Decisions loom as new faces join Luzerne County Council

Luzerne County’s 11-member council is significantly changing in 2022, with four new members and a fifth not yet named.

The effect on county government operations won’t be known until the reconfigured legislative body starts making decisions and voting, and there are plenty of matters awaiting input.

As always after an election, the first vote will be the selection of a chairperson to preside over meetings, prepare meeting agendas and serve as a ceremonial head.

This choice will be made at the reorganization meeting Jan. 3, after the four new members take the oath of office.

New to council are John Lombardo, Brian Thornton, Kevin Lescavage and Gregory Wolovich Jr. They will join current members LeeAnn McDermott, Tim McGinley, Chris Perry (also re-elected in November), Kendra Radle, Robert Schnee and Stephen J. Urban.

Council will be down to an even-numbered 10 members at the start of the year because Councilman Walter Griffith will be sworn in as the new county controller on Jan. 3.

Six of the 10 must agree on the new chair and vice chair. McDermott, Radle and Thornton are currently being mentioned as possible chair nominees.

McGinley, who served as chairman the last four years, had said early this year he would not want to remain chair after 2021. He said it’s time for someone else to take on the post, in part because he has only two years left on council and cannot run again due to the home rule charter’s three-term limit.

Purely from a political party perspective, McGinley would not be picked regardless because he will be the only Democrat remaining on council.

As current vice chair, Perry has occasionally filled in as chair. However, Perry said he’s not interested in the chairmanship and would like someone else to have an opportunity to serve as vice chair.

Looming decisions

The selection of another Republican to fill Griffith’s seat will take center stage because council must pick someone within 60 days after the vacancy is declared, according to the charter.

In past vacancies, council requested applicants and publicly interviewed them before making a selection.

Many citizen seats on outside county boards, authorities and commissions also have expired or will be vacant the end of this year, which means a slew of appointments must be made by council.

This includes two openings on the five-citizen board that oversees county elections. A Republican seat currently held by election board Vice Chairman Richard Nardone expires the end of this year, and he has completed a public interview and application required to be considered for reappointment. A Democratic seat now filled by Kathryn Roth also expires Dec. 31, and she is not seeking reappointment.

Council’s vice chair oversees the council committee that interviews prospective applicants.

Major top management decisions also are on the horizon.

The county’s manager search committee plans to provide the names of qualified applicants to council in April for its consideration. Council must then perform its own interviews, with seven votes — a majority plus one — required to hire someone.

This position is open because C. David Pedri resigned in July, and Romilda Crocamo, the county’s chief solicitor, has been serving as acting county manager since then.

Two of eight county division head posts also are vacant, and council must vote to confirm the manager’s division head nominees. Crocamo said she won’t recommend any new division heads because she believes such decisions should be made by the permanent manager.

Prior administrative services division head David Parsnik abruptly resigned in September, declining to comment on the reason. Crocamo announced Operational Services Division Head Edmund O’Neill’s resignation Friday.

Among the other matters surfacing in 2022:

• Collective bargaining

Five new union contracts also are expected to come before council for approval this year.

Contracts expire the end of 2021 for the AFSCME residual union, AFSCME court-related union and Teamsters Local 401-represented employees in Children and Youth, Mental Health/Developmental Services and the Area Agency on Aging.

The administration has been highlighting difficulties attracting employees covered by some of these contracts due to the low compensation, including 911 telecommunicators, sheriff deputies and Children and Youth caseworkers.

• Federal funding

The county was allocated $113 million from the American Rescue Plan and must start deciding how the money will be allocated, although it does not have to commit to a plan until the end of 2024.

Federal officials have not yet released final rules on allowable expenditures.

Possibilities discussed at county meetings have included stormwater projects, levee improvements and assistance for small businesses and nonprofits.

• Roads and bridges

Complaints about the condition of county roads and bridges persist, and the county’s capital projects fund is nearly depleted.

Federal infrastructure funding is expected for the county, but county officials say they have no idea how much will be allocated or when it will be available.

County Acting Manager Romilda Crocamo has repeatedly stressed two aging bridges over the Susquehanna River must be addressed — the Nanticoke/West Nanticoke Bridge and the Firefighters’ Memorial Bridge on Water Street linking Pittston and West Pittston.

The Nanticoke/West Nanticoke Bridge connecting Nanticoke and Plymouth Township was downgraded to a 15-ton weight limit and must be replaced at an estimated cost of $40 million to accommodate Houston, Texas-based Nacero Inc.’s planned $6 billion project on mine-scarred land near this bridge in Newport Township, officials have said.

The Firefighters’ Memorial Bridge has been closed since early August pending review of a bent eyebar, and options are still under review, officials have said.

• Tax assessments

An annual state comparison of county assessed values to actual real estate purchase prices indicated another countywide reassessment may be in order.

Officials have argued another reassessment is not warranted for Luzerne County’s 168,000 parcels as long as the “common level ratio” remains between 85 and 115, or plus/minus 15 from the ideal figure of 100.

The county’s ratio was 94.9 in July 2020 and slipped further to 88.9 in July 2021.

Ratios below 100 indicate more purchases are exceeding assessments.

The next ratio in July 2022 will be based on sales and assessments that occurred in 2021.

The last countywide reassessment took effect a dozen years ago, in 2009, and had been the first mass revaluation since 1965. Four years of sales data were used to calculate the worth of all parcels on the fixed date of Jan. 2, 2008. Assessment challenges have led to thousands of value adjustments, most reductions, since then.

Crocamo has said she would be working with the assessor’s office to closely monitor sales and establish whether the rising prices are “more than a trend.”

• Tax break requests

McGinley expects more developers will be seeking real estate tax breaks for projects because the county has become an increasingly attractive regional option now that the Lehigh Valley is “pretty much developed.”

“There’s strong interest in development along Interstates 80 and 81, and we’re right in the middle of that,” he said.

Council action also may be necessary to address technology upgrades and corrective measures in Children and Youth based on upcoming outside reviews, McGinley said.

“There’s a lot happening,” McGinley said.

Perry concurred, saying there are “a lot of difficult decisions ahead.”

He believes all council members, old and new, want to “move the county forward” and solve problems.

“I think we’re all focused on that. The question is how we go about that because we may have different views,” Perry said. “I will work with anybody, and majority rules. I hold no grudges.”