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School board to fill vacancy created when Joe Oliveri resigned last month.
YATESVILLE – A handful of candidates have submitted paperwork requesting to fill Pittston Area School Board member Joe Oliveri’s seat after he resigned in mid-August and pleaded guilty to federal charges of accepting money in exchange for awarding a contract.
Candidate Tony Balavage will not be considered for the seat when the board meets at 7 tonight because Balavage’s paperwork was not received by the advertised deadline of noon Friday.
Four other candidates – Kim Alfano, Robert Lampman, Ross Latona and Joe Long – will be considered for Oliveri’s open seat, the term for which ends in December.
Board member Bob Linskey said he was told by the district’s administration that board President Mark Singer made the determination not to consider Balavage because the paperwork was received at the school district on Monday, although it was postmarked Friday.Singer and Balavage could not be reached for comment.
Lampman, Latona and Long physically dropping off their paperwork at the district’s administrative office.
Alfano mailed her qualifications on Wednesday via certified mail. Receipts she has from the post office confirm the district received her paperwork the following day, on Thursday.
Balavage, Lampman and Latona were candidates for the board during the May primaries.
Latona received the Democratic and Republican nominations in the primaries. Lampman received the Republican nomination.
Balavage did not receive a nomination. Balavage came in fifth in the Democratic and Republican primaries. There were only four open seats.
Alfano ran unsuccessfully for the school board in 2007 and was unsuccessful in a run for a city council seat in May’s primary.
Board members have 30 days from Aug. 18, when board members accepted Oliveri’s resignation, to appoint another board member or it would be referred to the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas for a judge to decide.
Oliveri served one term on the board after winning in November 2005, when he teamed up with then-fellow nominees Linskey, Kent Bratlee and John Adonizio. His fellow running mates are still on the board.
What’s next?
Pittston Area School Board meeting, 7 p.m. today, Pittston Area High School Library.