Filer of ethics complaint against Luzerne County councilman urges action

Luzerne County Election Board Chairwoman Denise Williams revealed Friday she had filed the ethics complaint that prompted a recommended $100 fine and censure against county Councilman Stephen J. Urban.

Williams said she filed the complaint before she was appointed to the election board in April because she believed a county Ethics Commission review was warranted over Urban’s February 2021 decision to accept a chairmanship seat on the election board.

Urban’s 10 council colleagues had unanimously voted in March to remove him from the election board because the county’s home rule charter states no election board member shall be or have been an elected county official at the time of appointment or for four years prior. The two citizen board members who made him chair also were removed by council.

“I was present at the meeting in which this happened and was appalled at what I witnessed,” Williams said, referring to Urban’s February 2021 appointment. “This incident was the catalyst in my decision to apply for the chair position on the board.”

Williams said in a written statement she agrees with the commission’s findings and recommendation of censure and a fine for Urban, describing the penalties as “justified and necessary.”

County council would have to vote to carry out the censure and fine recommended by the commission.

Censure is a public statement that a code violation occurred and “expressing strong disapproval” of an action, the council-adopted ethics code says.

This is the first time the commission has advised council to impose punishment since the ethics commission was created under the home rule government implemented a decade ago, officials said.

“It is very concerning that a county council person openly violated the county charter and ethics code in the manner he did,” Williams wrote. “The charter framers put protections in the charter and code of ethics to prevent this type of abuse of power by elected officials. He knowingly overstepped his authority as a council person.”

Williams also argued it is in the best interest of all citizens to protect and maintain the “integrity, soundness and incorruptibility of the Board of Elections.”

The five-citizen board oversees elections.

Urban reiterated Friday that he had accepted the board appointment because he wanted to use his knowledge to improve elections, emphasizing it was an unpaid seat with no monetary benefit.

He also argued he already has been censured through the vote of all colleagues and their public statements when he was removed.

“Let’s just move on,” Urban said.