Fochtman elected chairman of new board of commissioners

SOMERSET ― The two new commissioners walked into their first meeting of the board to a round of applause Tuesday.

At the reorganizational meeting of the Somerset County Commissioners, Republican Brian Fochtman was elected chairman and Republican Irvin Kimmel Jr., the vice chairman. Democrat Pamela Tokar-Ickes was elected secretary.

Fochtman said it was very reassuring to get the chairman of the board vote.

"The support is fantastic. When Irv and I walked into the room with a round of applause, it was fantastic," he said after the meeting.

Fochtman admitted to being nervous before his first meeting as a commissioner, but he sees the board moving forward from here.

"Time for talking is done and time for movement has begun. I appreciate the leadership Pam has shown Irv and I through the transition," Fochtman said. "Pam set up meetings for Irv and I, and I do appreciate that. It's about the county."

"We'll see each other more than we'll see our spouses," Tokar-Ickes said. "We'll all work together for the best of the county."

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New solicitor

Shari Ziegler was appointed acting chief clerk. Marcia Whipkey was appointed the assistant chief clerk. Benjamin Carroll of Carroll Law Offices in Somerset, and Jaclyn Shaw, of Shaw Law Group of New Kensington, were named the county solicitors pending contract approval which will be presented at the next regularly scheduled commissioners meeting Jan. 16.

Carroll and Shaw said they will initially both come to the board meetings to get a grasp on what is happening with the commissioners and the county. They will eventually alternate and work it out amongst themselves about the specific aspects of the operations, Carroll said. He currently is the solicitor for Boswell, Central City, Rockwood, Summit Township, Middlecreek Township, Upper and Lower Turkeyfoot Township and Shanksville-Stonycreek School District. Shaw is solicitor for Westmoreland and Allegheny County in Arnold and for the Allegheny Valley Regional Police Department.

Carroll said he is a lifelong resident of Somerset County and understands the county wanted a solicitor who lives or is strongly connected to the county.

Fochtman said he is "extremely excited to work with the new solicitors. GabrielFera did a fantastic job as solicitor. We wanted to go back to someone with Somerset County ties. We're very excited to work with both of them."

Tokar-Ickes said her concern is that the proposed appointed solicitors have no county government experience.

"The county doesn't have the luxury of bringing them up to speed," she said.

The new board members also were appointed to various boards and committees in the county.

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A new outlook

During the public comment section of the commissioners meeting, Chris Zanoni, a teacher in the Somerset Area School District, asked the elected officials to return to civility.

He said the name-calling on social media is vicious and asked the officials to adopt a personal resolution to stop it.

Zanoni said name-calling is below the standards that Somerset County has ever had. Name-calling and personal attacks are wrong, he said.

Lester Younkin also requested the commissioners have either a veteran or a police officer lead the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of each board meeting.

Salary board raises tabled

The county salary board tabled several motions until members had time to research the proposals.

Among those motions tabled were: continuing the 2023 hourly rates for part-time hourly employees such as court officer, temporary law clerk and part-time court reporter; continuing the 2023 salary for the jury manager at $12,001; increasing all second deputies' starting salary to $25,000; increasing all second deputies over $25,000 by one step (3%); increasing annual salaries for all full-time employees not covered by the AFSCME UMWA-JAIL or SCAPE contracts by 3.5%; increased annual salaries for all part-time employees not covered by AFSCME, UMWA-JAIL or SCAPE contracts by 3.5%; increase the hourly rates for all part-time employees not covered by the AFSCME, UMWA-JAIL or SCAPE contracts by 3.5%; and increase all district court office manager starting salaries to $30,000.

"It's minimal, but it's money," Fochtman said in agreeing to table the motions until the commissioners can make sure the budget will be able to cover the increases.

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Somerset County Treasurer Tony DeLuca said the court officers have not gotten a raise in more than eight years and feel a 9-cent-per-hour raise is not appropriate. He believes they should at least make $13 an hour, up from the $12.09 they are making now.

"I think you should give a fair rate to everybody in the county," DeLuca said.

A standard increase for the nonunion employees would be $1,539, he said. Tokar-Ickes said there is no way with the way the commissioners negotiate contracts that they can do that.

Both Fochtman and Kimmel said they would freeze their commissioners' salaries for the next two years, which is $78,847 in 2023, and a 3% increase to $81,212 in 2024. DeLuca also said he would freeze his salary as treasurer to make sure the lower-paid employees get a reasonable raise.

Younkin from the audience requested Tokar-Ickes do the same. She responded that the salaries were set under the terms of a resolution that is voted on every four years. She said Fochtman and Kimmel said they'd freeze their salaries in their campaign promises, and she did not.

The commissioners intend to include this item on the Jan. 16 agenda as well.

Actions approved

The salary board did approve increasing the salaries for all employees covered by the UMWA-JAIL contract by 2.5% and move to the next step on the first pay period following their anniversary date, if applicable, in accordance with the 2023-2026 Collective Bargaining Agreement, effective Jan. 1.

It also approved an increase in the salaries for all SCAPE Bargaining Unit employees, in accordance with the 2024-26 Collective Bargaining Agreement, to set the starting rate at $17.44 per hour, bump to $20.41 hourly after the completion of 12 months; and then $22.28 on the completion of 18 months. Member also agreed to increase the rate set for SCAPE employees whose 2023 hourly rate exceeds $22.28 per hour to a base salary increase of $3,000.

An increase of the starting salary for the EMA administrative assistant was raised from $20,688 to $25,000, effective Jan. 1.

This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Somerset County commissioners reorganize with Fochtman elected chairman