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MAC Freedom Men’s Basketball: Wilkes gets crucial win over Misericordia

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Communications director Genello leaving Scranton diocese; WBRE’s Deabill hired

<p>Three incumbent Luzerne County Council members say they will seek another term &#8212; Tim McGinley, Robert Schnee and Jane Walsh Waitkus.</p><p>Meanwhile, councilman Eugene Kelleher said he won&#8217;t be running again.</p><p>And Stephen A. Urban, the fifth council member in a seat that expires at the end of this year, could not be reached for comment Wednesday on his election plans.</p><p>The sixth open seat to be filled by voters in this year&#8217;s election had been held by Edward Brominski, who stepped down last month.</p><p>McGinley and Urban have served since the implementation of home rule in January 2012 and are in the final year of their second four-year terms. Home rule limits council members to three consecutive terms, which means they would be eligible for one more.</p><p>A Democrat, McGinley, 72, of Kingston, serves as council chair and said he will make a formal announcement later this week or early next week.</p><p>McGinley said he has worked with colleagues to get the county&#8217;s &#8220;financial house in order&#8221; by paying down debt, eliminating a deficit and securing the first investment-grade credit rating in many years.</p><p>He said the knowledge he&#8217;s gained of county operations is an asset. If elected again, McGinley said he wants to focus heavily on improving county infrastructure, obtaining the best financial deals to fund 911 radio upgrades and new voting machines and improving council-adopted codes and procedures.</p><p>&#8220;I think we&#8217;ve done a good job as far as managing the county and providing leadership from council,&#8221; said McGinley, who previously worked in the public school system and as administration director for the Commission on Economic Opportunity in Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>Schnee, a 59-year-old Democrat from Sugarloaf Township, took office in 2016 and said serving citizens has been &#8220;humbling and an honor.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I like the people I serve with. We might have differences, but we all get along,&#8221; said Schnee, who works as a meter reader for the Hazleton City Authority.</p><p>Describing the home rule structure as the &#8220;purest form of government that there is,&#8221; Schnee said the county had no tax increase the last two years, paid off debt, restored the historic courthouse rotunda and made numerous energy efficiency improvements at county buildings.</p><p>Schnee also highlighted council&#8217;s role supporting economic development projects, including ones on former mine-scarred land in Hanover Township and Nanticoke, and said he believes county Manager C. David Pedri has &#8220;done an outstanding job.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I think we&#8217;ve made many positive strides in the right direction,&#8221; Schnee said. &#8220;I just want to be part of the team that keeps Luzerne County going forward.&#8221;</p><p><strong>&#8216;Not glamour work&#8217;</strong></p><p>Jane Walsh Waitkus, a 70-year-old Democrat from Dorrance Township, said she wants to continue her work heading a county real estate committee and pushing for infrastructure improvements.</p><p>The committee has been reviewing a list of county-owned property to identify unneeded parcels that can be sold &#8212; a major undertaking that hadn&#8217;t been addressed until now due to complicated issues with deeds and ownership verification.</p><p>Walsh Waitkus said she has been combing the lists and wants to get much of the property back on the tax rolls, even if county officials must personally visit neighbors of county parcels to let them know they are available.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m very proud of my work on this. It&#8217;s not glamour work. It&#8217;s long laborious work, but that&#8217;s the kind of person I am,&#8221; said Walsh Waitkus, who previously worked as a professor and director of the Teaching and Learning Resource Center at Penn State Hazleton.</p><p>Walsh Waitkus said she also has pressed for clarity and progress reports on road and bridge repairs, often based on complaints and concerns she receives from citizens. She also said the knowledge of county government she has gained since 2016 is valuable.</p><p>Kelleher, a 75-year old Republican from Dallas Township, took office in 2016 but had previously served two years on the initial council under home rule.</p><p>He said he won&#8217;t run again because he wants to spend more time with family. He thanked his supporters and said the county has challenges ahead funding capital projects and covering expenses that will rise in 2020, in part because one-time revenue was used to help avoid a tax increase in 2019.</p><p>&#8220;I feel I&#8217;ve been privileged to be on council with many good people, but I feel this next year is going to be a tough situation,&#8221; Kelleher said, describing McGinley as an &#8220;excellent chair.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Being on council means trying to make the right decisions. The right decisions are not always popular decisions,&#8221; he said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Schnee </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_schnee.jpg</photo0><caption0>Schnee </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_walshCMYK.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Walsh Waitkus </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_walshCMYK.jpg</photo1><caption1>Walsh Waitkus </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_Tim-McGinley.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">McGinley </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_Tim-McGinley.jpg</photo2><caption2>McGinley </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></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>

Three Luzerne County Council members to seek another term; fourth will not