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WRIGHT TWP. — Several candidates for District Judge Ronald Swank’s seat in Mountain Top got a head start to election season.
Four of the six cross-filed candidates announced in November their intention to run in the primary election May 16.
Swank, who retired from his position in January 2016, has been sharing his duties with Senior Judge Gerald Feissner, a former Freeland district judge who retired to part-time status in 2015.
Swank stepped down in January after a career that began with his election in 1975, making him one of the longest-serving magisterial district judges in Pennsylvania history. He was elected seven times to the six-year post.
District judges in Pennsylvania are tasked with presiding over preliminary arraignments and hearings in criminal cases, as well as handling minor civil matters and proceedings involving summary offenses. The annual salary is $89,438.
The seat is one of 10 Luzerne County magisterial district judgeships up for grabs in this year’s election.
Here is a look at the candidates vying for the position:
• Stacey Acri, a local attorney, is campaigning to make a positive impact on the community, both from the bench and in the community.
“This is a full-time job,” Acri, 43, said. “And when I am not hearing cases, I intend to reach out to schools, businesses and community groups to make sure the justice system is not a separate component of the community, but an integrated part of it.”
Acri is an auditor for Wright Township and volunteers as a religious education teacher at St. Jude Church.
Acri says she has a knowledge of the Mountain Top community. She is a native and served in the U.S. Navy before returning to the area 10 years ago. Acri is admitted to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and the Middle District of Pennsylvania. She is also a member of the Wilkes-Barre Law and Library Association.
A Crestwood High School and King’s College alumna, Acri received her law degree from Penn State’s Dickinson Law School. She says she will bring a 20-year record of public service and integrity to the local court.
“As a veteran of our armed forces, I have seen the injustices displayed around the world, and I seek to bring my experience, energy and compassion to serve our community,” she said.
• Thomas Szoke says he is available for his community around-the-clock as White Haven police chief, and he thinks a district judge should be, too.
“We shouldn’t be running to an on-duty magistrate for something in our district,” Szoke said.
Szoke, 52, is a 30-year White Haven resident. He moved there from New Jersey and, with his wife, has raised three children. The Szokes are expecting their first grandchild later this year.
The chief was hired as a police officer in White Have 23 years ago. Szoke has spent time as a training officer and an officer-in-charge before becoming head of the borough’s force.
As officer-in-charge, he handled child sex crime cases and child abuse cases. He has traveled across the nation for specialized training in child crimes.
“I know how difficult they can be,” he said.
Szoke believes the post is the next logical step in his career.
“It’s the way I can help my community the most,” he said.
Szoke, who also runs a small business, said he will resign as police chief and close the business if elected as a way to keep his promise to be available to law enforcement around the clock.
• Tim Lenahan, former mayor of Penn Lake Park, has promised to serve only one term if elected because the district judge position “is not a long-term job.”
Lenahan, 61, feels he’s qualified for the post because, as the one-term mayor, he worked toward cutting legal and other costs in the borough by 55 percent, and, as a real estate broker, he understands landlord/tenant cases.
“We can hear cases up to $12,000,” said Lenahan.
He noted that he has rented more than 500 units in his life and has only been in court once, saying, “I’m proud of that.”
Lenahan, who has held positions as vice president of sales for Antillas Air and national account manager for American Airlines, said he’s open to other cultures.
He graduated from the University of Scranton with a Bachelor of Science in political science. He met his wife at the university, and they have been married for 37 years. The couple has raised three children.
• John L. Augustine, a Northeastern Pennsylvania native, promises to look at each case without a “predetermined bias.”
The 41-year-old president/CEO of Penn’s Northeast said in an email that he will “treat everyone with dignity and respect and listen to all sides before making a judgment.”
Touting the fact that he’s not a lawyer, a police officer or a politician, Augstine said he’ll be the “most fair, impartial and neutral” because he is an average citizen.
“The position was created for the common person,” he said.
As someone who has lived in the district, he believes the post is the “best way” to give back to his community.
As a father with two children and parents who still live in Mountain Top, Augstine said, if elected, he will be “proactive” to safeguard people in the community.
“I’m very passionate about crimes against the elderly. … In addition, our community must come together to educate and prevent the growing abuse of opioids amongst all our residents,” he said.
• Brian Macko, 47, expects an “easy transition” to the post if he is elected.
“I know the community. Every day I put boots on the ground,” Macko said of his 23 years as a Wright Township police officer.
He said everything a police officer does begins at the magistrate’s office.
“Charges are generated by local judges,” he said.
Macko said he has street experience that he considers “invaluable.”
“That can’t be taught in a law class,” he said.
Macko’s journey of public service began at Crestwood High School, where guidance counselors Anne Mutton and Lillian Mayka encouraged him to look at the possibility of serving in the community.
“I never forgot their words,” he noted.
Noting he was the first DARE officer in the Crestwood School District, the father of two teenagers said he is passionate about drugs and the opioid crisis.
“I’ve served those search warrants,” he said.
He has been married to his wife for 23 years.
• Ferris Webby said he would have never considered a run against Swank, but now that the position is open, the time is right. And he believes the his experience makes him the right choice.
Webby, 62, a courtroom lawyer for the past 36 years, said he’s dealt directly with cases at all levels, including at the magisterial level.
“I’ve had thousands of hearings,” he said. “I’m in the courtroom all the time.”
Because of his history, the Northeastern Pennsylvania native said he “knows the rules and regulations” that go into a district judge’s job.
While all types of problems persist in the Mountain Top community, Webby is passionate about cracking down on alcohol and drug offenders.
“We had an opioid problem, now it’s an epidemic,” he said. “But I’ve got plans for it.”
Big on volunteering, Webby has coached baseball, was involved in the Crestwood PTA and has held gun seminars with Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis.
“Experience is important,” he said, “but to learn experience, you have to go through it to get it.”
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