Luzerne County assistant solicitor Vito DeLuca assigned to county council

Luzerne County assistant solicitor Vito DeLuca has been assigned to provide legal advice to county council for at least six months, Chief Solicitor Romilda Crocamo said Monday.

The reassignment took effect last week, at the same meeting a council majority rejected a proposed ballot question allowing council to retain its own solicitor instead of relying on the county law office.

But Crocamo said the solicitor switch was not prompted by the ballot question push.

Crocamo has been providing legal counsel during most council meetings since the budget season in October, and assistant solicitor Shannon Crake Lapsansky had otherwise performed the role, Crocamo said.

Crake Lapsansky is no longer available because she has now been assigned to handle day-to-day election legal issues leading up to the high-turnout April 28 presidential primary in addition to contract reviews and other matters, Crocamo said.

While assistant solicitor Michael Butera will continue serving the election board and other county boards, Crocamo said she wants Crake Lapsansky to focus on a new paper-trail voting system that will be used for the first time in the primary and new state election reforms that include a vote-by-mail option and extended voter registration deadline.

Although Crocamo still plans to attend council meetings along with other division heads, she said DeLuca will now be seated at the council table to provide legal advice. Crocamo said she will review staffing assignments again in six months.

DeLuca has extensive legal experience in municipal government, she said. He also served as chief solicitor for more than a year after the county’s January 2012 implementation of a home rule government structure.

Councilman Walter Griffith had initiated the proposed ballot question seeking an outside county solicitor for the legislative branch, arguing the law office has an inherent conflict because it falls under the supervision of the county manager, or executive branch. The proposal received five of 11 council votes.

Crocamo has stressed she and her staff represent the county as a whole, issue opinions based on their interpretation of the law and must follow rules of professional conduct if they are faced with a conflict in any matter.

DeLuca addressed his new assignment last week, saying he is “not a robot” and wants to prepare in advance for unique issues that may come up at meetings. He said he’s accessible and open to debate before reaching an opinion.

“That’s really the way that I’d like to do business for as long as I’m sitting in this chair,” DeLuca said.

The push for an outside council solicitor may be a “manifestation” of the need for additional communication between council and the law office, DeLuca told council.

“We’re the referees here a lot of times for everything that occurs here, and if we have not been primed about issues that are going to be coming up, that could end up being a problem,” DeLuca said.

Thousands of decisions have likely been made by the county manager and council without dispute about procedure or law, but some potential conflicts may arise representing both branches, he said.

In those situations, the law office as a whole reviews the matter and makes a decision it believes is in the best interest of the “unified government,” DeLuca said. If there is a “true legal conflict” in serving “two masters,” the office seeks outside counsel, he said.

DeLuca was asked last week to determine if council should have tabled introduction of Councilman Stephen J. Urban’s proposed ordinance to officially stop collecting a $5 vehicle registration fee by the end of 2020. DeLuca ended up concurring with Urban, Griffith and Councilwoman Linda McClosky Houck that tabling was inappropriate because the ordinance had the four votes required by the home rule charter for introduction. After he issued his opinion, council introduced the ordinance, which will require majority passage at a future meeting to take effect.

In addition to Crocamo and an administrative assistant, her office employs eight solicitors — five part-time and three full-time. However, one of the full-time positions is vacant and a challenge to fill because some more experienced attorneys are not interested at the $53,000 compensation, she said Monday.

Assignment shuffling also was warranted in part because the office has plans to handle more labor-related mediation and arbitration to reduce the use of outside counsel, Crocamo said.