Luzerne County Council candidate Haas blasts attack mailers

Republican Luzerne County Council candidate Harry Haas issued a media release Thursday blasting a recent spate of “very negative ads” from non-local political action committees.

“These false ads have claimed that I have anger issues (with a baseball bat next to my picture), called me a puppet, blamed me for council problems of the past two years even though I was not serving and tried to link me with conspiracy theories,” said Haas.

Haas is among 12 candidates seeking six open council seats in the Nov. 7 general election. He served as a county councilman for a decade, starting with the 2012 implementation of the home rule government.

He maintained anyone who attended a county council meeting knows the accusations are untrue.

“I am very proud of my record that has saved millions of taxpayer dollars, held management accountable, and spoken truth to the powerful individuals who benefit from contracts with Luzerne County. Make no mistake: these ads are a direct reaction to my firm opposition to shady deals and harmful incompetence that hurt all of us taxpayers,” Haas said.

He asserted “big money out-of-town groups” have spent more than $100,000 “trying to buy this county council election.”

The two most recent mailers were put out by the Pennsylvania DemocracyFIRST PAC. The first mailing focused solely on Haas and portrayed him as a puppet of State Sen. Doug Mastriano, who unsuccessfully ran for governor last year. The second mailer combined Haas and incumbent council candidate Stephen J. Urban, saying they are “fit for anger management, not leadership.”

A request for comment from the PAC was not immediately answered.

Last week, the same PAC sent a mailer telling voters they can’t trust “scary Stephen Urban,” with the word scary used six times along with ominous images of a male holding a baseball bat.

Urban is scheduled to stand trial in county court after the Nov. 7 general election election on two counts of simple assault and a single count of soliciting to tamper with or fabricate evidence on connection with an Aug. 25 incident. In a hearing last week, a 12-year-old boy testified Urban chased him and his friends with a baseball bat, while Urban’s attorney said his client did not utter any threats or strike anyone with the bat.

Urban has said he cannot discuss his pending case because it is still awaiting adjudication, but he questioned if he is being singled out as a prime target by both parties through PACs because he was the top vote-getter among Republicans in the primary election.

In his Thursday release, Haas said he pledges to “fight against this slime that threatens all of us who speak truth against corruption.”

He cited these other pledges: encourage regular candidates who lack resources to respond to powerful interests; dare to ask questions, hold a dialogue, and craft real solutions to our problems; hold political leaders accountable for bad decisions and bad practices; and fight for the home rule form of government, which allows regular people, and not career politicians, to make decisions on behalf of the people.

“Ultimately, these attacks are an attack on all of us. It steals away local control of our local government, and it allows lesser candidates with deeper pockets and entrenched organization to win elections,” Haas said. “I’m calling on all voters from all parties to reject these hit pieces on my character and to evaluate my successful record on council with hopes to win your vote.”

The DemocracyFIRST PAC website, democracyfirstpromise.org, said it is an “issue advocacy organization dedicated to restoring public trust in our electoral system and democratic institutions, protecting free and fair elections and renewing the pro-democracy consensus in American politics.”

The group is building a “cross-partisan, ideologically diverse coalition to restore the political consensus for the standards, expectations, and democratic norms for elected officials and candidates seeking elected office,” it said.

The 12 county council candidates appearing on the Nov. 7 ballot: Democrats Patty Krushnowski, Michelle Rothenbecker, Jimmy Sabatino, Joanna Bryn Smith, Brittany Stephenson and Maryann Velez and Republicans Thomas Dombroski, Haas, LeeAnn McDermott, Matthew Mitchell, Kimberly Platek and Urban.

The DemocracyFIRST PAC’s website says it is supporting seven candidates in this county’s council race — all six Democrats and Republican Dombroski.

To be chosen, it said candidates must make a pledge to adhere to four “pro-democracy principles,” that include supporting voting rights, denouncing political violence against opponents and election workers and accepting certified final election results.

A recent mailing funded by another group — the Open Democracy PAC — told voters to say “game over” to five of the six Republican contenders, excluding only Dombroski. It made a range of assertions about the five, saying, “We can’t let these Republicans play politics on the county council.”

The Open Democracy PAC website, opendemocracypac.com, says it invests in candidates “that will champion voting rights where these battles are being waged.”