8 January 2020

Commissioners, other officials and officers sworn in during special ceremony

Pictured (l. to r.), first row: Commissioners Betsy McClure, Mike Belding and Blair Zimmerman. Second row: H. Terry Grimes, Susan White, David Russo, Farley Toothman, Marcus Simms, Sherry Wise, Louis Dayich and Donna Tharp.
Mike Belding, Betsy McClure and Blair Zimmerman were officially sworn in as Greene County Commissioners during the Investiture of Elected Officials inside the county courthouse on Monday, Jan. 6.

The Commissioners joined other elected Greene County officials and officers in being sworn in before President Judge Farley Toothman, Associate Judge Louis Dayich and Senior Judge H. Terry Grimes.

Those also sworn in included Sheriff Marcus Simms; Prothonotary Susan White; District Attorney David Russo, Donna Tharp, Register of Wills and Recorder of Deeds; Controller Ami Cree; Treasurer Cory Grandel; Sherry Wise, Clerk of Court; and Magisterial District Judge Lee Watson.

The following officers were also sworn in for their respective departments. 

Prothonotary: Valerie Patterson, First Deputy; and Paul Ondash, Family Court Coordinator. 

Register and Recorder: Kimberly Spence, First Deputy – Recorder of Deeds; Jessica Harrison, First Deputy – Register of Wills; Anette Tharp, Second Deputy – Register and Recorder; and Shelby Jeffrey, Department Clerk – Register and Recorder.   

Controller: Carol Gooden, Deputy Controller; and Richard Davis, Assistant Deputy Controller.

Treasurer: Darlene Humble, First Deputy Treasurer; and Marge Kurilko, Second Deputy Treasurer.

Clerk of Courts and Clerk of Orphans’ Court: Janice Lahew, First Deputy Clerk of Courts; Lisa Murdock, Second Deputy Clerk of Courts; Candice Buchanan, First Deputy Orphans’ Court; Lisa Wheeler, Second Deputy Orphans’ Court; and Crystal Walters, Department Clerk II.

Also sworn in were various borough and township officials, including: Corbly Orndorff, Franklin Township Supervisor; David Antonini, Carmichaels Borough Council; Jared Rode, Gilmore Township Supervisor; Pamela Phillips, Jefferson Borough Council; James Gillin and Guy Hostutler, Freeport Township Supervisors; Chris Frye, Jackson Township Supervisor; Michaela Hildreth and Greg Hopkins, Morris Township Auditors; Juan Vasquez, Perry Township Auditor; Heather Guthrie, Richhill Township Auditor; Don Chappel, Franklin Township Auditor; Sherri Murray, Greene Township Auditor; John Barlow, Aleppo Township Supervisor; Greg Leathers, Waynesburg Borough Council; and Sameul Hastings, Cumberland Township Supervisor.    

Prior to the conclusion of the ceremony, Commissioner Belding, who is serving as Chairman of the Greene County Board of Commissioners, said to those who were sworn in that he hopes that “as newly appointed servants to Greene County, we pay little regard to politics and focus more on doing our best in the interest of our communities and county.”

Judge Toothman congratulated those who were sworn in, adding that “our communities have invested their votes entrusting to each of them the privileges and responsibilities that lie ahead … (this ceremony) is not only the moment in which authority is actually vested, it is also the moment that delivers to the watchful eye of the public, confidence in the individual and an expectation in accountability, to be carried on their shoulders every day and every night, whether the public is resting or unrested.”

Also assisting with the ceremony were Pastor Joshua Koss, who delivered the Invocation; and Rev. Dr. Larry Stratton, who gave the Benediction.