Pressed on how they would decide who will fill Tom LeCrone's seat on the Convention Center Authority board, the county commissioners said it depends on who applies for the position.

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When the former board of Lancaster County Commissioners appointed Tom LeCrone to the county Convention Center Authority board last year, they picked him after publicly interviewing four candidates.

At the commissioners' weekly meeting Wednesday, Robert Field of Lancaster Township encouraged the new board to use that same process to appoint LeCrone's replacement.

"That earlier process was widely viewed as fair and impartial," Field said.

Commissioners chairman Dennis Stuckey said no decision has been made yet on how the commissioners will select LeCrone's replacement.

"We need to put our heads together and talk about this and then go from there," he said.

The commissioners might choose to publicly interview candidates, Stuckey said.

Or, if the right person comes along, they might not.

"We could make a decision to appoint someone as early as next Tuesday," he said.

LeCrone tendered his resignation from the seven-member authority board this week after serving four months. He pledged to continue to serve until Feb. 13 but will leave sooner if the commissioners find a replacement.

In his resignation letter, LeCrone said that, due to changes in his life, he can no longer devote the time and effort he believes the authority post requires. LeCrone offered no specifics as to what had changed in his life.

The authority board is responsible for overseeing construction and operation of the 220,000-square-foot convention center being built on the site of the former Watt & Shand building on Penn Square.

A 300-room Marriott hotel is being built beside it by private developer Penn Square Partners.

The authority's board is composed of three people appointed by city officials and four appointed by the county commissioners.

Field told the commissioners Wednesday the appointment they make to replace LeCrone is crucial.

"If the new appointment is going to see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, as we've seen in the past, confidence will be lost in the authority and in this body also," he said.

According to Stuckey, the commissioners already have received calls from people interested in the position.

"We've told those people to submit résumés and letters of interest to us to review," he said.

If someone comes forward whom all three commissioners feel certain is right for the job, Stuckey said, the board probably will move to appoint that person as soon as possible.

Stuckey said the commissioners have yet to decide how they will vet applicants in the absence of an obvious candidate.

Because LeCrone has promised to serve until Feb. 13, Field urged the commissioners to take their time.

"Why rush to replace him?" he said.

Penn Square Partners consists of general partners Penn Square General Corp., a High Industries affiliate, and Penn Square Ltd. LLC, an affiliate of Lancaster Newspapers Inc., publisher of the Intelligencer Journal, Lancaster New Era and Sunday News.

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