Editorial: Rivera and Lechman — a tale of two departures
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The coronavirus pandemic has created all-hands-on-deck situations in areas like medicine and the economy, government and manufacturing.
But we are now staring down a deadline for two arenas: education and elections.
So what happens when longtime leaders step away from those responsibilities?
On Monday, Westmoreland County officials confirmed elections bureau director Beth Lechman was leaving office. Lechman has been with the county since 1997 and has been with the elections bureau since 2006. She has steered the office since 2016.
Fourteen years of election experience is a big loss at any time. Three months out from a November election, it’s bigger. When it’s a contentious presidential election in which Pennsylvania is pivotal? That’s huge.
On Tuesday, another shoe dropped. Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera will be walking away from his role leading the seventh largest Department of Education in the country. Rivera will become president of Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster, effective Oct. 1.
Pennsylvania students go back to classrooms — or online classes — in just weeks.
These are hardly the only changes happening. The Keystone State and Westmoreland County aren’t the only places where things are shaking up and changing hands. People make the job choices that are best for them and for their families every day. It’s almost reassuring that something so personal doesn’t necessarily change because of covid-19.
But how it happens matters.
Hand-in-hand with Rivera’s announcement came a statement from Gov. Tom Wolf that announced who would take his place. Deputy Secretary Noe Ortega will move up to take over, and he will have three months of transition before that happens. Rivera isn’t leaving until after school starts.
Meanwhile, in Westmoreland County, not only do we not know why Lechman is leaving, but there was also confirmation she has been off the job for weeks. Commissioner Sean Kertes wouldn’t comment on the circumstances, only expressing confidence in the staff left behind.
Lechman’s staff may be top notch and fully qualified, but this election is important and is happening in a shifting landscape where President Trump has riffed about possible delays and questioned the ability to get mail-in ballots counted in a timely fashion.
That’s a reason to assure continuity. The county has appointed Deputy Director Scott Sistek as interim director and is seeking applications through Saturday to fill the position long-term. But if Lechman has actually been out for weeks, it seems the county could have taken that step sooner.
That leaves unanswered questions when so much of this year’s election is already a challenge.
Getting people to participate in the election, getting the ballots out and back, running the polls and counting the votes is an all-hands-on-deck situation for months leading up to every November. Doing it while hiring a new captain for the ship is far from smooth sailing.