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Fiery former Luzerne County councilman and commissioner Edward Brominski died Tuesday night following a battle with cancer, said his close friend Michael Giamber.
				&ldquo;He was one-of-a-kind. He was my best friend,&rdquo; said Giamber, of Fairmount Township, breaking down in tears Wednesday. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s terrible. He had a hell of a battle, but at least he didn&rsquo;t suffer at the end.&rdquo;
				Brominski, 81, of Swoyersville, was a longtime figure in county government.
				He served as county commissioner in the 1980s and as county assessment director from 1992 to 1999. Brominski returned to county government in 2012, when he was elected to the initial 11-member county council created by home rule. He was re-elected to a second, four-year term in 2015.
				Brominski was known for speaking out and making noise at meetings. He brought to light a &ldquo;ghost rider&rdquo; scandal involving inflated bus ridership numbers that led to excessive state reimbursement at the Luzerne County Transportation Authority.
				Giamber said Brominski lived a modest lifestyle and based his decisions on helping others, not himself or his ego.
				&ldquo;He was compassionate. A lot of people saw this gruff guy out there fighting and angry. Many did not see the soft side of him,&rdquo; Giamber said.
				As a commissioner, Brominski said he signed the bill to begin the Wyoming Valley levee-raising project in 1982 and also pushed for security-related improvements, including identification badges for all county workers and installation of metal detectors.
				County Councilwoman Linda McClosky Houck said Brominski will be missed.
				&ldquo;Edd devoted himself to better government under home rule as an outspoken advocate for the people of Luzerne County, and it was a great honor to serve on county council with him,&rdquo; she said.
				Brominski had stepped down from council at the start of 2019, with a year left in his second term, due to his struggle with health issues.
				He had said he was in public service since graduating from high school, serving in the Navy and working as a public school teacher and elected mayor in addition to his county posts.
				&ldquo;I always believed &mdash; and I still do believe &mdash; that everybody should take an opportunity to get involved in government and offer whatever they have within themselves to make things a little bit better,&rdquo; the Democrat said when running for county council in 2011.
				He supported the conversion to a customized home rule charter but had been critical of the way it has been interpreted and implemented.
				Brominski is survived by his wife, Dee, two children, Eddie and Lynn, and grandchildren, Giamber said.

Former Luzerne County Councilman Edward Brominski dies at 81