Municipal Brief

Ashley police returned to the scene Wednesday morning aft

First Posted: 3/1/2012

Luzerne County officials estimated the number of layoffs at 67 during Tuesday's county council meeting, but a detailed review Wednesday of documents from multiple county officials shows a total 59 employees are actually impacted.

Former interim county Manager Tom Pribula said the number released Tuesday was an estimate, but he's certain the total net job reductions will be 80 when terminations, resignations and the elimination of row offices under home rule also are factored in.

For example, an executive assistant post is cut because former commissioner executive assistant Nancy Kelly resigned last week after obtaining other employment.

Another job cut stems from Frank Semanski's resignation as Republican jury commissioner effective today.

Semanski is giving up a $10,113 salary guaranteed until his elected term expires at the end of 2013. Home rule eliminated the post in response to complaints it was a no-show, do-nothing job.

Bonnie L. Markowski had already resigned as the Democrat jury commissioner.

The county will save $2.79 million in salaries plus benefits through the layoffs and job eliminations, Pribula reported to county council.

Forty of the 59 furloughed workers are unionized, records show.

Nine agreed to be laid off.

A few already have been furloughed, but most of the layoffs will take effect at the end of work today. One layoff in domestic relations will be enacted at the end of the month, and the layoff of a mapping employee won't occur until August, the documents show.

The prison has the most layoffs &amp;#8211; 18 &amp;#8211; followed by probation services and the assessor's office, with five each.

The sheriff's department will also lose six part-time deputies in addition to Sheriff John Gilligan. John Robshaw will serve as interim acting sheriff in addition to his current position as county security chief.

Register of Wills clerks Carol Zolner and Joseph Rodgers are on the layoff list but plan to exercise their union contract right to bump less senior employees who have the same position in other departments in their bargaining unit.

Their union leader, Paula Schnelly, of the American Federation of State, County &amp;amp; Municipal Employees, or AFSCME, said the bumping process was delayed by a lack of cooperation by management in one office. As a result, two employees won't find out they're being laid off until today, she said.

"I'm very distraught that two people still don't know they're being laid off," Schnelly said.

County Manager Robert Lawton said the administration will "do the best we can" to absorb the loss of employees without hurting services, though some impact should be expected with the loss of that many positions.

Cuts are necessary because the council can provide only a set amount of funding to operate government, he said.

"If we do more of A, it means we'll be doing less of B. That's the bottom line," he said.

"We may change the way we provide services. We may change the time it takes to provide them," he said.

Lawton said the administration will continue monitoring services.

Prison union members predicted safety will be compromised with cuts in the correctional system, and they complained about the administration's refusal to accept the union's offer to give up 3 percent pay hikes for the rest of the year in exchange for keeping 10 workers.

Pribula said he rejected the offer because the administration had concerns about the wording, and he said Prison Warden Joe Piazza was confident safety requirements would be met.

Lawton said he reviewed the matter Wednesday and will proceed with the prison union layoffs.

"While we appreciate the union having come forward with an alternative proposal, unfortunately we didn't have the time to perfect it before the deadline," Lawton said. "We will continue to be open to further discussions with them, whatever happens."

Layoff list

Here's the list of Luzerne County employees laid off due to budget cuts, with those who opted for voluntary layoff indicated, according to information obtained from multiple county sources:

&amp;#8226; Purchasing: David Jones, supply room clerk.

&amp;#8226; Assessors: George Kechula, land appraisal manager; field investigators Deborah Jones and Jeanne Kenney; clerks Heidi Franco and Gladys Reece.

&amp;#8226; Treasurer: Ann Marie Hall, bookkeeper.

&amp;#8226; Prison: Edward Lukowski, maintenance supervisor (voluntary); David Wilde, lieutenant (voluntary); William DeFrancesco Jr., lieutenant; probationary correctional officers Stephan Wengen, David Duke Jr., Raphael Rostock, Stephen Modrow and John Ulichney (these five already laid off); Joseph Petrovich, K-9 sgt.; correctional officers Charles Smith Jr., Ryan Cragle, Christie Carroll, Jennifer Malak, Jonathan Lazarchick and Melissa Yankovich; Steven Solovey, correctional officer (voluntary); Linda Bealla, librarian; and Mark Chappell, maintenance.

&amp;#8226; Clerk of Courts: Lindsay McFarland, clerk (voluntary).

&amp;#8226; Prothonotary: Anthony Kochanski, clerk (voluntary).

&amp;#8226; Sheriff: John Gilligan, sheriff; part-time deputies Jeffrey Lewis, Michael Lupinski, Ruddy Navarro, Mike O'Boyle, Charles Rauschkolb and Bryan Rush.

&amp;#8226; Mapping: Christine Polomchak, cadastral draft specialist, (layoff won't take effect until August).

&amp;#8226; Building and Grounds: Robert Piorkowski, custodian; Michael Mezanko, custodian (voluntary).

&amp;#8226; Security: security officers Charles Fritz and Brian Travis; Edythe Vann, security officer (voluntary).

&amp;#8226; 911: Peter Gavlick, custodian; Edward Casaldi, deputy director; Salvatore Giamber, lead supervisor; Elizabeth Pasquinelli, quality assurance supervisor.

&amp;#8226; Road and Bridge: John Pipech, supervisor (voluntary); Ron Galli, foreman (voluntary).

&amp;#8226; Controller: Margaret Ciavarella, auditor (already laid off); Marilyn DeRolf, deputy controller.

&amp;#8226; Orphan's Court: Thomas Killino, custody hearing officer; John Bellino, guardian ad litem.

&amp;#8226; Domestic Relations: Raymond Sobota, master in support (layoff won't take effect until end of March).

&amp;#8226; Probation Services: probation officers Jennifer Caso, James DeJoseph, Jennifer Guesto, Patrick Sharkey and Jonathan Veet.

&amp;#8226; Mailroom: Angela Schnelly, clerk.

&amp;#8226; Register of Wills: clerks Carol Zolner and Joseph Rodgers (these layoffs will likely be swapped with other workers because their union has bumping rights).

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59 county workers out