By Marcia Moore
The Daily Item
SUNBURY -- Just days after he lost a bid to retain all five assistant prosecutors, Northumberland County District Attorney Anthony Rosini informed the county commissioners that he's terminating veteran attorney John Muncer.
The salary board voted last week to cut one of the assistant district attorneys to save about $80,000 a year.
The commissioners told Rosini after the vote that if he failed to inform them which attorney he was letting go by Monday, they would terminate his most recently hired attorney on Wednesday.
According to county records, the last one hired was Assistant District Attorney Michael Toomey, who joined the staff 15 years ago. The four other assistant prosecutors, Muncer, Ann Targonski, Bill Cole and Melissa Norton, have been employed longer.
Rosini did not return a call for comment Monday, and Muncer could not be reached.
Rosini fought hard against the position being cut, arguing the need for all five staff attorneys to handle a record 1,500 adult criminal cases a year and provide legal assistance in the county's four district courts, treatment court and Child Advocacy Center.
About a dozen law enforcement officers attended the salary board hearing to support his contention that any decrease in staffing would have a negative impact on the county judicial system and public safety.
County board Chairman Rick Shoch wasn't persuaded, telling Rosini that several law enforcement officers reported to him that the loss of one position would not have an adverse effect.
In the end, Shoch and the other salary board members, Commissioners Vinny Clausi and Stephen Bridy and Controller Tony Phillips, voted in favor of cutting the position. Rosini cast the only vote against it.
Teamsters Local 764 President Jimmy Little said last week that he will file a grievance against the county's decision to eliminate a union position when it takes effect Wednesday. The assistant district attorneys joined the Teamsters in 2002 to gain better pay.
Shoch is confident the county acted within its rights and properly eliminated the position.
"The commissioners ultimately run the county," he said. "I don't expect the union to be happy about losing a paying member."
Muncer, 52, started his career in 1985 as a special prosecutor in Northumberland County. He worked for four years as an assistant prosecutor under then-District Attorney Robert B. Sacavage before serving as then-county Judge Samuel Ranck's law clerk in the early 1990s.
He joined Rosini's staff as an assistant prosecutor nearly 17 years ago and is paid $63,856 a year, plus benefits.
Last summer, Muncer sought the office of district judge in Sunbury, which pays $82,303 a year.
He asked to be considered by the county Republican committee as the party's nominee to fill the seat left vacant last July when his close friend and former law partner, Carl B. Rice, died unexpectedly at 49 from a heart attack.
The committee chose Sunbury attorney Benjamin Apfelbaum as its nominee, and he was elected to the six-year seat in November.
At the time, Muncer said he didn't consult with his boss, Rosini, about his intentions to seek the district judge position.
