Westmoreland chief clerk granted raise for expanded duties

Westmoreland County’s chief clerk is getting a more than $7,100 raise that officials said will be partly covered using funds from the county’s $105.4 million American Rescue Plan allocation.

Chief Clerk Vera Spina will have added responsibilities in addition to her jack-of-all-trades role as the point person for the county’s top elected leaders, commissioners said. Spina’s duties will be expanded with an added title of county administrative coordinator.

“It’s a logical outreach to the work Vera was already doing,” Commissioner Doug Chew said.

Spina, 40, of Murrysville has worked for the county since 2005, first as a compliance officer in the controller’s office and since 2012 as chief clerk.

As clerk, her duties entail coordination of the county commissioners’ offices, setting their meeting agendas, compiling meeting minutes, maintaining county records and overseeing bid openings and contracts. In her new role, Spina will continue those duties and assist with administrative duties for other county departments, such as the election bureau and human resources.

She will earn an annual salary of $51,653 in her expanded role. The raise will be paid through various grant programs.

Meghan McCandless, the county’s finance director, said Spina’s salary will be covered primarily through funding from the American Rescue Plan but also from state reimbursements that pay for other human service programs, such as the children’s bureau and the county’s behavioral health agency.

The county received $105.4 million from the federal covid-relief program and, to-date, commissioners have allocated more than a third of those funds.

Commissioners set aside $10.4 million this summer to pay for a program to demolish blighted properties throughout the county and $10 million to fund municipal water and sewer system upgrades. Commissioners also allocated a $4.4 million grant to the county food bank.

Technology enhancements, upgrades to the 911 emergency dispatch system and county employee bonuses also were paid with the covid-relief funds.

Commissioners also authorized $7 million from the covid grant to be used for the demolition and reconstruction of a two-level underground parking garage at the courthouse.

The county is required to finalize a plan to allocate all of the American Rescue Plan funds by the end of 2024. The money must be spent before 2027.