Jan 4, 2022 3 min read

The county commissioners announced during their agenda meeting Monday that former controller Michael Namie will serve as their chief of staff.

Namie was chosen by the commissioners to fill the position vacated last month by John Haynes, who has been in that role since he was hired in January 2020.

Prothonotary Laura Hough, who attended the agenda meeting as a visitor, objected during public comment to Namie’s appointment without a public vote and afterward said she planned to file an open records request on the matter.

The commissioners cited a provision in the state’s county code regarding salary board votes to create or remove positions and regulate personnel salaries. A public vote was not held for Haynes when he was hired two years ago, although the salary board voted at the time to create the position and its salary.

“This is an administrative hiring. It’s a hiring, not an appointment,” solicitor Jana Grimm said. “The position was created, it’s vacated and now it’s filled. The only vote would be if something changed, and it didn’t. There’s nothing that requires it (in county code).”

Grimm said it’s the same process followed by neighboring counties, and one that Washington County officials have been following for years. The commissioners made a similar appointment in September when former Washington fire chief Gerry Coleman was selected to serve as the county’s public safety director without a public vote after the position became vacant upon the retirement of Jeff Yates.

However, Melissa Melewsky, an attorney for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association in Harrisburg, said all new hires and terminations should be approved at a public meeting under the state’s Sunshine Law.

“I don’t know why there would be hesitancy for this,” Melewsky said. “Why wouldn’t you want to hire someone at a public meeting?”

Melewsky questioned how the commissioners are interpreting the salary board provision of the county code in making such personnel decisions.

“They could make an argument, but I don’t think it would be a winning one,” Melewsky said.

Any citizen can file a civil complaint in the Court of Common Pleas of Washington County claiming a violation of the Sunshine Law within one year. It would then be up to a judge to determine whether a government agency violated the law, and whether it should pay a civil penalty or take corrective action. It was not known if Hough or anyone else planned to take such action.

But Melewsky said the best alternative would be to hold a public vote on such positions.

“What’s more important is what happens in the future,” Melewsky said. “It’s more about taking the corrective actions – the public has the right to know about hiring and firings.”

Namie, who will be paid an annual salary of $100,786 as chief of staff, decided not to run for reelection last year after serving 20 years as county controller. It was not known exactly when Haynes left his position or why.