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I am an Independent candidate for the new 11-person Luzerne County Council that will be elected on November 8. The first important decision of the new Council will be to create an effective recruitment and hiring process to attract a high performing County Manager. This process must balance the needs for fairness and transparency for two groups: applicants for the position, and citizens of Luzerne County.
Many highly qualified candidates may not want their current employer to know they are applying for this new position. However, Luzerne County citizens deserve to know the process is not rigged.
The Transition Committee has already advertised for the County Manager position, and received dozens of applications, not yet reviewed. This position announcement and advertisement did not mention whether applications would be treated confidentially or not.
I’d like to propose a process for hiring the new County Manager that I believe would be fair to all parties. It begins when 11 new Council members meet with the existing Transition Committee to prepare for the start of the new form of county government.
For a brief period, perhaps 2 to 4 weeks, the application process would be re-opened by issuing a new job announcement and advertisement. The re-opened announcement will promise confidentiality to all applicants until the stage of selecting finalists is reached. Candidates for the position who have already submitted applications would be permitted to amend or withdraw their application. Until finalists are selected, any applicant may withdraw his or her application. Once the Council has selected finalists, their names will be released to the public.
I believe this process guarantees fairness to prospective applicants and to Luzerne County citizens. I encourage other candidates and citizens to offer their thoughts on this important matter.
We can change the way we govern ourselves. Vote on November 8 as if our future depends on it, for in fact it does.
Rick Williams
Independent Candidate
Luzerne County Council