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Luzerne County hits another snag restoring crucial assessment database

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Third person charged in Kingston vandalism

<p>When Luzerne County&#8217;s ethics commission met in April, it decided to dismiss one pending complaint and continue investigating four others.</p><p>In a follow-up meeting Monday, the commission said an outside attorney had subsequently determined one of the remaining cases should not advance to the next level, leaving three outstanding.</p><p>The commission decided to meet again Aug. 26 because its outside attorneys &#8212; Michael Sharkey and Nanda Palissery &#8212; need more time to investigate those three, said commission Chairman Marc Dixon.</p><p>As the Times Leader reported in early April, both the state and county ethics commissions were asked to review election director Marisa Crispell&#8217;s vendor-funded advisory board trips, two sources had said at the time.</p><p>However, commission members said they can&#8217;t discuss details of the cases because the council-adopted ethics code says all complaints are deemed personnel matters kept confidential in accordance with state open records laws.</p><p>Final commission decisions, sanctions and orders may be available to the public, the code says.</p><p>Under the code, the outside attorneys have authority to conduct interviews, take statements, inspect documents and records and issue subpoenas in performing their investigations.</p><p>If the attorneys believe a violation is found, they must issue a formal complaint spelling out the allegations and providing the accused with an opportunity to respond to the complaint in writing and admit to or deny the allegations.</p><p>The attorneys and accused may enter into a formal written agreement to resolve the matter, which must be approved by the commission. Matters would proceed to a commission hearing if a resolution is not reached or is rejected by the commission, the code says.</p><p>Crispell has said her involvement with the Election Systems &amp; Software (ES&amp;S) advisory board was cleared by Administrative Services Division Head David Parsnik and county assistant solicitor Michael Butera and that she stepped down from the advisory role in fall 2017 before the county sought proposals from companies interested in supplying electronic poll books in January 2018.</p><p>ES&amp;S, which ended up receiving the $325,000 electronic poll book contract, covered travel, lodging for two nights and meals for the trips that Crispell had valued at $2,493 in a financial interest statement she amended after the issue surfaced here in December. Several council members have said they should have been informed of Crispell&#8217;s advisory board role before they voted on poll books.</p><p>In addition to Dixon, the following serve on the ethics commission: county Controller Michelle Bednar, District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis, county Manager C. David Pedri and citizen Karen Metta.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Luzerne County Courthouse </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_luzcocourthouse01.jpg</photo0><caption0>Luzerne County Courthouse </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 Ethics Commission attorneys investigating three complaints