Luzerne County Government

May 20, 2010

Layoff of 40 appears to be unavoidable

Luzerne County commissioners determine they can’t stop outsourcing of job placement agency employees.

By Jennifer Learn-Andes jandes@timesleader.com
Luzerne County Reporter
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Luzerne County commissioners concluded Wednesday that they have no power to stop outsourcing that will lead to the layoff of 40 county employees who handle job placement and training programs for the unemployed and underprivileged youth.

The layoffs stem from the commissioner-appointed Luzerne/Schuylkill Workforce Investment Board’s vote Monday to hire outside companies to perform work currently handled by county employees stationed at the Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre Career Link offices.

Commissioners from Luzerne and Schuylkill counties had planned to vote Wednesday on whether to accept or reject this outsourcing, but that meeting was canceled Wednesday morning after county Solicitor Vito DeLuca determined that commissioners have no authority to intervene in the board’s decisions.

The Workforce Investment Board plans to meet again at 11 a.m. today for a final vote to implement the outsourcing, which is slated to take effect July 1.

Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla said Wednesday she is “somewhat angry” she couldn’t get a second vote from another commissioner sooner to change leadership in the impacted county department, the Workforce Investment Development Agency.

Petrilla and Commissioner Thomas Cooney voted last week to terminate agency Director Richard Ammon, saying the personnel action may convince the board to keep the work in-house. Petrilla said she has been discussing problems with agency leadership and audits for about a year.

“I believe if leadership changes had been made sooner, we wouldn’t be at this point today,” Petrilla said.

County minority Commissioner Stephen A. Urban said the audits did not identify missing money or practices that could not be corrected under Ammon’s leadership.

“It was the intent of the board to contract these jobs out for a long time, and it was their intent to get rid of Richard Ammon for a long time,” Urban said. “Rich Ammon has been a scapegoat in this whole process. I don’t think terminating him earlier would have made any difference.”

Cooney also disagreed with Petrilla’s assessment.

“Whether Mr. Ammon was terminated or not, I think the outcome would have been the same. I believe this was the action the state was soliciting or directing months ago,” Cooney said.

Board officials had announced in March that the board would seek proposals after a state audit found deficiencies in administrative practices or bookkeeping at the county Workforce Investment Development Agency and ReDCo Group, which handled the work in Schuylkill County.

The state covers the cost of the jobs programs, amounting to about $11 million annually.

After a board panel reviewed public proposals, the board voted Monday to award the work to Employment Data Systems Inc., ReDCo Group and Arbor Employment & Training.

Petrilla said the layoffs are “very upsetting.” She spoke to the heads of the three companies selected to handle the work.

“All three companies assured me that our employees would be given first preference at the jobs, and that’s critical to me and the other commissioners,” Petrilla said.

Cooney said he is “disappointed” that there wasn’t more dialogue about options to keep the work in-house.

Urban said he does not expect all county workers to be hired by the new companies.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that some of the people will be hired by the new vendors because these workers are already interacting with clients, and they’re not going to jeopardize ongoing activities,” Urban said.

Paula Schnelly, who heads the union that represents 36 of the impacted workers, said she is not letting commissioners off the hook.

“I believe that the Luzerne County commissioners created this situation, and I hold them 100 percent accountable for everything that’s occurred,” said Schnelly, of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees Local 1398, known as AFSCME.

The union is planning legal action because it wasn’t involved in discussions about outsourcing and has compiled legal research challenging the county’s argument that commissioners can’t stop the board from contracting out the work.

“AFSCME does not agree with the finding that the board has the ultimate control or power over the Luzerne County commissioners,” Schnelly said.

Marie Kay, a contract specialist in the Hazleton Career Link office, said Wednesday she and her colleagues are “very frustrated and very upset.”

Kay said the county’s Career Link offices ranked top in the state last year for job placements, and the workers were open to any suggestions from the board or state to improve performance. She believes the board should have spelled out expectations and put the agency on probation, rather than contracting out.

“I know people have no sympathy for government workers, but our performance measures were good. We signed in and out. Our time was all accounted for and documented,” Kay said.

Jennifer Learn-Andes, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 831-7333.

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