21 People Apply For Committee Seat

Twenty-one people submitted applications to be part of the county's newly created standing committees on budget and economic development.

When the dust settles, only six will be chosen.

County commissioners will decide who those people are when they finalize their roster at their Feb. 24 meeting.

Some of the names are familiar: Anna Liisa Covell, local businesswoman whose nine years on the planning and zoning board ended last year because of term limits; Gus Guadagnino, owner of Joni Industries; Nick Nicholson, local engineer and also a former P&Z commissioner; Blaise Ingoglia, chief executive officer of Hartland Homes and civic activist; and Walter Selph, local Realtor.

"I think it's a good cross section of the public and I'm just gratified to see so many respected people who want to participate," County Commission Chairman David Russell said.

Last week, county commissioners changed their meeting schedule to accommodate the committees. Starting in March, the Budget & Finance committee will meet the first Tuesday of the month. The Business & Economic Development committee meets the third Tuesday.

Each committee will consist of two county commissioners and three citizens. Commissioner Rose Rocco will chair the budget committee and Commissioner John Druzbick will chair the economic development committee.

Here's a look at who is seeking a seat on the respective committees:

Budget & Finance Standing Committee

Anna Liisa Covell

Lisa Hammond

J. Joseph Kruse

Thomas Lovelock

Homer Maynard

Greg Myers

Ty Mullis

John Scharch Sr.

Joseph Westover

Business & Economic Development Standing Committee

Matilde Amarchand

Gordon Coburn Jr.

Gus Guadagnino

Blaise Ingoglia

Jonathan Markey

Roy Martin

Richard Matassa

Nicholas Nicholson

Laurie Pizzo

John Scharch Sr.

Walter Selph

William Yerrick

Deputy County Administrator Larry Jennings has said preference will be given to community members based on the following criteria:

For budget and finance, volunteers should have a background in accounting, banking or finance, education and senior management.

For business and economic development, participants should have a background in business (past or current), commercial-industrial, education, marketing-promotion and transportation-logistics.