Luzerne County salaries

The Luzerne County Council is kicking around the idea of giving raises to some non union employees that haven't had one in 5 years. The proposal is to give them $1000 across the board although some council members want to base the raises on merit. The problem with that idea is that the county doesn't have an employee appraisal system (surprise) and it may take 2 years to fully implement one. Raising salaries in this fiscal climate will go over like lead balloon but people have to live. Most county employees do a good job and deserve a cost of living increase.


The salary of the Controller is also on the table. It has been $35K for as long as I can remember and is well below what the compensation should be for such an important position.  Present Controller Walter Griffith says he is OK with the salary.

I'm reminded what Wil Toole said in the 2009 election: 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. 

That's not a knock on Walter as he has done a good job with limited resources and most of the row offices have been eliminated by the charter. The new Division heads are to be paid between $75,000 and $90,000 per year.

2013 Luzerne County elections

5 seats on the Luzerne County Council and the Controller's spot are up for reelection next year. Democrats Elaine Madden Curry and Linda McClosky Houck and Republicans Harry Haas and Eugene Kelleher along with Independent Rick Williams were the bottom 5 of 11 elected in 2009 so their seats are up this time. The other 6 seats will be decided in 2015. I haven't heard that any of them are planning to run again or bow out but it's early and I'm sure there will plenty of candidates in the primary on both sides. I can think of a few people that came up short last time that will give it another try and a few others are making some noise.

Controller Walter Griffith told me he is definitely running for reelection and I don't see anyone taking him on in the Republican primary but anything can happen. Walter has taken some criticism over audits but I would argue that he is still the most popular politician in the county because he continues to be a pain in the ass. His 2009 Democratic opponent Bob Morgan said he is not looking for a rematch but I've seen him at all sorts of political gatherings the last few months. People change their minds. The other candidate in 2009 was Wil Toole of Pittston who can't be counted out. Former Commissioner Steve Urban is also threatening to run.

Wake up people! Their coming for us.

This is a guest post from former Pittston administrator Wil Toole:

The fact that many don't consider Social Security and Medicare as simply an entitlement but rather as life and death issues speaks volumes for what the American people see as necessities of life. It drives me nuts that working people actually defend the move by conservative Republicans to destroy these programs as we know them. They have actually taken on an effort to change the meaning of the word entitlement as we have always known it. To me, entitlement means that I earned and deserve something and I'm entitled to it. The Republican Conservatives have changed that definition to mean welfare for some other form of handout that we don't deserve or didn't work for. Entitlement means we earned it and don't let the representatives of the 1% tell you anything different.

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The Republican PR spin on the Paul Ryan budget backed by Mitt Romney is designed to lull our country's seniors into accepting their plan because their selling point is that it does not affect anyone over age 55. That isn't a selling point, it is a prediction of life style destruction for our children and grandchildren.

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Economist are telling us that our children and grandchildren will not live as well as we do and personally, I know people who could not survive without both programs and I want those to come after us to live a decent life. I don't understand how these go along working class conservative wannabe's don't scream about the cost of war or the cost of sending money to other countries in the form of foreign aide or the no bid military contracts but they want to take from us and give to others. What are they thinking?

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As one of the wealthiest countries in the world, why can't we put us first and others second? Why should we suffer any loss in life sustaining programs? Wake up people, wake up before its too late. I heard Paul Ryan in a video saying he thinks Americans should have the same benefits and pay for the same benefits that Congress has. OK Mr Ryan but how about if you take a pay cut to that of the average American? Why are Congress members entitled to such large salaries? He has been on the taxpayer's ride for so long that he actually thinks that's how Americans live. Wake up people! Their coming for us.

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.

Technical difficulties

Yesterday I received a message from my friend Wil Toole

Not sure if it is me, my puter or your site ....... there is brown background which prevents me from reading your postings.

The blog looked normal on my computer so I told him to check back later. I didn't make any changes to the template and haven't had to mess with the html code since the last blogger update so I thought it was a problem with his computer. I checked the blog on 2 other computers and it appeared fine. Then I got a few other messages saying the thing and I finally figured it out. It's a browser problem.

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Gort42 looks fine on Internet Explorer 7 but is all messed up on Firefox. The last few months I've had the opposite problem with a few sites. Whenever I load NEPartisan and Oliver Willis with IE7 I get a pop up box that says the site is running a script and freezes my computer requiring me to do a restart but they both work fine when I open them with Firefox.

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I'm not sure what the problem is but I will try deleting some recent links and pictures to see if it will solve the problem. So bear with me folks while I try to solve this problem instead of posting about a few of these stories.

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Feds set to probe Sterling project

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Payroll tax break: Extension proposals from both parties fail in Senate

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No challengers yet for Luzerne County state legislators

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Lou Barletta compra programa de la piedra de Rosetta para aprender español

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Update: The culprit was Michelle's picture of President Obama I snagged from her flickr account.
I deleted it and everything is back to normal.

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Home stretch for Home Rule

Read the Luzerne County Home Rule Charter at this link.

In our last poll I asked you if the home rule charter would be approved and it is a dead heat. Both sides are holding many events to persuade voters. The Yonk moderated an informational meeting with members of the study commission and WVIA had supporters James Haggerty and Rick Morelli and charter critics county Chief Solicitor Vito DeLuca and county Controller Walter Griffith debate the merits yesterday.

Even more events are scheduled. The details are on the pro and con websites.

Friends of Home Rule

Charter No

Most ballot questions (bond issues for fire companies, etc.) pass easily for some reason which is why I usually vote no but this one is different. Luzerne County has a habit of voting down progress such as the last home rule charter that Skrep and Vondy said was unnecessary because we could trust them. Before that a group labeled itself Taxes No defeated a bond issue that would have given us a bigger Arena.

Former State Representative Kevin Blaum was the driving force in building the arena and favors the home rule charter.


In 16 days you get to decide the future of Luzerne County government. Will voters choose to remain where they are – stuck in a ditch and mired in muck – or will they break free from the past, turn out in large numbers, vote YES enthusiastically and usher in a new era of professional stewardship that your children and grandchildren so richly deserve? It is up to you.

One thing is certain; those in control of Luzerne County government and the power, benefits and contracts it bestows do not want the system changed. They and their political supporters will be out in force come Election Day. No amount of wind or rain will stop them. They intend to defeat your new constitution and its professional council-manager form of government used so widely throughout the United States. If they get their way, this wonderful regional opportunity will be lost and tragic fiction will be reality.

My inbox has been flooded with anti-home rule opinions but not one pro missive. Here is an anti view and I welcome guest posts from those of you who favor the charter.

Folks,

While the opportunity continues to be available, I would like to offer another "guest post".

I have written letters to the editor numerous times and the bell that I'm trying to ring right now is the Home Rule warning bell.

Aside from a finance career in private industry, I worked in government for over 20 years including federal, county and local government. This appointed manger situation is the most dangerous threat to the taxpayers that has ever faced us.

The appointed manager will be the now often quoted "mini king". The manager will be appointed, not voted on and he will have powers and authority that no government official ever had or should have. He can hire and fire with no oversight. He can move money from one department to another without oversight. He can make contracts up to $25,000 without oversight. He can do these things behind closed doors and without the requirement of doing so at a public meeting. There are other powers he will have but I'll just address these few.

Appointed, not elected. This means that the voters and taxpayers of Luzerne County will be controlled by a public official that answers only to himself and the Council majority who appointed him. Kinda reminds me of a Superintendent of Schools but without public oversight and much more authority.

Let's take a closer look at these powers:

Authority to hire and fire. Having the absolute authority to hire and fire, what is to stop this manager from selling jobs such as happened in the school districts? What's to stop him from hiring friends and family, not just his own but those of the Council majority? What's to stop him from firing people who are a political pain to the Council Majority? This authority will allow majority Council members to get family members hired and then have the luxury of standing up and saying, "I didn't hire my son (or daughter), I don't have a vote. That Council member is correct, he does not have a vote on the hiring of relatives but he absolutely does have influence over the manager his Council majority hires. The appointed majority will always be in a position of intimidation by the Council majority and he will dance to their tune to keep his high paying job.

Authority to move money within departments. This would be like the current commissioners taking money out of the Road and Bridge department budget and moving it to the Clerk of Courts department. How does the Road and Bridge department operate effectively? This authority alone is enough to destroy county government.

Authority to make No Bid contracts up to $25,000. Isn't that a sweet deal? One man can spend up to $25,000 and the elected Council will have no input or oversight. There is a term used in government that is used to avoid public bids, it is called "Bid Splitting". An example would be an anticipated year's cost of office supplies to be $40,000. Bid Splitting would be issuing a contract for $20,000 and later writing a second contract for the remaining $20,000. Thus, the manager just made a deal that required no oversight because he stayed under the $25,000 maximum expenditure for a single transaction. But even without the danger of Bid Splitting, the manager can spend up to $25,000 for any item regardless of value for dollar spent. This is a major step backward. Look at the number of purchases made in the county each year that is over $10,000 but under $25,000. You will find that the number of transactions are staggering and we will now make those purchases without benefit of public bids. Absolutely unbelievable and terrifying for the taxpayers.

Perhaps it is time for Luzerne County to operate under Home Rule but this proposed Charter is not the vehicle to get the job done. An Eleven member Council with NO minority representation is simply a bad form of government. How can we possibly elect enough people to change the direction of an 11 member Council? Right now, we have one county commissioner (minority) watching the actions of two county commissioners and to make a change we simply have to elect one new Commissioner to effect a change. We can't control our school boards of nine members so how do we control a county Council of eleven members?

If you like the way your School Board operates, you will love Home Rule.

Wil Toole

This week in Luzerne County corruption

Poor Skrep, many of his friends have been indicted or are under investigation or quit. He must be a lonely guy. It's no wonder that he doesn't show up for work at the Courthouse unless there is a public meeting that he just can't duck.

WILKES-BARRE - Luzerne County Commissioner Greg Skrepenak said Friday he isn't resigning but is aware he could soon face criminal charges.

When all this first broke I asked a few people who know him if Skrep was corrupt and most of them said no. A few suggested that he had enough money from his football days but was used by the powers that be to line the pockets of the usual suspects just like it has always been done. In other words he was too fucking stupid to know what was going on. I don't buy that.


Update: I have asked longtime Pittston Democratic politico and recent Independent candidate for Controller Wil Toole to occasionally weigh in with his thoughts about county government. He shares his thoughts about Skrep in the first of what I hope will be many guest posts. I have also reached out to other retired politicians inviting them to share their wisdom. There is nothing like experience.



People are waiting for the shoe to fall. It is my firm belief that people who do not have first hand information should not sit in judgment of anyone. I recall my very first meeting of Greg Skrepnak, it was at Kings College and there was a debate for all Commissioner candidates. I knew enough about government to know that there is absolutely no substitute for experience but integrity could come very close.

After the debate, I approached Mr Skrepnak, shook his hand and wished him well because men of integrity are needed on all levels of government. With all of my government experience, I thought that integrity would carry his lack of experience and he would learn on the job. After all, I had watched a young Frank Crossin go from a novice public official to a well oiled management machine. When he left office, there was nothing he didn't know or understand about county government. Therefore, Skrep would do just fine.

Skrep's problem came about through another character trait, loyalty. Skrep was loyal to his friends. He knew them, he trusted them and he covered himself in their consul. The problem was that they too were government novices and just didn't know that there was no such thing as the "old days". They thought they were doing things the way things were always done. Not so. Crossin and his peers understood how government operated and they stayed within the rules. People may not have liked the results or the way things were done but the efforts were legal. Crossin and company knew the value of experience, surrounded themselves with it and knew to not cross the line of right and wrong.

Skrep said he has done nothing wrong, has not cleaned out his office and has no intention of resigning. Speaking for myself, I can accept that. I can accept that he was not aware of the games being played and I can accept that what he did do, he thought was perfectly OK because his inexperience told him that those are the kinds of things that have always been done. Who exactly thought up the debit card use? Who exactly thought up the private contract use that has gone so far astray? Where was the public cop who was supposed to be watching? What happened to the checks and balances of government. The Controller, the army of county attorneys who hold solicitorship's, the experienced managers, the senior employees who should have known enough to blow a whistle or sound an alarm? There are more directions to point a finger than there are fingers.

So here we are and what do we do about it? Each of us have a responsibility and none of us have the luxury of sitting back and waiting for someone else to getter dun. In this past General election 65% of the voters allowed the privilege and responsibility to come and go, and didn't bother to participate in the process of choosing our public officials. So the choice of those who will lead us was determined by approximately 15% of those qualified to vote. Do we dare ask why things are as they are? For how long will we allow slogans to guide our judgement? Allow newspapers to advise us on whom should serve? When will we the people see though the nonsense, question the ability of those who seek public office and base our choice on something other than Party affiliation or recommendations of those who probably know less than the average bear?

This past Thursday, I physically delivered a letter to the Commissioner's office addressed to each of the three Commissioners. Without going into detail, I recounted some very pointed and specific experience I have and which they could make use of. I volunteered my time and made myself available to meet with them and their management team. No, I did not receive a call Thursday or Friday but did I really expect to? That's not a rhetorical question, now you can be the judge!


You can read the letter here.

Will Toole's statement

My election was pretty much what I expected with no surprises. Approx. 10,000 straight party votes and that is something that just can't be overcome. No physical organization + No money = no advertising = a good ass kicking.


I am satisfied with the way things turned out because I had an agenda and I accomplished everything I set out to do ....... except actually win but that was never a reality, just a hope so there is no complaint on my part.


My Independent campaign was exactly that, independent. No organization and very little physical help but that's the road I chose. I do appreciate the people who helped me gather almost 1600 signatures to get on the ballot.


With all that has gone wrong in Luzerne County over the past 8 - 10 years and all of the problems that face us including national disgrace, 35% of the people thought it important enough to vote -- Sad at best but absolutely disgraceful. Voters or I should say non voters cause us all to suffer with the way things are. I just don't understand how 130,000 registered voters out of a total of 191,000 voters stayed home. The most important Row office in this election was the Controller's election, the auditor of the county, the watchdog of the taxpayers and 10,000 voters thought it less important to vote for Controller than the other Row Office elections. The Register of Wills garnered 10,000 more votes than the office of Controller. Apparently, people are more concerned with who will handle their death records than their tax dollars. Things won't change because of general population apathy so the tail will continue to wag the dog and taxpayers will continue to stand around looking puzzled.


I would venture to say that everyone was looking for change and in many ways we did get change. Now all that remains will be the future and what the change will actually bring.


It is a healthy hope that each and every successful candidate will attack their new responsibilities with a fervor that will make a difference. I personally congratulate Walter Griffith and Bob Morgan on the effort they put forth and the interest they have shown in county government.Thanks to all for the good wishes and please celebrate along with me in the accomplishment of my personal agenda. If this is my last night on earth, I will leave truly happy ...... honestly.


Again, thanks ........ Wil

Walter wins big

Controller


Walter L. Griffith Jr. (Rep) . . . 28,160 48%
Bob Morgan (Dem) . . . . . . . .21,916 38%
Wil Toole (Ind) . . . . . . . . 8,197 14%


I predicted that Griffith would get 50% of the vote and he came close.

This is good news for bloggers and the taxpayers having Walter and Carolee in the Courthouse kicking ass and taking names

Exit polls

We voted about 6PM tonight and were voters 373 & 374 out of approximately 1000. Wilkes -Barre School Board candidate was greeting people out front and he was the only School Director hopeful that I voted for. Me and Mrs. G also wrote in David Yonki for Jury Commissioner.

Our side polls are now closed and the result that jumps out is the retention questions.

Peter Paul Olszewski Jr Yes 21 14%-No 136 86%

Tom Burke Yes 83 50%-No 83 50%


Of course this is an unscientific sampling of readers of Gort42 done for our amusement but couple this with what I've been hearing and it looks like PPO-2 is going down and Burke will hold on.

The Controller final has

Walter Griffith (R) 80 54%

Wil Toole (I) 44 30%

Bob Morgan 22 16%

Our next Judge

Dick Hughes (R) 90 49%

Tina Gartley (D) 55 30%

Bill Amesbury (D) 35 21%

Predictions-Controller

The Luzerne County Controllers race has been the hot topic on this blog over the last few months with 2 of the 3 candidates even mixing it up in the comments. I've taken some guff from a radio talk show and others for allowing you to vent your spleens with sometimes unfair comments but as I have said before this a free speech zone but if you think that something is out of bounds send me an email and I will consider deleting it. No one has objected to any comments although I did delete a few that were tasteless.

In the Controller's race I stick by my original analysis. This is the first time in a very long time that having an (R) after your name is an asset in a county race. That is why there was a crowded Republican primary and oddly only one Democrat sought the nomination. I thought that Walter Griffith (R)would win a head to head matchup with Bob Morgan (D) and a long time Democrat from Pittston, Wil Toole, being on the ballot even if he is running as an Independent probably sealed the deal.

If the Republicans don't win this one they may as well shut the doors to their campaign HQ in downtown Wilkes-Barre and go back to all their backstabbing and begging for crumbs that fall off the Dems plate that has gone on for years.

Griffith wins big with 50%+ of the vote with Morgan 2nd and Toole finishing a close 3rd.

On a personal note I like all 3 gentleman. Walter has been a "pain in the ass" for a long time and is tenanacious when he thinks something is wrong. Bob Morgan is very qualified but has the unfortunate luck of running in a Republican year. When I first heard that Wil Toole wanted to be the fiscal watchdog of the county I laughed it off because of his Pittston overtime controversy and numerous lawsuits over health insurance and other things. After seeing Toole in action at the LuLac Debate debate and talking with him afterward I changed my mind. He has a world of knowledge about the way local government works and has many good ideas to improve county government. Despite his past baggage I think he is in this race for the right reasons.


Whoever wins this race I think it would be great if all 3 candidates got together after election day and brainstormed their ideas on how to improve things

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.

CONTROLLER’S FORUM

The LuLac Political Letter will be having its Controller's Forum for Luzerne County Monday night from 7 to 9PM at Bentley's. All three candidates, Walter Griffith (GOP) Robert Morgan (Democrat) and Wil Toole (Independent) will be on hand to answer questions and talk about their campaigns.


Since the event will be at Bentley's and they have a bar with TV's it is perfect setting for a meeting of the Saturday OT Committee and Operatic Society. After the debate we can watch the Eagle's snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory . How did they lose to the Raiders? So come out and join us to address the financial crises by infusing cash into the malt beverage industry to ensure it's liquidity.

Luzerne County Controller

Democratic Controller Bob Morgan candidate got his turn with the Times-Leader editorial board.

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Some choice quotes:

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He hasn't been at Commissioner's meetings but assures us that “If something inappropriate is going on, you have to be the one to blow the whistle. That’s your responsibility.” ...“I don’t think that the controller in the end has a lot of political friends. I think the controller in the end does the right thing for taxpayers.”..."I think there’s a sense that county finances are a black box and that nobody’s sure that we have a problem until we have a problem, and whenever we have a problem it’s a big problem.”

Morgan said he would be a full-time controller but would continue to work for PNC Investments as a financial adviser on a “limited basis,” primarily nights and on weekends.
He does not expect PNC Investments to get involved in managing the county pension fund but said he would stay out of any such negotiations. Morgan said PNC is “very aware” of potential conflicts of interest.

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No mention of the potential conflict with PNC Bank being the county's bond underwriter.

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Morgan has a website up and takes a swipe at his 2 opponents on the front page. I have not worked in City or County government and I haven't run for multiple offices, multiple times.

GOP hopeful Walter Griffith was also interviewed by the TL.

He emphasized again that he will shut down his business and be a full time Controller. He is tenacious and said "I just won’t let go if it’s not right.”

“My big issue with county government is the lack of consistency. There never seems to be anybody that will put their hand in the air and be accountable or consistent with their policies. I think that’s crucial in government.” ...“I’ve sacrificed a lot since 2003 for the people, not that I want any accolades for that. I do it because I care. That’s the whole purpose of my running the campaign, it’s because I have a heart to serve. It’s because I want to be there to fix things if I can.”...I’ve run a business for 20 years. I think a business background and common sense is what makes it work.”

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Here is a link to his website.

Independent candidate Wil Toole was also interviewed by the TL that I covered in a previous post.

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You can read about him on his site http://www.bestcontrollercandidate.com/

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Morgan's campaign has been low key until the last couple of weeks but now he has billboards and is running radio ads that I haven't heard.

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From the Yonk: Morgan is also taking a swipe at his two rivals Republican Walter Griffith Junior and Independent Wil Toole. Morgan makes reference to the watchdog term readily applied to Griffith saying it takes more than some sort of mutt to oversee the finances of the county. He also refers to Toole’s previous administrative tenure as a way for the old boy network to continue to thrive.

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You can meet all three candidates this coming Monday night at the LuLac Political Letter candidate’s forum, Oct. 26th from 7 to 9 PM at Bentley’s in Ashley. Afterward we can watch football.

Will Toole responds

In my last post I invited Wil Toole to respond to the TL story rehashing his overtime controversy when he was Pittston's city clerk/administrator. He responded with an email and left a comment on the post. Being a fair and balanced blogger I decided to put both on the front page.

From the inbox:


I was surprised to read it. When I appeared before the Editorial Board, it was discussed in detail and I thought they understood the situation.

The hours I worked were all documented and NEVER questioned by the administration I worked for. The dispute was brought to a resolve and the payback was a result of a settlement reached in a law suit I had with the city's new administration. It is a complicated two year story but basically, the judge held a conference with my attorney and me at which time he proposed a retirement figure which I accepted. I had been two years without income and with living expenses and legal expenses I had depleted all of my financial resources. I had to resolve my pension issue as quickly as possible. Therefore, I accepted the proposed settlement.

The city has a defined pension plan which is locked into the employee's final pay. For the settled upon figure to be obtained, my final payout had to be adjusted so that the pension amount conformed with the formula. I did not repay $19,000 in cash. The City's auditing firm did the calculations and after all possible deductions and credits, I was left with a total cash payback of $4,600. The payback number never had anything to do with the hours I worked, it was a settlement.

It is worth noting that before I worked at the city, there was absolutely no administrative record of employee time off. Each office or department had a record controlled and kept by that supervisor who was a member of that particular union. The first thing I did was to create time sheets that were submitted with each payroll period and was signed by the employee and his immediate supervisor and then kept in the City's payroll department. I also required myself to have a time sheet and it was approved by the council member who served as the Director of Accounts and Finance.

I would be happy to invite you to lunch at which time we can discuss this entire situation in detail. As I mentioned, it was complicated and it was political and I suffered terrible character assassination during the Walsh Administration's final election. Beginning with my military service, I spent my entire life working for and in my community. While in the Coast Guard, I was stationed aboard a ship that did patrols in the North Atlantic. When we were in port in Staten Island, I attended boy scout meetings and taught knot tying to the scouts. From that point right up to my retirement, I served my community in many ways. You can read my community efforts on my campaign web site, I am not a single issue community activist. All of my life, I did what I thought was the right thing.

Thanks for asking without first jumping on the bandwagon of character assassination.

Thanks,
Wil Toole


His comment on my last post:


Gort,

I have no problem stating who the judge was that dismissed the charges and I did discuss the entire situation during the TL interview.

The fact is that half of the charges were dismissed at the magistrate's level. Carmen Maffei was the magistrate and he said afterward that he had confusion on some of the charges but if he understood the entire situation at the time, he would have dismissed all of them. The original magistrate was Fred Pierantoni but he removed himself because of perceived conflict of interest by working in the same building with me.

The truth was that most of the judges excused themselves because they knew me personally. Judge Conahan did agree to take the case. The thing that Conahan knew and bothered me was that when he defeated Judge Musto in his election to the Bench, I was a strong supporter of Judge Musto and absolutely did not support Conahan. That's a fact! Now with that situation facing me, I thought I would be in real trouble with Conahan but there was nothing I could do about which judge was left to hear my case. He did dismiss the remainder of the charges and commented as to how could they have gotten that far? The charges were absurd.

As for the question of Conahan being a friend of mine when all this happened can be answered in the fact that it was Judge Conahan who worked out my pension law suit and the deciding factor in my accepting the proposed settlement was that my attorney and I thought that I was awarded health insurance for life. We thought it was designed the same as state pensions at the time. I mention this because it was also Judge Conahan who canceled my heath insurance coverage last year. Does that sound like he did me a favor?

Joe Valenti claims to be the only one questioning my background but the fact that I filed a defamation law suit against him may have something to do with his obsession to continue his character assassination of me.

The history of my work in my community is contained within my web site, www.BestControllerCandidate.com. At the age of 66, I wake every morning and I'm proud of the man in the mirror. I have made many efforts and spent countless hours doing what I could to improve the quality of life in my community. If voters take the time to read about my work history and my public works and then choose to base their opinion on character assassination and false charges over 10 years old then that's their right to do so. Apparently, it is the headlines that matter, not the ultimate disposition of those headlines.

This all boils down to comparing what I have done with my life, the work experience I have accumulated and the ability I have to be a good County Controller. By the way, my "Rodney King" point when interviewed was based on what I see as county officials spending more time looking to lay blame than working together to solve problems. If I'm wrong and working together is a bad objective then there are two other candidates to choose from. This is still America and as a veteran of 4 years of active duty, I will defend your right to choose. And, as a veteran I will exercise my right to defend myself when challenged.

Luzerne County Controller

The county Republicans are looking for a sweep of the 3 row offices up for election this year and many local political observers have told me if they don't win this time they never will. Next to the Commissioners the most important job under the dome is Controller. The candidates are Republican Walter Griffith , Democrat Bob Morgan and Independent Wil Toole.


Toole is a long time Democratic politico from Pittston who flirted with a run for the Democratic nomination in the spring and applied for the job in 2008 when Maryanne Petrilla became Commissioner. Rapid Edward never got around to filling the post. He is now running as an Independent.

Toole was the first Controller candidate interviewed by the Times Leader Editorial Board and sometimes sounds like Rodney King. “I don’t know why we have to be at war. I don’t know why we can’t say, ‘This is wrong. Let’s fix it,’ rather than, ‘Ha, ha, ha, I got you.’ I just don’t see that as being necessary.” He touts his achievements as Pittston's as city clerk/administrator "I ran the city of Pittston for 13 years,” Toole said the city had low tax rates, paved roads, pristine parks, adequate staff, an over-funded pension fund and manageable debt load when he left in 1997.

The article also notes that Toole made headlines in 1999 when he agreed to repay Pittston nearly $19,000 in overtime the city said he illegally obtained. Pittston officials said he obtained that money by inflating the hours of overtime he worked during his last year of employment as city clerk. Felony charges of theft and tampering with public records against Toole were dismissed by a county judge. Who was the Judge?

I find it amazing that the TL would include that information in the article but not ask him to comment about it. I have asked Toole for his side of the story and will publish his response if he answers.


The Blogfather has been researching the PNC Bank ethics policy because Democratic nominee Bob Morgan is employed by that bank. He points out many potential conflicts of interest because PNC has been involved financing Luzerne County bonds and some pension funds also wash through PNC. The company prohibits outside employment that interferes with the employee's job responsibilities or schedule. Morgan is on record as saying he will keep his job at the bank and will devote whatever time he feels is necessary to the Controller's position. I'm just guessing but I think he keeps banker's hours so how is he going to be available for all the meetings of the Salary Board, Retirement Board, Commissioner's meetings and just running the day to day operations of the office? Maybe he has a lot of vacation time saved up.


The Lu Lac Political Letter is hosting a debate between the candidates at Bentley’s, Route 309 in Ashley Tuesday October 27th from 7 to 9PM. All three candidates have accepted David's invitation.

This is neat. A venue that I can grab a drink then go to a political debate. I think that we can make this into a blogger/committee meetup.


Update: The date for the debate is MONDAY OCT. 26th. We changed the date because of WVIA TV's broadcast debate on the night of the 27th. We felt it wouldn't be fair to the candidates to compete with that. So the debate is Monday, Oct. 26th

Gina has a website

Republican candidate for Luzerne County Register of Wills Gina Nevenglosky is up on the intertubes.

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Gina Nevenglosky

Luzerne County Candidate Register of Wills/Clerk of Orphan's Court

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Tired of Elected Officials Not at work receiving full time pay and benefits? Fill this seat with the person who will be at work every day serving the citizens of Luzerne County. The news articles and information from the recent FBI investigations have given evidence of theft, money missing and tampering with paper work. It is necessary to oversee staff in each Row Office. That is the job of a Row Officer. Elect Gina Nevenglosky for Register of Wills/Clerk of the Orphans' Court to restore employee accountability in government.

Her opponent is long time Democratic office holder Dottie Stankovic who doesn't have website as far as I know. I called her office earlier (about 12:15) today to ask why but nobody answered the phone. Some wag later told me she was having lunch with Bob Reilly at the Olive Garden across the street from Nationwide Car Sales but I can't verify that.

The Yonk is exercised about this lunch break policy asking What if? Julius Caesar might have survived because Brutus might’ve been on a rigatoni run.

So far I can't find a website for the Democratic Row officer candidates Bob Morgan and Nancy Bellas. GOP Controller nominee Walter Griffith has a site as does independent Wil Toole and they are both on Facebook. Republican Prothonotary candidate Carolee is on Facebook
but doesn't have a website up yet.

Toole in

It looks like The Lu Lac Politcal Letter has stopped swilling TAB and is now gulping Snapple. Between soft drinks David made it down to Penn Plaza to witness former Pittston city clerk/administrator Wil Toole file his petitions to get on the ballot as an independent candidate for Luzerne County Controller and snappled the picture on the right. Toole needed 982 signatures but filed more than 1500 on his nominating forms. The usual formula is to get at 3 times more signatures than what you need to withstand challenges and you can bet that there will be challenges to some of the signatures.

According to the TL article Toole was highly critical of past controller Steve Flood. I'm not sure what he is critical about. Steve Flood sounded the alarm bells about the 20 year lease of the PA Child Care facility in Pittston Township and Juvie Brother, Michael Conahan, made sure he was taken out when he ran for reelection. Maryanne Petrilla was recruited to make things right and she has yet to explain why she dropped all the investigations that he initiated.


Republican nominee Walter Griffith was measured in his response saying he was “kind of disappointed” that Toole switched parties to get on the ballot...“If he’s a Democrat all his life and just switches to run, that says a lot about his integrity,” Griffith said. “It’s just one more person that people will have to do their homework on.”


Bob Morgan won the Democratic nomination and has to be worried about a long time Democrat from Pittston being on the ballot even if he is calling himself an "Independent."


Morgan said he briefly reviewed Toole’s nominating petition Monday and said it was signed by many “old guard” political figures in county politics. “Clearly this is an attempt by the old guard of the county to take control of this election. Mr. Toole is being nominated by the old guard.”


My advice to Walter is to let it alone and let Morgan and Toole fight about signatures. If Toole is on the ballot in the fall he splits the Democratic vote and you win in a walk.

Wil Toole for Controller

CV: Wil Toole, a former Pittston City official, is planning to run as an independent candidate for county controller. Toole said he plans to file his nomination papers as an independent candidate by the end of July. If he gets enough signatures to appear on the ballot, he will join Republican nominee Walter L. Griffith Jr. and Democratic candidate Bob Morgan on the November ballot.

Toole flirted with a run for the Democratic nomination in the spring and applied for the job in 2008 when Maryanne Petrilla became Commissioner. Rapid Edward never got around to filling the post. He was spotted at a Pittston Area School Board meeting in April circulating petitions and has a LTE in the Voice offering suggestions to improve county government.

Put controller on several county boards


At the end of July, I plan to file my nomination papers as an independent candidate for the office of county controller and it is issues such as these that have promoted me to leave retirement and take an active role in county government. I have attended many meetings of the county commissioners as well at the retirement board and during these meetings, I have offered several suggestions to help resolve various fiscal and procedural problems and neither my appearance nor suggestions have ever been mentioned in reports of the meetings. Again, I find this lack of coverage very disheartening. How can I muster public support for these suggestions when no coverage is afforded my efforts?


PittstonPolitics.com has an archive of his recent activities. If he makes the ballot it is not good news for Bob Morgan having a longtime Democrat from Pittston in the race.


So far Walter Griffith is the only candidate with a website up.


Update: The Yonk informs us that Wil Toole also has a website.