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<p>A Luzerne County shutdown may be averted because a council majority voted to borrow $20 million.</p><p>Councilwoman Eileen Sorokas surprised many at Tuesday&#8217;s council meeting by voting for the loan because she did not support a similar loan last week.</p><p>Five other council members voted for the loan: James Bobeck, Rick Morelli, Tim McGinley, Linda McClosky Houck and Rick Williams.</p><p>County Councilman Harry Haas retained his vote against the borrowing along with Kathy Dobash, Edward Brominski, Stephen A. Urban and Stephen J. Urban.</p><p>The loan is needed to avoid mass layoffs, service cuts and an $8.5 million debt repayment due Dec. 15.</p><p>The county&#8217;s credit rating was downgraded Tuesday largely due to a council majority&#8217;s decision to reject a temporary loan last week, and further rating downgrades could cost the county millions of dollars in coming years, officials said.</p><p>The county is not out of the woods because the administration can&#8217;t proceed with the borrowing until it obtains approval from a county Court of Common Pleas judge. Former county controller Walter Griffith said during public comment that he plans to contest the borrowing in county court. County Chief Solicitor C. David Pedri said he will file a court petition seeking the loan on Wednesday.</p><p>The meeting was moved to the larger courthouse jury room due to the crowd, which was packed with more than 100 citizens, mostly county employees.</p><p>Aging worker Shoshana Hayward broke down at the podium as she pleaded with county officials to pass the loan to avoid service cuts at active adult centers and other county agencies.</p><p>Hayward said many elderly residents have their only daily hot meal at these centers, and some would slip into depression without the opportunity to be around peers.</p><p>&#8220;It allows them the opportunity to socialize,&#8221; Hayward said.</p><p>Union head Kerri Gallagher said a loan is the &#8220;only option&#8221; to cope with the delayed receipt of $22 million in state funding due to the budget impasse because mass layoffs will jack up the county&#8217;s unemployment costs and hurt many people.</p><p>&#8220;The county will be facing devastation,&#8221; said Gallagher, who represents hundreds of county employees in the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME.</p><p>Controller&#8217;s Office worker Martin Moughan approached the podium and asked his fellow workers if they own property and pay taxes, and numerous hands shot up. It was a response to arguments from some who said they were opposing the loan because of the impact borrowing fees would have on taxpayers.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s all I have to say,&#8221; Moughan said, generating applause.</p><p><strong>Council rationale</strong></p><p>Sorokas did not comment during the discussion or voting but said during a break that she still blames the governor and state officials for the problem but could not allow mass layoffs and a debt repayment default.</p><p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t want to see the people suffer,&#8221; Sorokas said.</p><p>The crowd booed and shouted when Haas said he was again opposing the borrowing to send a message to state officials who failed to meet funding obligations.</p><p>&#8220;This is not about you,&#8221; he said to the workers.</p><p>&#8220;Yes it is,&#8221; many shouted collectively.</p><p>&#8220;What&#8217;s your proposal Harry?&#8221; one shouted. Haas said it is to &#8220;put the blame where the blame is due.&#8221;</p><p>Williams said Haas&#8217; argument is not logical.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s cutting your nose off to spite your face,&#8221; Williams said.</p><p>Stephen A. Urban criticized Gov. Tom Wolf, saying he is wrongly holding up the state budget because he &#8220;wants everything or nothing.&#8221; He questioned why state offices continue to receive funding during the impasse while the counties and school districts have suffered.</p><p>He also said he&#8217;s &#8220;sick and tired of punishing taxpayers for the mistakes of county administration and the greed of unions,&#8221; saying much of the county&#8217;s past debt stemmed from past administration&#8217;s unwillingness to cut positions.</p><p>&#8220;I love getting attacked. It makes life interesting,&#8221; he told the crowd. &#8220;This is democracy.&#8221;</p><p>Assistant District Attorney Jim McMonagle later blasted Urban, saying many county employees work hard and are underpaid.</p><p>&#8220;Quit blaming us, please,&#8221; he said, his voice rising.</p><p>Dobash, who attended the meeting by phone, said the uproar &#8220;sounds like a mob mentality.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not going to be bullied like that from the crowd,&#8221; she said.</p><p><strong>Lawton status</strong></p><p>Morelli withdrew his motion to suspend and proceed with the termination of county Manager Robert Lawton.</p><p>Morelli said he discovered in closed-door executive session before the meeting that he did not have the seven votes needed under the home rule charter to oust Lawton.</p><p>Stephen A. Urban had seconded Morelli&#8217;s motion to put the matter on the agenda, but it&#8217;s unclear if the other members of Urban&#8217;s minority &#8212; Stephen J. Urban, Sorokas, Dobash and Brominski &#8212; would have voted for it.</p><p>Morelli said the council members who have repeatedly called for Lawton&#8217;s termination should not &#8220;complain anymore&#8221; because they had an opportunity to take action. He said they were not supporting the motion because he proposed it, and &#8220;it&#8217;s just politics.&#8221;</p><p>Morelli had said before the meeting he would not proceed with the suspension vote if Lawton confirmed chatter that he will be resigning Wednesday, but Lawton has declined to discuss his job plans.</p><p>A council majority supported a proposal from Dobash to reprimand Lawton for failing to keep the council informed about important matters.</p><p>Charles Majikes, who represents unionized probation and domestic relations officers, urged the council to pass the loan and keep Lawton as manager.</p><p>Majikes said Lawton has &#8220;done a lot&#8221; for the county the last four years, including pushing for a debt restructuring that saved millions of dollars and obtaining a credit rating after years of trying.</p><p>He said some elected officials have &#8220;inflamed, childish egos&#8221; instead of looking out for the county&#8217;s best interests and said there are a group of citizens who &#8220;ridicule him meeting after meeting.&#8221;</p><p>Many school districts and counties have been forced to borrow due to the state budget impasse, he said. The interest on the loan will pale in comparison to the &#8220;ramifications if we have to shut down,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Scott Shearer, of Public Financial Management, the county&#8217;s financial consultant, said defaulting on the debt would cost the county millions of dollars in coming years because of the impact on remaining variable rate debt and future tax anticipation loan and debt restructuring interest rates. It also would prevent the county from unlocking $6 million that had to be set aside as part of past borrowing, he said.</p><p>The $20 million loan was estimated to require $200,000 in interest and fees that may not be covered by the state, but Shearer said that amount may increase due to Standard &amp; Poor&#8217;s decision to downgrade the county&#8217;s credit rating.</p><p>Lawton told the council the administration likely would be forced to reduce the workforce to a &#8220;skeleton crew&#8221; for mandated services and pay all essential employees only the minimum wage until the state funding became available to reimburse their lost wages.</p><p>The rise in unemployment premiums from layoffs would &#8220;far exceed&#8221; the interest on borrowing, he said.</p><p>Services such as processing gun permits and recording property deeds and wills would be &#8220;delayed significantly&#8221; or not provided, he said.</p><p><strong>Dog ordinance</strong></p><p>In other business, a council majority voted to:</p><p>&#8226; Enact an ordinance recommended by the SPCA of Luzerne County that will prohibit dogs from being kept outside unattended while a National Weather Service severe weather warning is in effect or for more than 30 minutes if the outside temperature is below 26 degrees or above 92 degrees.</p><p>&#8226; Purchase a property on Young Street, Hanover Township, for $750,000 to house records and possibly a future county morgue, which will address persistent complaints that the current Wilkes-Barre space leased for more than $100,000 annually has temperature extremes and leaks that are damaging to paper records that must be kept by law.</p><p>&#8226; Table Morelli&#8217;s proposal to use $4.7 million from the halted homestead tax break to cover operating expenses and help avoid an 8-percent tax hike in 2016 instead of putting that money in a reserve to help wipe out the remaining $13.1 million deficit.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_Eileen-Sorokas6.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Sorokas </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_Eileen-Sorokas6.jpg</photo0><caption0>Sorokas </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL112515countycouncil33.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Luzerne County workers who attended Tuesday&#8217;s council meeting raised their hands at the urging of a colleague to demonstrate they have a stake in funding county government because they own property and pay taxes. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL112515countycouncil33.jpg</photo1><caption1>Luzerne County workers who attended Tuesday&#8217;s council meeting raised their hands at the urging of a colleague to demonstrate they have a stake in funding county government because they own property and pay taxes. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL112515countycouncil43.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Scott Shearer, of Public Financial Management, the county&#8217;s financial consultant, warns county council members they risked further downgrading of the county credit rating if they did not borrow $20 million to compensate for a delay in $22 million in state funding. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL112515countycouncil43.jpg</photo2><caption2>Scott Shearer, of Public Financial Management, the county&#8217;s financial consultant, warns county council members they risked further downgrading of the county credit rating if they did not borrow $20 million to compensate for a delay in $22 million in state funding. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL112515countycouncil23.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Luzerne County officials listen as audience members speak during Tuesday&#8217;s heated council meeting. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL112515countycouncil23.jpg</photo3><caption3>Luzerne County officials listen as audience members speak during Tuesday&#8217;s heated council meeting. </caption3><photoCredit3>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL112515countycouncil13.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">County Council member Harry Haas told the audience he will continue opposing borrowing in light of the state budget impasse because he wants to send a message to state officials. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL112515countycouncil13.jpg</photo4><caption4>County Council member Harry Haas told the audience he will continue opposing borrowing in light of the state budget impasse because he wants to send a message to state officials. </caption4><photoCredit4>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL112515countycouncil53.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">A phone must be placed by a microphone at Tuesday&#8217;s Luzerne County Council meeting because Councilwoman Kathy Dobash attended by phone, which she has done for several recent meetings. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL112515countycouncil53.jpg</photo5><caption5>A phone must be placed by a microphone at Tuesday&#8217;s Luzerne County Council meeting because Councilwoman Kathy Dobash attended by phone, which she has done for several recent meetings. </caption5><photoCredit5>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit5></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Council votes to borrow $20 million</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

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Luzerne County shutdown may be averted, proposed $20 million loan passes