Editorial: Westmoreland County elections hiring could use some quality assurance

Westmoreland County has a new watchdog.

The actual position is called quality assurance manager, but the general description of that kind of job is usually to watch what is happening and make sure it’s going according to plan. In a factory, quality assurance makes sure the computer or camera or candy bar being made meets all of its specifications. In a call center, quality assurance means customers were getting the information they needed quickly and completely.

Greg Kline of Herminie will be tasked with doing that job for the elections bureau.

With the general election 10 days away, it’s good to know someone will be overseeing what’s going on — especially since there is still no elections bureau director.

The county commissioners say filling that position — which has been empty since the June firing of JoAnn Sebastiani and a revolving door of responsibility for the elections office over the course of a year — will be a renewed focus after the Nov. 2 elections are over and done.

That’s good to know.

It is, however, strange that the focus was not on the director position more than quality assurance. It’s somewhat like making sure you have a hostess to seat people in a restaurant but overlooking a cook to make the food.

Commissioners also set the salary for Kline’s position at $80,000. That’s $20,000 more than originally intended.

Even at $60,000, the position was more than the $53,000 paid to Sebastiani, who had been a longtime county employee. Beth Lechman, who resigned ahead of the 2020 elections, made $69,000 and now pulls down $85,000 in the same role for Centre County.

That leads one to wonder what the final price will be for safe and competent operation of elections in Westmoreland County. With $80,000 already spent for quality assurance and more pending for the director, it seems impossible that it would cost less than $133,000 for the two positions and likely to top $160,000.

There is nothing wrong with having a quality assurance position — especially if, as the commissioners suggest, the job will include more than just elections oversight. There is doubtless a lot of quality that could be assured throughout the county’s various services to residents.

But assuring quality also includes having a good plan at the outset as the yardstick to measure against. When it comes to the elections office and the hiring, it seems like the plan could use a little more outlining.