Officials swear to ‘discharge the duties of my office with fidelity’
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Assembled guests and dignitaries stand for the Pledge of Allegiance as the colors are presented by members of Marine Corps League Detachment 1138 before for the swearing-in ceremony for county government officials.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Former Congressman Tim Murphy straightens Commissioner-elect Nick Sherman’s tie in preparation for the swearing-in ceremony at the Washington County Courthouse. Sherman formerly worked as a staff member for Murphy. At right is Robert Vaughan, husband of Commissioner Diana Irey Vaughan.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
New Washington County Commissioner Nick Sherman is joined by his son, Maxwell, 6, and his daughter, Hadley, 8, as he takes the oath of office in the courthouse Friday. His wife, Heather, held the family Bible. Judge Traci L. McDonald administered Sherman’s oath.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
New magistrates sworn in Friday and the locations of their offices are, from left, James Saieva Jr., Canonsburg; Eric G. Porter, Charleroi; and Michael Manfredi, North Strabane Township.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Newly sworn-in Washington County Commissioner Nick Sherman with wife, Heather, daughter, Hadley, and son, Maxwell, at the courthouse after the ceremony on Friday.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
New county row officers after their swearing-in ceremony are, seated, Laura Hough, prothonotary, and James Roman, register of wills and clerk of orphans’ clerk. Standing are Brenda Davis, clerk of courts, and Tom Flickinger, county treasurer.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Former Congressman Tim Murphy talks with Marine Corps veteran Brandon Rumbaugh prior to the swearing-in ceremony for new Washington County officers at the Courthouse Friday. Rumbaugh led those assembled in the Pledge of Allegiance at the ceremony.
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Washington County Commissioner Larry Maggi gives a hug and kiss to his granddaughter as he celebrates his swearing-in for a fifth, four-year term in a ceremony Friday.
Rain could not dampen the spirits of friends and family who turned out Friday morning to bask in the glow as eight new officials and five incumbents repeated oaths of office in ceremonies at the Washington County Courthouse.
“It’s a great day in Washington County,” said master of ceremonies Bracken Burns, former Washington County commissioner, enunciating his signature line.
While incumbent officer holders had taken oaths as recently as four years ago, Judge Traci McDonald had them all beat in time spans. Just over four months ago, she was sworn in as a gubernatorial appointee through the close of 2019. After winning a 10-year term on Common Pleas Court in the November election as the nominee of both Democrats and Republicans, she renewed her tenure on Friday.
Those sworn actually take office on Monday, when Commission Vice Chairman Diana Irey Vaughan is expected to assume the chairmanship of the three-person board as top votegetter and senior member of the Republican majority.
The board will convene its salary board reorganization at 10 a.m. Monday in the public meeting room of the Courthouse Square office building.
County Solicitor J. Lynn DeHaven resigned effective Jan. 6, and Irey Vaughan declined to reveal his replacement.
“Wait ’til Monday,” she said before the proceedings began in a packed Courtroom No. 1, coincidentally the red courtroom. Republican red dominated Washington County elections last November, with the GOP ousting two incumbent Democratic row officers, a Democratic commissioner, and capturing two open row office seats.
The chairman-apparent also would not name county administrator, or as she put it, “a new leadership position.”
“There will be a change in leadership position to coordinate the directors and activities of the county,” she said.
Scott Fergus, who has held the position for 15 years, has been described as on medical leave. “He is still unable to return to work,” Irey Vaughan said, noting that she felt constrained not to elaborate because of privacy laws regarding medical-related matters.
The board would also be handling, at an agenda-setting session Monday followed by a voting meeting at 10 a.m. Tuesday, “action items we hope to address in the next several months,” said Irey Vaughan, who will begin her seventh, four-year term.
It’s also at the salary board reorganization that constituents will find out who becomes vice chairman of the three-member board: Democratic Commissioner Larry Maggi, who will begin his fifth, four-year term in the office but his first as a member of the minority party, or Republican Nick Sherman, who finished third in the race with 2,300 more votes than incumbent Democrat Harlan Shober.
Regardless of what happens at Monday’s commissioners meeting, Maggi plans to attend yet another swearing-in ceremony at 5 p.m. that day when he’ll administer the oath of office to his daughter, Bronwyn Maggi-Kolovich, 39, of Allison Hollow, who was elected a Chartiers Township supervisor.
“I just love people,” she said. “My dad inspired me when he ran for Congress in 2012 and I learned about hands-on local government. I have a great role model.”
Joining the commissioners in the ceremony were Brenda Davis, clerk of courts; S. Timothy Warco, coroner; Laura Hough, prothonotary; James Roman, register of wills and clerk of orphans’ court; and Tom Flickinger, treasurer. All were GOP nominees, with Warco, a Democrat, gaining an additional nomination in the Republican primary in which no candidate had filed.
Hough defeated one-term incumbent Joy Schury Ranko, who will turn 60 Feb. 8 and begin retirement after 17 years with the prothonotary’s office. She said she has “everything in place” so the renovated office can start processing passports and initiate a new cash register system.
The office had 784 more cases filed in 2019 than in 2018, and that, along with a fee increase, brought in an additional $50,000 to county coffers. Another $15,860 came mostly from interest.
“I’m very proud of where I’m leaving this office,” Ranko said in her final hours on the job. She also oversaw three upgrades of the computer system, and noted 976 dockets going back to the 1700s were scanned. The oldest ones record the ejectment of squatters from land owned by none other than George Washington, who is referred to in court files as “His Excellency.”
And, in the county named for the first president, three new magisterial district judges – Michael Manfredi, Eric G. Porter and James Saieva Jr. – joined Joshua Kanalis in the ranks of the minor judiciary. The three new magistrates will be based in North Strabane, Charleroi and Canonsburg, respectively.
District Attorney Gene Vittone eschewed the pomp and circumstance, choosing to instead be sworn in for a third, four-year term privately.