EASTON, Pa. — Northampton County Council appointed Scott Parsons as county controller Thursday night, by a vote of 5-4.
- Northampton County Council appointed Scott Parsons to a five-month term as county controller
- Parsons was formerly the county’s deputy director of public works and a member of county council
- He fills the remainder of Richard “Bucky” Szulborski’s term; the former controller died late last month
Parsons, a Democrat from Wind Gap, will serve roughly five months in office, through the end of this year. By law, he takes office as soon as council votes to appoint him; he starts work Friday, and may be sworn in as soon as Monday.
He fills a vacancy left by Richard ‘Bucky’ Szulborski, who died in late June. Parsons' successor as controller will be decided in the November general election; county council members Tara Zrinski, a Democrat, and John Cusick, a Republican, will be on the ballot.
The chief task of Parsons’ term will be seeing the controller’s office through its part in the county’s annual budgeting process, just now getting underway. The budget is typically completed in December.
Parsons is a former Northampton County commissioner, and also previously served as deputy director of the county's public works department. He is a retired slate quarry laborer and former Wind Gap Borough Council president.
"I just want to make a smooth transition."Northampton County Controller Scott Parsons
During an interview with council Wednesday, Parsons said his experience in county government is an asset to create a smooth transition to the next elected controller, whomever that may be.
“It’s going to take somebody three weeks to a month just to figure out the phone system,” he said Wednesday. “I'm just looking to make a smooth transition.”
Council considered three other people for the temporary job: Altynay Kanatbekoff, Nurit Baron and Nadeem Qayyum.
The vote came down to Parsons and Baron, with Parsons receiving five votes to Baron's four.
Voting for Parsons were commissioners Zrinski, Cusick, Ron Heckman, Tom Giovanni and Kevin Lott. Casting votes for Baron were John Goffredo, Kerry Myers, Lori Vargo Heffner and John Brown.
