Sep. 30—Two members of the Westmoreland County Airport Authority board of directors, including the former right-hand man to Arnold Palmer, were replaced Thursday for supporting for an extension of a restaurant lease at the Unity airport.
Westmoreland Commissioners Doug Chew and Gina Cerilli Thrasher voted to install new members to the authority board in place of Chairman Paul Puleo and Donald "Doc" Giffin, whose five-year terms had expired.
Both were in the commissioners cross-hairs when they, along with five others on the nine-person board, voted in June to extend a five-year deal to lease for the restaurant space at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport to DeNunzio's Italian Chophouse, which held exclusive rights to run the facility's dining concession since 2004.
Thrasher and Chew for months lobbied the board to seek other proposals as a potential revenue generator for the facility. Thrasher made public statements in which she indicated should would seek to remove board members who opposed her efforts to potentially open up the space to a new vendor.
"I am holding the board to the same standard as the county commissioners. We asked them for more time to discuss this proposal and they rushed it through a year before the contract even expired. There was no reason to rush it through," Thrasher said Thursday.
She said that, over the next several years, she will seek to replace all seven of the board members who defied her request to delay awarding a new restaurant contract.
"Board members are not supposed to be (there) for a lifetime. They are to be appointed, reappointed or taken off the board just like county commissioners are voted on every four years. We are just as replaceable as board members," Thrasher said.
Chew explained his vote was simply an effort change the airport's leadership.
"I thought it was best to pick some new faces," Chew said.
Puleo's term expired in January. On Thursday, he stood by the decision to renew DeNunzio's lease.
"It's disappointing. I loved being on the airport board. It's a huge asset, one of the largest we have in Westmoreland County," Puleo said. "I can't speak for why they removed me, but the lease was thoughtfully done and we talked about it for several months. The numbers are the numbers."
He said board members held preliminary discussions with other potential vendors to operate restaurant space but ultimately received no concrete proposals before the lease was extended.
Giffin for years represented Palmer on the board and was tabbed as the golf legend's replacement after he died in 2016. He continued to serve after his term expired in January 2020. He said he was disappointed not to be reappointed.