Commissioners take sides on appointments
The tone was set early Tuesday during the Fayette County commissioners special meeting when Republican Joseph A. Hardy III and Democrat Vincent A. Vicites teamed up against reappointing the chairman of the Fayette County Airport Authority. The move drew critical remarks from Republican Chairwoman Angela M. Zimmerlink, who said she thought the commissioners “should have kept (Airport Authority Chairman) Fred Davis on the board.” She said Davis has been on the board for quite some time and has worked hard for the airport.
“He has kept the interests of Fayette County at heart and has been a constant drive for the authority in times of upheaval,” Zimmerlink said. She said Davis has been an “anchor” for the last few years at the authority.
In the 2-1 vote, Hardy and Vicites appointed Todd Radolec of McMillen Engineering to fill the five-year term most recently held by Davis. Zimmerlink voted against the motion.
Davis, an outspoken member of the authority for years, only had Zimmerlink’s support when the vote was taken. Davis had expressed an interest in reappointment, but earlier said his interview only lasted four of the allotted 20 minutes. Prior to the vote to appoint Radolec, Zimmerlink made a motion to reappoint Davis, but did not receive a second.
Vicites and Hardy did not comment during or after the vote.
Davis earlier said during his time on the authority, numerous projects have occurred at the Connellsville Airport, including vault rehabilitation, storm water improvements, a new sewage system design, rehabilitation of the access road and main hangar apron, design of a new potable water system and the purchase of snow removal equipment.
Other larger projects, which have meant more than more than $8.5 million in investment to the airport, have also occurred, including construction of a new terminal building and preparations for a runway extension. Davis has served on the board for 11 years, most of which time he has served as chairman. Ironically, five years ago, Davis received support from Vicites, when Vicites voted with former Commissioner Sean M. Cavanagh to reappoint Davis.
As the meeting progressed and Vicites and Hardy continued to vote together on appointments, Zimmerlink said it was a “shame” that they scheduled interviews for people when it was apparent that Hardy and Vicites were going to put the people they wanted to appoint in the positions. “I can see how the appointments are going to go and it’s a shame,” Zimmerlink said.
Her comments were made after Hardy and Vicites voted to place Dale Coughenour and Jami McCahill on the Fayette County Transportation Executive Committee instead of reappointing Veteran’s Affairs Director Don Seroka and citizen representative Dan Martin.
Vicites said Seroka didn’t want to be reappointed, citing a lack of time to spend on the board. Zimmerlink said it wouldn’t take a lot of time. “We have a history of retaining Veteran’s Affairs representatives on the board and the meetings are not that lengthy,” Zimmerlink said.
Zimmerlink also wanted to keep Martin because he lives in the Perryopolis area and was a citizen representative, as opposed to McCahill, who is the third person involved with the Area Agency on Aging on the board. Vicites spoke in favor of McCahill, whom he said brings a lot of experience with the housing authority programs with seniors.
Zimmerlink said her fellow commissioners stacked the board with more of the same, to which Vicites replied that the majority of the county’s population is senior citizens and McCahill did well in the interview.
Regarding appointments to the Fayette County Planning Commission, Robert Baker was reappointed by Vicites and Hardy to a four-year term and Jim Griffin was appointed to fill a term formerly held by Sturge Hughes, who did not seek reappointment.
Although Zimmerlink agreed that as a farmer Griffin would be a good addition to the board, she added that her notes during the interview indicated that he could not attend meetings.
Hardy said it should be verified if Griffin couldn’t attend.
For the Fayette County Zoning Hearing Board, Janet Nelson was reappointed as a regular member, and Jim Killinger was reappointed as an alternate member, both for three-year terms. Zimmerlink said she would like to have a member of the farming community on the board in the future.
In other appointments, William Geary and Tom McCracken were appointed to three-year terms on the Agricultural Land Preservation Board; Larry Chalcic and Commissioner Vicites were appointed to the Conservation District for one-year terms; Rick Adabato was appointed to a one-year term on the Fayette County EMS Board; Harold Whyel was appointed to the Fayette County Health Center Board; Harry Joseph, Mark Rabatin, Rev. Duval Tracy, Carmen Galderisi, John Over and Commissioner Zimmerlink were appointed to the Fayette County Mental Health/Mental Retardation Board; Paul Kendi Jr. was reappointed to the North Fayette Municipal Authority for a five-year term with Zimmerlink against; Dexton Reed was reappointed to the Regional Trail Commission; and Tom McGrew and Tim Emory were reappointed to the Uniform Construction Code Appeals Board.
Also, Emmanuel I. Osagie, Don Miller, Bill Blaney, J.E. Trees, Bill Rittenhouse, Chuck Motycka and George Rattay were appointed to the Workforce Investment Board; while Vicites was named as a representative to the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance for a one-year term.