Westmoreland prison warden gets $11,000 raise as county boosts salaries of some employees

Westmoreland County’s new warden, on the job for less than a month, has been given an $11,000 raise.

Commissioners and Controller Jeffrey Balzer, acting as the county’s salary board this week, approved raises for a series of department heads and supervisors in what they said was an effort to retain staff in a struggling employment environment.

Steven Pelesky, 49, of Ligonier was hired by the prison board Feb. 28 after serving as the jail’s interim warden for five months following the resignation of Warden Bryan Kline in September.

Pelesky has worked for nearly three decades in various roles at the jail. When hired to the full-time warden’s job last month, commissioners said his $80,000 salary would be unchanged.

Commissioner Sean Kertes said the new warden’s salary was reevaluated over the past several weeks.

“He’s a 30-year veteran at the jail, and we’re trying to bring him up to where he needs to be,” Kertes said. “We thought we didn’t pay him for the time he served as interim warden. We’re righting the ship.”

New park police officers hired to full-time jobs in 2024 will earn $4,500 bonuses at the completion of 12 months on staff under the financial plan approved by the salary board.

The board also approved a series of pay hikes for the county’s domestic relations office staff. Pay for behavioral health department caseworkers will be increased across the board to bring most staffers to the same pay level, earning about $70,000 annually.

Raises that average about $10,000 a year were approved for 911 emergency dispatch supervisors; hourly rates paid to telecommunications officers in training were increased by more than 21%.

Scott Stepanovich, deputy director for the county’s public safety department, said the 911 raises will ensure supervisors continue to earn higher salaries than the dispatchers they oversee. The department has six supervisors on staff and is seeking to fill two vacancies.

The current pay structure became skewed after union dispatchers received 17% raises this year as part of a new labor deal and, without an adjustment, officials feared it would be difficult to promote existing staffers, Stepanovich said.

“We want to incentivize people to step up,” he said.

Kertes said the pay hikes were necessary to ensure the county’s vital program continue to be adequately staffed.

“One of the biggest problems in Westmoreland County is retaining our employees. According to the county commissioners association, we have one of the lowest paid staffs in Pennsylvania, and retention is a more cost-effective way to ensure we have enough people to work,” Kertes said.

Kertes said this year’s $456.7 million budget included funds earmarked for pay raises. In addition to the raises approved this week, county leaders ratified a new three-year labor deal at the start of 2023 with about 500 union workers. That is expected to cost $2.7 million. Commissioners also signed off on 3% raises for 400 nonunion employees.

Kertes, along with Commissioner Doug Chew and Balzer, also this week approved raises for the county’s director of records management, Nathan Banwar, and a benefits coordinator in the human resources office.

Commissioner Ted Kopas opposed the more than $8,500 pay hike to Banwar and a $7,000 raise for the human resources staffer.

“The county simply cannot afford to hand out management raises like candy. I only supported raises for public safety or human services largely funded by the state. I’ve heard from many of our residents who are fed up with county spending,” Kopas said.

Kopas also said he will propose as early as next month a plan to cap annual raises doled out to the county’s elected officials. Those raises are determined by increases in the Consumer Price Index, which last year totaled 3.5%. The county commissioners and other elected officials have earned raises that totaled nearly 17% since 2022.

Kopas said he wants to rescind an ordinance approved in the late 1990s that tied those raises to federal labor statistics and cap annual pay hikes to elected officials at 2.5%.