Westmoreland County DA-elect Nicole Ziccarelli says transition team not getting cooperation from predecessor

Westmoreland County District Attorney-elect Nicole Ziccarelli said Wednesday she and her new administrative team are set to begin work Jan. 3 to replace outgoing prosecutor John Peck, who she said has so far refused to cooperate with the transition.

“My predecessor is not interested in creating a transition team with me, and that’s a disservice to residents,” Ziccarelli said.

The Lower Burrell Republican soundly defeated Peck in November. Peck, a New Kensington Democrat, has served as the county’s district attorney since 1994.

Ziccarelli, along with other county row officers elected last month, will be sworn in Dec. 29 during a ceremony at the courthouse.

Peck has not met with Ziccarelli, and a request to tour the district attorney’s second-floor courthouse offices were rebuffed, she said. She has conducted off-site meetings with many of the assistant prosecutors and other staffers who will continue on the job in 2022.

Peck on Wednesday denied that he has refused to cooperate.

He said he missed a call from Ziccarelli about a month ago and believed she would make another attempt to contact him by phone. He said he also replied to a personal letter from Ziccarelli in mid-November.

“She said that she wanted to advise me of her transition plan, and I wrote I will make every effort to effectuate that,” Peck said.

Ziccarelli takes over an office that will have new leadership but a substantial number of lawyers, detectives and support staff who are holdovers from Peck’s team. That includes 23 assistants and more than a dozen detectives.

Ziccarelli said Wednesday that former Assistant District Attorney Chuck Washburn, who worked 16 years under Peck, is expected to serve as her top deputy. Washburn is a prosecutor in the sex crimes division of the state’s Attorney General’s Office.

Ronald Zona, a retired officer with the Pennsylvania State Police, is to be appointed as the chief detective of the district attorney’s investigations team.

Both hires are contingent on approval of financial proposals pending before the county’s salary board, which includes all three commissioners and Controller Jeff Balzer. The proposals call for new, increased pay scales for both positions, though that will not increase the office’s budget, Ziccarelli said.

The salary board is scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. Jan. 3.

“We need to bring in the right people. Voters issued a clear message to change the leadership in the office,” Ziccarelli said. “I know I have assembled a strong leadership team that I am very proud of.”

This month, Ziccarelli met individually with the county’s four criminal court judges and separately with President Judge Rita Hathaway in preparation for taking office.

Ziccarelli will have as many as five lawyer positions to fill. Those jobs were left vacant by recent retirements, including two prosecutors who left the district attorney’s office following their election victories to fill magisterial district judge seats.

No sweeping changes are planned initially, she said.

“It’s going to take longer than four years, at least eight years, to really effectuate our goals,” Ziccarelli said.

The district attorney is up for election every four years.