Click here to subscribe today or Login.
Laflin resident Michael G. Vacendak said Monday he applied for a vacant Luzerne County Council seat because he has business management experience and regularly speaks to a variety of county residents about their needs and concerns.
“Maybe I could help,” said the 71-year-old U.S. Army veteran and broker of record at Central Real Estate Sales and Appraisals in Wilkes-Barre.
A graduate of the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors, Vacendak has 31 years of experience in real estate appraisals and sales.
As a certified residential appraiser, Vacendak said he has spent time in many municipalities throughout the county as part of his work and understands the issues facing county government. He believes the current council “works well together” and would like a seat at the table to help attract new businesses to the county to “alleviate the burden” on existing property owners.
Frank Wojtash, also among the five applicants, said Monday he is interested because he wants to “make our county a better place.”
The 22-year-old Plains Township resident has a bachelor’s degree in government, law and national security from Misericordia University
Wojtash said he had worked for six years at the Wyoming Valley Catholic Youth Center, starting as assistant athletic director and advancing to camp counselor and, most recently, buildings supervisor. He said he is currently exploring his next professional move.
He interned for the Pennsylvania Republican Party in 2018.
“I want to lower taxes and make it more appealing for businesses to move into our county,” Wojtash said.
Applicant Reed J. Dunn Jr. could not immediately be reached for comment Monday. According to prior published reports, he has a master’s degree in geography and had worked as director of the York County Planning Commission from 1965 through 2000.
The two remaining applicants — Rick Morelli and Anthony Ryba Jr. — already had issued public announcements about their qualifications before last week’s deadline.
Morelli, 48, of Sugarloaf Township, works in software sales and served on the commission that drafted the home rule charter and on county council from 2012 through 2015. He has a bachelor’s degree in finance from Villanova University and an MBA in finance from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.
Ryba, 48, of Conyngham, is Hazleton Area School District assistant superintendent and has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Scranton and a master’s degree in business administration from Bloomsburg University.
Council must select a Republican to serve the rest of former councilman Eugene Kelleher’s term through Jan. 6.
The five applicants will be publicly interviewed today at the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre following this schedule: Morelli, 6 p.m.; Dunn, 6:20 p.m.; Ryba, 6:40 p.m.; Vacendak, 7 p.m.; and Wojtash, 7:20 p.m.