A new voice for the county

“Hopefully, I can help the two commissioners with this budget crisis. I’m just going to add my two cents to it, take a look at it.” -- Thomas P. Cooney

Luzerne County’s new commissioner, Thomas P. Cooney, said he will be in the courthouse today to start briefings on the proposed 2010 budget so he’s ready to vote on Dec. 30.

“Hopefully, I can help the two commissioners with this budget crisis. I’m just going to add my two cents to it, take a look at it,” Cooney said.

The 68-year-old Jenkins Township businessman was chosen by four county judges Wednesday night to fill the seat vacated by Greg Skrepenak’s resignation.

With his wife, Nancy, at his side, Cooney was sworn in at 6 p.m. by President Judge Chester Muroski.

The three remaining judges each picked someone different to replace Skrepenak. Applicants Gary Zingaretti, Timothy McGinley and Robert Morgan received one vote each.

Cooney is development director at A&E Group Inc. in Plains Township. He formed the company, formerly the Architecture & Engineering Group, in 1987 with Dean L. Butler and the late Martin Dougherty.

A&E is currently working on several government projects, including a bridge design for Luzerne County and a construction project at Luzerne County Community College, Cooney said.

Cooney said there will be no conflict of interest because A&E will finish these projects but will not seek any new work in county government while he fills the remainder of Skrepenak’s term through 2011. Cooney said he will stay out of any decisions involving the company’s existing county work.

He also told the judges he is “winding down” at A&E and will be a full-time county commissioner.

Cooney received a bachelor’s degree from King’s College in Wilkes-Barre in 1963 and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Scranton in 1969. His resume says he has provided consulting services to community development organizations and the private sector for the past 40 years.

This isn’t Cooney’s first public post. He was past chairman of the county’s home rule Government Study Commission in 1974, served as a Laflin Zoning Board member from 1977 through 2000 and has been a Jenkins Township Planning Commission member since 2000, according to his resume.

He said he decided to apply for the seat because of his devotion to the county. When his ancestors “got off the boat” they settled in the Wyoming Valley, he said.

Cooney grew up in Sugar Notch, married “a girl from Pittston” – the former Nancy Flanagan – and raised six children. Three children remain in the area.

“It’s a wonderful place, and we have a great opportunity here, and I’m interested in maintaining it and keeping it,” Cooney said.

It will take time to rebuild public trust lost by the ongoing federal corruption investigation and other scandals, he said, but he is optimistic.

“We had a real crisis. The residents pulled together, and in no time at all, Luzerne County was bouncing back, and that’s basically the attitude we have to take out of here,” Cooney said.

He declined to discuss his predecessor, Skrepenak, who resigned last Thursday when he signed an agreement to plead guilty to accepting a bribe.

Cooney said he won’t comment about the budget yet, saying he wants to spend a few days reviewing it. However, he hinted that he may be leery of staff cuts.

“I do believe it’s the county’s responsibility to deliver services, and I do believe that they have employees that deliver those services. I believe those employees have obligations that have to be met,” he said.

Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla and minority Commissioner Stephen A. Urban have approved a proposed budget that raises taxes 18.5 percent, but Urban made it clear that he doesn’t support a tax increase and wouldn’t give Petrilla a second vote on Dec. 30 without further deep cuts.

Though Petrilla and Urban say they are working on a compromise, Cooney may end up deciding whether a budget passes or fails.

If commissioners can’t reach an agreement on the budget and tax rate by the end of the year, the tax rate will automatically stay the same, leaving no options but slashing expenses to close any remaining deficit, officials say.

Petrilla and Urban congratulated Cooney before his swearing in at 6 p.m. Both commissioners said the judicial selection process was fair.

Cooney donated $2,000 to the Skrepenak/Petrilla commissioner election campaign in 2007. However, Petrilla said she does not know him personally.

“I don’t know Mr. Cooney. I admire him for his willingness to step into the county now with all the issues we have to deal with,” said Petrilla, who sat through the finalist interviews.

There are some “really tough decisions that have to be made,” Petrilla said.

“I feel obviously the judges looked at his qualifications, and Commissioner Urban and I will work very hard to get him up to speed on the budget and take it an issue at a time,” she said.