MERCER ELECTIONS Ex-director: Position is full time

Commissioners need to be more 'hands on,' a former elections director said.
MERCER, Pa. -- The man who held the position of Mercer County director of elections before Jim Bennington told county commissioners that the job should never have been downgraded from full time to part time.
Maurice Keaveny, longtime elections director and now a jury commissioner, told commissioners during their chief clerk's meeting Tuesday: "When Jim Bennington was put on as part time in 2000, I was disturbed. This is not a part-time job. I protested at that point that it cannot be done on a part-time basis."
Bennington recently submitted his resignation after being sharply criticized for serious touch-screen computer problems that occurred in 12 precincts in the Nov. 2 general election.
In addition, Keaveny said that when he retired, there were 40 applicants for his position, and all 40 were rejected, with Bennington ultimately hired. He told Commissioner Olivia Lazor, the only current commissioner who was on the board at that time, "The majority of the commissioners -- not you -- held the position open [for Bennington]."
Keaveny added that during his eight-year tenure as a full-time elections director, he "never" saw commissioners in the election office and said commissioners need to take a more "hands-on" attitude.
Executive session
After Tuesday's meeting, commissioners held an executive session for personnel and afterward directed Administrative Services Director Bill Boyle to change the elections director's job description to include specific requirements for computer and programming experience.
The position will be advertised as full time, Lazor said after the meeting, adding that the board of commissioners has not decided to make the job full time but will see what kind of response the ad brings. The ad will be placed in the next two or three days, she said.