Officials are still looking at possible replacements for Ron
Kuleck as the head of the North Central Pennsylvania Regional
Planning and Development Commission in Ridgway.

The agency’s executive board – which is responsible for filling
the position – will meet again Jan. 25.

There has been no word on how long it will take to find a
replacement or just who that person might be.

Kuleck resigned from the post in late December after being
placed on administrative leave Nov. 28. Kuleck’s resignation was
effective Dec. 31.

Copies of his resignation letter were not immediately available.
There was also no immediate indication that some type of
investigation was under way against Kuleck. Calls seeking comment
for Elk County District Attorney Bradley Kraus were not returned.
Meanwhile, Ridgway-based state police said they were not aware of
any impending or ongoing criminal investigations against
Kuleck.

Messages left seeking comment on the situation from Potter
County Commissioner John Torok, who is the board chairman, were not
returned. However, Torok was quoted in a Potter Leader-Enterprise
newspaper story appearing Jan. 4, saying an investigation had been
conducted against Kuleck, but did not indicate what it was. Torok
later indicated the investigation had some connection to Kuleck’s
resignation.

The board’s vice chairman, Elk County Commissioner Christine
Gavazzi, also remained tight-lipped, noting “As far as Mr. Kuleck,
he is resigned.” She declined to comment any further on what led to
that decision.

Kuleck’s pension and financial information was also not
immediately available.

Officials said they were not sure if they would replace Kuleck
with somebody in-house; that idea is apparently not favorable to
some members of the board. At the Dec. 30 board meeting, Clearfield
County Commissioner Rex Reed said it was too early to discuss a
possible replacement, also refusing to say why Kuleck resigned.

McKean County Commissioner John Egbert has also declined to
comment on the situation.

Kuleck’s job is currently being handled by deputy directors
Howard Glessner, Mike Lawrence and Donald Masisak. Kuleck served in
North Central for 32 years.

Kuleck was at the center of a controversy two years ago when
10-year contracts were approved for high-level administration at
the commission. County governments objected, saying the length of
the contracts would take away the supervisory ability of the county
commissioners.

Under pressure from the board and media, including The Era, and
at the persuasion of state Sen. Joe Scarnati, R-Brockway, and state
Rep. Dan Surra, D-Kersey, Kuleck eventually relented, cutting the
length of the contracts and revealing the salaries of high-ranking
officials.

During the height of the employee contract controversy, Kuleck
openly, and at times bitterly, lashed out at U.S. Rep. John
Peterson, R-Pa., who he cited as leading the charge against the
agency with his request to open the non-profit organization’s
financial information for public perusal.

In response, Peterson crafted legislation in Washington
requiring all economic development agencies receiving federal
funding to make their audited statements, annual budgets and
minutes of meetings available to the public upon request or risk
losing out on federal Appalachian Regional Commission money.

The law impacted any agency in the Appalachian Region, including
North Central.

Thus far, Peterson’s office in Washington has not issued a
statement regarding the North Central situation.