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Luzerne County is seeking licensed barbers and cosmetologists for a unique work opportunity: cutting inmates’ hair.
Correctional Services Division Head Mark Rockovich said he is not sure how hair cutters had been selected in the past but decided seeking bids was the “right thing to do” to see if there is interest.
Nobody responded to the recent initial request for bids, prompting Rockovich to post the opportunity again, with responses due at 10:30 a.m. Jan. 10.
Posted under the purchasing section at www.luzernecounty.org, the solicitation says the contractor will cut the hair of approximately 300 inmates — males and females — six to eight times per month. The county will provide a chair and necessary supplies.
About 10 minutes is allotted for each haircut. Only basic cuts and styles are permitted.
The contractor must undergo a background check and “pat-down searches” upon entering and exiting the county prison and minimal offenders building in Wilkes-Barre, it said.
Proof of contractor insurance is required.
Tax-claim contract
Carrying out a plan that had been publicly announced, county Manager C. David Pedri has extended the tax-claim operator’s contract to cover the county until the reorganized council decides in 2020 whether to keep that company or select a new one.
Pedri extended the current contract with Plains Township-based Northeast Revenue Service LLC through June 30, according to an online posting.
The company is paid primarily through a 5% penalty added to overdue school and municipal taxes collected by the county as allowed by law. The county pays nothing out of pocket, officials have said.
Northeast Revenue has been overseeing the county’s tax claim collections since 2010, when prior commissioners determined privatizing the operation would cut expenses and improve collections. The operator must collect delinquent real estate taxes, bring eligible properties to auction and maintain a public database documenting the payment status of each property.
Three other companies also have submitted proposals to handle the work.
Lobbyist
The county’s contract with Harrisburg-based Maverick Strategies also has been extended from July 1 through the end of 2020, according to an online posting.
A council majority had voted last April to grant Pedri’s request to hire the lobbyist for $5,000 per month, or $60,000 annually. The initial contract ran through the end of June 2020.
Some council members had discussed cutting the lobbyist allocation in the 2020 budget, but it was ultimately kept intact, officials said.
Pedri has said the lobbyist “played a key role” in securing a $1 million state grant for the county’s new 911 emergency radio system.
Death statistics
The county had 107 confirmed overdose deaths this year to date, with another 12 pending toxicology results, according to Pedri’s yearly report released last week.
In comparison, there were 172 confirmed overdose deaths in 2018.
The other coroner’s office 2019 death statistics contained in Pedri’s report: six homicides, 45 suicides, 32 motor vehicle fatalities and two industrial deaths.
A total 53 autopsies have been performed so far this year, the report said, with each costing around $2,500.