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By JERRY LYNOTT; Times Leader Staff Writer
Friday, April 14, 1995 Page: 3A
KINGSTON — Kingston Mayor Gary Reese will not fight an appeal to the state
Supreme Court by a citizens group trying to recall him.
“I’m just gonna to let it go,” Reese said Thursday.
He has not obtained the services of an attorney nor will he hire one, he
said.
That means he will not meet a Monday deadline to file papers with the state
Supreme Court saying why the recall should not be on the May 16 primary
ballot.
That does not mean he loses. However, it does put him at a disadvantage if
the Supreme Court decides to hear arguments; the court will hear only one
side.
Even without Reese’s input, the Supreme Court will have enough information
to review and decide the case.
In addition to a brief filed by the attorney for the Kingston Citizens for
Change, the group pushing for the recall, the state Supreme Court will have
the opinion of Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge Joseph Augello and
the record of two hearings Augello held. The record includes the transcribed
testimony of the witnesses who appeared at those hearings.
Augello’s opinion of March 29 declared the Kingston Home Rule Charter’s
recall provision unconstitutional and ordered it kept off the primary ballot.
He determined that the recall provision falls below the state
constitutional standard that requires both a statement of cause for removal
from office and a hearing on the matter.
But the citizens group that obtained more than 2,200 signatures to get a
recall question on the ballot, contended Reese has not done his job as mayor.
The group received a second chance when the state Supreme Court agreed to
its request for a review of Augello’s ruling in time for the May primary.
The group is counting heavily on a 1976 case involving an attempt to recall
former Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo. The state Supreme Court, by a 4-3 vote,
declared unconstitutional the recall provision in the Philadelphia Home Rule
Charter.
Lewis Wetzel, the attorney who handled the group’s case in Luzerne County
Court of Common Pleas, said the Rizzo ruling is ripe for reconsideration.
Because the pending case affects other Luzerne County municipalities with
home rule charters, the county is joining in.
Diane Kopcha-Katlic, solicitor for the Luzerne County Board of Elections,
will submit a brief to the state Supreme Court next week, she said.
The election board will ask the court not to take sides in the Reese case
but rather to revisit the Rizzo decision, she said.
“We feel it is in the best interest of the election board for the Supreme
Court to give us some much-needed guidance as to the legality of this issue,”
she said.
She made the comments at a meeting Thursday afternoon of the election
board. The board is comprised of Rose Tucker, Jane Elmes-Crahall and Ruth
Hughes.
Times Leader Staff Writer Jim Van Nostrand contributed to this report.
Gary Reese