Washington County’s Commissioner candidates differ on need for human services director
Commissioners are in charge of the jail, county parks, 145 bridges, public safety and the 911 emergency call center, property assessment and a host of what are known as 鈥渉uman services鈥� to aid veterans, the aged, children and youth and those with behavioral and mental problems.
Until late 2017, they were also responsible for a nursing and rehabilitation home, Washington County Health Center, which was sold to a private corporation, Premier Healthcare Management of Philadelphia for $27.85 million.
At that time, the county鈥檚 human services director, who was also the health center administrator, resigned from county government to take an administrative position with Premier. The Washington County human services director position was not eliminated, but it remains unfilled.
Whether this is the proper course to follow has become an election-year issue among the commissioner candidates. In 2010, before the position merged human services director and health center administrator or assistant administrator, it carried a salary of $75,352, plus benefits.
If the same person had remained in that role and had not assumed responsibilities at the health center, the position would be paying $98,318 this year, according to a calculation of the county鈥檚 cost-of-living raises.
After the sale of the health center, the county advertised the human services director鈥檚 opening and set up interviews, but the process never reached the hiring stage.
Diana Irey Vaughan, an incumbent, said she was in favor of filling the position, but she lacked a second vote in favor to bring it to the county salary board.
Nick Sherman, the other Republican nominee, is in favor of filling the vacancy, but Larry Maggi and Harlan Shober, Democratic incumbents, are not.
Sherman framed the issue within the context of the opioid epidemic.
鈥淲hen we are in the middle of a crisis, to get rid of a director who is solely responsible is one of the worst things we could have done,鈥� Sherman said in a recent interview.
鈥淲hen (Irey Vaughan) and I speak, our No. 1 priority is getting human services back in order.鈥�
Sherman, citing the opioid epidemic and his 16 years of working with human services said in a recent interview, 鈥淚 would do everything different鈥� than how county officials are handling the matter.
鈥淲ashington Drug and Alcohol (Commission) has taken the reins for this and they are doing the work of the private sector.
鈥淚 see this as a single point of entry, single point of exit where you鈥檙e monitoring and (the human services director is) overseeing the drug and alcohol commission, they鈥檙e overseeing the district attorney鈥檚 office and they鈥檙e overseeing probation.鈥�
Sherman said he also wants similar monitoring to be done with those charged with crimes related to domestic violence and make public statistics regarding outcomes, such as those who have successfully completed court-ordered treatment.
Irey Vaughan said she鈥檚 also interested in seeing mandated tracking of outcomes for human service programs.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 critical when the need for human services continues to grow,鈥� she said, hoping to identify problems that affect both an individual and the person鈥檚 family.
Irey Vaughan said she not only wants the county to focus on, for example, the person with a substance abuse disorder, but whether there is a child or an aging parent in the home.
In the absence of a human services director, Irey Vaughan said she started a human services task force which developed a Washington County human services app for smart phones.
Should she be re-elected, regardless of who else may be chosen in the Nov. 5 election, Irey Vaughan said she鈥檒l bring up the filling of the human services director鈥檚 position when she has a second vote.
鈥淎re we saving money by not having someone in that position, someone coordinating services?鈥� she asked. 鈥淧erhaps you can eliminate intake in every single department.鈥�
Both Irey Vaughan and Shober said they want to see the counties鈥� agencies use an integrated computer system.
Shober said not filling the human services director鈥檚 position is part of his responsibility to keep costs down, but that the county is looking at information technology solutions to 鈥渕ake sure we can work together to treat the whole situation.
鈥淚 have very good directors in each of the departments,鈥� he added. 鈥淭im Kimmel as human services director was also in charge of the health center. Directors came to him when there was an issue between the departments. We saved money instead of paying two salaries.鈥�
He said Jason Bercini, fiscal manager for Washington County human services, is someone who 鈥渉as opened a better dialog among our directors.鈥�
Shober noted that the board of commissioners decided unanimously to file suit against pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors, attempting to recover damages related to the cost of battling the opioid epidemic.
The county had 27.6 drug-related arrests per 100,000 residents in 2006,鈥� a number that exploded 1,430 percent by 2014, putting 鈥渇inancial strain on every aspect of the county criminal justice system,鈥� according to the suit.
In 2015, Washington County鈥檚 rate of 35.05 fatal drug overdoses per 100,000 people placed it among the top 10 in the state, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
County Solicitor J. Lynn DeHaven said last week Washington County has also filed a claim against Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin, in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
鈥淲e are still actually doing a lot of things with the human services side of it,鈥� Shober said. 鈥淲ith re-entry programs, we鈥檙e funding the district attorney with the law enforcement side. We鈥檙e trying to treat people rather than incarcerate only.鈥�
Maggi said he views the human services director鈥檚 position as 鈥渏ust another layer of bureaucracy that didn鈥檛 work. Somebody could make $100,000 a year plus benefits, nothing against the people who applied.鈥�
Two of the components that were under the umbrella of human services, the health center and Child Care Information Services 鈥� relocated by the state to Greensburg 鈥� are gone.
鈥淚t was kind of political appointees for a lot of years, and that was my opinion,鈥� Maggi said.
The commissioner graduated from the State Police Academy in 1973, a few years after President Richard Nixon declared the 鈥渨ar on drugs.鈥�
Maggi, who arrested people for drug possession and drug-dealing and worked in the vice unit, said he has seen the ravages of drugs over the decades and reached the conclusion, 鈥淲e can鈥檛 arrest our way out of it. It鈥檚 a society problem and society has got to change it. It鈥檚 a long process, it鈥檚 a very difficult process.
鈥淲e are trying new programs that come out. Most crimes are drug-related, and we try to sort out the addicts, try to get them the help they need right away.鈥�
All three commissioners are running for re-election, so Sherman will have to unseat one of them to be elected to the board.
Irey Vaughan is seeking her seventh term, which makes her a modern-day record holder among Washington County commissioners, while Maggi is running for a fifth term and Shober is making a bid for a third.
Those casting ballots have the opportunity to vote for no more than two candidates, with the three top vote-getters taking oaths of office in early January to ensures minority-party representation on the board.
Washington County Commissioner Bio Box
Term: Four years
Base salary: $93,944
Democrats
Name: Larry Maggi
Age: 69
Residence: Buffalo Township
Education: Bachelor鈥檚 degree, California University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania State Police Academy
Occupation: County commissioner
Name: Harlan Shober
Age: 74
Residence: Chartiers Township
Education: Attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Occupation: County commissioner
Republicans
Name: Diana Irey Vaughan
Age: 57
Residence: Nottingham Township
Education: West Virginia Business College
Occupation: County commissioner
Name: Nick Sherman
Age: 40
Residence: North Strabane Township
Education: Bachelor鈥檚 degree, Clarion University
Occupation: Executive vice president, Domestic Outreach Corp.