Judges choose Burick as commissioner
Mar. 13—Former Lawrence County Commissioner Brian D. Burick will be stepping in to his previous position for a reprise, filling a vacancy created with the resignation of Commissioner Morgan Boyd.
Burick, one of 11 candidates to fill the position for the rest of this year, was chosen Monday by a unanimous vote of the county's four Court of Common Pleas judges. The appointment was made after deliberations Monday, and after the judges interviewed all 11 candidates on Friday.
Boyd, who served as a commissioner for three years, resigned from his elected post effective Friday to assume the position of special assistant to the secretary of the state Community and Economic Development in Harrisburg.
President Judge Dominick Motto handed down an order Monday afternoon affirming Burick's appointment to the seat. His term will expire when three newly elected commissioners are sworn into office on Jan. 8.
Burick, 54, previously served eight years as an elected county commissioner from 1996 to 2004. He is not seeking election in the upcoming May 16 primary.
Burick holds a bachelor of science degree in education from Slippery Rock University and attended the Catholic University of America. He served as executive director for Habitat for Humanity in 2005-06. His current professional position is that of an income maintenance caseworker for the state Department of Human Services, a position he has held for nearly 5 1/2 years.
"We were impressed with the qualifications of all the candidates," Motto said on behalf of all four judges. "Everyone who applied certainly had the qualifications to serve."
The other judges who had input into the decision were J. Craig Cox, John W. Hodge and David H. Acker.
"We focused on Mr. Burick because he had two terms as a prior commissioner, and we felt he obviously knew the job and would be able to serve without a learning curve," Motto said.
He emphasized that the four judges considered that if they selected one of the two individuals who applied who also are running for commissioner in the upcoming election, that would be impacting the election, "which we did not want to do. That did turn out to be a factor.
"We all felt Mr. Burick would be the best fit," Motto said.
He noted Burick is a graduate of the Academy for Excellence in County Government, a two-year training program sponsored by the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania.
"If we picked any one of them, we felt they would be able to do the job," the president judge said. "We interviewed everybody, and everyone had a lengthy interview. Ultimately, we reviewed all their qualifications and weighed the pros and cons, and we narrowed it down to Brian. But there was nothing negative about any one of the candidates."
"I'm very honored and appreciative of the judges' selection," Burick said Monday afternoon.
He decided to apply for the position because, with only nine months left in the term, he felt somebody brand new without county government experience wouldn't have had time to learn all that was involved.
"It takes a good year to learn all the responsibilities, so I felt I was well qualified to fill out the year," he said.
Burick currently works in a civil service position with the Department of Human Services, and he has requested a leave of absence from there. He hasn't received a final decision from the agency, "but either way, I'm going to serve the next nine months as commissioner," he said.
He is hoping that the leave is granted to he can return to his state job in January, he said.
"I want to keep a relatively low profile," he said. "I'm willing to serve the county as someone who knows a little bit and can contribute to the operation of county government."
Burick and Janice, his wife of 23 years, live on the city's North Hill. They have a son, Joshua, a freshman at Grove City College, and a daughter, Faith, a senior at New Castle High School.
In his position as commissioner, Burick also will fill Boyd's positions on the county elections, prison, retirement and salary boards and other boards on which he served.
"I'm happy to be a commissioner again," he said. " I just want to serve the county the best I can for the next nine months."
