Search committee now reviewing resumes for top Luzerne County manager position

Luzerne County ended up receiving 12 to 14 resumes for the top manager position by the submission deadline, county Manager Search Committee Chairman Charles Sciandra said Monday.

“I am extremely pleased with the quality of applications we received,” Sciandra said.

He estimated half are from “local” residents, which he defines as those within 50 miles. He saw resumes citing experience in government and some in private industry.

Under the county’s home rule structure, the three-citizen search committee must seek, screen and interview manager applicants and recommend the candidates it believes are the most qualified to council for its consideration.

Search committee members are now individually ranking applicants and will meet privately as a group on March 22 to decide which will be interviewed.

Those advancing will receive a series of written questions to answer by March 27.

The committee plans to perform interviews the weeks of April 3 and 10.

Following past practice, the committee had tentatively agreed it will plan to forward three finalists to council for its consideration.

Seven of 11 council votes are required to hire the manager. The current council already set a standard last year of publicly releasing the names and resumes of the manager finalists council received from the search committee and publicly interviewing the finalists. Council Chairwoman Kendra Radle had said that decision was meant to make the “whole process as transparent as possible.”

The search committee advertised a base range of $116,322 to $180,000, although the final compensation determination is up to council. Council allocated $145,000 for the manager salary in the 2023 budget, but that earmark can be adjusted.

County Acting Manager Brian Swetz confirmed Monday he has applied for the position. Swetz said he waited until after the application deadline to reveal he was interested in the permanent position because he did not want to discourage other existing employees from applying.

Swetz has been acting manager since prior manager Randy Robertson ended work in November. He also served as acting manager for several weeks in May and June 2022 before Robertson’s arrival. 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 has a bachelor’s degree in accounting.