Sugarloaf Township resident Jennifer Pecora started work Friday as Luzerne County’s new administrative services division head.
Pecora said she met with department heads and started discussing matters under her supervision.
“I think that I had a really productive first day,” Pecora said. “I’m confident we’re all going to work very well together.”
Previously the manager of Butler Township, Pecora will receive $94,500 annually in the position and oversee the election bureau and seven other departments: human resources, purchasing/acquisition, information technology, GIS/mapping, licensing/permits, community development and tourism.
County Manager Randy Robertson is still in the process of reviewing applicants for the vacant operational services division head position. This division includes engineering, roads and bridges, planning and zoning, 911, emergency management, buildings and grounds, the boiler plant and solid waste management.
New hirings
Nineteen county government employees were hired in August, according to the newly posted monthly personnel report.
Ten of the new hirings were at 911, which has been working to fill vacant positions. Six new employees are 911 telecommunicators hired at $18.03 per hour: Breanna Champluvier, Cindy Flores, Hannah Halliday, Jennifer Horne, Lawnesa Thomas and William West. Also at 911, John Dennis Jr. was hired as a supervisor at $21.75 per hour, while three part-time call takers were hired at $15 per hour — Tyler Gavlick, Bradley Keen and Jennifer Truchon.
As a side note, Tyler Gavlick is not related to county Human Resources Director Angela Gavlick, she said.
Six hirings were at Children and Youth: Ashley Banos and Donald Mason, caseworker 1s, $20 per hour; Tamika Brunot and Jacqueline Silveri, caseworkers 2, $22.31; and Krystel Delacruz and Evelyn Larrison, clerk typists, $14.36.
Those hired in other departments: Melissa Jones, controller’s office internal auditor, $18.46; Ronald Smith, Emergency Management Agency Act 165 coordinator, $19.49; and Lawrence Whitehead, detective focused on drug trafficking, $24.34.
Departures
Seventeen workers left county employment in August.
Fifteen resigned: planning/zoning analyst Alan Brezinski; assistant public defenders Matthew Clemente and Wojciech Jankowski; Children and Youth clerk typists Zachary Farrell, Brianna Romanchik and Sheliah Watford; tourism office sales and marketing director Donna Keyes; Children and Youth caseworker 1s Amanda Matysik and Lexes Palissery; assistant district attorney Patrick Miller; Mental Health/Developmental Services caseworker 2 Geanine Nye; Mental Health clerk typist Elisa Quinones; election director Michael Susek; prothonotary clerk Candace Diana Valdner; and 911 telecommunicator Marc Welch.
One employee retired last month — 911 telecommunicator Damian Matysczak. Drug and Alcohol clerk typist Karina Cruz’s departure was listed as a termination.
Promotions
Five workers advanced to new positions through the internal merit hiring process.
These employees, along with their new positions and hourly compensation: James Anthony Fazzi, prison desk sergeant, $32.59; Caitlyn Holland, human services fiscal officer, $30.77; Sabrina Lora and Ava Petersen, district attorney’s office administrative assistants, $19.53; and Nathan Litsch, Aging Agency care manager, $22.31.
Wyoming Valley Airport
Council Vice Chairman John Lombardo said he is confident council now has a sufficient number of citizen volunteers to reactivate the advisory board that oversees the county-owned Wyoming Valley Airport in Forty Fort.
The Forty Fort Airport Advisory Board has long been unable to convene and conduct business because it does not have a quorum. Seven of 10 seats are vacant on the board, officials said.
An active board is warranted due to updates planned at the facility, officials have said.
Lombardo chairs the committee that publicly interviews citizen applicants for outside boards. Several citizens interested in serving on the airport advisory board were among those interviewed last week.
“Getting that board up and running has been a priority of mine,” Lombardo said.
Established in 1929, the 110-acre airport was acquired by the county in the 1940s. It requires little county general fund subsidy because the state and federal government have covered most capital project costs, officials have said. The county also receives a portion of revenue from fuel sales at the facility.