Rob Duncan hired in Lorain County

ELYRIA — Former Norwalk Mayor Rob Duncan has been hired by Lorain County. The new county commissioners have made a number of staffing changes among their at-will employees this week, replacing a number of longtime county employees with new blood. Documents obtained by The (Elyria) Chronicle-Telegram as part of a public records request outlined who is losing their jobs as well as who they are being replaced by, as well as their salaries. Commissioners voted on many of the items at their meeting Monday and the documents were made public Tuesday afternoon. Commissioner David Moore said the board looked at resumes when hiring and hired Republicans, Democrats and nonpartisan persons alike. Commissioner Matt Lundy, a Democrat, voted no on several of the personnel items Monday, expressing concerns, but the final vote was 2-1 with Moore and Hung, both Republicans who were elected in November, having the majority. "This is a new administration, and I certainly support the new administration bringing in its new management team, and there's lots of folks I know on here I do respect," Lundy said during the commission's organizational meeting Monday and reported by The Chronicle-Telegram. "I can only do an up-or-down vote, and I have concerns about the termination of some very good and reasonable people. Therefore that's why I'll be voting the way I'm voting on this resolution." Commissioners hired Robert Duncan as director of its community development department, replacing Don Romancak. Duncan, the former two-term Republican mayor of Norwalk, will make $36.54 an hour or $73,080 annually. Duncan was first elected mayor in 2011 when he defeated two-term mayor Sue Lesch. He was re-elected in 2015 then lost to Dave Light in 2019. The former mayor was unavailable for comment. Along with hiring former one-term Lorain County Commissioner Tom Williams, a Republican and Moore's campaign manager in the 2020 election, at an hourly rate of $72.07 or $144,140 a year, commissioners also hired Jennifer Sinatra, the former human resources director for the city of North Ridgeville, to be the county's new human resources director. Sinatra will make $52.88 an hour or about $106,000 annually. Her hiring fulfilled a campaign promise made by Hung and Moore in 2020. Williams' assistant will be Chris Kish, who was hired Tuesday at a rate of $26.44 an hour or $52,880 annually. Though his job responsibilities weren't immediately clear, Robert Weber also was hired as deputy administrator director at the rate of $43.27 an hour, or $86,540 a year. Romancak, who Duncan replaced, was was making $41.75 an hour or $83,500 annually at the time of his termination. He has a master's degree in urban studies from Cleveland State University and worked for the county for 10 and a half years. Prior to that, he spent seven years as chief planner for the city of Lorain and an associate and junior planner with the city for nearly seven years prior to that, according to his LinkedIn profile.