The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

August 3, 2012

Council hires finance director

Fulfills directive of city charter

By Courtney L. Saylor Herald Staff Writer

SHARON — The city of Sharon finally has a finance director, but it has to share him – with the city sanitary authority.

City Manager Scott Andrejchak last month officially made authority account manager Ken Griffith of Hermitage, finance director for the city.

Griffith’s time and $55,000 annual salary will be split 50-50 between the two entities, Andrejchak said.

The job’s been more than five years in the making and Andrejchak’s been looking for a good fit and a way to pay the director since council hired Andrejchak a year ago.

Andrejchak said he reviewed about 15 candidates but found the right person down the hall.

“He’s eminently qualified for the position,” Andrejchak said of Griffith, noting that sharing the job with the authority saves the city money.

The finance director will oversee tax collection, account management and other duties related to the city’s finances.

Griffith, a Sharon native and SHS graduate with a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Youngstown State University, was a corporate controller for a private company and worked for a couple different trucking companies prior to being hired in August 2010 by the sanitary authority.

Griffith said the budgets of the city and authority are smaller than what he dealt with previously, and he’s still learning about municipal finances.

Andrejchak said Griffith filled in after former city accounts administrator Vivian Lininger retired a few months ago.

“We’re happy to have someone of his caliber,” said council member Frank Connelly, who was elected to the home rule study commission prior to being named to council.

The hiring of a finance director is the final piece of the city’s home rule charter to be put into place, Andrejchak noted.

“It’s probably very exciting” for those who’ve been involved with the transition, Andrejchak said.

It was a critical part of the commission’s final report and charter proposal dated August 2007 and approved by a 2-1 margin by the voters that fall.

Andrejchak said he still hears a lot about the charter from residents and thinks it’s good people are interested in what their government is doing.

The commission recommended the city do away with an elected mayor, controller and treasurer and have those duties done by a city manager appointed by council and a financial officer hired by the manager.

Former treasurer Diane Thut’s term ended in January and she’s still working in the city’s tax office. Thut did not have the educational certification required by the charter.

Under the home rule charter, the finance director has a year to become a resident of the city.

 

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