Jul. 28—POTTSVILLE — Schuylkill County's new human resources director wanted to come home.
Anthony Kern, 62, who currently lives in Elizabethtown, Lancaster County, is a Mahanoy City native.
"I still have plenty of connections here," he said, adding he grew up in the county and that his mother lives here.
"I thought this would be a great opportunity," he said.
Before starting June 19 with the county, Kern had been the deputy director of human resources of Lancaster County since July 2019.
"I was still figuring the place out when the troubles hit," Kern said, referring to the COVID-19 pandemic, which he described as his greatest challenge in Lancaster.
Kern, who will be the fifth person to fill the HR director roll in five years, is no stranger to turnover. He said he worked under three HR directors in Lancaster in the past four years.
"There's no moment where you can say you've seen it all," Kern said of his 40-year career in human resources.
He will be replacing Andrea L. Whelan, who left March 10 to take a job at Fort Indiantown Gap.
Whelan was hired in August 2022 to replace Heidi L. Zula, who had assumed the role in December 2020 and left June 3, 2022, to take a job with the Harrisburg School District.
Doreen M. Kutzler was hired as interim HR director before the Schuylkill County commissioners selected Whelan.
A 1983 graduate of Dickinson College, Kern has a bachelor's degree in philosophy and political science. He also has a master's degree in public administration from Syracuse University and a Master of Arts in conflict resolution from Pennsylvania Western University.
Resolving problems and making the workplace better, he said, are admirable goals.
Kern said, in his experience in the HR environment, "Happy people usually don't pop in."
Moreover, he said, listening to people is important. Discovering the "best path" is what he tries to do when finding a "mutually agreeable solution."
Kern said he is also familiar with the ongoing legal situation concerning Commissioner George F. Halcovage Jr.
Halcovage was accused of sexual harassment and assault in a federal lawsuit filed in March 2021 by four county employees.
The prior June, the county solicitor and human resources office found that Halcovage violated county policies on sexual harassment, conduct and discipline, indicating he would be fired if he were not an elected official. The only means of removing him from office is through impeachment.
Despite the turnover and current issues, Kern said, he is grateful for the opportunity and hopes to move back to the area.