Luzerne County Council to hire a manager

The papers are reporting that a guy from California will be offered the job as the first Luzerne County manager under home rule later today. The CV and the TL say the pick is Robert Lawton. I don't know much about him other than what I read in papers but certainly wish him the best. He is walking into a mess of a budget situation left over by former Commissioners Maryanne Petrilla, Steve Urban and the other guy that interim manager Tom Pribula has been trying to address. He keeps proposing a mix of tax increases and budget cuts that the new council keeps shooting down. Sounds a lot like what is going on in Washington.

I have been getting beat up in the comments and other blogs for my backing of the new form of government. It's a school board, it won't work, etc. The new charter is not perfect but then what is? I preferred the previous charter with an elected county executive and a mix of distict and at-large elections for the council. That plan was shot down when Skrep and Vondy said "trust us." That worked out well.

This new form of government was passed as a reaction to the Juvie Brothers scandal for sure. The thing I like about it was elimination of most of the row offices that were power centers with no oversight. How many of them went to jail? There is no Democratic or Republican way to perform an autopsy (Coronor) or to register a will. And What the hell is a Prothonotary?

If they hire Lawton and he doesn't back out before February 21st the Yonk has some advice. A couple of my favs

Don’t take it personally if people don’t like you because you’re an outsider. People from Scranton have the same problem.

If someone says you’re a cousin….don’t believe them

Abe’s Hot Dogs, South Main, the original. Don’t settle.

There are two Steve Urbans on the County Council, one has hair, the other doesn’t. Both may seem like the same person so you’ll need to tell them apart.

1000 words

Outgoing Commissioners leaving a mess

This is a guest post from Wil Toole. Wil held various administrative positions in the City of Pittston and was a candidate for the new Luzerne County Council in the Primary. When it comes to county/municiple government he is one of the most knowledgeable people around.

Merry Christmas, You're Fired!

The outgoing County Commissioner's have finally outdone themselves. They have prepared a budget that if adopted would bring county government to its knees and bring the business of the people to a shattering halt.
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This budget is far beyond what could even begin to resemble a working budget and in my mind is nothing less than a parting slap in the face to every Luzerne county resident.
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I will put the cart in front of the horse and comment on the real problem of county finances. Simply put, it is the debt. The debt service in 2008 was budgeted at just over $1 million dollars. It jumped to $21.8 million in the 2011 budget and for 2012 the debt services is listed as $24.8 million dollars. And there in folks lies the problem. The solution is to remove the debt service from the general fund and treat it as the separate animal that it is. The problem was not addressed properly so as a quick fix, it must be seen as a separate issue and a debt reduction fund must be created with millage dedicated for that purpose. The general fund millage would be adjusted to reflect this change. The next step would be to renegotiate the entire debt and to try the debt reduction plan I offered two years ago. The practice of creating future debt must stop post haste and not a dollar should be borrowed that does not affect the health and safety of our residents. NO MORE SPENDING!
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As you look at the current proposed budget, there was no thought or effort put into it. If there was then shame on the mini minds that created it. I will state a few examples of why the budget is unworkable.
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On the expense side the budget goes against logic and prevents various departments from operating and in some cases lock horns with the law.
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An example of ignoring the law would be the Court Stenographers. The 2011 budget is listed at just under 1.1 million dollars. They have spent as of October $876,532. The new budget is $750,286 which is a cut of 44.45%. The problem is that a court stenographer must be present and create a written record of every action taking place in the court system. This line item is designed to fail.
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The Prothonotary's office was cut from just over $1 million dollars to $607,793 for a 68.96% cut. This office is required for the operation of the courts and maintenance of various legal documents. The other Row offices have been cut to unmanageable amounts and the reasoning that they will no long be separate offices does not hold water. The Row Officers were removed from existence but not the duties of each office. Records are still required and the fact that these offices are located in three separate buildings has not even been considered. The cost of the individual Row Officer will be eliminated but there remains a need for management and supervision. How do you maintain control and effectiveness when the cost of doing so is removed from the budget? The Register of Wills budget was cut 50%, Clerk of Courts cut 57%, Treasurer 57% and the Coroner cut by 29%. These cuts are a budget directors dream come true but they are a manager's nightmare. The Department of Probation is cut 35% and it appears that the outgoing commissioner's must think that no criminals will be placed on probation, no fines and fees will be collected and restitution for victims will be forgotten. The Magistrates are cut 53.23% and I would think part of their logic is that one magistrate office might be eliminated. Flawed thinking because if that happens, it wont occur till 2013 so they must still operate.
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The Commissioners have given no thought to the fact that there are contracts in place but union and business. Example, of the 17 Magisterial offices, approximately 10 have leases with local municipalities and these local governments are planning their budgets with these leases in place. The remaining office have private sector leases and I doubt that these landlords are willing to cut the leases in half. Other than that, please consider that many Magisterial offices only have two clerical people so if they are cut in half, that leaves one person to run the office. If that person is sick or on vacation the office must close, there are no backup staff. The deeper you delve into this fantasy budget, the more childlike it becomes.
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This is just a brief overview of the expense side of the ledger and I didn't even mention other big ticket items such as the prison, Moon Lake, etc.
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The lack of thought is pretty evident when you consider that insurance and benefits remain about the same and this is after the county workforce is decimated. Is that logical?
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On the income side, there has been nothing done in the form of creative management and the lack of effort is obvious in the numbers as they currently exist.
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Steps that can be taken is the restructuring of the county debt, increasing probation services fees, the more active use of home arrest vs incarceration. This would result in the criminals (non violent) paying the cost of the ankle bracelets and supplying their own health care, food and clothing. The county spends millions each year on health care for prisoners. There can be an attempt to renegotiate county leases and discussions can be held with the unions to accept a temporary pay freeze or renegotiate the amount of the contracted pay increases. Probation fees for both adults and juvenile offenders must be increased. Some of these fees have remained unchanged for a number of years.
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The thing I must caution on is that balancing the budget on the backs of the employees is never a good idea and long term, it causes a negative impact on county operations. The county must offer an early retirement incentive but they must pledge to not fill the vacated positions and the unions must agree to allow for transfers to save jobs. Employees must be allowed to transfer within the system to fill job needs and avoid layoffs in one department and hiring's in another. It is also possible to consider voluntary short term layoffs. Yes the county is self insured but the amount paid on layoff would equal the net pay of employees, not the gross. The costs of Social Security alone would be significant.
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This is a time for creative thinking, not the simplistic approach that was used to gut the budget and give no thought to the consequences. For those incoming Council members who have taken the NO taxes approach of the Tea Party mentality, there is a reality that government is useful and serves a purpose. The problem in Luzerne county is that in recent years, little thought has been given to economic management and taxpayer responsibility. Services must be provided and in many cases are required but the delivery system can no longer be based on careless spending such as the palm reading time clocks and patronage with little thought to required funding.
Taxes are a requirement for services delivered and thoughtful frugal management must be the foundation of responsible government.

And former State Rep Kevin Blaum weighs in with his TL column

Commissioners continue to cause damage Kevin Blaum In the Arena

With only 45 days remaining in their tawdry tenure, the county commissioners brazenly made two appointments to the Luzerne County Community College’s Board of Trustees and named two more to the often pivotal county planning commission...On Monday your Luzerne County commissioners voted to create a bi-county authority to run the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport. The Lackawanna County commissioners followed suit, and each body gets to make three appointments to the board with each appointee serving a four-year term...Worse, the commissioners might be leaving behind a political budget document set to explode early next year, forcing the new council to raise taxes only a few weeks in or preside over a government that makes huge cuts in the office of a new district attorney and the new judiciary in which it functions.

So let us give thanks to Maryanne Petrilla, Stephen Urban and Thomas Cooney for reminding everyone why voters marched to the polls en masse to abolish the offices they hold and to establish a new, reform government that assumes its responsibilities on Jan. 2.

Luzerne County budget

The good news is that it doesn't use fictitious revenue from land sales or borrow more money. The bad news is it includes personnel cuts in the court system and other departments that will not stand.

County budget includes deep cuts

The largest preliminary cuts from 2011 expenditure levels are: probation, down $1.2 million; prison; more than $900,000; magisterial courts, more than $800,000; district attorney, more than $600,000; domestic relations, more than $600,000; stenographers, more than $300,000.

Carolee is not happy

2012 budget down $3.5M


County Prothonotary Carolee Medico Olenginski blasted Urban and Petrilla after the meeting for cutting $419,000 out of her budget, saying the loss would reduce the revenue generated by the office and “sabotage the new government.”
“In my opinion, they are vindictive, evil people and are taking their last shot at me because I stood up to them and could not be compromised to stoop to their level of bad government."

Nor is Judge Burke

Burke: Lawsuit over judiciary budget cut may happen

"There is a mandate to fund the court system at the level of "reasonable necessity.' The current proposal would fall woefully short of meeting that standard, and the court will continue to review all budget matters over the next weeks with a goal of coming to a funding resolution with county officials," Burke said Monday.

Gort42 Luzerne County Courthouse special correspondent Ethel Price has some inside info:


Petrilla sent an email to all departments telling them to prepare a new departmental budget to conform with the budget figures the commissioner's prepared. She also advised them to prepare a list of positions that would equal the budget cuts.

The row officers sent her a reply pretty much telling her to go screw herself and they were not going to cut staff for her and she should do her own dirty work. Apparently Carolee told her in very strong terms how she felt about it.

Today I got my hands on the overall budget and to tell you it is a mess is a gross understatement. For example, Petrilla/Urban cut the magistrate offices by over 53%. They cut some of the rents in half. Now think about that ..... in many offices, there are only two clerks so if the remaining clerk is sick or on vacation, the office will have to be closed. There are leases with private landlords who will not sit and give up half of their agreed upon rents. Approx. 10 of the 17 offices are housed in municipal buildings and these local governments also have leases and they are pretty much done with their budgets using figures from their leases ......... now what?

This is just a small part...... the Court Stenographers budget is cut by just over 44%. How can that be? These stenographers are required by law and must be present for every court action. How will this be accomplished when the budget is cut almost in half?

The big thing here is that the cuts that were made were not made from the proposed 2012 budget. They just threw those numbers away and these are cuts against the 2011 budget.

This budget is absolutely unworkable. The cuts were made without regard to employee contracts or legal requirements.

It really is a cluster f***. Petrilla and Urban put their heads together on this and all they did was prepare a budget that kills balances. The debt is the real culprit and it is impossible to pay the size debt we have by balancing the budget on the backs of the employees. It just can't be done. Debt needs to be funded by special dedicated debt mileage and the budget must be addressed on a needs basis, not a wish list.

Bob Reilly got Luzerne County contract

Incredible. Admitted criminal former Luzerne County Clerk of Courts Bob Reilly formed a company called Tri-State Chemical March 21, 2011 that was awarded a county contract to provide cleaning supplies valued at $6500 on August 23, 2011. Reilly plead guilty to lying to a FBI agent and was sentenced to probation November 4, 2010. He was originally charged with accepting a bribe from Barton Weidlich but cut a deal with the feds.

Controller Walter Griffith discovered the ownership of the company and has asked the Commissioners to cancel the contract and put it on a no bid list. Various lawyers quoted in the media are not sure if that is possible and Commissioner Chair Maryanne Petrilla points out that the county contracts with thousands of companies. The challenge is to develop a vetting process to prevent this type of thing from happening again if possible. Reilly's lawyer argues that the guy has to make a living.

You have to wonder what this guy is thinking by putting in a bid for county business after disgracing himself. As Michelle Bachman would say, he has a lot of choot-spa.


Commissioners probe how firm owned by former clerk of courts won county contract


Controller wants to void bids from Reilly-owned company

Tax break for flood damaged properties

Luzerne County Commissioner Maryanne Petrilla's office sent me this:


Luzerne County advises any property owner affected by the September 8, 2011 flooding that they have the right to file an Appeal with The Board of Assessment Appeals within the remainder of the County fiscal year in which the catastrophic loss occurred or within 6 months of the date when the catastrophic loss occurred, whichever period is longer.

A Catastrophic loss is a loss of 50% or more of the market value of the property. Appeal fees for flood victims will be waived.

You may obtain appeal forms from the following sources:

On the internet at Luzernecounty.org under “Departments and Agencies”.
At the Assessment office located in the basement of the Courthouse.
By calling The Assessment Office at (570) 825-1858 to request the form be sent to you.

The wording is a little clunky and the PR didn't provide a hot link to the required form but I think I found it here:
http://www.luzernecounty.org/content/Document/Appeal_Forms.pdf

Michelle should be proud of me if I got it right.

Congressman Lou Barletta took to the floor of the House of Representatives yesterday to tell his colleagues about the devastating flooding that hit Northeastern Pennsylvania and push his bill to lower the interest rate for disaster relief loans to 1%.


But can anyone honestly say that providing disaster recovery loans for American homeowners and American businesses should be a moneymaking operation?

The transcript of his remarks are not available online yet but you can see the speech on his YouTube Channel.

My memory may be a bit faulty ( help me out Yonk) but if I remember right everybody who was affected by the 1972 Agnes flood got $3000 without having to pay it back then had to pay 1% for anything over that. Dan Flood did that.

Steve Flood RIP

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   My very first post about local politics was my disapointment that Steve Flood wasn't reelected. Before that I was writing about baseball so we will keep up the mix.
   
   I wrote this at the time:
   
   
   Watchdog Goes Down
   The powers that be in Luzerne county win again. Steve Flood Lost the Controllers race to the party favorite. The reasons they did not like him are the reasons I did. We need rabble rousers and bomb throwers. I even miss Fred Williams radio show on WILK. I did not agree with him on many things, but I like the way he stirred the pot. Steve was good at asking questions and just saying no. The way this county has been run during my lifetime I found him to be way overdue. When I lived in other areas I described m y hometown as a place that never got over the great depression, the best redevelopment project was the Agnes flood and the political reforms of the 1890's have yet to hit. Sadly, not much has changed.
   

Well, because of Steve Flood many things have changed. Just after he was elected as Contoller I met him at a wedding of some Mrs. G reletive. He got me to support Ed Rendell over Bob Casey for Governor although I was going there anyway. We had a great fundraiser in Plains.

30 people have been inticted or convicted in Luzerne County because he went to the FBI over the 20 year Juvie Center lease. After he was defeated for reelection the new controller dropped the whole thing

Home rule opposition

I was a big proponent of the last plan that called for an elected county executive and a 9 member council with 6 positions elected by district and 3 at-large. It met the goal of separating the legislative and executive functions of the present 3 Commissioner system plus it got rid of electing row officers.

I have some reservations about the new proposed Luzerne County Charter . My biggest objection is not having an elected but appointed county manager. I don't like having a "Mayor of the County"that is not accountable to the voters. And I have concerns about the changes to the Controller's position

The part I like is that the coroner, register of wills, recorder of deeds, treasurer and sheriff would all be hired based on qualifications not elected. These are management/clerk positions with no policy responsibility. After all there is no Republican or Democratic way to perform an autopsy or register a will.

But I'm still reading the document and will reserve judgement.

I was privy to an email exchange between home rule opponents (how quaint) recently and I was surprised that many goo goo (good government) types that supported the last charter are opposed to this plan.

What is not surprising is that local Democratic and Republican party members are oppossed. Democratic Commissioners Maryanne Petrila and Tom Cooney are on the record opposing it and I understand that Republican Commissioner Steve Urban is also against it. Republican Prothonotary Carollee Medico-Oligarchy and Controller Walter Griffith have also have come out against it. Walter has a good argument because it changes the responsibilities of his office. The rest of them seem to want to protect their jobs.

This quote from Luzerne County Democratic chair Mark Buffalino both amuses and infuriates me...“I think our current office holders, especially Commissioners (Thomas P.) Cooney and (Maryanne) Petrilla, have taken steps in taking the county in the right direction, and I think those efforts would be impeded by change for the sake of change.” In 2003 the Dems asked us to trust Greg Skrepenak and Todd Vonderheid to fix the system telling us that home rule wasn't needed because we could trust these guys to fix the system. That worked out well. Vondy quit before his term was up and Skrep is headed to jail.


2nd District Democrats nix charter

Charter attacks blasted

Take a look at who’s opposing home rule plan MARK GUYDISH OPINION

Petrilla backs Shermanski

From the inbox:


The Shermanski for State House Campaign is excited to announce our latest endorsement – this time from a prominent figure in Luzerne County Politics. Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla has expressed her confidence in Richard’s ability to lead in the local community and in Harrisburg. “As the chair of the Luzerne County Commissioners, Maryanne has a feel for the communities in the 117th district more than most, and that’s what makes me so excited to accept her endorsement,” Richard stated.

Maryanne Petrilla has been a positive force for Luzerne County and a leader in our area for
years. Prior to her service at the county level, she served as Butler Township Manager for over a decade. Richard is proud to have the support of a leader with so much public service and community involvement.

Official statement from Richard on the endorsement: “With this endorsement, we can continue to grow as a campaign. I look forward to working with Maryanne and other leaders from
throughout the 117th as we work to bring jobs back to Northeastern PA, improve our schools
throughout Pennsylvania, and protect our environment from dangerous drilling practices.”

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Shermanski is running against incumbent State Rep Karen Boback.

Tax bill flap

Luzerne County started sending out tax bills this week that didn't include the Homestead exclusion so they had to stop the mailing and print new bills.


County officials: Homestead tax break remains in effect

In a first for this blog Commissioner Chair Maryanne Petrilla sent me a press release about this issue and listing her accomplishments.


Statement by Commissioner Maryanne Petrilla
February 24, 2010

I want the taxpayers of the county to know I hear their frustration and anger at the recent mix-up concerning the Homestead Tax Exemption. There was a mistake made here. We’re all human. I told the people attending the commissioners’ meeting last week who protested that we would correct this. And we have.

I can’t dial back the play clock on this one item. We will make sure things like this don’t occur again.

I also hope that all I have tried to do to improve county government at this crucial time in our history will not be judged by this one incident. I’ve finally put an end to the wasteful practice of seemingly endless county borrowing. We had to raise taxes, but we made many cuts in this year’s spending to try to minimize the pain. We now have a fairer tax system with everyone paying their fair share instead of some receiving a better deal over others. This preferential treatment went on for decades beyond when other counties reassessed. Additionally:

• I singlehandedly worked with the principals of PA Child Care to end their lease that cost $58 million.
• Discovered the practice of contract piecemealing, stopped and exposed it, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars.
• Completely put an end to nepotism and cronyism by hiring professional and experienced directors to fill jobs.
• Developed a cooperative working relationship with the courts to streamline their budget and save taxpayer’s two million dollars a year.

There has been much to cleanup since I became chairwoman of the commissioners. I’ve worked hard to begin the cleanup. I hope people won’t rush to judgment on my overall record before some time passes and it can be judged in it’s entirety.

These have been tough times in Luzerne County for a variety of reasons. We’re doing our best in these trying days. I hope people will look at the big picture. Thank you to the taxpayers for any patience they can afford us. We will continue to try and do better.

High Anxiety

Poor Sam Hyder, he just couldn't take it anymore. Despite being a martial arts expert and possibly the most well trained employee in the history of Luzerne County who has travelled all over the USA to gain knowledge on how to be the best deputy warden of a county lockup he could be he just couldn't deal with people whispering mean things about him at church.

He has been on paid leave until the County Salary Board eliminated funding for his position in a cost cutting move.

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Hyder has filed the fourth workman's compensation claim in his career. This only the second one with Luzerne County when he previously got beat up triyng to break up a fight in the jail and the other two had to do with injuries in a warehouse. Greg Skrepnak brought him back after his traumatic experience at the jail.

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He made some wild accusations at his workman's comp hearing including receiving death threats from a motorcycle gang and alleged that Luzerne County Commissioner Maryanne Petrilla was out to get him, participating in an autopsy against his will and being responsible for a suicide.

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To add his stress level Luzerne County Controller Walter Griffith says the numbers don't add up as far as his vacation and sick pay claims and refuses to pay him any more money

Seinfeld eggs

We had some leftover lobster from our New Year's celebration so I decided to make Seinfeld eggs. If you remember the episode it had to do with George Costanza getting revenge over the viewing of his 'shrinkage.' Since the Christmas display at the Luzerne County Courthouse will now include secular items I hope someone will erect a Festivus Pole next year that will undoubtedly result in another legal challenge.

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I think that a celebration of Festivus would fit in well especially the The Airing of Grievances. Imagine a ceremony on the courthouse lawn were citizens could tell elected officials all of the instances where they disappointed him or her that year. The ceremony would end with The Feats of Strength were the Chairperson of the Commissioners as head of the county government (family) tests his or her strength against one participant of the head's choosing. Festivus is not considered over until the head of the family has been pinned to the ground. That would have been impossible when Greg Skrepnak was Chairman but I think that Michelle or Kathy could take on Maryanne.

Luzerne County Budget

The good news is there is no new borrowing. The bad news is just about everything else.

This year's plan comes in with about $2 million less spending than last year. To get there Commissioner Chair Maryanne Petrilla wants to close Moon Lake Park and the ball fields at the Forty Fort Airport plus all employees are to take 12 furlough days without pay. Commissioner Steve Urban wants 24 furlough days. That will be problematic because it needs agreement from the unions and the row officers. One of the problems with our present form of government is the row officers are not accountable to anyone which hopefully be rectified by the new county charter that will be written by the Government Study Commission. I have to disagree with the Blogfather, I think the unions will cooperate to save as many jobs as they can. The problems we face today are not the fault of the unions but the past administration of the Bond Brothers.

The biggest hole in the budget is the more than doubling of debt service from $9.5 million this year to $21.7 million in 2010. Every budget that Greg Skrepenak and Todd Vonderheid with the help of Sam Diaz put together refinanced existing debt and had unrealistic revenues.


Chief of Budget and Finance Tom Pribula has told the commissioners the county should not borrow any money next year. Pribula said Skrepenak wants "another Diaz budget with unfunded debt."

"Your eyes would come out your head if you realized the ridiculous, fictitious revenues that were in this county that never came to fruition, which has put us in this spot."

Profile in courage Commissioner Greg Skrepenak doesn't want to eliminate any county jobs and will not support a tax increase.

I've been bitching about the creative accounting (lies) in the Luzerne County budget process as long as I've been blogging.

From 2007

Another work of fiction


With all the outrage over the Debit Card scandal the fact that the latest Luzerne County budget doesn't add up has been overlooked. This year's plan has an eerie resemblance to last year's nonsense with even more invented revenues. Last year the budget called for $4 million from land sales that never happened and this year the figure is $6.3 million. Last year the county was supposed to get $3 million from beefed-up tax collections and they inflate that to $14 million from collection of unpaid property taxes for 2008.

The number that jumps out at you in the end is a 18.5% increase in property taxes. Steve Urban did the responsible thing and voted for the budget to move the process forward but he is not happy about it.

"I'm going to vote to put the budget on the table, but I'm going to tell you right now, I'm not going to vote on this tax increase," Urban said. "And I'll vote to shut this place down on Dec. 30, if we don't have a budget that makes sense to me and we don't have the spending cuts that I believe are necessary to move this county forward."

I doubt that the tax increase will be that big but in the end there will be a tax increase. I realize that taxes are the price we pay for civilization but I want to be assured that my tax money is being spent for things that are absolutely necessary. There have always been rumors of no show jobs and documented cases of outright theft in the Luzerne County courthouse that makes me reluctant to support a tax increase. I'm coming around to Big Dan and the Yonk's idea of just blowing up the place and starting over.

Conahan threatened Petrilla

“His final words to me were, ‘Maryanne, if you do this, you’re finished." Luzerne County Commissioner Maryanne Petrilla


TL: Luzerne County Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla told the Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice on Tuesday that former county Judge Michael Conahan personally called her in early 2008 to order her not to replace former chief clerk/manager Sam Guesto.

Commissioner Steve Urban said he talked to the Feds in 2006 and Controller Steve Flood also met with the FBI about the 20 year lease of the PA Child Care facility in Pittston Twp. Urban also said that he didn't have faith in the Judicial Conduct Board or the District Attorney. Most of us don't.

Minority Commissioner Greg Skrepenak refused to testify before the panel on the advice of his attorney. This has fueled the speculation about Skrep from PittstonPolitics.com Skrep refused to testify in hearings about the juvie scandal. This is knows as “Taking the Fifth” and other places.


There is so much going on that I can't keep up.

Reform school threw parties for judges, probation officials
I never get invited to the really good parties like this or the one at the airport

Brace resigns from state position

Testimony: Ciavarella’s ways accepted

Parents, juveniles testify damage was done

Juveniles, parents testify before commission about effect of detention, court proceedings


Horrific, heart-wrenching, courageous testimony of parents and kids in the "Kids for Cash" judges scandal in Luzerne County!

And so much more.

Just to add to the rumors. From the inbox:

Little inside info for you. This is confirmed through more than 3 sources. Former Luzerne County Cxx Txxx Vxxxxxx has been a cooperating witness since June and has made a plea agreement with the feds. Announcement is coming very soon.

And some media gossip:

Tidbits

A few weeks back TV 44's State of Pennsylvania featured the two local newspaper publishers.. After the show, xxx invited anyone in attendance to the GoodFella's eatery down the road on 315. It used to be Bella Vino. xxx picked up the tab paying a couple of thousand dollars in food and bar bills. The next day the media reported that newspaper employees were asked to take a 10% paycut. Irony. Wonder where they will are going to have their Christmas party? Abe's maybe?

My xxx works for the ... He wasn't there but his co workers were and they said xxx was buying drinks and food for everyone and people were buying $200 bottles of wine. The xxx's showed up later after having their outing and tried to pay for their drinks but they could not because the restaurant was running the tab. The xxx's insisted on paying but the owner got pissed off and threw them out.

Luzerne County Courthouse happenings

Luzerne County Human Resources Director Doug Richards resigned effective December 4th then was fired because he wouldn't spill the beans to Maryanne Petrilla about a dodgy contract with a New York temp agency that doesn't seem to have an address. The Feds raided his office after he was escorted out of the courthouse but tried to take records with him before he left the building.


Judge Michael Toole has unexpectedly decided to take a vacation for a few weeks. That's a bit odd because President Judge Chester Muroski is screaming for help to clear the backlog of cases because the bench has been short a few judges the last year or so. Maybe he just needs a break and it has nothing to do with all the rumors swirlling around him the last few months. Florida is nice this time of year for a boat ride after you get there on a private jet. It looks like like Chet has help on the way because Ann Lokuta will soon be restored to the Court.



A first. Former superintendent of the Pittston Area School District pleaded guilty to taking a $5,000 bribe for helping a contractor obtain work in the district and was sentenced to 13 months in prison reported to the Fort Dix federal correctional institution in New Jersey. The poor bastard, I wouldn't wish anyone having to spend time in New Jersey no matter what they did.

Luzerne County Courthouse Crime Watch

Photo by Pete G. Wilcox/The Times Leader

Better late than never.

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Gene Stilp of the Pink Pig fame was busy putting up posters around the Luzerne County Courthouse on Friday that asked people to report any wrongdoing to a Post Office Box.

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Commissioner Chair Maryanne Petrilla and Solicitor Vito Deluca are not amused.

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I predict that that all the posters will be in the trash by Tuesday.

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Local activist promotes courthouse crime watch

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Political activist has eye on county corruption

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Pack the board

The three Luzerne County Commissioners and the county controller sit on the salary board with row officers and the president judge having a fifth vote on the Salary Board for matters concerning their offices.

TL: But county officials have changed the rules in recent months by allowing department heads to cast a fifth vote.

I read the papers every day and didn't notice when that happened. Controller-elect Walter Griffith is being cautious before he blasts this change in procedure wanting to make sure he is on firm legal ground. County Solicitor Vito DeLuca said he recommended that department heads be allowed to vote based on his interpretation of the state County Code. I didn't know that the county solicitor could change the law. The TL story doesn't have any comment from Maryanne Petrilla or Greg Skrepenak. Steve Urban said he does not believe department heads have legal authority to vote.

In other county news Luzerne County government will receive $18.2 million in borrowed funds this week, even though the county was unable to secure bond insurance...Financial Security Assurance Inc., the primary insurer of government bonds, had expressed concerns about insuring the deal. Specifically, FSA wanted a guarantee in writing that the county won’t continue borrowing and refinancing to cover deficit spending.

Isn't this great, Luzerne County is now floating the equivalent of Junk Bonds.

Petrilla rakes in the bucks

Luzerne County Democratic Commissioner Chair Maryanne Petrilla has raised $54,000 this year and has $78,000 cash on hand according to her latest campaign finance report. That is more money than all the row officer candidates running this year combined.

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Indicted Jury Commissioner Jerry Bonner gave her $500 but she sent it back. There are a few other names that are in the news listed in the report.

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Wilkes-Barre Area School Board President Frank Pizzella kicked in $125 for her golf tournament that is also listed on his CFR. Pizzella has been charged with conspiracy in a teacher job-selling scheme in 2004. I didn't know that she played golf.

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Michael Pasonick is the owner of an Architect/Engineering firm that does business with just about every government agency in Luzerne County made 2 donations totalling $1750 to Petrilla.

Pasonick was recently identified as the person who paid the bribe of $1400 to Housing Authority member Billy Maguire that was passed on by fellow board member Jerry Bonner. I wonder what the vig was in that deal? In one of the most creative excuses that I've ever heard Maguire said that he was reluctant to ask the housing authority for reimbursement of $1,400 he spent while attending a meeting of the National Leased Housing Association with Bonner in late January 2009 because of the debit card scandal and previous publicity that he was travelling the world on the taxpayer's dime when he was working in law enforcement. So he got Bonner to ask Pasonick to pick up the tab. At least he didn't try to double dip because records show he was not reimbursed by the authority. Bonner's attorney Mike Butera made the revelation about Pasonick. Butera has contributed $1000 to Petrilla.

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Sometimes this gets confusing. Patrilla's committee received contributions from Hazleton State Rep. Todd Eachus' and DA Jackie Mo Carroll then her committee sent money to Eachus and Jackie Mo's campaign committees. Scott Gartley kicked in $500 and Petrilla contributed $1000 to Tina Gartley's judicial campaign. I guess this is an example of 'you wash my back, I'll wash your's.' These people don't use their own money to go to all these events, the donor's pay for it. In addition to Gartley she contributed to 2 other Luzerne County judicial candidates. She sent $250 to Joe Musto and $125 to Bill Amesbury.

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In the row ofifce races she(her committee) gave $250 to Dem Prothonotary nominee Nancy Bellas who's husband has been indicted for taking a bribe and Democratic Controller hopeful Bob Morgan got $550.

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Some Luzerne County officials chipped in for the boss.

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Director of Assessments Anthony Alu $125

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County Solicitor Vito DeLucca $375

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Prison Warden Joe Piazza $500

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This one I find interesting. Former Commissioner Todd Vonderheid ( Bond Brother) who is now the head honcho of the local Chamber of Commerce chipped in $250. Vondy ran as a team with Greg Skrepenak for Luzerne County Commissioners telling people we didn't need home rule because we can trust them. That worked out well. Vondy quit before his term was up.

Luzerne County Controller

The Controller's contest continues to be the hot race with Walter Griffith complaining about Bob Morgan's campaign finance report after Morgan complained about his last one. They both filed corrections to the reports.

Griffith has been critical throughout the campaign of Maryanne Petrilla's performance as Controller in the brief time she held the office before becoming a Luzerne County Commissioner and Wil Toole took a shot at her in Monday's debate.

Toole gave the play by play of his pursuit of the endorsement of the AFSCME local that covers county employees saying he was a founder of the local union. They didn't endorse him. He said he wanted it then lobbed this bomb on why he didn't get it. "Then I found out that Maryanne Petrilla had hired the President's daughter two months previous."

Maryanne's response "He should be careful about what he says."

The Union President, Paula Schnelly, said "With all the controversy and corruption, we decided not to endorse anyone and stay clear of endorsements," she said. "Why he is making it personal, I don't know. ... I heard he alleged I am tight with Maryanne Petrilla. I know Maryanne Petrilla as well as I know Wil Toole."

Director of Assessments Anthony Alu recommended hiring Ms. Schnelly because she was the best qualified applicant.

Wil Toole chimed in on the CV website:


I think it incredulous to think that there are a hundred union members out of work and the Commissioners hired the union presidents daughter. I don't know about you but I don't think a hundred union members should be out of work and not even be offered the opportunity of a job. And by the way, if anyone believes that the commissioners hiring the union president's daughter is a coincidence then I have a bridge to sell. Where was that job advertised? I also find it amazing that after a hundred years of patronage, these Commissioner's have offered up the gift of job giving to their managers. Right!


Wil Toole, Former County AFSCME Union President

One last poll. Who should be the next Controller? Vote on the sidebar and give your reasons in the comments.

Luzerne County Controller debate

I'm going to tell everybody here a dirty little secret if you really want to know the inside of politics in Luzerne County. The salary of elected officials have been kept low to keep good people out of government-Wil Toole

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I thought that was the best line of the night at the LuLac Political Letter Controller's Forum . Moderator David Yonki did a great job of asking tough questions and allowing the candidates to mix it up. He read every question from the audience and they were good ones and no one asked about UFO's or other such nonsense.

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The three candidates websites are here:

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Walter Griffith (R)

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Bob Morgan (D)

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Wil Toole (I)

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I'm going to do a short recap but you can see the whole thing because it was filmed by PittstonPolitics.com.

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The 3 candidates opened by reviewing their resumes. Morgan mixed a few sports metaphors and Griffith took a shot a Morgan for saying he will work at PNC Bank if he is elected. Griffith promised to be a full time Controller and later Morgan and Toole also pledge to work full time.

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The questions started with the Times-Leader endorsement of Griffith. The TL says he is combative. When they asked about being combative and Gort is here, one of the local blog editors, has noted that I'm a pain in the ass. I'm always watching government and try to hold them accountable.

Morgan disagreed with the TL knock on his financial savvy and Toole addressed questions about his disability pension which was converted to regular retirement when he turned 60.

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All 3 answered some technical questions about the office and they all agreed that there should be better handling of cash payments with Morgan and Griffith wanting a central location to take all cash payments but Toole argued that would be unworkable.

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Griffith will work full time wants to eliminate comp time and ensure that all sick/vacation time should be tracked. Toole noted that he is retired so he nothing else to do and said the job can't be done part-time and said he will keep track of when employees sign in and out. Managers have to manage and that seems to be an alien thought in Luzerne County. He also doesn't favor buying a fingerprint/time clock machine and neither does Morgan. Morgan favors keeping flex time instead of paying overtime. He then pointed out that Griffith has run for 4 offices this year, Controller, Government Study Commission, Constable and Judge of Elections and asked what job he will he be doing on election day. Griffith responded that he will be a Judge of Elections because he hasn't been elected Constable or Controller yet.

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Toole said he couldn't give a schedule of audits because things are so far behind and Morgan agreed that the backlog has to be cleared. They both said that the top priority is to deal with the Sheriff's office. Griffith then took some shots at former Controller and County Commissioner Maryanne Petrilla, who is a Morgan supporter, saying she left the office in shambles, she didn't manage the office and defended the job Acting Controller AJ Martinelli is doing because he is doing double duty.

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They all agreed that the debit card scandal was a nightmare. Walter recounted that the Commissioners approved the debit card policy and it wasn't followed by the Chief Clerk, Sam Guesto. The people who didn't follow the policy, there was no reprimand...for those people who stole our money... They should have been fired. Toole offered some suggestions to control travel costs then blasted the Commissioners at the time. Skrepenak, Vonderheid, Urban...They made a major blunder and it's about time that they stood up and say we made a mistake and stop blaming their employees.

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At this point David joked that according to some of his readers all 3 have promised him a job.

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Morgan said that the pay structure has to be revamped. How can the Chief Clerk make $80K but his bosses are paid $40K. Griffith wants to stop management raises and playing games with eliminating and creating jobs. He said that the deputy's in the row offices are paid more than there bosses because they are expected to run the operation while the elected official often doesn't show up for work. Then Toole said elected officials salary's have been kept low on purpose to keep good people out of government. He recalled that years ago their was a salary increase for elected officials but the Commissioners at the time, Frank Trinisewski and Jim Phillips rolled it back. Why? Because they were terrified that good people were going to run for office and they would be out. He also decried the pay of entry level pay for qualified auditors. Walter took issue with the contention that good people won't run for the job because of the relatively low pay noting that many people live on a lot less. Morgan said he is Okay with the pay. Toole also said that Businesses want to come to Luzerne County because we have slave labor. He also gave the play by play of his pursuit of the endorsement of the AFSCME local that covers county employees saying he was a founder of the local union. They didn't endorse him. He said he wanted it then lobbed this bomb on why he didn't get it. Then I found out that Maryanne Petrilla had hired the President's daughter two months previous.

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Toole's pension controversy came up again and he said Judge Michael Conahan threw the case out despite the fact that he backed Joe Musto in the previous election. He blamed it on the administration that followed his tenure as Pittston City Clerk and was proud of the job he did. The administration that replaced me dragged me through a living hell. Morgan said that he doesn't have a conflict being an employee of PNC Bank that does a lot of business with the county and has an independent counsel opinion supporting that but would recuse himself from any pension board votes involving his employer.

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It ended with Toole and Morgan beating up Griffith saying he accused Controller office employees of falsifying an audit asking why he didn't ask for an investigation. He responded that he did contact the Auditor General and another agency. Morgan said You make accusations without facts. He then hit Griffith about running for 4 offices asking if he would serve 4 years if elected as Controller. Griffith said he would serve a full term.

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Post game: I was disappointed that the rest of Bentley's was closed as I was hoping to check out the place and catch some of the Eagle's game. Me and Forrest hit Mark's on the way home. Some elbows got thrown but then we all know that politics is a contact sport and afterward all 3 candidates were talking and joking with each other and the crowd. I can honestly say that this one of the best political debates I have ever attended. Things got tough but it remained civil.

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Michael Buffer has a write-up in the CV.