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Fourteen Luzerne County residents have filed paperwork to run for five county council seats, but the May 16 primary election contest is on the Democratic side.
Nine contenders are Democrats, and the party’s voters must select five. Only five Republicans are running, which means all would automatically advance to the November general.
Unlike the primary, voters will be free to choose five council candidates of any party affiliation in the Nov. 7 general. In addition to the 10 primary election winners — five from each party — Independent or third-party contenders may enter the race after primary.
The Democrats who filed petitions to appear on the ballot by Tuesday’s deadline, according to election office records:
• Anthony Bartoli, of Laflin, who works in management at Enterprise Rent-a-Car
• Wendy Cominsky, of Dallas Township, owner of Au Salon in Dallas
• John Gadomski, of Wyoming, a union contractor active with the Keystone Mountain Lakes Regional Council of Carpenters, Local 645, of Northeastern Pennsylvania
• Philip Gianfarcaro, of Pittston, owner and operator of Phil’s Clip Joint in Pittston
• Linda McClosky Houck, of Kingston, a teacher and county council member since 2012
• David Popiak, of Hazleton, owner and operator of Hydrodynamics in Hazle Township
• Sheila Saidman, of Kingston, a retired lawyer who has worked as a county assistant district attorney, legal counsel for various entities and in private law practice
• Matthew Vough, of Pittston, marketing manager at Keystone Automotive Operations Inc. in Exeter
• James Watkinson Jr., of Hanover Township, general manager at Metz Culinary Management in Dallas
The Republicans who filed petitions:
• Marc Dixon, of Wright Township, business development director for Kodak Alaris in the Americas
• Harry Haas, of Kingston, a teacher and county council member since 2012
• Chris Perry, of Fairview Township, a retired Hazleton Area School District athletic director and teacher
• Stephen J. Urban, of Wilkes-Barre, an IT support coordinator and prior county councilman for four years
• Gregory Wolovich Jr., of Newport Township, a food selector for Wegmans Food Markets
The five expiring council seats are held by Haas, McClosky Houck, Kathy Dobash, Eileen Sorokas and Rick Williams. Dobash and Sorokas chose not to seek a second term. Williams, an architect and Independent who has served on council since the county’s customized home rule government took effect in January 2012, said he has not decided if he will run again.
Wilkes-Barre resident Eric Bieski, a social worker for Catholic Social Services, also said he plans to enter the race after the primary as an Independent.
County council members receive $8,000 annually to serve on the 11-member board. Their duties include approving the budget and larger contracts, appointing members to outside county boards, enacting codes and ordinances and hiring and evaluating the manager.
There is no primary election contest in the county controller race because only one contender from each party filed nomination papers to run — incumbent Democrat Michelle Bednar and Republican Walter Griffith, who previously held the post.
The controller is paid $64,999 annually through a four-year term and is the “independent watchdog over county fiscal and management activities,” according to the charter.
Around 770 ballot nominations slots will appear on the each party’s ballot in May, including municipal, school and magisterial district judge races, county Election Director Marisa Crispell said before Thursday’s county Election Board meeting.
Unofficial lists of candidates who filed petitions have been posted on the election page of the county website, www.luzernecounty.org. However, Crispell stressed she’s still proofing the list, and candidates have until March 22 to withdraw their names.
The election board voted Thursday to participate in a free pilot program through its electronic voting machine vendor — Election Systems & Software (ES&S) — that will change the way absentee ballots are mailed in the primary election.
Under the current system, county election workers must invest a significant amount of time preparing these ballots, from printing labels and stuffing envelopes to securing postage and mailing them, Crispell said.
With the pilot program, the first in Pennsylvania, the county will send a computerized file of all approved absentee applications to ES&S, which will handle the printing and mailing and provide tracking information that will allow the county to inform inquiring voters about the status of their mailing for the first time, Crispell said.
The program also will reduce printing costs for absentee ballots that must be ordered in advance and may not be needed if the final tally of absentee voters is lower than expected, she said.
ES&S provides the absentee service to 56 counties in 12 states, Crispell told the board. The county will save money and free up workers for other duties if the board later opts to pay for the service in the general election, Crispell said, stressing she will provide a critique after the primary. The county manager also must approve participation in the program, she said.
The county had about 1,300 primary absentee voters in 2015 and 1,600 in 2013, she said.
