21 Apply For Six Committee Seats

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 and finance committee will meet the first Tuesday of the month. The business and economic development committee meets the third Tuesday.

Each committee will consist of two county commissioners and three citizens. Commissioner Rose Rocco will act as chairwoman of the budget committee and Commissioner John Druzbick will be chairman of the economic development committee.

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

Budget and 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 and 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.