News

November 13

Council members face major decisions

The 11 members must choose a chair and appoint a manager, clerk and change the budget.

By Jennifer Learn-Andes jandes@timesleader.com
Luzerne County Reporter
Jennifer Learn-Andes on Facebook   |   @TLJenLearnAndes on Twitter

The 11 new Luzerne County Council members face a whirlwind of decisions, starting immediately after they’re sworn in on Jan. 2.

They must meet that day to choose a council chair and appoint a permanent or interim county manager and council clerk.

Within 30 days, the council must appoint two registered voters to the new Accountability, Conduct and Ethics Commission, four voters to the Board of Elections and Registration, and three voters to the Board of Tax Assessment Appeals.

Council members only have until Feb. 15 to change the 2012 budget they inherited from county commissioners.

People also must be designated to carry out the duties of row officers in positions that are abolished with home rule – the treasurer, sheriff, coroner, recorder of deed and clerk of courts.

Codes must be in place within six months.

“There’s going to be an incredible amount of work,” said Christopher Kersey, a home rule charter drafter and transition member.

The newly elected council members will officially join the transition committee Monday.

Charter drafters set it up that way so new council members could start formulating decisions with input and assistance from transition members who have been preparing for the home rule change for a year, Kersey said.

Transition committee meetings are open to the public, though no decisions are binding unless they’re approved by council on or after Jan. 2, he said.

“It’s the most efficient and transparent way of doing this,” Kersey said.

Council chair

While all council members have equal voting power, the chair presides at council meetings and is recognized as head of county government for ceremonial purposes.

The chair or his or her designee supervises the council clerk’s office, and other council members must communicate with the office through the chair. The chair also serves on the county retirement board.

The chair will be entitled to $2,500 per year in addition to the $8,000 annual council salary.

Several elected council members expressed an interest in the chairmanship before the election, including Rick Morell, Stephen A. Urban and Edward Brominski.

Councilman-elect Jim Bobeck, chairman of the home rule transition committee, said he would be willing to temporarily take on the responsibility, though he would wants someone else to commit to the chairmanship at a later date. Councilman-elect Tim McGinley and some others said they’d leave it up to their colleagues to decide if they’d like them to be chair.

Stephen J. Urban, Harry Haas, Rick Williams, Elaine Maddon Curry, Linda McClosky Houck and Eugene Kelleher were also elected to council.

Haas, who won a two-year term, has said he believes the chair should be one of the six members who received four-year terms, and he believed the top vote-getter, which turned out to be Morelli, would probably have the best chance of being chair.

McClosky Houck said she’d want a chairperson who is even-tempered and skilled in running a meeting.

Kelleher said he wouldn’t mind being chair but wasn’t actively seeking it. He wants someone who will build consensus.

Manager

With 70 applicants for the manager job, charter drafter and transition committee member Jim Haggerty is hopeful the council will identify and agree on a top candidate on or around Jan. 2.

The new council has up to six months to select a permanent manager, but Haggerty would rather see an interim manager only as a short-term “place holder” while the permanent manager makes arrangements to start the new position.

“If we work diligently, the new council can agree on someone by Jan. 2 – I think,” Haggerty said. “The whole point of the transition is so the new council doesn’t have to start from scratch on Jan. 2.”

Haggerty said the interim manager would have all the powers of the permanent manager overseeing day-to-day operations and personnel, which is why it’s important the council doesn’t unnecessarily delay identifying a permanent selection.

The appointment of permanent division chiefs, a chief solicitor and public defender would have to wait for recommendations of the permanent manager, he said.

Bobeck said he doesn’t want the manager selection to spill too far into the new year.

“Everything is backlogged if you don’t get this permanent manager on board,” he said.

Morelli, a charter drafter who has also been serving on the transition committee, said he’s confident the new council will find a strong manager, but the county won’t fall apart if it’s not decided Jan. 2.

“I’m not going to play the rush game. The county will run fine, and we have to make sure it’s done right, but on the flip side, I don’t want to see us waiting six months,” he said.

Budget

Revising the 2012 budget will be the “real challenge,” Morelli said.

County Commissioners Urban and Maryanne Petrilla have said they won’t raise taxes, but they haven’t yet announced how much they’ve whittled down the multimillion dollar gap between projected spending and revenue.

“The new council will only get 45 days to change the budget, so I’m curious to see what commissioners are presenting and where their cuts are going to be,” Morelli said.

Decisions must also be made on the salaries for the manager and division heads, he said.

Morelli believes most of the “fruits of the new government” will emerge the middle of 2012, when the permanent manager and division heads become ingrained and start formulating a budget for 2013.

“The transition starts Jan. 2, but I don’t think you’ll see major changes until the second to third quarter of next year,” Morelli said.

Codes

The manager is also required to submit the new ethics, administrative and personnel codes to council for approval within four months of the charter’s Jan. 2 effective date, the charter says.

Charter drafter and transition member Veronica Ciaruffoli said the codes are the framework for the functioning of the new government, and the charter intended the permanent manager to play a key role in their development.

The transition committee has been drafting proposed codes for feedback from council, but those drafts are to be presented to the new manager, she said.

Richard Heffron, a charter drafter and transition member, stressed this point during a transition meeting last week.

“Ultimately, it will be the manager who recommends the codes,” he said.

Bobeck said some temporary codes may be required. For example, the new Accountability, Conduct and Ethics Commission must have ethics procedures to enforce when members are appointed within 30 days.

Morelli noted that the manager will always have the option to recommend revisions to the new county codes.

The transition committee must also make sure all mandated county services continue on Jan. 2, several members of the transition committee said.

“I think those first few weeks are going to be very important to instill some confidence in the voters’ decision to switch to home rule,” Kersey said.

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