The end of the year is too far away.
Sherry Magretti Hamilton, a Westmoreland County Register of Wills, has had a bad year. Two judges have charged her with contempt of court. Several injunctions have been issued to compel her to do her job. There have been hearings. To get the job done, her office has been given to a conservator. She has been pressured to give the county treasurer four months’ worth of money.
Both parties urged her to simply resign so that taxpayers would not have to pay for her or her successor. She resisted. On June 12, she declared that she would not resign under any circumstances.
On June 17, as part of a plea agreement with the judges, she agreed to convert her criminal contempt conviction to a civil misdemeanor.
But she wouldn’t make it until the end of the year. That’s still six months away.
“God has a plan and I trust that,” she said.
But as conservator Jim Antoniono continues to try to get the registry’s sinking ship back on course, more and more problems are being uncovered. This time, it was about incorrectly entered and incomplete adoption documents.
An intensive search of the files is currently underway. Additional district personnel have been deployed to assist. Another hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.
And this week, Hamilton’s longtime deputy, Rona Beluschock, was relieved of her duties. On Tuesday, Antoniono fired attorney Sean Logue, whom Hamilton hired in May after firing his previous attorney, Michael Nestico.
Everyone is dealing with the consequences of Hamilton’s poor performance in an important office – except Hamilton.
Yes, she has agreed to resign. And yes, her salary of nearly $90,000 will no doubt help her pay the $10,000 fine imposed on her in the contempt of court case.
But it is not the people’s responsibility to give her the money to pay off her debts for her lack of service.
Hamilton does nothing to earn her salary, and every day seems to bring new evidence of how little has been done.
The end of the year is too far away. Hamilton should retire now.
