W-b Businessman Robbed, Slashed/ Garage Owner Randy Wolfe Loses $1,000 And
Ends Up With 30 Stitches.

Antique Appraisal Planned

By JON FOX jfox@leader.net
 Saturday, November 12, 2005 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 3A 





Every vote counts, or in Irwin Gelb's case, every two votes count. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The 63-year-old registered Democrat squeaked his way onto borough council
for a four-year seat with a pair of write-in votes, according to Leonard
Piazza, director of the Luzerne County Bureau of Elections. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Four candidates had been vying for four spots on council, but after one
candidate withdrew, the door was left open for Gelb's surprise victory. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Gelb, the lone write-in candidate, could not be reached for comment. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 According to Piazza, Tuesday's general election was by and large a smooth
operation. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I think this is the smoothest since I've been in office over there," he
said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Piazza has directed the bureau of elections for the past two years. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Piazza and his staff were at the county courthouse from 9 a.m. into the
early evening Friday tallying the official vote counts. Piazza was happy to
point out it was the last time the work will entail laborious hand
calculations. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 By the May 2006 primary, the county will be equipped with electronic voting
machines that will greatly simplify arriving at final tallies. The county will
retire its current 1930s-era, lever-operated voting machines. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Believe me when I say I can't wait to be out of this system," Piazza said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Piazza attributed the election's ease to better-informed election officials
and better interaction with candidates seeking office. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "When they have the information there's less confusion out there." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Beginning Monday, candidates will be able to petition for a recanvass of
the votes or to cumulate write-in votes. Those requests are due by the end of
the business day on Nov. 18. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Next on the on the agenda for the county election board is consolidating
wards municipality by municipality, Piazza said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Freeland might see a reduction from six to two wards by next month, he
said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

'05 Election Was Smooth, County Vote Chief Says/ Consolidating Municipalities' Wards Is The Next Job For Leonard Piazza's Office.