Luzerne County GOP picnic

I made it to the Luzerne County Republican Party Family picnic yesterday along with at least 200 other people at the beautiful Hartis Horse Farm in Dallas. The host was recent Controller candidate Bob Sypniewski who spent the day directing traffic. I was wasn't able to stay long and bit my tongue when some of the people started Obama bashing and repeating misinformation about health care reform. Yes, it was bleeding afterward but since this was a social occasion I decided not to get into any arguments with people that can't be persuaded anyway. Speaking of the unpersuadable, I ran into Dave Madeira as I was leaving and he was arriving.

The only picture I snagged was of our next Court of Common Pleas Judge Bill Amesbury and sitting Judge Tom Burke then my camera battery died and I didn't take a spare. Bill won both nominations so he is probably a lock but he stressed to me and anyone else that asked that he is not taking anything for granted and will continue to campaign hard. Republican Judge nominee Dick Hughes was working the crowd and I may just bullet vote for him. Blog buddy ZEN was there with his family and his son confirmed that he has filled his head with untruths about me:) Executive Directer Renita Fennick was the social butterfly of the event and made sure she greeted everyone including your humble narrator- "Oh, it's you."

My counseling efforts worked out between Jonathon and Controller nominee Walter Griffith. They kissed and made up. Carolee Medico was there and is probably headed back to the Courthouse for a repeat performance as Prothonotary.

I had a nice chat with SPCA Director and former WBRE weather guy Vince Sweeney and his wife Carol, at first I thought she was his daughter. Just kidding pal, you're a lucky man. Vince and I have the same talent for breaking machines like weed eaters, lawn mowers and appliances. He told me that if you want a cat the SPCA is handing them out for free which got my wheels turning. I'm sure Quincy would love another playmate but Ptolemy would freak and Mrs. G would also be a hard sell. I'm not sure but I think I'm on the hook for the next fundraiser for the SPCA at Francis Slocum Park in October. I already drop off my albumin cans there but not out of purely altruistic motives. Let them take them to Bilecki's junk yard.

My old friend Carl Romanelli is not optimistic about the health care legislation that will come out of Washington. He prefers a single payer system as do I. He told me that the best thing about being an Independent/Green is that you can go to any party's event and not get anybody mad at you. I suggested that instead of running for statewide offices that they will never win the minor party's like the Greens and Libertarians should put some effort into winning city council, state rep and school board seats and build as a bench for the big races down the line.

Because I was pressed for time I didn't get a chance to say hello to everyone. Some of the people I missed were Wilkes-Barre Area School board candidate Harry Haas , Hanover politico and head of the Malt Beverage Assoc. Dave Shipula, Mr. Flack, Alice Coffman and I'm sure I'm leaving out many others.

A real treat was meeting my Facebook friends David and Kathy .

I also met Superior Court nominees Sallie Mundy and Temp Smith who will be covered in a future post.

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Moses was there greeting everyone and spent the afternoon trying to convince them that they didn't really need all that food on the plate.

Did I drop enough names ?

Luzerne County Controller

Walter Griffith Jr. (R) 5,327 29%

Edward Brominski (R) 3,992 22%

Alice Coffman (R) 3,490 19%

Nanda Palissery (R) 2,989 16%

Robert Sypniewski (R) 2,526 14%

This result somewhat surprised me. I thought Brominski would finish last. It looks like people have noticed that Walter has been involved in local government for a long time and has been looking out for the interest of the taxpayers. Democrat Bob Morgan was unopposed.

The year of the woman

I don't know how many people have told me that they are tired of the old boys network and will be voting for female candidates this election just because they are women. That bodes well for Judge candidates Tina Gartley, Jennifer Rogers and Molly Hannon. In the Prothonotary race Carolee Medico-O will be looking at a good night. She might face off against Democrat Nancy Bellas in the fall. Alice Coffman just may benefit from this sentiment in the GOP Controller's contest and surprise everybody.


Helen Reddy I Am Woman






Melinda Doolittle - I'm A Woman

SmoJoe's Cafe - I'm a Woman key

A week without a computer

It has been both frustrating and liberating not having an intertubes machine for the past week. It was frustrating because I do so many things online like manage my checking and brokerage accounts and of course keep up with the latest political news. It was liberating because of wasting 2 or 3 hours a day staring at a monitor I accomplished a bunch of stuff on my honey do list. Mrs. G said to leave the thing in the shop.

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The technical problem was a heat sink failed that resulted in frying my video card. The good folks at Custom Computers in Kingston ordered the parts, installed them , gave it a good cleaning and made sure the thing wasn't haunted by worms or Trojan Horses, etc. Bob Sr., Steve and the crew have been great to work with over the years. Whenever I have had a problem or question I pick up the phone and call across the river instead of the other side of the planet. I highly recommend them.

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Checking my snail mail I found that I did get an official looking letter from a Mr. Carlson but Quincy got a hold of it before I read it and tore it to shreds. If it's important I'm sure he will send me another. If he really wants to get a hold of me he should contact me by email. The USPS is so 18th Century.

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I was planning to finish the interview series with Republican Controller candidates Alice Coffman and Walter Griffith but the computer failure put the kibosh to that. My apologies to both. Walter has been a hot topic in the local blogosphere because of an incident that happened many moons ago. I've known about it for a long time but didn't think it was relevant. Another blogger thought it was despite my urging to leave it alone and now he is experiencing the blowback. Walter made the mistake of engaging in the comments of that post despite the counsel of me and several other local internet scribes to just ignore it.

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I wanted to put up some polls on the various races this past week and still will. So here we go.

The Mother's Milk of Politics

The TL has a rundown of the money raised by the Row Officer candidates so far for the May Primary Election. The Luzerne County election website doesn't have the full reports available online yet but I'm sure Leonard will make sure that they are posted soon.

Relatively speaking the candidates have raised modest amounts of money with large chunks coming from the hopefuls themselves.

One of the fat wallets that is a little lighter that I spotted in the article is Dan Meuser, of West Pittston, Harveys Lake and other places. Meuser is the former president of Pride Mobility and lost the 2008 10th CD GOP Primary to Chris Hackett. He dropped a thousand bucks on Walter Mitchell and Nanda Palissery each.

In the Controller's race Luzerne County Republican Party endorsed candidate Nanda Palissery has the most bucks.

Total: $7,460
From the candidate: $4,255
Spent: $4,109
Cash on hand: $3,350
Big donors: Dan Meuser $1000

The other candidates

Edd Brominski

Total: $3,775
Candidate: $2500
Spent: $2,762
Cash on hand: $1,013
Big donors: ?


Alice Coffman

Total: $4,479
Candidate: ?
Spent: $3,550
Cash on hand: $928
Big donors: ?

Walter Griffith

Total: $1,680
Candidate: $1,145
Spent: $2,825
Cash: 0
Big donors: ?

Bob Sypniewski

No information available

There is only one Democratic candidate in the race for Controller which disappoints me. I hate unopposed elections.

Bob Morgan

Total: $6,840
Candidate: $263
Spent: $4,772
Cash: $2,067
Big donors: Arlene Pasonick $1,000, Robert Stella $900

The thing to remember is that money can flow into this race at the last minute and we will not know about it for months.

Bob Reilly is a used car salesman

This is both funny and infuriating.

From The Lu Lac Political Letter:

For weeks WILK's Steve Corbett had heard rumors that long time Clerk of Courts Robert Reilly was selling cars as a side job at a Wilkes Barre Twp car dealership. Nothing wrong with supplementing your income. We’ve all done that at one time or another. But apparently Reilly was selling cars during the hours he was supposed to be administering the Clerk of Courts office. The intrepid Corbett called the auto lot at 10:26AM and got Reilly on the blower. After a brief conversation, Reilly told the radio host he’d call him on the air at 5:06PM later that afternoon and explain what was going on. Needless to say, the call never came.

He is spending his/our time at Nationwide Car Sales on Mundy St. behind the Mall next to the defunct Ground Round. Go say Hello.

A few year ago I would stop by a local beer distributor on a weekday afternoon to pick up a few adult beverages and spotted Reilly working there.


The subject of work hours has been a hot topic in the Luzerne County Controller race.

At the recent LWV forum at Wilkes University the only Democrat in the race, Bob Morgan, was noncommittal on spending 8 hours a day in the office. “I think we sometimes get too focused on the idea that we’re there from a certain time to a certain time. The reality is: Can you do the job? Do you have the ability to do the job?”

Republican Edd Brominski said he was retired so he had nothing else to do and cited his experience as a Democratic County Commissioner claiming he would be in the office 7Am until 11PM if necessary.

Nanda Palissery said he finds the question about whether or not he will be a full-time controller “offensive” and said he will be in the office when needed.


Water Griffith said he wasn't offended by the question and committed to being in the office 8:30M-4:30PM and later every day. “For $38,000 a year, which is probably double what a normal citizen of this county makes, if I can’t commit to you to be in that office every single hour that you would be in your job, then shame on me.”


Bob Sypniewski also said he will show up for work saying; "You put me there to serve. How dare me then on your time do my business?”

CPA Alice Coffman also wouldn't commit; “Will that mean I’m in that office everyday eight hours? I’m not going to sit here and promise that to you, because I don’t think that that is likely.

Walter sent along this guest post on the subject.






Dear Gort42,



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I would like to write in regarding the story about Bob Reilly " Luzerne County Clerk of Courts" and his ability to have a job as a Automobile salesman in addition to his County Row Office.
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Mr. Reilly is a disgrace to the County Row Officers and the taxpayers for his behavior and he should immediately quit his job as a salesman or County Row Officer. This is the same person that has stated "on the record" that his job requires more money from the taxpayers and he has demonstrated that he isn't even on the job "Full Time". This is the same person that used the County Taxpayers money to fund a lawsuit against the taxpayers to stop the Clerk of Courts budget because it was not enough funds for his office.
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The Luzerne County Courthouse has had its time in the sun for to long for all the wrong reasons, and this is just another case of the abilities of a few, that tarnish the entire beauty of the wonderful building that will be celebrating its 150.year's of existence.
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My time has been spent the past 3 years trying to hold the elected officials of this County accountable to the taxpayers, by attending County Commissioner meetings, and asking for accountability and transparency in government, when all the rest of the candidates that have now come on the scene have been silent.
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The County Commissioners have never held anyone accountable for their abuse of power in government in the past, and I as a taxpayer advocate, have been trying to have them do this since attending the first meeting regarding the issue of the Debit Card abuser's in which I call the "magnificent seven".


The taxpayers of Luzerne County should and must have elected officials that are "Full Time" and should not accept anything less, and this can be accomplished by instituting a policy in personnel that requires everyone to "Log In" and "Log Out" and show mileage for all travel to designate their time out of the office.


I have been asking for the use of a " Badge Scanner" or "time Clock" to verify the attendance of all County Employee's and I feel with the abuse of this type with Mr. Reilly it is long over due for the taxpayers.


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I, as a taxpayer advocate, the past three years in the County, and the past 7 years in the City of Wilkes Barre, have taught me several lessons about our government regarding our Elected Officials like Mr. Reilly and Ms. Moran, as well as a few others, that feel they are above the same rules of employment as the people they supervise, and that is that we, as taxpayers, are always being taken advantage of by a few people in government that can get away with it, and we need people to always be there asking questions and holding our government accountable.
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I, as your taxpayer advocate, have attended the meetings at my own cost, and have been a taxpayer advocate for the taxpayers of Luzerne County on many issues that concern abuse of power by the elected officials. I spoke out for the taxpayers regarding the "Debit Cards" and tried to have the "Abuser's" fired for their actions, however the Commissioners chose to turn their heads and wink and nod at this type of corruption.
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I, as a your taxpayer advocate, represented everyone in the County. at my own cost, regarding the court case to borrow over 16 million dollars because of the Commissioners reckless spending and was successful in having the courts rule in the taxpayers favor to lower that to 5 million.
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The reason for my bringing this to light is because at election time, we always seem to see candidate ask for the taxpayers confidence and vote, and then we never hear from them again after the election. I have demonstrated that I will always be there for the taxpayers "AT MY OWN EXPENSE" because I truly care about them and its not about myself or the money.
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I vow to all the taxpayers that I will be a " FULL TIME" Controller, and that means that I will be in the office at the same times that I expect my staff to be there, and I will lead by example. I will not abuse the taxpayers like Mr. Reilly or Ms. Moran or the others that are pledging to be "FULL TIME" just to get elected and then "Thumb their noses" at the taxpayers once they are elected. I will be the right person for the job and will not pay a vendor for work if they don't follow the contract like what happened with 21st Century and our botched reassessment for the profit of our corrupt officials.
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I would like to conclude by saying that there are several people that are professionals running for public office, and are asking for your support to get the votes required to win the election on May 19th.I would suggest that each taxpayer ask this one very important question on election day and that is " Where were these people that are asking for our vote when we needed them when our elected officials were abusing their power and our money" ?


Walter L Griffith Jr
Candidate for Luzerne County Controller

Luzerne County Controller

I'm a bit behind on the coverage of this race.

The Leauge of Women Voters had a forum with all the candidates for Luzerne County Controller at Wilkes University on Tuesday. Finding the room it was being held was like trying to navigate a maze and once in there the HVAC system was making a loud humming sound that made it hard to hear what was going on.

The candidates are Bob Morgan, the only Democrat; and Republicans Bob Sypniewski, Alice Coffman, Nanda Palissery, Edd Brominski and Walter Griffith

I'm not going to do the play by play because other media outlets covered it already.


See

CV County controller candidates vow to fight cronyism

TL Controller candidates vow to be watchdog

OVC has the best write up of the event Controller Debate




The highlight of the night was Bob Sypniwski saying there was too many attorneys in the courthouse and didn't want a lawyer running the Controller's office because they are part of the "good ole boys network." When Nanda got his turn he stood up and asked with open arms




" Do I look like I'm one of the good ole boys."

It brought the down the house, all 30 of us.

Controller forum tomorrow

The League of Women Voters is hosting a forum on Tuesday, 7-9PM, April 28, for candidates running for the office of Luzerne County Controller. The candidates are: Bob Morgan, Democrat; and Republicans Robert Sypniewski, Alice B. Coffman, Nanda Palissery, Edward A. Brominski and Walter L. Griffith Jr.


It will be at Wilkes University’s Stark Learning Center, Room 101 from 7 to 9 p.m. Stark Learning Center is located on River Street between Northampton and South streets in Wilkes-Barre.


I plan on being there. Hope you can make it.

Alice Coffman has a website

Alice B. Coffman, CPA for Luzerne County Controller

A CPA for controller. What a novel idea.


I am announcing my intention to seek the Republican nomination for the vacant seat of county controller in the May primary. I feel my experience in public accounting for the past sixteen years will serve as a valuable asset to the citizens of Luzerne County.
I am very disheartened by the inappropriate behavior recently uncovered within our local government. The citizens of Luzerne County have the right to expect the highest level of professional conduct from their elected officials. Holding one another accountable comes partly from a system with checks and balances. The weaknesses in the current accounting and internal control systems are quite evident.
If elected, my immediate intentions are to perform audits of various county programs seeking inefficiencies and discrepancies and to implement and enforce internal control procedures to deter future misconduct and wasteful spending.

Walter has a Website

Walter Griffith for Luzerne County Controller

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My background politically is very simple…I am not related to any one in Luzerne County that works in the courthouse and I will not bankrupt my moral or ethic character to get elected to any position in government..

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He lays out an Action Plan for the office.

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Including a Pledge to be a “Full Time” Controller, place all County Audits online and to provide that all County Audits are done by Bid and all Bid’s submitted will be solicited from outside Luzerne County.

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He also has a picture of Tim Grier speaking before the Wilkes-Barre city council posted which I asked him about; I placed this picture to emphasize the people that are taxpayer advocates as well as to show I was a part of the fight at City Hall. I think a lot of people respect Tim as well as him being a good friend of mine...

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Walter is also running for the Government Study Commission.

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The other Republican candidates for the controller nomination are : Edward Brominski, Swoyersville; Alice B. Coffman, Sugarloaf Township; Nanda Palissery, Dallas; and Robert Sypniewski, Dallas. The winner will face the lone Democratic contender, Bob Morgan, of Mountain Top.

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None of the other candidates have website up yet as far as I know.

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Update: Griffith attended the Salary Board meeting today and sent along this recap.

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I represented the taxpayers today at the County Salary Board Meeting regarding the approval of all the court employee's salaries.
The Meeting opened with the public comment section of the agenda and I asked Chairperson Petrilla why the agenda and salaries are not made available long before 5 minutes before the meeting so the people can review the salaries and the creation of new positions. The people need to have sufficient time to read the agenda and the salaries to be able to be sufficiently educated to ask questions if we are going to move forward with an open and efficient government.
The agenda had the roster of the Salary Board as Urban, Pettrilla, Skrepenak, Martinelli and President Judge Muroski, however the President Judge was not at the meeting but his "Right hand Man" Mullroy was there in his place. I immediately spoke to object to this because the County Code stated the President Judge must be there not his designee as the County tried to do this time . I was successful in having the Court Tipstaff have the President Judge come to the meeting because he was summoned there by the Salary Board. I made this the first time the President Judge was actually a part of the process as prescribed by law...
I then raised the issue as to why AJ Martinelli was on the Salary Board when he is not the County Controller. I was told by Commissioner Petrilla that AJ is the Controller because the Governor issued a letter stating he was appointed by him as the Acting Controller. AJ Martinelli is not the Controller and has no place on the Salary Board.
There is supposed to be a salary freeze on the County Budget however in the enclosed documents you will see the County Courts are able to create new positions and fund them quite well.. Seems like a double standard..I will not allow this as the next County Controller..I will not vote to increase the payroll by increasing the staff..
I have enclosed the Exhibits of all the personnel at the Court system as well as the Agenda for your review and if there are any questions...please feel free to ask ..also note that there was no other candidates for Controller at the meeting...

Who's running for what?- Controller, Prothonotary and Government Study Commission

More to come on these races in the coming days as I have already written about them. They will be the focus of my primary coverage.

Past prothonotary Carolee Medico Olenginski and Bear Creek resident Walter Mitchell will vie for the Republican prothonotary nomination.

Five candidates filed for the Republican controller nomination: Edward Brominski, Swoyersville; Alice B. Coffman, Sugarloaf Township; Walter Griffith, Wilkes-Barre; Nanda Palissery, Dallas; and Robert Sypniewski, Dallas. The winner will face the lone Democratic contender, Bob Morgan, of Mountain Top.

Study commission contenders are: John Adonizio, Hughestown; Veronica Ciaruffoli, Larksville; Frank E.P. Conyngham, Kingston Township; Darlene Duggins, Wilkes-Barre; James Thomas Gaughan, Courtdale; Walter Griffith Jr., Wilkes-Barre; Ray Gustave, Swoyersville; Jim Haggerty, Kingston; Richard “Kick” Heffron, Dallas; Christopher C.J. Kersey, Kingston; Paul P. Krombel, Conyngham Township; Charmaine H. Maynard, Sugarloaf Township; Rick Morelli, Sugarloaf Township; Jeffrey Niemiec, Wilkes-Barre; Jack Schumacher, Kingston; Frank Sindaco, Wilkes-Barre; Phillip Struzzeri, Jenkins Township; Edward Transue, Dallas; Robert Whammer Wanyo, Forty Fort; and Joe Wizda, Freeland.

Lists from the TL.


Update: I forgot to list the Democratic candidates for Prothonotary. They are Alfred Akulonis Jr. of Duryea; Nancy McGinley Bellas of Kingston; and Gerald J. Mullery of Newport Township.

Luzerne County Controller

At last night's candidate forum Luzerne County GOP Vice-Chair Paul DeFabo extended a welcome to former Democratic Commissioner and Republican candidate for Controller Edddd Brominski the 5th. For some reason Brominski didn't address the crowd nor did CPA Alice Coffman. She was there gathering signatures for her nominating petitions but bugged out before the program started.
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Walter Griffith noted that he lost 2 races for Wilkes-Barre City Council and some people wish that he would go away, "I will not go away" he said. He reminded us that he has spent a great deal of time being a taxpayer advocate. He pledged that he would answer his own phone if elected.

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Nanda Pallisery also paid tribute to Steve Flood and thinks he was doing a good job. He said that the Controller's office has staffing problems and is a few years behind on audits. He blasted Commissioner Maryanne Petrilla's performance as Controller saying that as an attorney he knew that bills submitted by Conahan's brother-in-law Psychologist Frank Vita were not legal. He said that he would to stand up to the Commissioners.



Back mountain mortgage broker Bob Sypniewski said his experience in finance would be an asset in the job. He said that like his father who protected the city streets as a Wilkes -Barre policeman he wanted to protect the taxpayers of the county. He knows that actions are more important than words and said we need "less lip service and more listening to what the people say”.

Luzerne County Controller

PHOTO BY FRED ADAMS/THE TIMES LEADER

Nanda Palissery (left) kicked off his candidacy on Tuesday for Luzerne County controller at Luzerne County Republican Headquarters on Public Square. Palissery said “For too long, there has been a Democrat culture of corruption in the courthouse. Enough is enough.” He is a lawyer that focuses on criminal defense and civil litigation and ran for Judge a few years ago. I understand that Palissery is the favorite to win the endorsement of the county GOP in the primary.

Another Republican also announced her intention to seek the office. Alice B. Coffman has worked as a certified public accountant for the last 16 years. “I am very disheartened by the inappropriate behavior recently uncovered within our local government,” Coffman said in a statement. “The citizens of Luzerne County have the right to expect the highest level of professional conduct from their elected officials.” Wow, a CPA with plan to audit various county programs if elected. She wants to “implement and enforce internal control procedures to deter future misconduct and wasteful spending." So far she is the only candidate for this accountant's job that is a professional accountant. We can't have that, can we?


Our friend Walter Griffith will formally announce his bid for the Controller's job today at the Luzerne County Republican Headquarters, 25 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre at 6PM. He previously let us know that he is running for the post. And in the Department of 'if you live long enough' Wilkes-Barre Online is backing him.

On the Democratic side longtime party insider Bob Morgan is seeking the post as is Pittston landscaper Tony Rostock. Rostock was a former Pittston Area School Board member and Yatesville councilman and got a sweet deal at LCCC. Morgan is an investment advisor and it would be great if he could offer some advise on how to make up my 401k losses over the last 2 years. Educator Russ Bigus is also in the race.