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Times Leader P.M. Update: Sunday, Jan. 17

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Two proposed Luzerne County home rule charter ballot questions made it through the ordinance introduction stage last week, but they did not have the council majority support that will be necessary for final passage.
				Only four of 11 council votes are needed to introduce ordinances, and those four were supplied by Council members Walter Griffith, Harry Haas, Linda McClosky Houck and Stephen J. Urban.
				Majority approval will be required at a future meeting to place both proposed charter changes on the May 18 primary ballot.
				Griffith proposes asking voters if they want to change the county election board structure and allow council to hire its own solicitor instead of relying on the county law office.
				Council members did not discuss or debate either proposal during last week&rsquo;s meeting.
				A public hearing and council vote on the matter will be scheduled at council&rsquo;s next meeting Jan. 26, council Chairman Tim McGinley said Sunday.
				Election board
				Five citizens currently serve on the election board under the voter-approved charter that took effect in January 2012 &mdash; two Democrats and two Republicans appointed by council and a fifth citizen of any party affiliation selected by the four council-appointed citizens. This fifth citizen serves as board chair.
				Griffith suggests expanding the board to seven members by adding three county council members and eliminating the fifth citizen/chair seat.
				With this plan, a council majority would appoint all seven board members. The four citizen seats would have to be two Democrats and two Republicans, but there is no political party affiliation requirement for the three council seats.
				In a public comment email read into council&rsquo;s meeting record last week, Kingston Township resident Denise Williams criticized the addition of three council members to the election board, saying it could &ldquo;create a partisan board&rdquo; with only two members of one party and five from the other.
				Williams asked Griffith why he feels the need to change the current plan.
				&rdquo;I think the Election Board worked very well under the very difficult circumstances of the past two elections. I personally would like to thank them,&rdquo; Williams wrote.
				Responding by email, Griffith told her citizen election board members could benefit from the election law and procedure experience that council members obtained while running for and serving in their public office.
				According to Griffith, elected council members or commissioners serve on the election board in other home rule counties. He also pointed out several Luzerne County boards include council representatives.
				Griffith, a Republican, also told Williams his initiative to add council members was not partisan.
				With the current election board structure, any majority political party representation hinges on the choice of the fifth member.
				The election board&rsquo;s two Democrats and two Republicans had unanimously selected Independent H. Jeremy Packard as the first chair under home rule, which meant there was no Republican or Democratic majority. Since then, the chairmanship has been filled by citizens from both parties at different times &mdash; Republican Lewis W. Wetzel and Democrats Jose M. Adames and Jeanette Tait, who is the current chair.
				Solicitor
				On the issue of a solicitor, the charter created a unified law division to represent all county officials and departments, including the elected council. Charter drafters argued the reform would end litigation between county departments, reduce the number of solicitors and allow the lawyers to represent the county as a whole instead individual branches.
				This isn&rsquo;t the first time the separate solicitor idea came up. A council majority had voted in January 2020 to reject the same proposed ballot question.
				Griffith argued then and now that the law office has an inherent conflict because it falls under the supervision of the county manager, or executive branch.
				County Chief Solicitor Romilda Crocamo has stressed she and her staff represent the county as a whole, issue opinions based on their interpretation of the law and must follow rules of professional conduct if they are faced with a conflict in any matter.
				Assistant Solicitor Vito DeLuca, who was primarily assigned to handle council matters a year ago, has said thousands of decisions have been made by the county manager and council without dispute about procedure or law. The law office issues opinions it believes are in the best interest of the &ldquo;unified government&rdquo; and seeks outside counsel if there is a &ldquo;true legal conflict&rdquo; in serving &ldquo;two masters,&rdquo; DeLuca has said.
				In last week&rsquo;s email to council, Williams pointed to a past published comment from the Pennsylvania Economy League, which assisted with the charter drafting, stating that allowing council to obtain independent counsel would be a &ldquo;step backwards.&rdquo;
				However, several citizens speaking during last week&rsquo;s meeting expressed support for council receiving its own solicitor and said they believe both questions should be placed on the ballot for voters to decide.

Luzerne County Council must vote on two proposed ballot questions changing home rule charter