News

November 3, 2009

SCHOOL BOARDS UPDATE: All Luzerne County districts final

Mark Guydish

With at least five districts touched by the widespread federal corruption probe and six board members in three districts charged (one for actions not related to board activity), the 2009 races for 45 open seats on Luzerne County’s 11 school boards were unlike any in recent memory.
In five districts voters had no real choices because the number of candidates and seats available were the same after the May primary. In most other cases, there was no more than one real race since most candidates had won both the Democratic and Republican nominations.
Here are district-by-district results. All numbers are unofficial. These are only results for Luzerne County votes. In districts that poke into other counties, small numbers of votes from those districts are not included.
Crestwood
Incumbent David Ralston thwarted a comeback attempt by former member Bill Jones, who left the board to make an unsuccessful run for Luzerne County Commissioner in 2007. Appearing on the Republican ballot, Ralston outpolled Jones on the Democratic ticket, 2,520 to 1,734.
The other three candidates had won on both tickets in the primary and began Tuesday with a virtual guarantee of winning: Incumbent Eric Aigeldinger got 2,438 votes, while newcomers Martin Behm and Norb Dotzel, Jr. got 2,711 and 3,227, respectively.
While the FBI did seek documents from Crestwood, there have been no charges filed against anyone in the district.
Hanover Area
Democratic newcomer Frank Ciavarella Jr. outpolled newcomer Republican Joseph Steininger in the main race in Hanover Area School District. Ciavarella nabbed 1,978 votes according to unofficial results, besting Steininger’s 1,781. The other three candidates, all incumbents, were on both party tickets and virtually assured of victory.
Lorraine Heydt received the most votes with 2,105, followed closely by Evelyn Larson Evans with 2,077. David Evans got 1,970.
 Though it was one of three Luzerne County School Boards impacted by the federal corruption probe, Hanover Area voters didn’t get to vent much frustration at the polls. Former Board Member Anthony Spinozza resigned from the board last month and pleaded guilty to accepting a bribe for helping a contractor get district work, but he had two years remaining in his term and was not up for re-election.

Lake-Lehman
Newcomer Republican Christopher Bo Kreller bested newcomer Democrat Michael Sikora in the only competitive race in Lake-Lehman, winning the lone open seat in region 2.
Unofficial results show Kreller with 698 votes and Sikora with 423.
One of only two Luzerne County Districts that elect members by region, Lake-Lehman’s other two regions had no competition.
In region 3 where two seats were available, incumbent Drew Salko got 622 votes and newcomer David Paulauskas got 573. Both appeared on the Democratic and Republican tickets.
In region one, Kevin Cary ran unopposed for the lone seat and received 921 votes.
Northwest Area
Two candidates who managed to win as write-ins in the May primary won seats on the Northwest School Board, as Republicans Alton Farver and Lisa Schoenhofen bested Democrats Gina Schwartz and Jeffrey Pierontoni by comfortable margins.
 According to unofficial results, Farver got the second highest tally at 1,133 votes and Schoenhofen came in third at 1,024. Schwartz and Pierontoni got 765 and 689 respectively. Incumbent Peter Lanza Sr. topped the list with 1,269.
Pittston Area
Though only appearing on the Democratic ticket, newcomer Bruce Knick not only outdid Republican rival Robert Lampman for a seat on Pittston Area School board, Knick tallied more votes than any other candidate. Unofficial results show Knick nabbed 4,315 votes to 3,117 for Lampman, the lowest total among five candidates vying for four seats.
 The first School District stung by the federal probe when former Superintendent Ross Scarantino was charged with corruption in April, Pittston Area voters have been reshaping the board ever since, and continued to do so Tuesday. Along with Knick, newcomers Marilyn Starna and Ross Latona will join incumbent Bob Linskey on the board. Starna got 4,131 votes, Latona got 4,194, and Linskey got 4,146. All three were on both party ballots.
Voters had already ousted two incumbents in May, including Joseph Oliveri, who was charged with corruption three months later. Latona was appointed by the board to finish Oliveri’s term, which ends the first week of December.
Wilkes-Barre Area
Long-time local Democratic politician Phillip Latinski edged newcomer Republican Harry Haas for the only Wilkes-Barre Area seat that was likely to face a real race. Latinski got 5,694 votes to 5,580 for Haas, according to unofficial results that do not yet include absentee ballots.
The other candidates all appeared on both tickets and were almost assured of wins. Christine Katsock got 7,261 votes, Robert Corcoran got 6,660, and incumbent Lynn Evans got 5,958.
The corruption probe hit Wilkes-Barre Area School Board hardest, where three members were charged. Katsock, the top vote-getter in the primary, was picked by the board to replace former president James Height, who resigned and was charged with corruption right before the primary, too late to have his name removed from the ballot.
Board Member Brian Dunn was charged in April but refused to resign. The charges did not affect the election since Dunn was not running again thanks to new rules regarding employees of the Department of Revenue, where he worked before the corruption charges hit.
Independent Ray Tory tried to run a write-in campaign but it apparently didn’t work. The total number of write-ins was a scant 155, and that likely is for more than one candidate.
Wyoming Area
Voters rejected main party candidates in favor of two independents, Frank Casarella and Gil Dominick, who outpolled incumbent John LaNunziata and newcomer Michael Aufiere, even though the latter two were on both the Republican and Democratic tickets.
Casarella and Dominick did not run in the primary but did get their names placed on the November ballot as Independents. All four of the other candidates appeared on both the Democratic and Republican tickets.
According to unofficial results, incumbents John Bolin got the most votes with 3,134, while Dominick was second with 3,050. Incumbent John Marianacci was third with 3,049, and Casarella fourth with 3,040. Lanunziata trailed with 2,334 and Aufiere was last with 2,258
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Boards with no competition
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Four races had as many candidates as there were seats, so there was no competition short of a successful write-in campaign (which did not happen). While the county tabulates total write-in votes on election night, there is no way of knowing if a write-in candidate won a race until later in the week, when the county determines vote totals for each write-in.
Wyoming Valley West
Wyoming Valley West voters in region six may have given Allen Bellas sweeping approval in the primaries, when he ran unopposed and only nine write-in votes were cast, but 19 days after he agreed to plead guilty to corruption charges unrelated to board business, voters cast nearly as many write-in votes as Bellas received.
Voters in region six cast 345 votes for Bellas and 325 for write-in candidates, according to unofficial results. Three-term incumbent Bellas is charged with accepting a bribe in his capacity as Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority Executive Director, but his plea agreement required him to resign from that post and WVW school board. He resigned too late to have his name removed from the ballot, so he was the lone candidate for the single open seat in region 6. WVW is one of only two Luzerne County districts that elect members by region.
Barring an unexpected legal ruling, Bellas will not be able to return to the board, and the other eight board members will have 30 days to name a replacement. If they don’t agree on someone, a Luzerne County judge makes the choice.
The board will see two other new faces regardless of the Bellas outcome. There was only one candidate for each seat available in each region, and all cross-filed. Gordon Dunsinger ran unopposed in region 5 and got 907 votes. Gary Richards ran unopposed in region 8 and nabbed 950 votes. Incumbent James Fender also had no opponent in region 2, where he received 867 votes.
The county will not tally how many people got write in votes until later this week. Only the total number of write-ins is reported election eve, but Bureau of Elections Director Leonard Piazza said the write-ins for region six were for multiple candidates, making it almost certain no single candidate bested the total for Bellas.
Dallas
Incumbent Richard Coslett got the most votes in a non-competitive Dallas School Board race, collecting 2,891 according to unofficial results. Newcomer Charlie Preece earned the second highest tally at 2,743, while incumbents Karen Kyle and Maureen Banks Matiska received 2,710 and 2,709 respectively. All four were on both Democratic and Republican tickets.
Greater Nanticoke Area
Jeff Kozlofski and Bob Raineri garnered the most votes in a Greater Nanticoke Area race that had no real competition, with five incumbents unopposed in seeking re-election. Kozlofski got 2,254 votes while Raineri got 2,240. Other unofficial results: Gary Smith 2,206, Sylvia Mizdail 2,034, and Cindy Davis Donlin 2,090.
Hazleton Area
While the primary saw substantial competition, when the dust settled there were four seats and four candidates, all cross-filed, a formula that virtually assured them of victory before the polls opened Tuesday. Unofficial results showed newcomer Bob Mehalick at the top of the list with 6,198 votes. Newcomer Clarence John was second with 5,966, while incumbents Seven Hahn and Carmella Yenkevich had 5,5932 and 5,582 respectively. Additional votes from small parts of neighboring counties were not available but would not change the fact that all four won seats on the board.

 

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