Westmoreland County commissioners split over court raises

Apr. 16—Raises for secretaries and law clerks working for Westmoreland County's 11 Common Pleas Court judges were approved Thursday in a split vote of the county's salary board.

By a 3-2 vote, the board, which includes all three county commissioners and Controller Jeff Balzer, narrowly signed off on the plan to hand out raises that range from 5% to 20%, with the most tenured secretaries earning the largest pay hikes.

Republican commissioners Sean Kertes and Doug Chew opposed the secretary raises, which ultimately were approved when Westmoreland County President Judge Rita Hathaway, who pitched the increases, cast a tiebreaking vote.

"I don't think that the salaries she proposed and those raises were commensurate with the local secretarial pool around us," said Chew, who noted local job boards promote similar positions at a lower pay scale that reflects average salaries of about $31,000 annually.

The raises will increase at the pay of at least one secretary, who has more than 30 years on the job, to more than $60,000 a year.

"Right now, I think paying certain levels 20% is rather steep. If we came to different levels of 10%, 5% or 12%, I would be more comfortable. I'm not against these employees and not against giving raises, just what level of raises we're giving," Kertes said.

None of the salary board members opposed raises handed out to judicial law clerks as well as pay hikes approved to other employees, including the director of the county's tax office and the geographic information systems department.

Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher, a Democrat, said the secretary raises will not increase base salaries for future hires.

"With the courts, they are always coming with us saving money," Thrasher said, noting a recent decision to shutter one distract magistrate court and other cost reductions plans implemented over previous years.

Balzer, a Republican, said he defers to other elected officials when considering potential raises for their employees.

"People of Westmoreland County put these elected officials in place. She (Judge Hathaway) had a well-rounded argument and what she wanted made sense," he said.

Hathaway said the raises were long overdue and acknowledged the hard work of the county's judicial staffers, especially over the last year as they worked at the courthouse during the coronavirus pandemic.

"They have been underpaid for a long time," she said.

Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Rich at 724-830-6293, rcholodofsky@triblive.com or via Twitter .