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HAZLETON — John Keegan was appointed by President Judge Richard Hughes III on Tuesday to join Jack Mundie, Jean Mope, Dave Sosar and Jeff Cusat on the city council through the end of the year.
When reached for comment about it on Tuesday night, Mundie, president of council, shaken by the decision, said Luzerne County had reverted “to its old way of doing things.”
Keegan, a Republican, was appointed to replace Keith Bast, a council member who resigned early in September. The council voted 3-1 late in September to look to the courts to fill that vacancy. Cusat voted against the move.
According to court documents, two separate petitions were filed and accepted to fill that position as of Oct. 16. One was filed by Keegan and one was filed by the Hazleton City Council.
Mundie said of Keegan’s selection, “They should have put him in jail, and not on council,” referring to irregularities in previous campaign report filings by Keegan.
Although he admitted that “due to a snafu with some paperwork, I did not file my ending paperwork in 2013,” Keegan said the error simply carried a $250 penalty and was not a criminal offense.
Even though Mundie admits that Keegan did file his petition with the courts before the city council did, he said this should not have been a factor in determining who was appointed.
“What is this about, selecting the person who filed first?” said Mundie. “That doesn’t make sense.”
Keegan also spoke to allegations that it would be inappropriate for him to prepare a budget which would affect his brother-in-law John Tunnessen, an employee with the city Department of Public Works.
“There’s a line item under street departments labelled ‘salaries’,” he said. “I would be voting generally on a fixed figure for those salaries, not for the specific salary of my brother-in-law.”
Keegan said another concern that he has heard was that his daughter, Allison Keegan, is employed as an assistant to the mayor.
“She serves at the pleasure of Mayor Yannuzzi,” he said. “I don’t know if she will even have a job come next year.”
Keegan lost his bid for city council 14 votes in the November election, coming in third behind behind Democrats Robert Gavio and Jean Mope.
Cusat was elected mayor in that election and will take over as the city’s top executive in January, again leaving a seat open, and requiring an appointment either by council or the county’s President Judge.
When asked what his goals are for the remainder of the year, Keegan said he wanted to “tell the people the truth. I think its important that we increase the police presence on the streets of the city,” he said. “If people feel safe, everything will get better.”
Keegan said during his tenure on council, no matter how long or short that would be, he would seek to educate residents and avoid disputes with other council members.