Former Luzerne County manager offers parting thoughts on obstacles, home rule system

In his brief five months as Luzerne County’s top manager, Randy Robertson said he ran up against some working conditions he did not foresee in his preliminary research.

For starters, he said he quickly realized the 11-member council was divided and that some would actively work against him if he did not make decisions or changes that conformed with their personal beliefs and expectations.

“I don’t think there’s any way in the world I could have anticipated how challenging the small cadre of council members would make the job,” he said.

A registered Republican, Robertson said he made it clear at his welcome gathering outside the courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre — three days into the job — that he is not a politician and must be apolitical.

Yet, he said he was informed by one council member two months later that he has “too many Ds and not enough Rs” on staff. He said the council member would deny saying it, but it is the truth.

“That’s unethical and wrong. I thought, ‘So much for the Constitution.’”

He also bemoaned a push by some council members to devote hours of council meetings on discussions about mail ballot drop boxes when the decision on whether or not to use them rests with the county’s volunteer citizen election board.

Home rule

Based on his own experience and comments he’s heard from community leaders, Robertson believes the county’s home rule structure implemented in January 2012 warrants changes.

He asserted an elected body of 11 council members is “at least six too many” and advocates election by districts instead of countywide, saying the Pittston area is overly represented while some pockets are not.

Charter drafters had concluded an 11-member council would allow more citizens to get involved in county government, with five or six seats open every two years to continue “opportunities for political outsiders and first-time candidates to compete.” A majority of drafters believed council election by districts would encourage parochialism.

“It’s hard and messy to make changes to the government structure, but this is not working to the full advantage of what representative government should look like in my opinion,” Robertson said.

Robertson stressed he believes most council members are “wise people with reasonable agendas who want to make a positive difference” in county government.

He’s heard there are some with agendas of trying “to drive this into the ground” so the county will return to the commissioner form of government that had been replaced by home rule.

In that structure, three full-time elected commissioners and elected row officers made decisions currently split between council and the administration.

Robertson said he doesn’t know if a commissioner system would be “better than what we have,” acknowledging the success of any structure hinges on “who you elect.”

The subject of charter changes came up in February, before Robertson’s June 13 arrival.

While council members are interested in charter revisions, a majority stopped short of supporting a ballot question asking voters if they want to form an elected Government Study Commission necessary for major changes.

The law office said an independent study commission would be free to decide if it wants to keep and modify the current home rule structure, draft an entirely new charter or revert back to the old structure. Voters would then have to approve any commission-recommended change for it to take effect.

Several council members expressed strong opposition to the idea, saying they did not want to risk a complete elimination of home rule.

Controller

The former manager is no fan of county Controller Walter Griffith, and the feeling was mutual.

Robertson said Griffith “likes to speak inflammatory things.”

“Walter likes to pontificate and make mountains out of molehills instead of working together,” he said.

One of his disagreements with Griffith focused on a controller’s audit of the county’s tourism office lease. The audit includes some county response, but Robertson said the county’s full response should have been added to the final audit.

“He ultimately said this is not germane and that he was not going to use it. He has set himself up as a king,” Robertson said.

Griffith said he did not attach the full reply because it wasn’t addressing or disputing specific audit findings and instead focused on the office’s auditing procedures. Griffith said he disagreed with Robertson about the accounting guidelines that must be followed.

“It had nothing to do with what I found,” Griffith said.

The controller said he refused Robertson’s request to remove a finding related to whether council approval should have been obtained for a lease extension preceding Robertson’s arrival here.

“He got upset because I wouldn’t take it out. If anyone wanted to be the king, it was Randy.”

In Griffith’s view, Robertson was unwilling to accept that the charter granted the controller, upon reasonable notice, with unrestricted access to information.

Robertson said Griffith demanded prompt access to data on county gas pumps based on a tip from a former employee and was not willing to hold off on receiving the information from staffers focused on some pressing matters.

“There’s no dialogue with Walter,” Robertson said.

Griffith said he had previously asked for procurement information about a mail ballot sorting machine the election bureau subsequently purchased, and Robertson informed him the controller’s questions and requests for information should go through the county manager instead of directly to staff. Griffith said he told the manager that step was not in the charter, and Robertson had “obstructed” his access to information since then.

Griffith said his office was forced to pay an outside attorney $2,200 to provide an opinion that information about the gas pumps must be provided. It was reaching the point where Griffith said he was contemplating court action, but he wanted to avoid that measure. He said he is willing to work with the administration and is waiting to see what happens now that Robertson is gone.

“Nobody’s telling me what I can ask for and what I can’t. This office is independent, and the manager is not allowed to restrict anyone’s access,” Griffith said. “We need to maintain our independence because that’s the only check and balance the people have.”

Griffith agrees with Robertson that the charter is flawed but said he will follow and defend it while it is in place because the voters approved it. He urged council last week to place a home rule study commission question on the 2023 primary ballot.

Departure details

Robertson had announced he was leaving during the Nov. 9 council meeting, saying his departure was necessary to attend to health issues involving his mother and wife.

It was the day after the Nov. 8 general election, which drew strong criticism for a voting machine paper shortage that caused problems at polling places. Before the resignation, several council members had said there was a movement afoot to take personnel action against Robertson due to their deep concerns about the election, with possibilities ranging from a vote of no confidence to termination.

Robertson, who received $181,500 annually in the position, ended up submitting his resignation with a 30-day notice that would have wrapped up his work Dec. 14.

Instead, council agreed to pay him through that date but have him stop work Nov. 18. With continued fury over the election paper problem, his immediate departure was essentially a unanimous message from council that it would be best for him to move on.

Robertson interpreted it a different way, thanking council for understanding his need to address family medical matters. He said he was speaking of council in a general sense, not every member.

“I think the body recognized how much I tried but also that I needed to be with my mother and wife. They facilitated that for me and allowed me to take care of my family. They could still have had me there in place,” he said. “I want to thank them for recognizing that I had to get home, so they actually rewarded me. I take that as a compliment.”

Griffith has asked council if Robertson was going to get a “golden parachute,” and whether he would reimburse the county for his moving expenses.

Robertson said he never sought or received any of the $15,000 council had approved to cover his relocation expenses. He also did not receive $4,000 toward health insurance promised because he did not participate in the county’s health insurance plan.

He said he is only receiving pay through Dec. 14 and the standard payment for unused, accrued vacation time.

“I have absolutely, positively no golden parachute. Walter is, as usual, incorrect,” he said.

Budget

In addition to outrage over the election paper shortage, council members have voiced complaints that Robertson proposed a tax hike for 2023.

Robertson said he “gave them the best advice I could” based on the state of affairs, with extensive difficulties recruiting and retaining staff for some essential services and a steady stream of complaints about the state of county-owned roads and bridges.

“You get what you pay for. The system was crumbling around us,” he said. “I think we’ve all seen the products of continued cuts.”

If he had remained in the position, Robertson said he was open to “trying any strategies” to save money, including in-house tax collection and contracting out more services, regardless of whether they would be popular politically or with staff.

Election

Robertson reiterated the Nov. 8 general election problems were “shameful” and that he immediately asked county District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce to investigate.

He said he was prepared to follow through and “deal with it” if a mistake was made.

But Robertson said focus also must be placed on the “root cause” of ongoing election bureau leadership turnover and continued disagreements over which duties are handled by the election bureau, citizen election board and county council.

“We have the board, bureau, council and attorneys. It just is not working, and that’s because our foundation is built on sand instead of a solid slab,” he said.

He said he also faced repeated criticism for Beth McBride’s hiring as deputy election director while she continues serving as Wilkes-Barre City Council chairwoman.

Robertson said he didn’t ask her political affiliation (Democrat) and would not do so for any position. He also said then-election director Mike Susek recommended her hiring.

He considers the division heads his only hiring selections and based the choice of others at lower levels on the recommendation of the division heads and, if applicable, department heads.

He likened it to the military structure, saying those lower in the chain of command must be monitored but granted freedom to make decisions.

“When I start hiring two or three levels down, then I have disempowered the leaders, because if I do that, I don’t need them. No leader wants to be going way down in the bowels of the organization to decide who is hired,” he said.

County Acting Manager Brian Swetz, who temporarily stepped away from his position as budget/finance division head, said he understands this premise of valuing opinions and not constantly overruling and believes it applies in many situations.

However, Swetz said the reality is that the manager must sometimes perform additional due diligence, particularly for higher-level positions in departments that are subject to intense scrutiny or have crucial responsibilities. As examples, he cited upcoming selections of a new information technology director and Children and Youth administrator.

He pointed to a saying that the county’s first permanent manager, Robert Lawton, had on a sign on his desk: the buck stops here.

“The manager is ultimately the one signing off on all hiring,” Swetz said. “I can sit back and just sign everything, but I am ultimately responsible.”

Some workers have privately said Robertson was in over his head in managing a county for the first time, particularly one like this with major challenges and unique dynamics that leave no time for acclimation and easing into tough decisions.

But as one administrator put it, speaking confidentially, Robertson was quickly “sabotaged” when it immediately became clear he wasn’t what some were expecting.

“He came to give it a bona fide effort, but he had no chance,” the administrator said.