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The Luzerne County Government is broken and in a dangerous state of affairs. We currently have a dictator form of government, in which, the executive branch is not accountable to the very people that pay the bills in Luzerne County, the taxpayers.

Luzerne County Home Rule went into effect in January 2012 and the taxpayers were promised a better government, which would allow the people to have a voice, by electing 11 members of county council instead of three county commissioners. We were promised a smaller government and reduction in spending by eliminating the seven row offices, and we were promised an Ethics Commission to end corruption.

The Home Rule Government has been in place for six years, and we are further away from these promises each and every year that we allow it to continue unchecked and unsupervised.

Luzerne County taxpayers have seen huge tax increases each year. We have had our Homestead Tax rebate program removed. We have a council that has become a majority rule-body for the manager, and we have a government that has ballooned to more than $140 million dollars from $110 million.

We also no longer have a functioning Ethics Commission due to council’s inaction and neglect.

The manager has become a dictator form of government and the majority members of council have allowed it.

The majority of council has also refused to allow the taxpayers to have a voice in their government, by refusing to place a question on the ballot for a government study commission to review the charter to recommend any changes that would make our government better.

The time is now to get this government back on track for the people of Luzerne County. Therefore, I am going to try to get the government study commission question on the May 15, 2018, ballot.

I would appreciate any help that you can provide to get the required 5,000 signatures by contacting me at [email protected] so we can make Luzerne County home rule government a government of the people, by the people and for the people.

Walter L Griffith Jr.

Kingston Township

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