web1_Nanticoke-CoachBruza_CMYK.jpg

Nanticoke shuts out Hanover Area in regular-season finale

web1_TTL102817HSF-Lehman-Dallas_2.jpg

Dallas dominates Lake-Lehman in the Battle for the Old Shoe

<p>PITTSTON &#8212; All 10 Luzerne County Council candidates told residents why they would be a good fit for public office during Friday&#8217;s Represent NEPA forum at the Pittston Memorial Library.</p><p>Candidates fielded questions on a number of topics &#8212; from the proposed 2 percent tax hike in the 2018 budget to how they would handle violations of the Luzerne County home rule charter.</p><p>Voters are free to choose five council contenders of any party affiliation in the Nov. 7 general election.</p><p>WILK Radio host Sue Henry and WNEP&#8217;s Dave Bohman served as moderators.</p><p>All candidates were asked to give a one-minute pitch on why they felt they were most qualified. Here&#8217;s a snapshot of their responses, starting with the Democrats:</p><p>&#8226; John Gadomski, 63, of Wyoming, who worked in the carpentry and contracting field for 44 years, said as a &#8220;blue-collar guy&#8221; he has sat on many boards and has been involved in making a lot of hard decisions in the best interest of those businesses. That background would be vital in serving as a council member.</p><p>&#8226; Linda McClosky Houck, 58, of Kingston, a teacher and county council member since 2012, said she has helped improve transparency in government. Since becoming council chair, she has been going through the budget thoroughly to understand where funds are allocated and what exactly money is being used for. Houck said county council has been watching the money, and &#8220;no one is running wild with the checkbook.&#8221; But the need to pay off debt has caused the budget to increase over the years, she explained.</p><p>&#8226; Matthew Vough, 24, of Pittston, marketing manager at Keystone Automotive Operations Inc. in Exeter, said his job allows him to bring a different perspective to council. As a young person getting involved in politics, he feels a disconnect between the generations and wants to work to bring everyone together and move the county in a direction where more young people are staying in the area.</p><p>&#8226; Sheila Saidman, 67, of Kingston, a retired lawyer who has worked as a county assistant district attorney, legal counsel for various entities and in private law practice, said she can handle budgets, people, litigation skills, negotiation and consensus-building.</p><p>&#8226; Wendy Cominsky, 45, of Dallas Township, a hairdresser and owner of Au Salon in Dallas, said as a small business owner, she understands the struggle of Luzerne County residents. While she doesn&#8217;t have a &#8220;thick resume,&#8221; she makes up by being resourceful. Cominsky said she&#8217;s a hard worker, problem solver, and a team player.</p><p>Here&#8217;s a synopsis of the Republican answers to the same question about why they feel qualified to hold office:</p><p>&#8226; Stephen J. Urban, 43, of Wilkes-Barre, an IT support coordinator and county councilman from 2012 through 2015, said he would work with council to scrutinize the budget and weed out inefficiencies. He would like to shrink the size of county government and work as a voice of the people.</p><p>&#8226; Gregory Wolovich Jr., 24, of Newport Township, a food selector for Wegmans Food Markets, said he would focus on keeping the county government from growing, and continue to monitor and analyze the budget line by line to make sure everything is running &#8220;as smoothly as possible.&#8221;</p><p>&#8226; Chris Perry, 67, of Fairview Township, a retired Hazleton Area School District athletic director and teacher who spent 26 years in the Army National Guard, said as an an athletic director in Hazleton, he was in charge of a budget. He had to make sure the budget was in line, and &#8220;always, always had to do much, much more with less.&#8221;</p><p>&#8226; Marc Dixon, 47, of Wright Township, business development director for Kodak Alaris in the Americas, said he does a lot of contract negotiations, and promises to challenge members of council to think outside the box and to look at how to improve the county overall.</p><p>&#8226; Harry Haas, 41, of Kingston, a teacher and county council member since 2012, said since being elected, he has helped reduce staff, scrutinize the budget and made tough decisions. Haas said he would continue to do that, plus look at other ways to save money.</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_Forum.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The 10 Luzerne County Council candidates fielded questions from the crowd during Friday night&#8217;s forum at the Pittston Memorial Library. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_Forum.jpg</photo0><caption0>The 10 Luzerne County Council candidates fielded questions from the crowd during Friday night&#8217;s forum at the Pittston Memorial Library. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Brigid Edmunds</p><p>bedmunds@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Brigid Edmunds at 570-991-6113 or on Twitter @brigidedmunds</p></shirttailMeta></div>

County council candidates make final pitches to voters at Pittston forum