Most school incumbents won’t be returning

The federal corruption probe looms large in the November election for Luzerne County school boards. Charges have been filed against a superintendent, a contractor, and six board members in four districts (though one case was unrelated to school board activities). Resignations resulting from those charges, coupled with incumbents choosing not to run and voter decisions in the primaries, have already assured that the majority of incumbents will not return, despite relatively slim competition on the ballot.

There are 45 seats available in 11 districts and only 53 candidates on the ballot, plus one man promising a rigorous write-in campaign for a Wilkes-Barre Area seat. Yet among those 53, only 24 are sitting incumbents. The rest are either political newcomers, people experienced in running for office but new to school board politics, or former board members looking to rejoin.

The FBI probe has had the greatest – and most complex – impact on Wilkes-Barre Area, where board member Brian Dunn, former president James Height, and current President Frank Pizzella were all charged with corruption. A contractor, Richard Emanski, has been charged with installing carpet in an unnamed board member’s home in exchange for a district contract.

Height resigned right before his bid for re-election in the spring primaries and is no longer in the race. Dunn has remained on the board while awaiting a hearing on corruption charges, but has not attended meetings. He and incumbent Mike McGinley could not run for re-election under new rules regarding employees of the Department of Revenue, where Dunn worked prior to the corruption charges and where McGinley still works. Pizzella has pleaded not guilty and remained on the board, attending meetings last week but refusing to comment on the charges. He is in the middle of a four-year term and not up for re-election.

Height’s resignation paved the way for Christine Katsock – who nabbed the most votes in the primaries – to get on the board early as the board appointed her to finish his term. Katsock is virtually assured of winning a full-four year term in November because she is on both party tickets, as are incumbent Lynn Evans (seeking a second term) and newcomer Robert Corcoran, an optometrist. With only four seats up for grabs, that likely leaves former Wilkes-Barre City councilman and former district teacher/administrator Phillip Latinski on the Democratic ballot battling Dallas School District teacher Harry Haas on the Republican side. Board watcher Sam Troy has announced intentions to run a rigorous write-in campaign.

Pittston Area has also been hit hard by the probe, which resulted in Superintendent Ross Scarantino and board member Joseph Oliveri both resigning and pleading guilty to corruption charges. Oliveri was up for re-election but lost in the primaries, as did incumbent Kent Bratlee. Bob Linskey Jr., routinely in the minority lately, was the only incumbent to win in the primaries, getting the nod from both parties and thus almost assured re-election. Newcomers Ross Latona, a chiropractor, and Marilyn Starna, a bank branch manager, also won both party nominations.

That leaves newcomer Bruce Knick, who had teamed with Oliveri in the primaries, on the Democratic ticket and Robert Lampman, who teamed with Linskey and Latona, on the Republican side vying for the last open seat.

The corruption probe put a kink in the Wyoming Valley West board race, which should have been simple: four candidates running for four seats, all appearing on both party tickets. But board President Allen Bellas was charged with accepting a bribe in his capacity as Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority executive director. Bellas resigned from that post and, while no charges involved WVW, his plea agreement requires him to resign from the school board as well. It is too late to remove him from the ballot, and he is likely to get enough votes to win re-election to a seat he probably will not be able to legally accept. The board would then get a chance to pick someone to fill his new term, but the legal waters are murky. Of course, a successful write-in campaign could win someone the seat, and since Wyoming Valley West elects board members by region, the number of votes needed would be smaller than if members were elected at large.

The fourth board impacted by the probe so far is Hanover Area, where the U.S. Attorney charged board member Anthony Spinozza with accepting a bribe from a contractor seeking district work. Spinozza is not up for re-election this year, so it has no impact on the race, but his plea agreement requires him to resign from the board, and the board will have the opportunity to appoint a replacement to serve his remaining two years.

Hanover Area has five candidates vying for four seats, but only one real competition. Incumbents David Evans, Evelyn Larson Evans and Lorraine Heydt all won both party nominations in the primaries and are almost guaranteed a November win. The fourth seat is a duel between newcomer Frank Ciavarella Jr., an employee with the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority, on the Democratic ticket, and Republican Joseph Steininger, an operations director with Burger King, who ran with the incumbents in the primaries. Longtime incumbent Peter Halesey did not seek another term.

Along with Wyoming Valley West, three other boards have potentially no competition because the number of candidates matches the seats available: Dallas, Greater Nanticoke Area and Hazleton Area.

In Dallas, incumbents Karen Kyle, Maureen Banks Matiska and Richard Coslett are joined by newcomer Charlie Preece. All won nominations from both parties in the primaries.

In Greater Nanticoke Area, five incumbents won both nominations for five seats: Bob Raineri, Jeff Kozlofski, Gary Smith, Sylvia Mizdail and Cindy Davis Donlin. The board will still see a new member soon, though, because Patti Bieski resigned her seat this month after moving out of the district, making her ineligible to hold the post. The board has 30 days to pick someone to fill the two years remaining in her term. If they don’t, the decision goes to a Luzerne County judge.

In Hazleton Area, a crowded primary field was slimmed to four candidates running for four seats, all winning both party nominations. Incumbents Carmella Yenkevich and Steven Hahn are joined by newcomers Bob Mehalick and Clarence John.

Three Crestwood candidates are on both party tickets and almost guaranteed a win: Incumbent Eric Aigeldinger and newcomers Norb Dotzel Jr. and Martin Behm. Former board member Bill Jones, who left the board to make an unsuccessful run for county commissioner in 2007, is trying to regain a seat and won the Democratic nomination. He faces incumbent David Ralston who won the Republican nomination in that primary.

Like Wyoming Valley West, Lake-Lehman elects board members by regions. Region One has one seat open and one candidate, newcomer Kevin Carey, a doctor who ran on the promise of ending years of divisiveness prompted by protracted teacher contract talks that have since been settled. Region Three has two seats and two candidates, incumbent Drew Salko who has voiced polite opposition with the current majority at times, and newcomer David Paulauskas, a microbiology business specialist on the verge of winning a seat on the board in his third try. The only race is in Region Two, with one open seat and two candidates, self-employed newcomer and Crestwood educator Michael Sikora on the Democratic ticket and Republican Christopher Bo Kreller, owner of a courier business.

The primaries left Wyoming Area voters with no competition, as newcomer Michael Aufiere joined incumbents John Marianacci, John Bolin and John LaNunziata in winning nominations from both parties for the four open seats. But Frank Casarella and Gil Dominick have put themselves on the November ballot as Independents.

Northwest Area, the county’s smallest and most rural district, managed to develop the most competitive race for the four open seats, thanks in large part to a surprisingly strong performance by write-ins during the primaries. At the time, the district was deep into a long-running teacher contract dispute that, like Lake-Lehman, has since been settled, though the district still faces serious problems, including a need to renovate aging buildings.

Only incumbent Peter Lanza Sr. won nomination from both parties. Gina Schwartz, a public speaking professor at Luzerne County Community College who has spoken out rigorously against the current board majority from time to time, won the Democratic nomination, along with Jeffrey Pierontoni, an industrial arts/technology teacher from Crestwood. The two Republicans facing them have been supportive of the current majority: Lisa Schoenhofen and Alton Farver, a man known for folksy comments at meetings.

There are 45 seats available in 11 districts and only 53 candidates on the ballot.