Michael Donahue was appointed Tuesday night as Luzerne County’s new human services division head.
County Manager C. David Pedri announced during the county council meeting that his second division head nominee — Gregory Briggs, of Johnstown, for correctional services — contacted him Monday night to withdraw from consideration. Pedri did not specify a reason.
Pedri said he and others on an interview team will meet to discuss options, with the goal of submitting another nominee to the council within a month.
The council unanimously voted to confirm Donahue’s nomination.
A Black Creek Township resident, Donahue is a King’s College graduate and has worked in the human services field for about 35 years.
Currently the county’s drug and alcohol executive director, Donahue also has been serving as interim human services division head since early April.
He has headed the county’s drug and alcohol department, which also serves Wyoming County, for 14 years, supervising dozens of employees and working closely with the state’s Department of Human Services, Pedri said. He is a state-certified alcohol and drug counselor.
The position would be filled at $87,000, the same compensation paid to prior division head David Schwille, who retired in April.
