Walter Griffith and Alyssa Fusaro delivered 15,395 voter signatures Monday, seeking a 2027 primary election ballot referendum to repeal Luzerne County’s new anti-discrimination ordinance. The petitions were submitted to Council Clerk Sharon Lawrence in the county courthouse in Wilkes-Barre.
Jennifer Learn-Andes | Times Leader
Luzerne County Council Clerk Sharon Lawrence, at right, accepts receipt of petitions on Monday seeking a 2027 primary election ballot referendum to repeal the county’s new anti-discrimination ordinance. Those participating in the submission, identified clockwise from the foreground: Alyssa Fusaro, Gene Ziemba, Tyler Meyers, and Walter Griffith.
Jennifer Learn-Andes | Times Leader
Citizens turned in 15,395 voter signatures on Monday seeking a 2027 primary election ballot referendum to repeal Luzerne County’s new anti-discrimination ordinance, which is 3,780 signatures over the requirement, said group organizer Walter Griffith.
The county’s home rule charter gave citizens the power to put ordinance repeals on the ballot for voters to decide, but the option has not been exercised since the 2012 implementation of home rule, largely due to the steep signature requirement and tight turnaround.
“This is history in the county,” said Griffith, a prior county controller. “This is one of the reasons I and others fought to get home rule in this county.”
Council Clerk Sharon Lawrence stamped the 333 petitions as received in her office in the county courthouse in Wilkes-Barre.
Lawrence has up to 20 days to notify petition circulators how many signatures she has accepted based on a review of names and addresses. That determination triggers a 10-day signature challenge period. The Luzerne County Election Board has determined it will only adjudicate challenges if the number of contested signatures could bring the petition below the required 11,615-signature threshold. The election board’s decision can be appealed to the county court.
Approximately 200 people circulated petitions under the coordination of a dozen or so team leaders, said Griffith and Luzerne resident Alyssa Fusaro. Griffith said no circulators were paid to collect signatures. Thirteen signatures of voters in this county were collected by two Lackawanna County residents, and the remaining petition circulators reside in this county, organizers said.
Team leaders communicated through group messaging, and Fusaro said she mapped out public events for petition circulators. Griffith said he and others traveled throughout the county meeting voters who wanted to sign, including one visit he made at 11 p.m. Fusaro said she was at one event until midnight.
“We’re excited to have a voice,” Fusaro said. “It’s a lot of work, but the people matter, and their voice matters.”
Two others actively involved in the effort, past county Republican Party chairman Gene Ziemba and Sugar Notch resident Tyler Meyers, also participated in Monday’s official signature submission.
Ziemba said a council majority ignored public questions and concerns about the ordinance and “ramrodded it through.” Many signers were most concerned about unknown costs, he said.
“They should listen to people,” Ziemba said.
The anti-discrimination ordinance requires local adjudication of complaints that extend beyond county government and involve employment, housing, healthcare, education, and establishments that sell goods or services to the general public.
Under a separate proposed ordinance pending council approval, a 13-citizen commission appointed by council would be vested with the authority to administer and enforce the ordinance and must receive “sufficient administrative and legal support” from the county Human Resources Department and Office of Law to carry out its powers and duties, including assistance with the intake of discrimination complaints and investigation of filed complaints.
If citizens end up meeting the validated signature threshold, council would have a 30-day window to decide if it wants to repeal the anti-discrimination ordinance.
Council’s failure to repeal the referred ordinance would result in the county election board placing the referendum on the ballot of the next election that falls at least 13 Tuesdays from then, which would be the 2027 primary election.
A referendum would prevent the ordinance from taking effect unless a majority of voters cast ballots against repeal.
The other scenario — insufficient signatures submitted by the citizens seeking a referendum — would mean the anti-discrimination ordinance takes effect as originally planned around Sept. 8, or 90 days after its June 9 passage, officials said.
Duryea resident Ben Herring, one of the team leaders in the petition effort, said Monday that litigation he and Griffith filed over online posting of the initial batch of signatures submitted by the citizen group is still pending.
That litigation was filed against County Councilman Chris Belles, who had posted a link to view the petition signatures. Belles argued, “There is no such thing as a private public referendum.” Herring and Griffith maintained the release was not done for a “legal electoral purpose.”
“We have made clear that we seek accountability in this county, and to that end, anybody who publishes the names of our signatories online for the intent of doxxing, harassment, or threats will be added to our ongoing lawsuit against Chris Belles,” Herring said Monday afternoon.
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Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.