Acting office holder, coach face off in rookie campaigns for Westmoreland Clerk of Courts

Megan Loughner was on a different career path in 2010 when she went to work for Bryan Kline, the newly elected Westmoreland County Clerk of Courts.

Loughner was 24 with aspirations to work as an intelligence officer. She was awaiting a final job offer with the U.S. Department of Justice and planned on spending a short stint as Kline’s fiscal office manager.

Funding problems led to the elimination of her anticipated federal job. She remained in county government and was promoted to Kline’s top deputy in 2016. This year, she became the county’s acting Clerk of Courts when Kline resigned to become warden of the county jail.

“I have a passion for serving my community,” Loughner said. “I’ve been in this office for a decade, and I like helping the public get the restitution they are owed.”

The 36-year-old Unity Republican is seeking her first elected position — a four-year term as Clerk of Courts, heading the office that oversees criminal court records and collects fines and restitution payments for crime victims.

Also seeking the post is Democrat Muzzy Colosimo, who is more known for his work on the gridiron than in politics.

Colosimo, 70, of Hempfield has worked throughout Westmoreland County as a high school football coach. He serves as coach and athletic director at Valley High School in New Kensington after a long tenure as head coach at Greensburg Central Catholic and stops at Franklin Regional and Hempfield Area high schools.

“I’ve done a lot of things to help kids my whole career,” Colosimo said. “I look at things different, like I did when I got into coaching. I’m looking to see what I can do for adults.”

Colosimo said he will retire from coaching at the end of the football season and as athletic director at the conclusion of the school year.

Politics and elected office would be a new start for both candidates.

Colosimo said his experience as a coach and administrator will serve him well in running the courthouse office with 20 staffers. He said his focus will be to increase collections of court costs and restitution payments for victims and enhance transparency of office operations.

“I don’t ever want to retire. I enjoy working. I asked around the courthouse and that job (Clerk of Courts) sounded like a great challenge,” Colosimo said. “Football coach and clerk of courts are both administrative positions.”

Loughner won a contested Republican primary in May to set up the race with Colosimo. She said she has done the job and is in a position to improve office functions.

Collections have reached record numbers during her short stint as acting office holder. In March, the office collected more than $800,000 — the most ever in a single month. For the year, the office is expected to bring in more than $7 million, she said.

Loughner pledged to grow the collections programs and continue oversight in Westmoreland County of the state’s new digital filing system for criminal court records.

“When I was 24, if you’d ask me if I’d ever run for a county office I would have said, ‘No way,’ ” Loughner said. “I was disappointed when I didn’t get the Department of Justice job, but I was working at the courthouse and I liked it. I’m glad things worked out this way.”