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Westmoreland County Salary Board approves broad personnel changes, effective March 9
Summary
At its March 5 meeting the Westmoreland County Salary Board approved a slate of position abolishments, creations and reclassifications across county departments — including Westmoreland Manor, the Election Bureau, 911/Emergency Management and the District Attorney’s office — all motions passed unanimously and set to take effect March 9, 2026.
The Westmoreland County Salary Board approved a package of personnel and pay-grade changes across county departments at a brief meeting on March 5, 2026.
Commissioner Kertes called the meeting to order at 10:13 a.m., and the board moved unanimously through a series of personnel items that will take effect March 9, 2026. Commissioner Kopas made several of the motions; Commissioner Chew seconded most and occasionally moved items. Coroner Ackerman made the motion recording balance-of-year annualized comments for the coroner’s office.
Key approvals included revisions to the Westmoreland Manor Pick-Up Shift Bonus Program to ensure continued compliance with staffing regulations; abolishment and recreation of several classifications in the coroner’s office; the creation of a Westmoreland Manor Office Manager position funded by cremation funds; and adjustments in the Election Bureau, including changing an Election Office Coordinator title to Poll Worker Coordinator and creating a temporary Campaign Finance Manager position capped at 1,000 hours per year. The board also approved reinstating the UPI department under the Recorder of Deeds, adding three UPI Assistant Coordinators and one UPI Coordinator.
In 911/Emergency Management the board approved multiple reclassifications and new titles, including a recreated Deputy Director of Public Safety/911 at a higher paygrade, the conversion of a Planning Section Chief position into an Emergency Management Chief role, the creation of a Deputy Chief of Planning, and a temporary Senior Emergency Management Specialist limited to 1,000 hours per year. Several title-only changes and pay-grade base adjustments for finance, logistics, and communications roles were also approved.
The District Attorney’s office moved two temporary Law Clerk positions from the prior rate to a higher temporary hourly rate ($15.00/hr) with the same 1,000-hours-per-year cap.
All motions on the March 5 agenda were recorded as approved unanimously by the board. The meeting concluded when Commissioner Chew moved to adjourn at 10:18 a.m.; Commissioner Kopas seconded.
Votes at a glance - Westmoreland Manor pick-up shift bonus program: motion by Commissioner Kopas; second Commissioner Chew; approved; effective March 9, 2026. - Coroner office abolishments (Training/Education Coordinator; Office Manager): motion by Coroner Ackerman; second Commissioner Kopas; approved; effective March 9, 2026. - Westmoreland Manor Office Manager (new, funded by cremation funds): motion by Commissioner Kopas; second Commissioner Chew; approved; effective March 9, 2026. - Election Bureau: Election Office Coordinator abolished and Poll Worker Coordinator created; temporary Campaign Finance Manager (1,000 hours/year) created: motion by Commissioner Kopas; second Commissioner Chew; approved; effective March 9, 2026. - Minutes of Jan. 15, 2026 meeting approved: motion by Commissioner Chew; second Commissioner Kopas; approved. - Reinstatement of UPI department under Recorder of Deeds (3 UPI Assistant Coordinators; 1 UPI Coordinator): motion by Commissioner Chew; second Commissioner Kopas; approved. - Director of Therapeutic Recreation reclassified/converted to 8-hour days: motion by Commissioner Kopas; second Commissioner Chew; approved; effective March 9, 2026. - 911/Emergency Management reorganizations and temporary Sr. Emergency Management Specialist (1,000 hours/year): motions by Commissioner Kopas; second Commissioner Chew; approved; effective March 9, 2026. - District Attorney: two Law Clerk temporary positions reauthorized at $15.00/hr (1,000 hours/year max): approved.
What the record shows and what is not specified The transcript records motions, seconders and the board’s unanimous approvals for each listed item and provides effective dates (commonly March 9, 2026). The transcript does not provide numeric roll-call vote counts or additional discussion detail, and several labels in the raw agenda (for example, an apparent typographical header) were normalized in this report. The transcript also does not define the acronym “UPI”; the reinstatement language and the number of positions come from the recorded motion text.
