Gary Wilcox hired as Bradford County public safety director

BY JAMES LOEWENSTEIN (STAFF WRITER)
Published: February 26, 2010

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Review Photo/JAMES LOEWENSTEIN Bradford County Commissioner Doug McLinko discusses how the public safety position was filled.

In a 2-1 vote on Thursday, the Bradford County commissioners hired former North Towanda Fire Chief Gary Wilcox to fill the newly created position of Bradford County director of public safety.

As public safety director, Wilcox will serve as director of both the Bradford County 911 Center and the Bradford County Emergency Management Agency.

Wilcox, 40, will be paid $51,771 annually.

For the past four years Wilcox had served as a production supervisor at Global Tungsten & Powders Corp. in Towanda. In that position, he supervised 40 to 80 people at a time, Bradford County Commissioner Doug McLinko said.

The director of public safety "will serve as a liaison between the county government and the emergency response community and coordinate the efficient response to various disaster scenarios and lead the county in preparing for and responding to disaster conditions," according to written information distributed by the commissioners.

The county advertised the position on Careerbuilder.com for 30 days and received 36 resumes, Bradford County Commissioner Doug McLinko said.

Bradford County Human Resources Director Teresa Jones and a consulting company hired by the county, Kimball Consulting, reviewed the resumes and picked the 12 most qualified applicants, McLinko said.

Based on phone interviews and the candidates' qualifications, Jones and Kimball Consultants ranked the candidates, recommending the top five for further interviews, McLinko said.

The Bradford County commissioners interviewed the five finalists, and chose three for a second interview.

One of the three dropped out and the two remaining candidates were interviewed a second time by the commissioners.

At the commissioners meeting, a reporter said he had received an anonymous e-mail alleging that there was nepotism involved in the hiring of Wilcox.

McLinko then acknowledged that Wilcox is his second cousin.

But, McLinko said, "that had nothing to do with this (the filling of the public safety position)."

Bradford County Commissioner Mark Smith, who voted against hiring Wilcox, said he preferred another candidate.

However, during the meeting, he told Wilcox that he will support him fully as public safety director.

Wilcox, who lives in Towanda Township, graduated from Towanda High School in 1988.

He has served as an EMT for the past several years, both at GTP and for the North Towanda's fire department.

Until recently, Wilcox was the chief of the North Towanda Fire Department, a position he held for two years.

He was also assistant chief of the North Towanda Fire Department for two years.

He also served as chief of GTP's internal fire brigade.

In addition, he served as a radio operator in the U.S. Navy.

Wilcox holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Keystone College and an associate's degree in industrial manufacturing from Lackawanna College.

Prior to hiring Wilcox, the 911 center and the Bradford County EMA were under the direction of two separate people.

James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1633; or e-mail: jloewenstein@thedailyreview.com.

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20 posted comments

"On to Doug" ... you have freedom of speech -- start your own Web site or newspaper. A newspaper is a private business. They're exercising its freedom by having a newspaper and Web site. You can exercise your freedom by starting your own outlet. I'm amazed by people who think otherwise.
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#_#,  03/01/10 8:33
How many of you know your second cousins, especially when there is a near ten year or so difference? How many of you think your second cousin would give you a job? Nepotism is not an issue here. It's just something to hide behind for all the anti-McLinko people who want to blame him for something, and now you want to disrespect Mr Wilcox because you are anti-McLinko. Don't make this an anti-Wilcox issue and harm him before you give him a chance. He was offered the job, regardless of the politics the public is creating. It sounds like he went through all the same interview procedures as the others, including the level that got him TO the Commissioners, before the Commissioners had any say. Don't blame him because he was the final one chosen. You are not being fair to Mr Wilcox, whom I assume was excited to take on this new career. Let it drop people, and focus on something more important.
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Support Mr Wilcox,  02/27/10 9:14
I'm more upset with the fact that Mr. McLinko tried to slide this hire of a relative through without disclosing the fact they were related. Why? Those should have been the first words out of his mouth before he voted on the hire. "Mr. Wilcox is related to me, I'm being upfront about it and want the piblic to know nothing is being slid under the table." Instead, it was a news reporter that had to reveal this fact (thank you for being on top of this, Daily Review!) and then Mr. McLinko had to start his back pedal and act upset anyone would dare suggest a conflict. If he had been upfront to start with, he could have saved himself some embarrassment.
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Jay C,  02/27/10 8:44
Don't feel bad, "On to Doug". I attempted to post two comments on this article that contained some incriminating facts about this corrupt situation, but they were apparently rejected. The Review refused to print these details in their original article, and apparently want to prevent the public from releasing it either. The truth will come out one way or another. The Review protecting Doug won't stop it, but will certainly make it more difficult. The worst part is that the editor claims to fight for freedom of speech and truth in government. Talk about hypocrisy!
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Paul,  02/27/10 8:30
Has The Daily Review ever heard of Freedom of Speech? "Tire of this County's Attitude" is cleary Mr. McClinko stating his case again. I wrote another comment in here yesterday morning and it was not posted. Once again, McClinko is controlling the media as well.
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On to Doug,  02/27/10 2:09
This job is not a job to be an EMT. Read the job description people, before you bash what it means to be a Director of an operation! This job is more about management, and direction, and policy/procedures, and creating a Center that is professional and taken seriously; and to help make the County a safe place to live by overseeing regulations and conduct training for all involved and to be involved with the Industries and Gas Companies. This is where a Management background is key.
This small-town, closed-minded County needs to wake up and stop picking out whatever they can to be negative, just to be negative. Get better facts, and know what you are saying. Mr Wilcox has all the qualifications to Manage and a variety of background and experience to support him. If people can't get past the small-minded comments of "being related" to someone, they should try to open up their views and talk about something with true substance. It is a small county, and many people are related if you want to pick it apart that way. Mr Wilcox's credentials stand on their own. In my opinion, being related to Mr McLinko didn't help Mr Wilcox at all. The closed-minded, low educated people of this county just need something to complain about because it makes them feel important in their otherwise, small lives. For once, let's give someone a chance, and be supportive. More people than Mr McLinko got Mr Wilcox to the point of being interviewed, and finally hired. Don't make yourself feel better by bashing someone you don't know, for once, rise above and lead the way to Positive change.
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tired of this County's attitude,  02/27/10 11:04
Same old Doug. Please do not tell us you did not realize this would be an issue. You just hoped no one would notice. The right thing to do would have been to abstain. You KNOW that! Like so many other times recently, you disappoint and show yourself to be self serving.

I agree with Jess G., where was John Sullivan in all of this? This does not reflect well on his oversight ability. And why didn't any of the Commissioners, including Mark Smith, bring up the issue so the public would be aware of it? Were all of them hoping it would be overlooked? Think it wasn't important? Neither speaks well to the oversight ability of any of them.

Now we have three high paying, management positions where in truth there should be one. With the crushing burden on today's taxpayer this is not acceptable. A truly disappointing lack of administrative and ethical performance by our Commissioners.

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PatrickHenry,  02/27/10 9:24
Tom C or whatever your name is since I'm sure you don't dare use your real one, you are just trying to deflect the blame from Mr. McLinko for his very unethical act of voting yes for a relative's hire when he should have abstained. I remember when they tried to link the then Commissioner Schrader with Mr. Repasky by saying they were related but must be you only read what you want since it was stated emphatically then they are not related by blood or marriage. Let's get back to the real problem here. Nepotism! A much more qualified candidate was passed over for a relative of Doug McLinko and that stinks to high heaven when the Commissioner was the deciding vote. I'd like to know where the 3rd Commissioner John Sullivan was in all of this and why he allowed it in the first place. How can Commissioner McLinko be objective in any oversight of this new postion when it's his own relative he's overseeing? Unethical behavior on the federal and state level and now county government-disgusting! Glad the election is only a year away! Time to clean house!
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Jess G,  02/26/10 10:27
I can't imagine people are worryring about ethics and the appearance of impropriety or violating public trust. Stuff worse then this goes on under the dome all the time, remember crowknees. Doug should know better though! Good luck Mr. Wilcox.
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johnny white hat,  02/26/10 9:58
Every one should know that Mr. Vajda has helped my township. In many different cases when the supervisors had no idea how to handle the problem. I feel that Mr. Vajda is a great asset to the residents of the county. As the EMA.
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believer,  02/26/10 9:00
Why can't people be supportive? No......they would rather bash someone in the ground. All I'm going to say is this....correct me if I'm wrong, but, isn't Robert Repasky related to Nancy Schrader? How did he get where he is? I'll leave it at that.
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Tom C.,  02/26/10 7:07
If for no other reason than that Mr Wilcox is a relative, Mr. McKlinko should not have voted on the appointment. What ever happened to ethics?
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worried,  02/26/10 3:06
I wasn't aware the North Towanda Fire Department ran EMTs on scene. When Mr. Wilcox was a fire chief, he had no clue as to his district/department boundaries which North Towanda covers. It goes to show blood is thicker than water. Keep up the good work, Mark Smith. Your constituents support your efforts.
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Are you kidding me?!?!?,  02/26/10 2:55
While working many years for a major corporation, I learned a lot about public relations, hiring, personnel administration, ethics, and personal responsibility. The guidance that Mr. McLinko would have received, if he had asked about the conflict of interest potentially involved in the hiring of a relative for the public safety position, would have been "Never put yourself in a position where it can be perceived that you have violated the public trust". While Mr. McLinko may have, in good conscience, made every effort to separate his family ties from his decision-making in making this selection, he put himself in a position to be criticized because he did not abstain from voting as he might have. If he had abstained, Sullivan and Smith would have had to further discuss the issue until they came to an agreement on the selection. Eventually, either Wilcox would have gotten the job or Mr. Smith's candidate would have. I am sure both candidates are very well qualified, and that it really didn't matter who was hired. By refusing to give up his vote voluntarily due to family ties, Mr. McLinko has again given the populace reason to criticize. He has also shown that he is not willing to give up his vote on faith that his co-commissioners will reach the right decision, whatever that may be. It very likely would have been to hire Mr. Wilcox, who sounds like an outstanding candidate. And Mr. McLinko's reputation would have been improved if he at least had openly discussed the candidate's family relationship to him in a public meeting prior to the hiring vote and/or abstained from the actual vote itself. People will always question whether this decision was made in the county's best interest, and this questioning is unfair to Mr. Wilcox himself who will have to overcome the stigma of being the guy perceived to have been hired because of nepotism. Good luck to Mr. Wilcox in his new position, which will be a very important role in the future of this county as we experience the disasters and public safety issues that emanate from living in a gas field.
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A prudent man abstains,  02/26/10 1:50
S Creek Resident - Your analysis of the 911 center and EMA is far off base. It may be your opinion, but it certainly isn't the opinion of all fire, ems, and police as you claim. You clearly have zero experience with the operations of either department, and are likely just a disgruntled member of one of the incompetent fire/ems services who likes to blame the 911 center for not possessing a crystal ball. Have you ever visited the 911 center during a fire, crash, or adverse weather? Might change your perspective.
I wonder if gary plans on training on any of the positions he will be over, seeing as he has no experience in either field. Unlike other candidates who were looked over.
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In the know,  02/26/10 1:40
Although he's got his work cut out for him...CONGRATULATIONS Gary!!! Of course Mark Smith didn't want to hire him...he's not from THE VALLEY!
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allthingsnotROB,  02/26/10 9:09
So now we have a new position created in county government to oversee 2 other positions and it comes with a $51,000+ salary ? I didn't read that the EMA Director and the 911 Director were going anywhere so another layer of boondoggle government. And on top of that, the new man is related to his own boss, Commissioner Doug McLinko. Of course, there will never be a conflict of interest, right? You shouldn't have relatives overseeing relatives in any government and that's why nepotism laws were created. Looks like Bradford County might need one now and that would be a good editorial for the Daily Review editor to expound upon. But even without the possible conflict of interest this is a questionable position and the taxpayers should be outraged at the salary and benefit package this man received.
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Outraged taxpayer,  02/26/10 8:46
Why did someone have to point out that they were second cousins? Shouldn't McLinko just been straight forward from the beginning? What else does he just not ackonledge until questioned? Conflict of interests should been public information without someone else pointing them out. Come on you serve the public.
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Jack,  02/26/10 8:45
Mr. Wilcox seems to have no experience that would make him qualified for the position other than being a relative of a County Commissioner. How does being a production supervisor and a fire chief for two years make you the most qualified candidate for a position that oversees the most vital services in the County. Good Luck to you Mr. Wilcox, I hope you have thick skin, because these Commissioners will blame you for everything that goes wrong and leave your swinging in the wind like they have done to others.
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Jack Phillips,  02/26/10 8:41
Explain how it is not nepotism!! Gary has held a volunteer fire chief position and has been an EMT for several years (to my knowledge never practiced as an EMT) while the other candidate has a history of working full time as a Paramedic for 20+ years and holds a degree in Disaster Management and has lectured internationally in Disaster Preparedness Conferences. So how does a volunteer fireman who was a Production Supervisor with a degree in business be found to be more qualified for a Public Safety position. NEPOTISM???? I don't know.
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Wondering,  02/26/10 7:29