DeLuca said he is confident the virtual session is permitted for interviews because council won’t be voting on any matters.
Ten applicants had been interviewed previously. George F. Hayden, John Magagna, Walter S. Mitchell Jr. and Patrick Musto were all interviewed on Thursday evening, bringing the total number of interviewed applicants up to 14.
Additional applicants Brian Dwyer, Matt Mitchell and John F. Newman had all been scheduled to be interviewed, but Council Chairman Tim McGinley said all three had withdrawn their applications. A fourth potential candidate, Ernest Searfoss, alerted council member Walter Griffith that he was unable to attend the interview as he had been hospitalized.
Thursday’s interview session began with council member Stephen J. Urban introducing a motion to remove candidate Walter Mitchell from the meeting’s agenda, saying that Mitchell had submitted his application belatedly.
The motion failed, with all members of council besides Urban, Griffith and member Robert Schnee voting “no.” Council member Harry Haas was not in attendance.
During the hour-long interview session, the four candidates who were interviewed discussed their various qualifications to be involved in the search committee and who they believe would be the ideal candidate for county manager.
Hayden said that his position as owner of the Hayden Power Group, along with a number of board positions on groups like the Association of Builders and Contractors, means he has an extensive history of interviewing candidates for a job.
According to him, the ideal candidate for manager would be someone with “business acumen,” saying he’d be “looking for the right person who will make the right impact for our taxpayers.”
Musto said that his time on the Dallas School Board during a lengthy contract dispute shows his history of working on committees such as these.
Musto said that he believes the best candidate for county manager will have strong planning, communication, organization and problem-solving skills.
Magagna, meanwhile, said he founded Search Associates 30 years ago after a career serving as headmasters at several elite schools around the world. Search Associates is dedicated to helping educational institutions find ideal educators, so he said he has extensive experience searching for candidates.
He said that the ideal person for any position is someone who is “nice, smart and has a strong work ethic,” saying that these three qualities are the bedrock of any other. He said the county manager specifically needs to be someone who can “work in harmony with diverse groups of people.”
Mitchell, meanwhile, said his lengthy term as Bear Creek Village mayor and his time owning Mitchell Financial Group makes him a strong candidate.
Mitchell said the ideal candidate for manager is someone who “thinks of the county,” both its taxpayers and its employees.
McGinley said officially forming the committee is on the agenda for Tuesday’s upcoming council meeting.
Council still has to resolve how large the committee will be; on the number of search committee members, the charter requires at least three. Some council members have proposed seven, but a motion was tabled; previous proposals to reduce the committee to three or keep it at five did not receive majority council support.
The 10 already interviewed and remaining under consideration: Angelo P. Grasso Jr., Chris Hackett, Sherri Homanko, Rick Morelli, Brian D. O’Donnell, Patrick Patte, Michael Reich, Jeffrey Rockman, Alec Ryncavage and Ray Wendolowski.
