Luzerne County Manager Randy Robertson has busy first day

Amid a steady stream of introductions and first-day paperwork Monday, Luzerne County Manager Randy Robertson briefly paused to provide a quick update.

“It’s like drinking from a fire hose, and it will be that way for a little while,” Robertson said as he left his new office in the county’s Penn Place Building in downtown Wilkes-Barre.

Robertson was headed to the courthouse on River Street with Budget/Finance Division Head Brian Swetz to obtain his security badge and continue discussing other matters requiring his attention. He started the day with new-employee processing in the human resources department at Penn Place and then met with manager executive assistant Jennifer Thomas and others circulating through the office.

He has been communicating with Thomas, Swetz and other managers by phone and email in recent weeks.

“The team seems great,” Robertson said.

The challenges awaiting Roberton’s input include new collective bargaining agreements with several unions, a request for the county to guarantee an infrastructure loan set to be funded with casino gambling revenue and pending applications for the county’s federal American Rescue Plan funding.

Robertson also must address staffing recruitment and retention issues in some areas, including Children and Youth, and select division heads to fill three vacant positions overseeing the law department and operational and administrative services.

He is set to meet with the five permanent division heads and interim overseers of the other three divisions on Tuesday.

His first county council meeting is Tuesday night, with voting topics that include an appointment to the 11th council seat vacated by Robert Schnee and a council resolution urging the state to eliminate no-excuse mail ballot voting.

Robertson said he is starting to develop a proposed plan for the American Rescue allocations that is needed because requests far exceed available funding. The American Rescue funding is on Tuesday’s work session agenda for discussion.

Council has approximately $96.1 million left to earmark from its $112.89 million federal American Rescue allocation. At the request of some council members, the administration sought American Rescue pre-applications to ensure no needs were overlooked. The county received $186.8 million in funding requests as a result — $171.58 million from more than 100 outside entities and $15.26 million from county government departments, the administration has said.

Robertson also said he will be meeting with community stakeholders over coming weeks and holding one-on-one meetings with each council member.

In an email he sent to council Sunday night confirming his arrival here, Robertson said Thomas has packed his calendar with meetings he requested.

He said he received some positive responses from council members.

“I’m happy and appreciative to be here,” Robertson said, thanking God.

He had formally accepted the $181,500-a-year position in mid-April but was unable to start work here until Monday because he had to complete a contracted assignment in Colorado.

A Kentucky native, Robertson previously worked as city manager in several locations from 2006 through 2021: Ashland, Kentucky; Mount Juliet, Tennessee; Vestavia Hills, Alabama; Cordova, Alaska; Aberdeen, Maryland; and Dover, Delaware.

A retired U.S. Army officer, he was a chief of staff for a signal brigade in the U.S. European Command from September 2001 to January 2005 and chief of staff for the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico from January 2005 to June 2006.

He has three master’s degrees in public service from Western Kentucky University, in urban studies from Johns Hopkins University and in strategic planning from the U.S. Army War College.

Robertson is the county’s third permanent manager since the January 2012 implementation of a home rule structure, following C. David Pedri. Robert Lawton was the first non-interim manager.