Luzerne County Manager finalists announced

Three finalists are now before Luzerne County Council for possible appointment to the top manager position, according to council Chairwoman Kendra Radle — Romilda Crocamo, David W. Johnston and Randy Robertson.

Here is some information on the finalists, according to published reports and other online information:

• Crocamo has been serving as acting county manager since July, temporarily stepping away from her position as chief county solicitor.

Crocamo was hired to oversee the county’s law division in July 2016.

She previously worked at two New York City law firms, as managing attorney at the Barbara J. Hart Justice Center in Scranton, as a master of county juvenile delinquency and dependency court and as a law clerk for county Court of Common Pleas Judge Tina Polachek Gartley at the time Crocamo was promoted to division head.

She 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.

• Johnston most recently worked as city manager for Covington, Kentucky, from August 2017 to June 2021.

He had been among the three finalists for Luzerne County manager in 2016 but withdrew from consideration because he was pursuing other opportunities, officials said at that time.

Johnston also worked as city manager in Maple Valley, Washington, from 2009 to June 2016.

He held several positions in Indiana in his early career from 1986 to 1997, including director of the state transportation planning office and the state office of traffic safety in Indianapolis, and administrative director of Indiana Health Centers, Inc.

Johnston worked as village administrator of Coal City, Illinois, from 1997 to 2000, town manager of Westfield, Indiana, from 2000 to 2003, village administrator of Rantoul, Illinois, from 2004 to 2008 and as a public management consultant from 2008 to 2009.

He has a bachelor’s degree in American studies, with concentrations in communications and economics, from the University of Notre Dame and a master’s degree in public affairs, with a concentration in urban and regional planning, from Indiana University.

• Robertson most recently worked as city manager of Dover, Delaware, from February to June last year. A city official said Robertson left that position to care for his elderly mother in Ohio.

Prior to that, he worked as city manager of Aberdeen, Maryland, from July 2016 to January 2021.

He also worked as city manager in the following locations: Cordova, Alaska, August 2013 to June 2016; Vestavia Hills, Alabama, December 2011 to April 2013; Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, September 2007 to December 2011; and Ashland, Kentucky, August 2006 to April 2007.

A retired U.S. Army officer, he was a chief of staff for a signal brigade in the U.S. European Command from September 2001 to January 2005 and chief of staff for the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico from January 2005 to June 2006.

He has three master’s degrees in public service from Western Kentucky University, in urban studies from Johns Hopkins University and in strategic planning from the U.S. Army War College.