5 seek Westmoreland commissioner's seat vacated by Thrasher

Jul. 14—Five men are interested in completing the remainder of departing Westmoreland County Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher's term when she moves on to a new job in a few weeks.

Friday afternoon was the deadline for county Democrats to submit an application in hopes of being appointed to the remaining five months of the term. Westmoreland County's 11 Common Pleas judges are scheduled to meet at noon Monday in Courtroom 3 to hear oral presentations from selected applicants before appointing one of them.

Thrasher, 37, of Latrobe, resigned June 29, two days after her appointment to serve as a commissioner on the Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Appeals Board, a position she will begin in August.

She endorsed her chief of staff, Donald O'Brien, as her replacement.

The following men, including two former county commissioners, submitted letters of interest:

—Thomas C. Ceraso, 59, of New Kensington. He served as county commissioner from 2000 to 2010 and currently is the assistant manager of the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County.

—George Hawdon, 65, of Arnold. He has been an Arnold councilman since 2019 but said in a letter of interest that he did not seek reelection this year because of a planned retirement. He has worked for the past 15 years as a direct service professional with Wesley Family Services.

—Ted Kopas, 49, of Hempfield. He served as county commissioner from 2010 to 2020 and is running for election to the board this fall. He has been a project manager on the Pennsylvania Governor's Action Team since last year and held jobs at Mutual Aid Ambulance and Somerset Trust Co. after being defeated in a 2019 re-election bid.

—O'Brien, 64, of Cook. He has worked as Thrasher's top aide since she took office in January 2016 after holding a number of county positions since 1987. He performed the duties of commissioner while she was on maternity leave following the birth of her first child.

—Adam J. Shaffer, 47, of Hempfield. He is the general manager of the Washington Symphony Orchestra and managed the Westmoreland Arts and Heritage Festival from 2009 to 2015. In about the same time frame that he was secretary-treasurer for New Alexandria.

To qualify, applicants must be U.S. citizens and must have been registered in the county as a member of the Democratic Party on Nov. 5, 2019. That's the date when Thrasher, the lone Democrat on the board, was last elected commissioner. She announced in February she would not seek a third term in office.

Scottdale resident Sydney Hovis, a Democrat, also is running for election to the three-member board of commissioners this fall against incumbents Sean Kertes and Doug Chew, both Republicans.

Thrasher participated in her final commissioners' meeting Thursday. It was an emotional one as Kertes, Chew and department heads expressed their appreciation for her work since taking office as the youngest female commissioner in Pennsylvania.

Chew praised Thrasher's drive to improve the county with federal American Rescue Plan funding, most notably championing $10.4 million set aside to target blight and $4.5 million for the Westmoreland Food Bank.

"Your passion and compassion for our citizens ... is unsurpassed, and the county owes you a great debt," Chew said.

He discussed how they and Kertes have worked together and maintained collegial attitudes, even when they didn't agree on topics.

Kertes' remarks were more personal, remembering a celebration in the commissioners' office when Thrasher passed the bar exam in 2017 and being there for each other during happy and sad life events outside of work.

"Your kindness, your generosity, your kind words, checking in on me, being a decent human being, being honest, being a good human being to those who are suffering, I commend you, I want to thank you on a personal level," Kertes said.

Jason Rigone, director of county planning and the Industrial Development Corp., thanked Thrasher for her leadership, support and friendship.

"Our jobs are to leave this place a better place than when we started, and I certainly believe that you achieved that," Rigone said. "Some of these things are challenging and having to make the hard decisions when ... it's not fully understood, it's difficult. But you've always stood up for what was right, and I appreciate that."

In between the praises, all three got in some good-natured joking at her expense, such as Thrasher's cell phone ring tone that plays Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" and her love of Chick-fil-A.

"Oh, and don't forget us when you go to Harrisburg," Rigone said.

Hugs and tears were exchanged.

"I wasn't prepared for this, so I just say thank you so much, and it's been a complete honor working with my colleagues," Thrasher said. "Thank you for making the past eight years of going to work every day fun."

Renatta Signorini is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Renatta by email at rsignorini@triblive.com or via Twitter .