Editorial: Westmoreland County could benefit everyone if it functioned cohesively

The Westmoreland County District Attorney’s office is getting more help.

District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli is adding a public information officer. That salary will set back the county $50,000.

She also is getting a fiscal coordinator and grant writer. That position will help seek funding for projects and steer the office’s financial decisions. A salary of $45,200 was set for that job, but grant writing positions often pay for themselves with the money they net.

Then there is the new part-time solicitor. That one might seem a little strange. Why does an office full of lawyers need a lawyer to represent them? It’s not that unusual, actually, as prosecuting crime and advocating for a client are different skill sets — something Ziccarelli knows as her pre-DA practice was in areas such as family law, real estate and estate planning.

The real question is why the DA’s office needs these dedicated positions.

The county has a solicitor in Melissa Guiddy. A solicitor frequently represents any office within the county or municipality it represents. At $7,700, the cost for attorney Alex Brown’s part-time position is less like that of a hired employee than it is a retainer.

Guiddy also frequently acts as the Westmoreland County spokesperson. That isn’t to say that a public information officer is a bad idea. The DA’s office could use a pipeline for communication. However, it seems like a role the county, as a whole, could use.

And, really, couldn’t the county benefit from grant-writing for all its offices?

In January, a Tribune-Review editorial offered Ziccarelli advice as she started her new job: Watch the money.

That advice came after her first real actions in office were to appoint new people as first assistant and chief detective. The hiring came with increasing the pay scale for the positions, something that hadn’t been done in more than 40 years.

“What is important for Ziccarelli to do now is keep that budget in mind going forward — and not just for the rest of the year,” the editorial urged.

That goes for the county as a whole, as well. It would be nice if county entities didn’t have to be addressed separately. It would benefit everyone if they functioned cohesively.