Dec 15, 2023 By Mike Jones 5 min read

Bill West was about to deliver a prayer to open the Washington County Board of Commissioners’ meeting Thursday when he stopped himself in order to tell a story about how longtime Commissioner Diana Irey Vaughan helped facilitate a healing moment following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

“The whole country was in turmoil,” West said. “Most public buildings, people were telling (the public) to stay away.”

But Irey Vaughan worked to open the Washington County Courthouse and provide security for a public prayer, which attracted 1,500 people to gather and grieve together, West said.

“Diana didn’t blink,” West said. “She said, ‘I will make the arrangements. You just show up.'”

West praised Irey Vaughan for both her faith and service in government over the past three decades as county commissioner in what was her final meeting on the board.

“We had a model in this county that we could look to and say, ‘She did an incredible job,'” he said.

Irey Vaughan is retiring when her seventh term ends Jan. 2 after 28 years in office, including the final four years as chairwoman of the board. Many others also heaped praise on Irey Vaughan’s service, including Commissioner Larry Maggi, who said he has worked alongside her for 26 years as both the county’s sheriff and a fellow board member.

“We’ve moved the county forward through thick and thin. She became a great friend. What’s ironic is, her and I are in opposite parties,” said Maggi, who is a Democrat, about his Republican counterpart. “We worked together for the betterment of Washington County.”

Commissioner Nick Sherman, a Republican who has been on the board for the past four years and will likely take over as the new board chairman next year, said he learned much from Irey Vaughan during his first term. He pointed to a four-day training session that he attended with her following his election in 2019, but noted that he learned more from Irey Vaughan on the four-hour drive in the car to Hershey than at the conference itself.

“To be fair, and to be civil, and I won’t forget what you taught me,” Sherman said. “And I appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”

Maggi and Sherman then presented Irey Vaughan with a plaque commemorating her service.

“You’ve added civility, you’ve added class and you’ve added competence to the county commissioners,” Maggi said. “And we’re going to miss you.”

Irey Vaughan thanked her family for allowing her to serve for so long and noted the number of sacrifices that had to be made at times during that period. She also thanked various friends and campaign workers over the years, along with current and former county workers and commissioners, including Sherman and Maggi.

“We got a lot done in the last four years. We got hit with a pandemic, which was a challenge right away. We got a lot of things done,” Irey Vaughan told Sherman.

“We did become friends,” she told Maggi, noting they have worked together on the board the longest. “We would disagree behind closed doors and fight it out, but never was there a harsh word after.”

But she got especially emotional when she mentioned her administrative assistant, Marie Trossman, asking her to stand up and be acknowledged.

“She’s been a teammate serving,” Irey Vaughan said. “She’s tremendous.”

Irey Vaughan then turned her attention to her constituents and thanked them for having faith in her leadership, while also pointing to the hard work by the county courthouse workers.

“We have a tremendous county team that really works hard for you,” Irey Vaughan said. “To the taxpayers … I thank you from the bottom of my heart. This has been a tremendous experience. And I hope you feel my actions have served you well.”

In addition to the exit by Irey Vaughan, who will be replaced on the board by Republican Electra Janis in January, county solicitor Jana Grimm and interim chief of staff James McCune are also leaving at the end of the month. Irey Vaughan will be taking the position of executive director at the City Mission in Washington next year.

Also during the meeting, two county residents demanded accountability for Controller April Sloane after she was charged this week with felony animal cruelty following the death of her dog, Thor, who North Strabane police said died Nov. 27 of neglect.

A.C. Rowland of Muse asked what could be done to remove Sloane from office if she refuses to resign. Rowland then pointed to a petition she started on www.change.org entitled “Demand Justice for Neglected Dog: Remove April Sloane” to encourage Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and the Republican-led state Senate to initiate her removal.

“At some point she has be held accountable,” Rowland said.

Les Subrick of Canonsburg became emotional when he talked about what happened to Sloane’s dog and worried about the message it would send for other abused animals if the controller is able to continue in her position.

“We cannot let her escape this,” Subrick said. “This can’t go unexcused.”

Irey Vaughan said she is hopeful the county can hire a humane officer in the future, but she also lamented that a government study commission she championed was rejected by voters in 2021 at the behest of the Washington County Republican Party. She said the commission could have recommended changes for how county government functions and may have provided a mechanism to remove row officers who are facing charges.

Sloane did not attend the subsequent salary board meeting following the regular commissioners meeting and has not commented on the charges or whether she will remain in office.

Also during the meeting, the commissioners unanimously approved the county’s $108.516 million spending plan and kept the tax rate steady at 2.43 mills.