Luzerne County Courthouse

Luzerne County Courthouse

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At least 30 citizens interested in seats on Luzerne County’s outside boards, authorities and commissions are scheduled to be publicly interviewed Tuesday, officials said.

Interviewed applicants are then added to an existing eligibility roster for consideration when county council officially votes to make appointments.

Council Chairman Tim McGinley said he expects council to fill at least some of numerous vacant seats at its next meeting Jan. 28.

As council vice chair, Chris Perry heads the council committee that interviews the citizen applicants. The interview session starts at 6 p.m. at the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre.

Key vacancies

The board openings include three seats on the 15-member Luzerne County Community College Board of Trustees, one on the five-member county Flood Protection Authority that oversees the Wyoming Valley Levee system and two on the nine-member county Transportation Authority, records show.

Also set to expire Jan. 24 are two seats on the three-member Board of Assessment Appeals, which rules on property owner requests for real estate tax value reductions.

This is the only board approved for compensation. County council had agreed to pay appeal board members $150 per appeals session, or a maximum of $8,000 annually.

The terms of Neil J. Allen and Richard Long are expiring, while the third member — Attorney Heather Yudichak — serves through the end of 2021.

Election board

Two seats on the five-member county election board also expire Jan. 24. The women currently filling those seats — Democrat Audrey Serniak and Republican Anne Davies — have both said they are seeking reappointment.

Under the county’s home rule charter, the election board oversees elections and consists of two Republicans and two Democrats selected by council and a fifth member and chair of any political affiliation chosen by those four election board members.

The election board has been publicly advertising the chair opening, with plans to interview and select someone at its meeting Wednesday. Democrat Peter Ouellette and Republican Keith Gould also serve on the board.

McGinley said he wants to fill the two expiring council-appointed election board seats on Jan. 28 because the board will be busy preparing for the high-turnout April 28 presidential primary, when the county will be using a new paper-trail voting system for the first time and implementing state election reforms that include a new option to vote by mail up to 50 days before an election and an extended voter registration deadline.

Council seats

County council members last week selected council representatives to serve on four boards. The four new council members — LeeAnn McDermott, Kendra Radle, Stephen J. Urban and Walter Griffith — each received an appointment.

The first seat to be filled was on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport Bi-County Board, which went to McDermott with seven of 11 votes. Urban also had been nominated and was supported by Griffith, Harry Haas and Linda McClosky Houck.

Radle received the second appointment to the county Retirement Board, which oversees the employee pension fund, also with seven votes. Griffith had been unsuccessfully supported by Urban, Haas and McClosky Houck.

Urban was unanimously appointed to the Luzerne-Wyoming Counties Mental Health and Developmental Services Program Advisory Board. Urban has expressed an interest in serving on this board, saying he encountered many needs that must be addressed while trying to navigate the system to help a struggling acquaintance.

Finally, Griffith was unanimously appointed to the Luzerne Conservation District Board of Directors, which oversees matters related to soil and water conservation.

Courthouse holiday

Nonemergency county government offices are closed Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.