Eleven Luzerne County Republicans are interested in filling a vacant county council seat through 2023, according to a list supplied to council Thursday.
The applicants: David Chaump, Marc Dixon, Thomas Dombroski, Robert Fisher, Greg Griffin, Brian Kisenwether, Ronald Knapp, William Levinson, Matthew Mitchell, Arthur Savokinas and Richard Tihansky.
Council will publicly interview the applicants at 5 p.m. Tuesday, with plans to vote on the appointment June 14.
The seat is open because Republican Robert Schnee left council to become state representative in the 116th Legislative District through this year.
It is the second seat council is filling this year. Council appointed Republican Carl Bienias III in February to serve, also through 2023, in a seat that had become vacant due to Walter Griffith’s county controller election win.
Council members receive $8,000 annually.
Twelve Republicans had publicly interviewed for the seat when Bienias was selected, and six of them have applied again for Schnee’s seat — Chaump, Dombroski, Griffin, Knapp, Levinson and Savokinas.
Some previously reported background on these six:
• Chaump, of West Pittston, has a bachelor’s degree in professional music from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, teaching certification from Marywood University in Scranton and a master’s degree in instructional technology from Wilkes University.
He has worked as a music educator at the Abington Heights School District in Clarks Summit since 2003 and also participates in several additional ventures in the music and entertainment field.
• Dombroski, of Dallas, has bachelor’s degrees in accounting and information systems from King’s College.
He has been the president/owner of a commercial real estate rental business in Wilkes-Barre since 1993.
• Griffin, of Swoyersville, has Act 120 Municipal Police Officer certification from Lackawanna College and graduated from the Houston Police Academy in Texas and the U.S. Army Armor School in Kentucky.
He has worked as a municipal police officer and as a corrections officer at the State Correctional Institution at Retreat. He is founder of the Mothers’ Opioid Committee in Wilkes-Barre and coordinator of the New Roots Wilkes-Barre Blight Committee.
• Knapp, of Nanticoke, graduated from the Allied Medical and Technical Institute.
He served in the Army Reserves as an administrative specialist for more than three years and was honorably discharged in 2008. He has owned and operated a rental property business since 1989.
• Levinson, of Wilkes-Barre, has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Penn State University and master’s degrees in chemistry/engineering, business administration and operations research and applied statistics.
He has been principal of Levinson Productivity Systems, P.C. since 2002 and previously worked as a staff engineer.
• Savokinas, of Pittston Township, has a bachelor of arts degree from King’s College and a master of science degree from the University of Scranton.
He has served as school administrator in the Pittston Area School District since 2008 and previously worked as a social studies teacher in the district.
The county has not yet released resumes for the other applicants. Some information on these five based on prior reports and other sources:
• Dixon, of Wright Township, is chief executive officer of Visum Technologies Plc and previously worked as business development director at Picsolve Inc. and for Kodak Alaris in the Americas.
He served on the county ethics commission from 2018 to 2021 and was appointed board chairman. Dixon also previously ran for county council twice.
• Fisher, of Salem Township, has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Bloomsburg University and a master’s degree in business administration from Wilkes University.
Now retired, he held several high-level management positions at hospitals and medical facilities throughout his professional career.
Fisher initially served on the county’s first citizen manager search committee in 2015 but resigned to take an out-of-state consulting assignment.
• Kisenwether, of Butler Township, has owned Kisenwether Auto Body since 1977.
He had served on the township’s sewer authority, planning commission and zoning hearing board and as an elected township supervisor for 12 years, with his most recent term ending in January. He was chairman of the board of supervisors for eight years.
• Mitchell, of Kingston, has worked for the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority for five years and most recently advanced to a position as GIS coordinator.
He studied music education and business administration at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and the Luzerne County Community College.
• Tihansky, of Sugarloaf Township, has worked for the Hazleton Area School District since 2012 as a welding instructor and most recently as cooperative education coordinator since September. He also has served on Conyngham Borough Council since 2019, currently as vice chairman.
He has an associate’s degree in business administration from the Luzerne County Community College and completed the Career and Technical Education VITAL Program at Temple University.
Tuesday’s public interviews will be held in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre, with instructions for remote attendance posted under council’s online public meetings link at luzernecounty.org.