Officials object to pay scales

One office handles difficult cases of obtaining benefits for veterans facing illness and disability.

MERCER, Pa. — Two department heads had objections to the pay scales approved by Mercer County commissioners.

Gary Solander, Mercer County Veterans Affairs director, told county commissioners last week that he thinks his assistant is underpaid and he wants her job to be reclassified.

Solander said he asked some time ago that his assistant, Wanda Smithley, be classified as an administrative instead of a clerical employee because he and she work interchangeably. He said he hopes the new board of commissioners will address the matter.

Smithley, he said, is a retired Air Force sergeant and has a bachelor’s degree in health care administration and her duties are administrative, not clerical. Smithley, who was hired shortly after Solander took the job in 2002, makes $13.24 hourly.

Solander said the office handles difficult cases of obtaining benefits for veterans facing illness and disability and increasingly are getting cases of post-traumatic stress syndrome from veterans returning from the war in Iraq. More than 5,000 veterans have been in contact with the office and 17,000 are listed as living in Mercer County.

Bill Boyle, director of Administrative Services, said Solander has asked for the reclassification but that county commissioners and the compensation committee have not acted on his request. Boyle said there are numerous requests for reclassification that have not been acted on.

Public Defender Raymond Bogaty also complained to commissioners that his assistant public defenders have had a substantial increase in caseload but are being paid $4,000 less per year than an assistant district attorney with one year’s experience. He said that the jobs are not exactly comparable because they have different duties but he still wants to discuss the matter with commissioners. They agreed to meet with him but set no date.

Commissioners hired several people:

Attys. Ryan Bonner and William Moder were both hired as part-time assistant district attorneys at $28,500 each annually. Robert Draskovic was hired as county caseworker I and Scott Shannon as temporary caseworker I, both at $27,804 annually. Susan Engel was hired as caseworker II at $28,895.

Herbert Bagenstose, Jr. and Vicki Reed were both hired as part-time custodians at $11.15 hourly.

In addition, commissioners approved rehiring of Atty. James Epstein and Atty. Timothy Bonner, both as unpaid assistant district attorneys. Epstein retired at the end of 2007 as Mercer County district attorney and Bonner was one of his assistants. Both will be used at the discretion of newly elected District Attorney Robert Kochems “for their knowledge,” according to officials.