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By STEPHEN R. LEVINE slevine@leader.net
Thursday, February 03, 2000 Page: 1A
WILKES-BARRE – Sheriff Barry Stankus has continued cleaning house with the
firing of Chief Deputy Sheriff Carol Roman, a veteran of 28 years.
The Board of Commissioners formally eliminated Roman’s position Wednesday.
Her firing was effective Jan. 27.
The new sheriff last month also replaced Al Fenimore, the other chief
deputy, with George M. Kamage Jr. of Pittston. Kamage, a former Pennsylvania
State Police lieutenant, served with Stankus, a retired state trooper.
Stankus said Kamage’s salary will be approximately $34,000 per year.
Under former Sheriff Carl Zawatski, Fenimore, the chief deputy for
operations, ran the department while Roman, chief deputy for administration,
ran the civil side.
Stankus said he sought to bring law – as well as order – to the office. He
said when he took office, the Sheriff’s Department had no formal chain of
command in place. One of his first actions was to establish an organizational
chart.
“My plan was for an effective, efficient sheriff’s office,” Stankus said.
“It became obvious to me that I didn’t need two chief deputies.”
Stankus on Wednesday contrasted his approach to running the office with
Zawatski, whom he ousted in November’s general election.
“I’m an administrator and George is an administrator. With me being here
every day and George being here every day, we didn’t need two chief
deputies.”
Stankus said the elimination of Roman’s position also will save the
department money. Roman’s salary was $34,971 per year plus benefits totaling
about $10,000, he said.
Zawatski did not return phone calls to comment on the firings.
Roman on Wednesday said she remains a real estate broker and appraiser, but
would not elaborate on her future plans.
“I started as a sheriff’s deputy and worked my way up,” she said.
Roman was hired in 1972 by her uncle, former Luzerne County Sheriff Frank
Jagodinski.
About the time Jagodinski promoted her to chief deputy sheriff in 1993,
critics charged that Roman was rarely in the office. They also charged that
Roman, a real estate agent, talked with clients on the phone and conducted her
side business on county time.
A Times Leader investigation found Roman showed a Times Leader employee a
home at 2:30 p.m. Roman bristled at charges that she was showing real estate
on county time, claiming she showed homes only over her flexible lunch hour.
A 1998 Times Leader investigation found Zawatski was one of several county
row officers rarely found in their offices during official business hours.
Stankus, a Republican from West Pittston, ousted the Democrat sheriff after
running an almost nonexistent campaign. Days before the election, Zawatski
became embroiled in controversy when he claimed to be driving a car that
struck a utility pole.
Although the car was registered to him, witnesses told police that his
daughter, Deputy Sheriff Heather Zawatski, was often seen driving it and said
they saw her drinking at a neighborhood bar moments before the crash.
Charges against Carl Zawatski are pending the outcome of an investigation
and Heather Zawatski remains an officer with the sheriff’s department.
The department’s duties include courthouse security, transferring inmates
between the county prison and court appearances, conducting sheriff’s sales
and delivering civil protection from abuse orders.
Call Levine at 831-7305.