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Sharon council appoints interim manager
By Jeanne Starmack
SHARON, Pa.
The city council has not chosen a new city manager yet, but an interim has been appointed.
Robert Fiscus, 33, who has been a firefighter with the city for nine years, will take over the duties of manager Jan. 4, when Tom Lavorini leaves the post.
“At this point, I’m going to orient myself and move the city in the right direction,” said Fiscus.
He said the city council approached him about becoming the acting manager because members knew he had an interest in public administration.
Lavorini, who was the city’s first manager under its year-old home-rule charter, does not want to move from Butler Township, Pa., to Sharon, and the manager is under a residency requirement.
Even though a manager search committee knew that when it chose him, Lavorini was worth hiring because of his experience, said council member Ed Palanski.
“There was no pretense he’d move,” Palanski said. “He brought a wealth of experience.”
“It was a matter of having an experienced individual while we continued the search,” he added.
Lavorini had been a manager in Ross Township, Allegheny County, for 18 years.
Palanski said Lavorini “set some things up, put things in motion” for Sharon, such as obtaining a $1 million grant for repaving Stambaugh Avenue. That project should be finished in the spring, he said.
Palanski said the city has had applications from candidates for city manager from throughout the country.
To be considered, applicants must have three years of executive experience, preferably in government, and a bachelor’s degree, Palanski said.
He said the city hasn’t had trouble attracting candidates with those qualifications.
“The people have credentials,” he said. “But merely having credentials isn’t the only criteria. It’s a complex process. We haven’t found someone we want to extend an offer to.”
He said he doesn’t know when the city will find a permanent manager, and it wants to retain Lavorini “in some kind of consulting capacity.”
In the meantime, Fiscus will be at the helm.
He is a college graduate who was on the home-rule transition committee, and he has written three grants for the city, Palanski said.
He could not be considered for the position permanently because he doesn’t have three years’ experience. But according to the city’s charter, he can be an acting city manager because he is a city employee.