Vicites thanks supporters at last regular meeting
At his final regular business meeting as a Fayette County commissioner, Vincent A. Vicites offered thanks to those who have supported him over the 16 years he has served in the post.
Vicites said when he was first elected commissioner, he wanted to please everyone — and quickly realized that was impossible.
“You realize you make decisions of what’s best with your heart and your mind,” he said at the end of Thursday’s brief regular meeting.
Vicites said he left the private sector to go into politics, following in his father’s footsteps. It’s a decision he never has regretted, but how politicians are regarded, he said, has changed.
“There was more respect in government, and more respect in the political arena than there is now. My family has suffered greatly for that,” Vicites said.
He recognized his sons and wife, who were seated at the meeting, and thanked them for their support.
He also thanked the commissioners he has worked with over the years.
Moving forward, Vicites said he will miss politics, but is eager to start a new chapter in his life.
“I enjoyed the job. It’s the only job I ever really wanted,” he said.
“Public service isn’t easy. It takes a lot of work. It takes a lot of sacrifice. All three of us have made those sacrifices,” Commissioner Vincent Zapotosky said. “It’s more than just a 9-to-5. You give up part of your heart and soul because you really care.”
“I don’t really know what to say. I’m speechless for once,” Vicites said, after three women in the audience also got up to praise him during public comment.
Vicites, who ran for re-election, was not one of the two Democrat nominees elected in the May primary.
During their meeting, Vicites, Zapotosky and Commissioner Angela M. Zimmerlink voted on several routine matters, including unanimously voting to hire or ratify the hiring of the following people: Lawrence Grace as a full-time bus driver for Fayette Area Coordinated Transportation (FACT), Ross Williams as a part-time bus driver for FACT, Ronald Hall as a part-time bus driver for FACT, all at $11.07 an hour; John Johnson as a mechanic for FACT at $11.91 an hour; Stephan Currie as the investigator for the public defender’s office at $11.52 an hour.
The commissioners accepted resignations of full-time FACT bus driver Verna Davis, effective Saturday; Madeline Ethridge from the planning office, effective today; and Bruce Franke, former investigator for the public defender’s office, effective Nov. 15.
The commissioners will meet on Dec. 29 to consider adoption of the the 2012 budget.