At the time I finished high school, the
law of the land was that every adult male reaching the age
of 18 had a military obligation and could be called upon to
serve if drafted by the local Draft Board. I was given
advice by older and experienced family members to join the
service and get my military obligation behind me so that it
did not interfere with my career in later years. I
voluntarily joined the United States Coast Guard and
honorably served four years on active duty from 1961 through
1965 which was the Viet Nam era.
After discharge from active duty, I was fortunate to begin a
career in finance. I was hired and worked my way up to
branch manager and Special Lending Officer of a national
finance company. Over ten years of finance experience taught
me the finer points of office management and obviously, the
world of finance.
Years later, my finance background qualified me to accept a
position in the accounting office of Luzerne County Human
Resources Development Department (LCHRDD). This position
afforded me additional experience in the control of
finances.
Again, some years later I was given the opportunity by Tom
Walsh, mayor of the City of Pittston to join his
administration as his deputy. At that time, I also served as
the City’s Assessor, Code Enforcement Officer and Zoning
Officer. A short time later I was made the Deputy Director
of the Department of Accounts and Finance and then accepted
the position of City Clerk/Administrator.
As the City Clerk/Administrator, I wore many hats among them
being the city’s personnel manager, purchasing manager and
financial manager. I also served as the administrator of the
three city pension plans. It is worth noting that a part of
the duties of the County Controller is being a member of the
County Salary Board and Pension Board. My experience as the
City’s personnel manager and pension plan administrator gave
me strong practical experience to handle those duties of the
County Controller. As the city’s personnel manager, I
negotiated the city’s four union contracts and took part in
labor arbitrations.
To regress a bit, during my employment with the LCHRDD, I
was part of the organizing movement to unionize the county.
While organizing the union, a small group of county
employees met at the Grogg Shop in Wilkes-Barre where we
picked temporary officers as well as a contract negotiating
team. I was a member of that team and helped to negotiate
the first union contract in County government. Contract
negotiations did not go well and a strike was forced. After
a month of picketing and continued negotiations, a contract
was ratified and the state issued a permanent certification
and AFSCME Local 1398 was created. A meeting of the general
membership was held and I was elected the first president of
AFSCME Local 1398.
During my presidency, we negotiated other contracts and I
had the opportunity to be a part of the grievance procedure
and also took part in binding arbitrations. All in all, this
experience afforded me a keen insight into the
labor-management relationship.
I am proud of the fact that I was the only one of the
current County Council candidates interested enough in the
Offices of Controller ad Clerk of Courts to have taken the
time to submit an application to fill the un-expired terms
created when then County Controller Maryann Petrilla vacated
her office to become County Commissioner and Recorder of
Deeds Bob Reilly resigned. It is also worth noting that I am
the only candidate who has made the effort to put forth
solutions to the current county fiscal problems.
The overall experiences of my military service and working
life has taken me to this point where I feel the office of
Luzerne County Controller was tailor made for me personally.
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