WARREN — Trumbull County commissioners today are expected to vote to hire Alexandra DeVengencie-Bush as the county’s next human resources director.

DeVengencie-Bush, who is now the administrative assistant at the Trumbull County Department of Job and Family Services, is expected to begin her duties as the county’s HR director on March 20, if confirmed by commissioners. She is to be paid $39.42 per hour, according to today’s meeting agenda.

Commissioners Denny Malloy and Mauro Cantalamessa during Tuesday’s morning workshop each praised DeVengencie-Bush as the best candidate for the job.

However, Commissioner Niki Frenchko, who did not attend the Tuesday workshop, criticized the choice, saying at least 10 other candidates are more qualified for the position, and pointed out that DeVengencie-Bush did not meet the posted qualifications. She also noted she did not have the opportunity to interview DeVengencie-Bush prior to today’s vote.

JOB DESCRIPTION

According to the job description provided for the county’s human resources director, the director must have a bachelor’s degree in human resources, business or public administration from an accredited four-year college or university. Candidates also were to have at least 10 years experience in leading a human resources department.

Candidates also were required to have experience in labor relations, including collective bargaining negotiation, interpretation of labor agreements and grievance resolution.

DeVengencie-Bush, according to her resume, has a Society for Human Resource Management certification, and earned a Master of Public Administration degree from Murray State University and a bachelor’s degree from Youngstown State University.

She has no experience leading a human resources department. Her resume indicates she “assists in interpreting collective bargaining agreements and provides technical assistance explaining civil service law, rules, personnel policies and procedures,” among other things.

Others who applied for the position included the human resources director for the city of Canton, a human resource specialist for the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, the vice president of human resources for Goodwill Industries of Youngstown, the human resources director of Northeast Ohio Correctional Center and Youngstown Tool & Die, the regional human resources manager of J.D. Byrider in Carmel, Ind., chief global HR leaders with GE Lighting, the human resources director of House Brand LLC, and others.

Frenchko is not expected to vote in favor of DeVengencie-Bush’s hiring.

“She is far and away the best candidate,” interim Human Resources Director Charles Leightner told the commissioners. “She applied for this position every time it was advertised.”

Previous times she applied, however, an advisory committee appointed by commissioners to review applicants did not select her as a finalist.

Leightner was hired as the interim director in 2022. One of his primary mandates was to hire the person best qualified to replace him. At the time of his hiring, Leightner said he was not interested in keeping the job for himself for a long period of time.

He said his only concern about DeVengencie-Bush is her ability in negotiating contracts.

“She has been exposed to labor relations during her job with Mr. Gargano,” he said. “Quite honestly, the next contract is a couple years down the road. If she shadows the attorneys we have in the county — with her intellect — she’ll be a force to be reckoned with.”

Leightner said a number of potential candidates dropped out of consideration for the position based on what he described as the “climate” in the county commissioners office.

Alexandra is aware of all that and prepared to deal with it, Leightner said.

MALLOY AND CANTALAMESSA’S VIEWS

Cantalamessa said the county had a number of good candidates for the human resources director position.

“Unfortunately, some of the good candidates that I wanted to move forward with declined the position for one reason or another,” he said. “We had candidates that declined the position due to the toxic environment created by one commissioner.”

Cantalamessa said DeVengencie-Bush’s combination of an MPA, being SHRM certified, having public sector experience and her knowledge of Trumbull County government made her the most qualified of the remaining candidates.

“Those are the factors that made her stand out,” Cantalamessa said. “She knows exactly what she is coming into.”

Malloy said finding the HR director has been a thorn in the county’s side over the last several years. He noted that he read all resumes, and he believes the combination of educational background, her seven years of experience as a county employee make her a top candidate.

“I don’t know how she slid through the cracks the first couple of times,” he said. “When I look at her qualifications on paper, she is everything the three commissioners wanted.”

He noted that his observation of DeVengencie-Bush during a meeting with state officials was that she was willing to ask tough questions that were clearly in favor of employee positions.

“What I want as a human resources director is someone that will impose discipline, but at the same time defend employee rights if they are having a problem with a department head or being singled out unfairly or unjustly. She has the personality that she will be a good person between management and labor.”

Malloy said the last two candidates for this position were strong women.

John Gargano, director of Trumbull County Job and Family Services, described DeVengencie-Bush as a person who does her job well. According to her resume, she serves a public informant officer and administrative assistant to the director.

“She is energetic and a self-starter,” he said. “She will be an asset for years to come.”

Frenchko said DeVengencie-Bush was investigated for making more than two dozen TikTok videos at her desk. Frenchko said she pushed for the investigation shortly after she was elected as Trumbull County commissioner because she received complaints from employees in that department.

On Tuesday, Gargano said allegations that DeVengencie-Bush made the videos at her desk during work hours could not be substantiated.

“I had an investigation conducted by my former and my current human resources directors,” Gargano said.

DeVengencie-Bush began working for Job and Family Services in May 2016 as a case worker. DeVengencie-Bush worked as Gargano’s administrative assistant and public information officer for four years. She currently earns $28 per hour.