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Wilkes University prof tapped for national pharmacy research program

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Wilkes-Barre Health Department offering free flu shots to public

<p>Walter Griffith has called off an effort to place a home rule study question on Luzerne County&#8217;s May 15 primary ballot due to a lack of petition signatures.</p><p>A total of 3,722 signatures were required to get the question on the ballot, or 5 percent of the 74,436 county votes cast in the last state governor&#8217;s race.</p><p>Griffith and other volunteers obtained approximately 900 signatures, and the last day to circulate petitions seeking signatures is Feb. 13, he said Tuesday.</p><p>&#8220;We didn&#8217;t even make a third of what we needed,&#8221; Griffith said</p><p>He posted a message on the &#8220;Luzerne County Government Study Commission 2018&#8221; Facebook page Jan. 27 to cancel a Feb. 10 gathering to notarize petitions.</p><p>&#8220;I appreciate the help and hard work of everyone that tried to make this happen; however, the weather and other factors made it almost impossible,&#8221; Griffith wrote.</p><p>Griffith said he warned from the start the collection of that many signatures was a &#8220;huge undertaking.&#8221;</p><p>Many voters approached about signing the petition had detailed questions about home rule and the study commission process, which reduced the number that could be obtained, he said.</p><p>&#8220;If people don&#8217;t know what&#8217;s going on, you have to spend a lot of time explaining, so you can&#8217;t get a lot of ground covered,&#8221; said Griffith.</p><p>Voter signatures are necessary to proceed because a county council majority voted Dec. 12 to reject county Councilman Edward Brominski&#8217;s proposal to place the study question on the ballot.</p><p>The proposed question would ask voters if they want to elect a seven-member commission to study the county&#8217;s home rule government structure, which has been in effect since January 2012. If the commission determines changes are warranted, it would draft and recommend a new home rule charter that would then require voter approval for adoption.</p><p>Griffith and others spearheading the signature push chose a ballot question that forces the commission to keep a customized home rule structure, ruling out an option to return to the prior system that had been in effect more than 150 years.</p><p>He plans to revive the push in June to place the question on the November general election ballot, saying petitions can be circulated starting June 19.</p><p>&#8220;The weather will be warmer, and there will be plenty of bazaars and political activity by our federal and state candidates, that will get us a better &#8216;audience&#8217; to gather signatures,&#8221; he wrote on the Facebook page.</p><p>Under the current home rule structure, 11 council members and an appointed manager make decisions previously handled by three elected commissioners and several elected row officers.</p><p>Past suggested home rule alterations have included reducing the council&#8217;s size, switching the manager to an elected post, and restoring more power to the elected controller.</p><p>Critics of the ballot question have argued six years under the new system is not enough time to effectively evaluate its successes and shortcomings.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Griffith </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_Walter-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Griffith </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></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>

Luzerne County home rule study question won’t be on May primary ballot