68 apply to fill Skrepenak’s slot

A whopping 68 people have applied for the Luzerne County commissioner seat left vacant by Greg Skrepenak’s resignation.

The court accepted applications on Friday and Saturday, but the lion’s share – 56 – arrived the last day, Monday.

County judges still plan to publicly interview all applicants on Wednesday, said Court of Common Pleas President Judge Chester Muroski. Judges will then stay in the courthouse Wednesday until they make a selection, he said.

The judges could take more time, but they want to choose a replacement in time to vote on the county budget Dec. 30.

The chosen applicant won’t be immediately sworn in because he or she must get bonded to serve in public office and pass a criminal background check, Muroski said.

All applicants must appear at the courthouse at 10 a.m. Wednesday in case there are any objections challenging their eligibility, Muroski said. The names of contenders will then be randomly assigned time slots to be interviewed, he said.

Though the volume of applicants creates more work, Muroski said he was pleased with the response. The courts waived the more than $100 filing fee so nobody would be discouraged from applying. Only seven people had applied for the commissioner seat vacated by Todd Vonderheid in 2007, and judges selected Rose Tucker.

“This is democracy in action. We have opened this procedure up, and the citizens have taken advantage of it,” Muroski said. “It’s as open and transparent as you can make it.”

Here’s a summary of the 56 people who applied Monday, based on information from their application paperwork:

• Clif Madrak, of Plymouth, is employed by the county as director of Moon Lake Park, where he has worked for a little over seven years. He also worked as Plymouth borough administrator from January 1992 through May 2000, with duties including preparing the annual budget. He said he has interacted with many other county departments and has “a real sense of their function.”

“I am not a political figure. I am not connected to any group. My agenda would be to make well-informed decisions concerning matters brought before the commissioners,” he wrote.

• Justin McCarthy, of Wilkes-Barre, is manager of Jim McCarthy’s Tavern On the Hill and an assistant at John V. Morris Funeral Homes in Wilkes-Barre. He attended Luzerne County Community College.

He has also served on the Wilkes-Barre Housing Authority and is active in several community organizations.

He wrote that he wants to support the county’s business and industrial growth, public welfare and quality of life, and to “run the county as a business with checks and balance for all operation.”

• Nicholas Volpetti, of Kingston, is retired and has held various positions with the state labor and industry and welfare departments from 1970 through 1998, including personnel director and executive director at the Luzerne County Assistance Office. He has a teaching degree and master’s degree in counseling.

“If selected for this position, I plan to immediately review all facts and figures, if it takes twenty-four seven, and make what I truly believe will be the most fiscally responsible decision,” he wrote.

• Lawrence DeFluri, of Hazle Township, is a certified Pennsylvania evaluator in the county assessor’s office.

• Michael Szustak, of Kingston, works as a therapeutic support staffer at the Luzerne Intermediate Unit 18. He has a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Villanova School of Business and worked at SEI Inc., a financial services company, while completing his master’s degree in history.

“I am aware of the need for an honest, qualified candidate with an intense work ethic, and I am prepared to devote all of my energies to this position,” he wrote.

• Rob Reddington, of Hanover Township, is vice president of channel operations at Brosna Communications and has 22 years of sales experience, primarily in telecommunications. He has a bachelor’s degree in government, politics and education from King’s College in Wilkes-Barre and has also coached swimming and diving.

“My business and coaching experience combined with my integrity, honesty, sense of justice, belief in hard work and enthusiasm provide for an excellent candidate for the position of county commissioner,” he wrote.

• Edward Palka, of Kingston Township, taught for 35 years, retiring from the Wilkes-Barre Area School District in June 2006. He is now employed as a part-time economics teacher at King’s and volunteers time for local causes.

“I have tried to give back to our community. That is my mindset for filing this application. I would like to try and help restore integrity and financial stability to Luzerne County,” he wrote.

• John Pitcavage, of Swoyersville, is retired. He once owned a grocery and meat store and has worked in a supermarket and as a corrections officer at the county prison. He wrote that he is researching ways to generate new revenue and believes the county’s debt is “mind boggling.”

• Charlene Aben, of Swoyersville, is a retired Luzerne County Children and Youth casework manager with a master’s degree in counseling from Marywood University.

“My goal as a Luzerne County Commissioner is to work as a team member with my colleagues in order to stabilize county government,” she wrote.

• Joseph J. Carey Sr., of Hanover Township, has worked as a manager and supervisor at several area companies that have moved or closed. He is pursuing a business management degree at Luzerne County Community College.

He wrote that he wants to “unlock closed doors” and “return pride, tradition, honor and respect” to the county.

• Kenneth M. Phillips, of Mountain Top, is self-employed at Accents Painting Wallcovering.

• Terrence E. “Terry” Siple, of Wilkes-Barre, is a retired Navy commander with two master’s degrees. He and his wife own The Sign of the Rose Bed and Breakfast in Wilkes-Barre, and he is a real estate investor/property manager.

“I am committed to being part of the solution, and I will do my best to work with other commissioners toward a decision which is in the best interests of the people of Luzerne County under these most trying circumstances,” he wrote.

• Charles G. Blewitt, of Kingston, is a licensed clinical social worker at the Scranton Counseling Center and works as a part-time counselor at King’s College and the Penn State Worthington campus.

He wants to “restore a sense of optimism and confidence” in county government “by modeling ethical public and private behavior.”

• Wilfred E. Toole, of Dupont, has worked as a branch manager and special lending officer of a national finance company, as a fiscal worker in the Luzerne County Human Resources Development Department and as Pittston city clerk/administrator. Toole, who did not win his bid for county controller in November, regularly attends county government meetings.

• Allan J. Mago, of Wilkes-Barre Township, is a laborer at Philips Lighting Co. in Mountain Top.

“My goals would be cutting out the wastefulness that may be currently in place, without job cuts or big tax increases,” he wrote.

• Mahesh (Mike) Trivedi, of Butler Township, owns the Econo Lodge Motel in Butler Township. He serves on the Butler Township Planning Commission and has master’s degrees in business administration and taxation law.

“I have a desire to increase my service to the community I live in, and given my extensive business and local government experience, I feel like I would be an asset to Luzerne County as a commissioner,” he wrote.

She wrote that she wants to work on “continued growth and improvement” for the county.

• Joseph Gill, Hanover Township, is a maintenance worker in the county’s building and grounds department.

“I feel that being employed here gives me several ideas about the way that certain things are handled,” Gill wrote.

• Alfred Akulonis Jr., of Duryea, is a therapeutic support staff worker at Step By Step in Wilkes-Barre and a Duryea Borough councilman. He has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from King’s.

He wrote that he would work full-time as a county commissioner and be an “unbiased leader.”

• Allison Walzer, Jackson Township, worked as editor of The Times Leader from 1981 through 2005 and has a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.

“My goals are to best serve all residents of the county, spending each penny as if it were my own,” she wrote.

• Michael S. Giamber, of Ross Township, is retired and worked as deputy chief of facilities and operations at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., from 1999 through 2000. He has a bachelor’s degree in business management.

He wrote that he wants to restore public trust “by instituting a system of full accountability and comprehensive checks and balances at all levels.”

• Joseph Morren, White Haven, has 16 years of experience as a police officer and five years in federal and private security areas.

He promised to bring “high values, honesty, determination and hard work” to the office.

• Bonnie Lini Markowski, Plains Township, is a faculty specialist at the University of Scranton and has worked as a university/college English instructor for 21 years.

“My goal for this office is to serve the citizens of Luzerne County honestly, professionally and with the integrity with which I was raised,” she wrote.

• James Hassel, Wilkes-Barre, is assistant project director at Clem-Mar House in Edwardsville and has a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling from the University of Scranton.

• David Owen Roberts, Bear Creek Township, is retired and worked in the county prothonotary’s office for 32 years.

“It is sad to see what has happened to the county. I would like to help bring the county back to the way it was in the past, and help regain the trust of the residents,” he wrote.

• John J. Brennan, Kingston, is retired and has worked in various management positions at Citibank. He has a bachelor’s degree in economics from King’s College.

He wrote that he would “focus like a laser on budget-critical items of revenue and expense.”

• John (Jack) Legins, of Nanticoke, is a sales representative with Advantage Sales and Marketing.

• Curtis Muffley, of Pittston, has a home business and retired from the military after eight years in the Navy and 12 years with the Coast Guard.

• Amer Haobsh, of Swoyersville, has worked as a general contractor for 10 years, a certified auto technician for 10 years and a Realtor for three years.

However, it’s likely he will be disqualified because he was not a registered Democrat when Skrepenak was elected to the commissioner seat in 2007. The law requires that the replacement was registered to the same political party as the person leaving the seat.

• Adam Bender, Hanover Township, is a federal contractor providing assistance to Social Security beneficiaries. He also worked in the county’s Children and Youth department as an intake worker and as a youth specialist at the county detention center. He has a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from Penn State.

“I will see to it that all actions of the county government be transparent and that the voice of the public constantly be heard,” he wrote.

• Thomas F. Connell, of Plains Township, is a forklift driver at Team Employer Solutions Inc. in Laflin.

• Marylee Brennan Ferrell, of Wilkes-Barre, is vice president and business manager at Ferrell and Associates Inc. and has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Penn State.

“It is my goal to restore dignity and the ethics of hard work back to the office of Luzerne County Commissioner,” she wrote.

• John F. Bednar Jr., Wilkes-Barre, is assistant manager of Dollar General Corp. in Wilkes-Barre and has 10 years of management experience at the Wal-Mart Vision Center and 25 years as vice president at Exact Optics.

“I am not indebted to any political person, party, business nor owe any favors to anyone that would affect the integrity of the office of commissioner,” he wrote.

• Gerald D. Bau, of Shickshinny, is retired and taught in various schools, universities and colleges from 1964 through 2005.

• Joseph J. Gombeda, of Hazle Township, is retired and said he has no qualifications for the office.

“I would work hard and learn the inner workings of the county government to try and get it back on track without sucking the eyes out of the taxpayers,” he wrote.

• Michael McGlynn, of Duryea, is a lab operator and pretreatment coordinator at the Lower Lackawanna Valley Sanitary Authority, and Duryea council member.

“I have always strived to regulate spending to stay within the budget,” he wrote.

• Frank J. Trinisewski Jr., of Mountain Top, served eight years as a Wilkes-Barre council member and 12 years as a Luzerne County commissioner.

“Over those years we balanced budgets for 20 years and entered into all contracts with our employees fairly and equitably,” he wrote.

• Bob Morgan, of Mountain Top, is a financial advisor with PNC Investments. He unsuccessfully ran for county controller in November.

“I believe my over 20 years of private sector business and financial experience, assisting individuals in managing their financial lives, will be of great benefit in setting Luzerne County on a sound financial footing,” he wrote.

“If appointed I know I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I will give my all for the county I grew up in,” he wrote.

• Jon Trosky, of Butler Township, is a college professor and actor/stuntman.

• Thomas P. Cooney, of Jenkins Township, is director of development at A+E Group Inc. in Plains Township and has a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Scranton.

“In addition to integrity and competence, the appointed county commissioner must bring commitment, stability and steadfastness to the office and the county,” he wrote.

• Lillian Thomas, of Kingston, is retired and has worked as an office manager for Bankers Life and Casualty Co. and owned a bridal shop.

“I’m a good listener knowing there are always two sides to every story,” she wrote.

• Gary Zingaretti, of Bear Creek Township, is senior vice president at ICORE Inc. in Emmaus and a township supervisor. He has a master’s degree in finance from Wilkes University.

“As a certified public accountant, I would bring a strong financial background to the position of county commissioner,” he wrote.

• Darren G. Snyder, of Wilkes-Barre, is president of Marilyn K. Snyder Real Estate Inc. and has a bachelor’s degree in economics from King’s.

• Brian E. McHugh, of Kingston, is a self-employed consultant and has a master’s degree in psychology from the University of Scranton. He is an Air Force veteran.

“I realize that there will be difficult choices and hard decisions to make. I am prepared for that,” he wrote.

• James G. Zoller, of Nanticoke, is a currently unemployed certified public accountant with a bachelor’s degree in accounting from King’s. “My goal would be, very simply, not to spend more money than what the county receives,” he wrote.

• Steven Dommes, of Duryea, is a “print area supervisor” at Latica Maui Cup in Dupont. The county resident of 39 years is working toward a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Misericordia University.

• William Andrews, of White Haven, is a self-employed home-improvement contractor who has a year’s worth of education from Penn State in drafting and design. He also coaches youth baseball and soccer and is active in the leagues.

• Adam Ruderman, of West Pittston, is employed at Bankers Life and Casualty and Purple Cow Real Estate and received a bachelor’s degree in political economy from Williams College in Massachusetts. Having only moved to the county five years ago, he wrote that he is “not beholden to any political group or geographic area.” He wrote that he wants to open county government to the public and tax fairly.

• Ronald Tirko Jr., of Courtdale, is the owner of Therm-All Insulation Inc., which, he wrote, is a “multimillion-dollar business” that he created over the past seven years without creating debt. He’d like to use that experience “to correct the counties (sic) mounting fiscal problems.”

• Timothy McGinley, of Kingston, is the director of administration at the Commission on Economic Opportunity, holds bachelor’s degrees from Wilkes University in chemistry and the University of Scranton in secondary administration, and has graduate coursework from several universities. He wrote simply that he wants to provide “positive, energetic leadership … to give back to the community.”

• Cynthia Smith, of Plymouth, is looking for a job in mathematics and has a master’s degree in the subject from Wilkes. She also has coursework in administration from Lehigh University. She wants to be a “full-time commissioner” and her “door to always be open.”

• Gordon Snow, of Mountain Top, is a retired school superintendent with a doctorate degree in education administration from Temple University. He wrote that he wants “to give to the people my practical knowledge of public management” and has no plans for a political career.

• William Balchune, of Pittston, is in management at Brandon Balchune Construction.

• Michael Hrinko Jr., of Nanticoke, is a database coordinator and operations analyst with Diversified Information Technologies and the Community Medical Center in Scranton.

Twelve other people had applied for the seat on Friday and Saturday: John T. Banks, Wilkes-Barre; James M. Desiderio Jr., Wilkes-Barre Township; Thomas Dombroski, Kingston Township; Phillip Knobel, Exeter; Joseph A. Naperkowski, Wilkes-Barre; Antonio J. Rodriquez, Hazleton; Robert L. Shainline Sr., Pittston; Gary R. Shupp, Mountain Top; Beth Ann Wenner, Freeland; Sam Pennartz, Wyoming; Gary Reese, Kingston; and Greg Gulick, Mountain Top.

The seat is open because Skrepenak resigned Thursday and was charged Friday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office with accepting a bribe as part of the ongoing county corruption probe.

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