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By STEVE MOCARSKY smocarsky@leader.net
Sunday, March 16, 2003 Page: 1B
BUTLER TWP. – Can she do what no one else from southern Luzerne County has
been able to in the last 44 years?
“Yes, I can!” said Luzerne County commissioner candidate Maryanne
Petrilla during a recent interview.
“I believe that being a professional mother, I bring a new perspective. I
believe that the people in the Hazleton area want representation, and I think
that my reputation speaks for itself,” said the 45-year-old Butler Township
manager.
Luzerne County hasn’t had a commissioner from the Hazleton area since
Edmund J. McCullough served from 1960 to 1964.
Hazleton resident Bob Warren came within 129 votes of the seat in his 1971
run against three incumbents. He was chairman of the 1st District Republican
Party and campaigned non-stop.
Petrilla said she, like other Democratic commissioner candidates, hopes the
county’s Democratic leadership does not endorse candidates. She believes that
would allow voters to pick the best candidates without worrying about party
loyalty and could help her chances at the polls.
And she thinks it’s time the Hazleton area had representation on the Board
of Commissioners.
“I can’t say I will side only with the south, because I won’t, but I will
say the concerns of southern Luzerne County need to be brought to the table,”
she said.
Some local politicos agree and think Petrilla can do the job.
(SUBHED) Track record brings praise
First District Democratic Chairman Angelo “Joe Pie” Spadell thinks
Petrilla’s chances of getting elected are “150 percent.”
“The Hazleton people down here will really go out for her, just like they
did for (Luzerne County Prothonotary) Jill Moran,” Spadell said.
Spadell touted Petrilla’s experience as township manager, described her as
“very intelligent” and said she “knows fairly well how the county should be
run.”
State Rep. Todd Eachus said Butler Township is “bucking the trend” of
financial hardship other townships are experiencing partly because of
Petrilla.
Eachus, D-Butler Township, said the township has not had a recent tax
increase, the police force expanded, quality of life has improved and growth
has been managed.
“The valley is one of the fastest-growing areas in the county. They put in
planning and zoning documents that promote smart growth, and Maryanne Petrilla
was in the middle of all that,” he said.
A township supervisor for 25 years, supervisor chairman Ransom Young said
he was at first against hiring Petrilla.
“When I went into office in 1996, I told her I would give her six months.
… Maryanne handled herself so well, she’s that competent and professional,
it only took 30 days for me to see the light that someone of her ability is
needed in that office,” Young said.
Young said Petrilla is strict but fair, has no hidden agendas and likes to
help people.
(SUBHED) Time for change
Wilkes University Political Science Professor Tom Baldino said Petrilla
brings “something distinctive” to the candidacy as a woman.
“The last woman commissioner I can recall being elected was Rose Tucker.
For those people who remember, Mrs. Tucker was well-liked and perceived as
being competent and caring. That might help (Petrilla’s) candidacy,” Baldino
said.
“Being from the southern end will also help a bit. Voters in the southern
end tend to be loyal to their own. But that also is a function of how strong
the other candidates in the field appear. I don’t think any voters down there
will throw away a vote for a candidate they think is unlikely to win,”
Baldino said.
Petrilla’s Democratic competition includes former NFL player Greg
Skrepenak, Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry vice
president for economic development Todd Vonderheid, County Controller Steve
Flood, former County Commissioner Frank Trinisewski and part-time Larksville
police officer and school truant officer David Wehrer.
Republican candidates include Pittston attorney Ben Tielle, incumbent
County Commissioner Steve Urban, Northwest Area School Board President Randy
Tomasacci and contractor Bill James.
Baldino said he doesn’t think Petrilla has the name recognition of
candidates such as Skrepenak, Trinisewski and Flood, but she has two months to
campaign. And if the Democratic Party does not endorse candidates for the
primary, name recognition could be important.
Petrilla explored teaming with Vonderheid, but said she hasn’t made a
decision and thinks she could work well with all the candidates.
Baldino said Petrilla’s candidacy probably would not be helped by running
with another candidate, but it would depend on who she joined and how that
candidate is perceived by southern voters.
“I don’t see people in this county voting for teams,” Baldino said.
(SUBHED) Eye on cash-strapped areas
Petrilla has yet to take a stance on some county issues and plans to have a
more detailed platform closer to the primary election. But there are several
issues about which she feels passionate.
“Some of the smaller municipalities are starving, cutting back services.
There has to be a way we can help out … so they’re not so financially
strapped and I think it’s the county’s job to help those municipalities.”
Petrilla believes county officials must begin working as a team. “The
squabbling and bickering is bad for the image of the county.”
County reassessment is another concern. “The senior citizens … are going
to be hardest hit and the ones least able to afford it. I think statewide
property tax reform is essential; but before reassessment or anything else,
let’s see what the governor has in mind.”
Petrilla said the commissioners should investigate row offices to find
waste or duplication of services, but she thinks every office is needed. She
would like to see more services offered from the county’s courthouse annex in
Hazleton.
Petrilla is also concerned about child care for working parents and would
like day cares to be subsidized by state and county money. “The county
provides a county nursing home and subsidizes nursing homes. We should look at
that same avenue for child care.”
Petrilla thinks the county can do a better job attracting employers through
state and federal funding and the use of Keystone Opportunity Zones. “We need
to use federal dollars … as leverage for higher-paying jobs and health care
benefits.”
Petrilla said her township work and seven years as a legislative assistant
with former state Rep. Tom Stish, R-Hazleton, more than qualifies her to be a
commissioner.
Working in the state House, Petrilla said she “dealt with all the state
agencies,” worked with senior citizens on the PACE program and other
constituents, and helped municipalities with grant applications.
As Butler Township manager, she helped acquire $1.3 million in grants, has
a $500,000 grant for restoration of the Nescopeck and Oley creeks pending,
worked on construction of the Butler Community Park, served on the Nescopeck
State Park Committee and worked to establish a $200,000 recycling program set
to begin this spring.
Petrilla has a husband, Jack, and two sons – J.P., a sophomore at LaSalle
University in Philadelphia, and Danny, a senior at Bishop Hafey High School in
Hazleton.
Steve Mocarsky, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 459-2005.