Westmoreland sheriff, commissioners battle over Trump rally staffing

Westmoreland County Sheriff James Albert confirmed Tuesday he assigned eight deputies to work at last week’s political rally featuring former President Trump despite objections from county leaders.

Albert said that in the hours leading up to Friday’s rally at the county fairgrounds in Mt. Pleasant Township, he determined liability concerns voiced by the county’s solicitor and human resources director were incorrect and ultimately decided to override their direction and send personnel to work there.

“I received erroneous information from Westmoreland County Solicitor Melissa Guiddy and Human Resources Director Alexis Bevan. After confirming they were incorrect, we had a successful joint effort with the Secret Service and the Latrobe Police Department,” Albert said.

The uniformed deputies worked eight-hour shifts and no overtime was paid, Albert said.

The staffing flap arose last week, just two days before Trump appeared at the rally with Mehmet Oz, his endorsed candidate for U.S. Senate representing Pennsylvania. Just hours after he publicly discussed his department’s role in assisting with security protocols at the rally, Albert announced he pulled his deputies after meeting with the solicitor and human resources director.

But, Albert said he made his own inquires over the next day with the state sheriff’s association and the county’s insurance carrier and determined that the county faced no liability concerns by having his deputies work at the event.

“I knew they were wrong. We’ve done this before, when Vice President (Mike) Pence campaigned in Greensburg and then for candidate (Joe) Biden (in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election),” Albert said.

Albert then launched a secondary attack at the commissioners Tuesday, claiming they allocated too much authority to the county’s solicitor and human resources director.

“There has been an evolution in this county. My concern is we have unelected bureaucrats who are at-will employees who seem to think they are in positions to direct elected officials who are elected by the people. They should stay in their lane,” Albert said.

Commissioners initially referred questions about Albert’s statement to Guiddy but issued a news release later Tuesday through Chief Clerk Vera Spina. The statement accused the sheriff of lying and claimed they only learned deputies worked at the May 6 rally at the fairgrounds after it had started.

Commissioners said Albert misrepresented internal liability discussions and did not have permission to assign staff to work at political events.

“In response to comments submitted by the Westmoreland County Sheriff James Albert, a number of the statements made by the sheriff are inaccurate and in some instances downright falsehoods,” the commissioners said in their statement.

Guiddy and Bevan did not personally respond to Albert’s comments.

In addition to her job as head of the county’s legal department, Guiddy has served as a defacto communications director for commissioners, issuing public statements about coronavirus policies and other matters overlapping with elections and legal issues.

She is listed as a part-time employee, who is required to dedicate 80% of her workday to county duties.

Citing an additional workload, commissioners gave Guiddy an $11,000 raise at the end of 2020. She is paid $100,453 a year.

In their statement Tuesday, commissioners defended Guiddy and Bevan.

“The commissioners rely on the advice of professionals, such as attorneys and others knowledgeable in their fields, and we base our decisions on that advice, as opposed to a quest for political gain and further media coverage. We fully support the advice given by the county solicitor and the human resources director,” the commissioners’ statement read.