Apr 2, 2020 4 min read

Not only were the Washington County commissioners physically separated Wednesday in meetings via teleconference, they broke along philosophical lines.

“No” votes among members of the board are a rare occurrence, but a difference of opinion dating back to beyond last year’s election came to a head with the naming of a director of Washington County human services, which carries a six-figure salary.

The discord arose shortly after Commission Chairman Diana Irey Vaughan, in an invocation, prayed for divine guidance during a time of uncertainty.

The commissioners, from inside their respective homes, maintained social distancing in keeping with state and federal guidelines during the novel coronavirus pandemic at their meeting and that of the Washington County Salary Board, comprised of the three commissioners plus Controller Michael Namie.

When the salary board convened, the agenda included a change in title. The human services director/health center administrator role was altered to “human services director.”

It may not sound like a major move, but it opened up a chasm.

The item passed by a vote of 3-1, with Commission Chairman Diana Irey Vaughan and Commissioner Nick Sherman, both Republicans, and Namie, a Democrat, voting in favor. Namie emphasized during the meeting that the agenda, presented in chart form, carried only the title change. Spaces for “current salary” and “requested salary” were blank.

Nor was the name of a candidate revealed on the agenda, although Irey Vaughan, in an interview last week, said Children and Youth Services administrator Kimberly Rogers had been chosen for the post.

It was the new position’s $113,023 salary that Maggi said was the reason for his negative vote. Rogers, as CYS administrator, had been making $96,900, so she’ll be getting a raise of about $16,000.

The CYS administrator actually is paid slightly more than the Washington County commissioner’s base salary.

Irey Vaughan pointed out that Maggi had previously signed off on a memorandum supporting the change.

Maggi said after the meeting, “We sign dozens and dozens of them,” but that he didn’t recall a salary being included in the memo or any of the correspondence.

He later said his vote didn’t “have anything to do with Kim or her role. She did a good job in her role at CYS. I just don’t think we should be having this debate now. These are tough times. The future is so uncertain, and we’re looking at massive unemployment.

“I’m always the bad guy when it comes to the money part of county government.”

Irey Vaughan justified Rogers’ salary, saying that it was commensurate with what Rogers’ predecessor, Tim Kimmel, would have been earning had he remained with the county instead of joining the private company that purchased the health center.

Maggi disagreed, saying that had Kimmel kept his human services job with the county after the sale of the health center, he would have been required to take a cut in pay.

Filling the human services directorship was a cornerstone of Irey Vaughan’s and Sherman’s platform in last year’s county commissioners’ race. The commission chairman said last week that she sees the novel coronavirus pandemic exacerbating stress at so many levels that the county needs a single person coordinating services to deal with it.

Kimmel had held the position of county human services director since 2004, but he attended classes and obtained certification in November 2012 so he could simultaneously serve as administrator of the county health center.

Along with the dual role 7½ years ago came a salary of $97,500, which included a $9,950 raise granted by the commissioners as Kimmel earned his nursing home administrator’s credentials.

When the county sold the health center in Arden, Chartiers Township, in 2017, Kimmel chose to remain in the administrator’s post with the new owner, Premier Healthcare Management of Philadelphia.

The human services directorship has been vacant until two weeks ago, when Rogers, accepted it. She will continue to lead CYS, plus other human services such as aging and behavioral health and development, until her replacement at CYS is named.

Rogers’ new salary will be retroactive to March 19.

In a related matter, Scott Berry was promoted from acting administrator of the Behavioral Health and Developmental Services Department to administrator. When his predecessor, Jan Taper, retired at the end of last year, the position paid $94,100 per year.

Unlike the human services position, the salaries related to behavioral health were published on the agenda made available at the salary board meeting. Berry will be making $86,500 per year because the length of his employment with the county is shorter than what Taper’s had been, Irey Vaughan said.

As a mental health program director before being named acting administrator, Berry had been paid $60,804, according to a public record known as the Washington County Salary Book.