The citizen committee that will recommend applicants for Luzerne County’s top manager position met in closed-door executive session Wednesday night to review resumes received so far.
Chris Hackett, chair of the county’s Manager Search Committee, said after the session he does not yet want to provide any figures on the number of applicants received to date or express an opinion on the level of response.
“It’s too early for us to make any comment until we get through the next round of assessment. We continue to receive resumes,” Hackett said.
Committee member Rick Morelli, a prior county councilman and county home rule charter drafter, expressed a positive view of the applicant response to date.
“We received a good amount of applications so far that I am very pleased with,” Morelli said. “I feel we got some very good applicants, and I expect some more.”
The independent, council-appointed committee launched its advertising campaign Dec. 27 and plans to seek resumes through Jan. 24, with information on the position and region posted at luzernecountymanager.com.
Committee members must screen applicants and recommend the candidates they believes are the most qualified to council for its consideration. Home rule charter drafters chose this approach to make the selection more impartial and less vulnerable to political intervention.
Under its timeline, the committee wants to present at least three qualified applicants to council around April 8.
Before making recommendations, the committee plans to perform initial remote screening interviews and select applicants who will be interviewed in-person.
At least seven of 11 council votes are required to hire the manager.
Wednesday’s session had been called to review the initial submissions and determine if an increase in advertising is warranted due to the response, the committee had said.
Hackett declined to say whether any advertising alterations were made. The committee will meet in executive session again after the Jan. 24 deadline to assess additional applicants, he said.
In addition to Hackett and Morelli, the following citizens serve on the committee: Sherri Homanko, Walter S. Mitchell Jr., Brian D. O’Donnell, Patrick Patte and Alec Ryncavage.
Morelli said he believes the committee must hold a public meeting before proceeding with in-person interviews, arguing it would have to authorize any plane ticket purchases or other travel expenses without identifying specifics about the individuals.
Morelli does not believe the committee must perform in-person interviews to recommend qualified applicants to council, saying that level of scrutiny should be left to council. However, some committee members have argued face-to-face interviews are essential in making a recommendation.
The manager position is open because C. David Pedri resigned in July to take a non-county position.