Diamonds to Crocamo, wreath-layers, the water heater and more

Diamonds to Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo for strong leadership on several fronts, and to councilmembers who — rightly, we feel — recognized her efforts with a raise this week.

Council hired Crocamo in May at a compensation of $160,000, and her offer letter had said “any increase in salary shall be merit-based and in the sole discretion of county council.”

We acknowledge some feel the raise was too much, too quickly.

However, we would point out that Crocamo did not seek an increase. Council chose to raise her compensation to $175,000 starting Jan. 1 after conducting an evaluation of her performance to date, which “proved to be positive,” the agenda said, noting the increase was budgeted for 2024.

Prior county manager Randy Robertson had received an annual compensation of $181,500.

If there is one thing Robertson did right, it was to bid the community farewell last year with a stinging rebuke of the partisan rancor which has been such a stain on county government in recent years.

Ironic that, since it was just such rancor which led council to give Robertson the job over Crocamo in the first place, even though she had been competently serving as acting manager. To put it bluntly, council was wrong.

Back in the seat, Crocamo has made some tough decisions over the past seven months. But the results seemed to have impressed many tough critics.

Controller Walter Griffith, who never hesitates to speak out when he sees problems, on Wednesday told Crocamo the environment is “night and day” with her at the helm because she welcomes his input and assistance making improvements, such as increasing interest earnings on county funds.

Crocamo said she is keeping her promise to economize from within instead of using tax increases “as a default.”

As Councilwoman Kendra Vough put it, Crocamo “fixed the mess” left by a predecessor who was “not managing the county and was given a bloated salary still a lot higher than the rate given to Crocamo.”

Agreed.

Coal to Matthew E. Lange, of Hanover Township, who was sentenced to one to two years in prison Wednesday for robbing cash from a special needs person on a Luzerne County Transportation Authority bus. There’s low and then there’s low. The prison sentence is absolutely deserved.

Diamonds to volunteers who turned out Wednesday night to help the Shawnee Fort Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution unload wreaths for this Saturday’s Wreaths Across America ceremony at Hanover Green Cemetery. It’s set for noon and open to the public. This is always a moving event, and they’ll need more help actually placing the wreaths on veterans’ graves.

Coal to James Paul Drake Shunoski, of Nescopeck, who allegedly punched an 11-year-old girl and slammed her mother onto a floor on Monday. Shunoski stands accused of punching the girl when she asked him to lower the volume of music because she had school, according to court records. If the allegations are true, Shunoski sounds like another person who could use some time behind bars and some serious lessons in anger management.

Diamonds to the organizers of the Kingston Holiday Water Heater and Golden Throne awards. Both are quirky, fun local traditions that look to bring smiles to people in their respective communities who are known for giving of themselves. Diamonds, too, to this year’s honorees: Borough Administrator Paul Keating received the water heater, and “Clown Kid” Brian Orbin now has a sparkly toilet on his lawn.

— Times Leader