After a seven-month vacancy, Luzerne County’s human resources director position has been filled, county Manager C. David Pedri announced Wednesday.
Harveys Lake resident Mark Szot was hired for the position at a salary of $65,000, and will start work Monday.
Szot has prior military experience and most recently worked as regional human resources director for Golden Living Nursing and Rehabilitation Centers, a position that involved the negotiation of numerous collective bargaining agreements and other personnel oversight for 15 nursing home facilities, Pedri said in an email to the council.
He has a bachelor’s degree in psychology/social work and a master’s degree in organizational management in human resources from Misericordia University, Pedri said.
Former human resources director Donna Davis Javitz has a pending lawsuit against the county over her October termination from the position. An attorney, Davis Javitz had been hired to the position in August 2014 at a salary of $55,000.
Pedri said this week he also may present nominees for three of four vacant division head positions to the council at its June 14 meeting. These division heads would oversee human, correctional and operational services.
The council must confirm the manager’s division head nominees under the county’s home rule charter.
Pedri said he will need more time to interview applicants for the fourth vacant division head position: chief solicitor. Pedri himself held the position before he became acting manager in January.
According to a recent posting on the county website, the first review of applicants for chief solicitor will be June 7.
The position, which pays $85,000 to $97,000, requires at least five years of experience in legal practice, preferably in labor, municipal, real estate, contract and other civil law areas, according to the posting at www.luzernecounty.org.
