Lame-duck commissioners may make appointments
Although President Judge Conrad Capuzzi has scheduled the swearing in of newly elected officials for Dec. 29, the incumbent Fayette County commissioners hold office through Jan. 5 and thus can make 30 board and authority appointments that expire Dec. 31. Douglas Hill, executive director of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, said the early swearing-in ceremony, which includes Commissioners-elect Angela M. Zimmerlink and Joe Hardy, shouldn’t affect the powers of the three incumbent commissioners through Jan. 5.
“I don’t think it does (have any implications),” said Hill. “Were that the case, what’s to prevent somebody from being sworn in Nov. 10 and saying, ‘I’m taking over.’ I believe the term (of the incumbents) lasts until Jan. 5.”
John Brosious, deputy director of the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association, and Mike Witherel, the PMAA’s solicitor, also say that incumbent Commissioners Ronald M. Nehls, Sean M. Cavanagh and Vincent A. Vicites wield power through the official expiration of the end of their current terms.
Brosious said nothing in the state municipal authorities’ act curtails the ability of lame duck commissioners, in this case Nehls and Cavanagh, from making appointments. Both have expressed a desire to replace Martin Griglak, a Vicites advisor, on the Fayette County Airport Authority and on the county’s Mental Health/Mental Retardation Advisory Board.
Griglak’s term on both expires Dec. 31, as does the term of Fayette County Housing Authority board chairman Kenneth L. Johnson.
“We do not have a provision in our act that says lame duck appointments (by county commissioners) cannot occur,” said Brosius. “If the county code doesn’t cover lame duck appointments and our act is totally silent on it … I would say that they (the current commissioners) appear to be within their rights to do it.”
Witherel said that any elected official has until the official expiration of his or her term to carry out the duties of that office. He said that swearing in new members before the expiration of the current term has no effect on incumbents’ ability to make decisions.
“They’re sworn in, but technically they don’t take office until (Jan. 5), so the other people who are in office can do as they see fit (until then),” said Witherel.
While outgoing Commissioners Cavanagh and Nehls intend to handle the board and authority appointments that expire Dec. 31, Vicites, who returns for a third term, believes the new board that takes office Jan. 5 should get that opportunity.
Vicites also said there isn’t enough time to solicit letters of interest and conduct interviews if the positions are going to be filled by Jan. 5.
“It’s my position that we have a new board of commissioners coming in, and they should have the opportunity to appoint the people that they want to serve with in their term in office,” said Vicites. “To me, that’s important. …The people of this county chose who they wanted to serve them for the next four years. I think those (commissioners) should have the opportunity to serve those voters. They shouldn’t be saddled with whomever the outgoing board of commissioners is going to choose.”
However, Nehls and Cavanagh said they intend to carry out a full four-year term of responsibility, either naming new members or making reappointments as early as the Dec. 30 meeting, during which the commissioners will approve the 2004 budget.
Nehls said he wouldn’t defer on the duties of his term. “No way. That doesn’t make sense,” said Nehls. “Why would we shirk our duties in that respect? …I’m willing to make some changes, absolutely. As a matter of fact, I have a couple of names that I’d like to submit. I don’t have a whole lot of others. But I would appreciate getting any other names from either Commissioner Vicites or Commissioner Cavanagh.”
Nehls said he took home and studied the county code and the municipal authorities act, and he discovered that what Vicites had said regarding the current board’s power to make the appointments “was a bunch of bunk.”
Nehls also was strident on two points: He won’t vote to reappoint Griglak to anything, and he will not vote for what he perceives as any political appointment.
Cavanagh said that if he gets cooperation from Nehls, he’s interested in making changes on the Fayette County Airport Authority and the MH/MR Advisory Board. Cavanagh also said he would consider making a change at the Fayette County Housing Authority.
“I clearly would like to remove some of these board members who I feel are just offering bad leadership and are destructive. I have no problem making any decision as long as I’m a county commissioner,” said Cavanagh. “I clearly would like to remove Martin Griglak, because I think he’s engaged in inappropriate behavior. There’s about three or four (others), but I can’t do it single-handedly.”
Cavanagh also said he might be interested in serving in some type of volunteer capacity, and added that he’d like to remind Nehls that he’s only 39 years old and has a keen interest. “I have time to serve in county government if called upon. What happens in this county concerns me, whether I’m in (an elected position) or not,” said Cavanagh.
Fayette County solicitor Joseph E. Ferens Jr. said the incumbent commissioners serve until the official start of Jan. 5, regardless of when the swearing in of new commissioners takes place.
“They hold office until 11:59 p.m. on January 4,” said Ferens.