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How many times have we seen headlines similar to these over the last few years
Controller won't pay bill without contract
Pact signed by official disputed
The 3rd class county code is clear that only the county commissioners have the authority to approve a contract but some people still haven't got the word. Recorder of Deeds Red O'Brien hired a NY company to do some scanning work for $31,000 with the possibility of more work but never got the Luzerne County Commissioners to approve it. So Controller Walter Griffith is refusing to pay the latest invoice unless the Commissioners approve the arrangement. Solicitor Vito Deluca has been hot about this illegal pratice for the past few years. It looks like the money to pay this company comes from the records fund that LRW Solutions was so good at getting. See Betty for more on that.
I think the biggest reason I voted for the home rule charter is that eliminates the row offices. Too many power centers and lack of accountability. Do we really need to elect 11 people to what are essentially administrative jobs without responsibility for policy? However I don't like taking away the Controller's responsibility for paying bills or the unelected county executive but those problems can be fixed in the near future without going through the whole charter writing exercise again.
8 hours ago
5 comments:
Please don't admit to having voted for this BS form of government. I have no doubt that you will be kicking yourslef and the the taxpayers will be looking to lynch some fool when the high cost of government comes screaming in the form of new and higher tax bills. Who among the 22 candidates can solve these problems. They don't even understand that releasing the names of the manager candidates will discourage some from even applying for fear of losing what they now have (forget the Independents and Libertarians, they haven't a clue).
Red O'Brien is a joke. He was a lousy school director, a lousy business man and a lousy Recorder of Deeds. Has anyone noticed that the contract Red gave out is far above the sealed bid required amount? He should resign today or face prosecution for breaking the law. Griffith is looking for the Commissioner's to aprove the contrat when he should be screaming about the NO BID. Does anyone in the county know what's going on?
7L27 ....... good post.
Finally Gort brings a subject to the table that is worth reading and commenting on. I think O'Brien should go to jail for breaking the Bidding Law and Walter really needs to resign so we can get a Controller who knows what he is doing. Walter is lost and hangs his hat on trivia while missing the real issues. I read on one of the bloggs that he has not released an update on where the county audits stand. Are they up to date or not? If not, when will he have them done? If Morgan had won and the audits were not up to date in 2 years, Walter would be screaming for transparency. OK Walter, consider this a scream and give us an update.
reactionary response to the scandals will cost us more in the future. this home rule charter is a joke, just look at the majority of candidates; fringe, kooky and people you wouldn't vote for for dog catcher.
thanks gort and your ilk. i wish we could sue you for promoting and helping push this destructive home rule charter upon us.
Anonymous, It sounds like you ought to be running county council since you know so much. Perhaps for some reason you want things to remain the way they always have been in Luzerne County.I agree the current charter is flawed. I was against it. But can you blame the voters of this county wanting a change? It doesn't take a political science major to have the sack to say "no", or stand up to the public service unions and the good old boys. This clueless Libertarian will try to learn what he can about county government before the election. The rest, like most things in life, if elected, I'll learn along the way.
I agree with Tim. The new form of government may not be the perfect response to the current form of government, but it can be tweaked as needed. There is nothing to salvage in the current form of government.
Concerning Walter Griffith: He is a well intentioned hack! Has no clue what he is doing and insists on going after what amounts to inconsequential problems instead of focusing on the major problem Accountability through audits. Where are the audits Walter?
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