Luzerne County Council decides Friday will be Randy Robertson’s last day on the job

In an emergency voting session Thursday, Luzerne County Council unanimously accepted county Manager Randy Robertson’s resignation but decided he will stop work today instead of remaining on the job through Dec. 14.

County Budget/Finance Division Head Brian Swetz was named acting county manager at a compensation of $157,000. Swetz had briefly served as acting manager before Robertson started as manager five months ago.

Robertson, who received $181,500 annually in the position, had submitted his resignation letter to council Monday with a Dec. 14 departure date because a 30-day notice was required under his employment agreement.

He had said he would “continue the same or higher efforts up to that day” but was willing to vacate the position prior, if council desired, as long as he was compensated through that 30-day period as required in the agreement. Council agreed Thursday he would be paid through Dec. 14.

Robertson said he was leaving to attend to health issues involving his mother and wife. He also noted he has experienced conflict with “some on council and others” that has made his work “unreasonably difficult to accomplish” and “very trying.”

He had announced his plans to resign during a council meeting the day after the Nov. 8 general election, which drew strong criticism for a voting machine paper shortage that caused problems at polling places. Before the resignation, several council members had said there was a movement afoot to take personnel action against Robertson due to their deep concerns about the election, with possibilities ranging from a vote of no confidence to termination.

Council also unanimously agreed Thursday to reactivate a citizen manager search committee to seek, screen and recommend manager applicants as required by the county’s home rule charter. The new committee will have three citizens, which is smaller than past ones.

Council criticism

Two of the council members who strongly supported Robertson’s hiring — Brian Thornton and Stephen J. Urban — spoke Thursday before Robertson made his own sometimes strongly worded response.

Thornton said calling last week’s county election a fiasco “is an understatement.” In recent days he’s had people calling him from other states to personally insult and criticize him and council as a whole. He also was contacted by the Philadelphia Inquirer and USA Today.

“We are truly the laughing stock of America,” Thornton said.

He described the widespread paper shortage at polling sites as “unthinkable” and also complained about shredded ballots, communication breakdowns, improperly trained poll workers, chain of custody issues with ballots and voters turned away from polls. Thornton said the election results cannot be certified and blamed a lack of leadership.

“The healing will not be quick nor easy, but the healing process must begin now. This healing cannot begin with the continuance of those leaders who were responsible,” Thornton said, calling for the immediate resignations of county Acting Election Director Beth McBride and county Election Board Chairwoman Denise Williams.

Williams, who was not at the council meeting, said Thursday night that Thornton’s attack on her was “misdirected” because county solicitors have repeatedly made it clear the volunteer citizen election board has no involvement in daily operations and managing employees, including making sure they load machines with paper and order enough for refills.

Overseeing bureau workers is the responsibility of the administrative services division head and ultimately the manager, she said.

Williams, a Democrat, said it’s clear to many that there is an organized push by some Republican county council members and others to get her to resign in the hope the remaining four council-appointed election board members will pick a Republican to replace her, providing a Republican majority on the board.

“This full-court press needs to stop. It’s getting old. It’s getting very partisan, and it’s very obvious,” Williams said.

In his remarks, Urban said he “regretfully” supported Robertson but said Robertson was among those recommended by a professional search committee based on his resume and interviews.

Urban said it is “not a nice thing” to have to accept a resignation because of an “election fiasco,” but he said what transpired in the election was “reprehensible.”

“I hope we never experience this again, and unfortunately the buck has to stop with Mr. Robertson,” Urban said.

As he often states at meetings, Urban said he has “immersed” himself in election law and disagrees with the opinions of county lawyers on which entities handle election-related duties under the county home rule structure.

He said he will probably be proposing the county budget $100,000 to hire outside election attorneys to examine the charter, council-adopted administrative code and election law to “clear those conflicts.”

Urban also repeated his past complaint about a provision in council’s administrative code that makes a county employee serve as the election board clerk. Urban argues state law allows the board to pick anyone it wants to serve as a clerk to sign official documents. It should be noted Urban chairs council’s code review committee, which was created to recommend changes to county codes.

That committee has had no meetings this year, according to the county website.

Manager’s reply

Robertson opened his response by highlighting some of the work advanced during his five months on the job, such as the hiring of three division heads, the filling of more vacant Children and Youth caseworker jobs, Discover NEPA’s donation of thousands of dollars in artwork for the county’s Penn Place building and improvements in the information technology department that may help lower insurance costs.

He also said the county human services division is poised to save about $400,000 annually by consolidating offices in the county-owned human services building on Pennsylvania Avenue in Wilkes-Barre, ending the need for leased space nearby.

“So rather than paying rent, we can put it into our programs and people and training,” he said.

Robertson said his proposed 2023 budget contained a tax increase because additional resources are needed to address compensation issues and infrastructure that were not prioritized when the county did a “remarkable job” paying down massive debt.

“The last thing you want to do is raise taxes, but I don’t know the way to cut ourselves out of this situation,” he said, telling council members they are free to do “whatever you wish” to alter the budget.

Robertson agreed the election problems are “shameful” and said he immediately discussed the need for an investigation with county District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce because people had started questioning if the lack of paper was “an act of commission rather than omission.”

If it turns out a mistake was made by an employee or employees, Swetz will take appropriate action, Robertson said.

“I planned on taking the appropriate action, but I won’t be here,” he said.

Robertson said he agrees with Urban that council needs to “take a deep dive” into election matters but said that review should also include an assessment of how the “meltdown” of an election board member affected the election bureau — he did not state specifics — or why the county has experienced continued turnover in bureau leadership.

”There’s not been one qualified applicant in the last four months as I understand, and the one that did apply has been fired from two different places,” Robertson said of the election director position.

Robertson also hinted at political interference by unnamed council members, asking how the county got to the point that he was approached two months into the job and told he has “too many Ds and not enough Rs” on staff.

“I couldn’t be more apolitical than the driven snow,” said Robertson, who for the record, is a registered Republican.

He told council he will be “making more statements later” and made it a point to reiterate he resigned due to family health issues.

“So if you think I’m resigning for any other reason other than to care for my family – which is exactly what I put in the statement – you are mistaken,” Robertson said. “I don’t leave a fight.”

Robertson thanked council Chairwoman Kendra Radle, saying, “I know you tried real hard.”

“Most of you, whether we agree or disagree, good luck,” he said.

New acting manager

Swetz served as acting manager for several weeks in May and June after then-acting manager Romilda Crocamo left for another position outside county government before Robertson’s arrival.

Crocamo had said Swetz was intimately familiar with all departments and finances through his current budget/finance chief position and also had worked closely with both prior non-interim managers — Robert Lawton and C. David Pedri.

Swetz started working for the county as a senior accountant in March 2013, and he was promoted to budget/finance division head in January 2014. He previously worked as a financial analyst at Benco Dental in Pittston, a business consultant at Albert B. Melone Co. in Pittston and an auditor for Albert Kishel CPA, Wilkes-Barre.

He has a bachelor’s degree in accounting.

The acting manager must perform the same duties as the permanent manager, overseeing day-to-day operations and budgets in more than 50 departments, approving many contracts and hiring and firing workers in most departments, excluding court branches and the controller and district attorney offices.

After thanking Robertson for his service to the county during the short time he was here, Radle told Swetz she doesn’t feel congratulations is the right word for his new appointment.

Her choice: “Game on.”

Swetz said he was humbled by council’s support.

“You’ve got to start somewhere. If you want to be the general manager of a sports team, you don’t start out with the Yankees. That’s how it works,” Swetz told council. “There are things to fix, and I see it as an opportunity.”

Swetz said his personal philosophy is that the county manager handles day-to-day matters while informing council on higher-priority items, such as division and department head appointments, whether permanent or acting.

“That’s all I’m going to say today,” he said.