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Proposed Luzerne County government reform will be on November’s ballot.
Government Study Commissioners may have finished drafting a proposed home rule charter for Luzerne County, but their work is far from complete.
Members of the group voted 10 to 1 last week to approve the charter and have voters decide its ultimate fate on Nov. 2. Now study commissioners have a duty to educate the public on the intricacies of the charter and their rationale for proposing it.
In a 12-page report that precedes the actual home rule charter, the study commission lists eight county government problems and weakness identified during the group’s roughly 14 months of study. Those problems include:
•A lack of “strong ethics rules and policies, along with a mechanism for ethics enforcement.”
•Hiring based on “nepotism, cronyism, and favoritism” instead of “merit, qualifications, and fitness.”
•An inability for citizen participation due to an absence of initiative and referendum.
•Limited representation that “exacerbates the influence of big-money political contributors, and establishes an entrenched political class.”
•Day-to-day decision making that is political and not based on best practices or professionalism.
Study Commissioner C.J. Kersey spoke directly to some of these issues during the group’s official charter vote.
“Our system of government is clearly not working for the citizens of Luzerne County,” he said, a point echoed by nearly everyone on the panel.
Commission Chairperson Jim Haggerty said despite rumors to the contrary, the study commission should not – and will not – dissolve now that the charter has been written. The group will meet Wednesday to discuss future plans.
Members must also choose five people to serve on a transition team that would help ease the move to home rule should a majority of voters support the charter. The transition team would also include the three county commissioners and three to-be-determined individuals.
“The law commands our existence until at least the day of the vote,” Haggerty said, adding that the group is responsible for providing the widest means of educating the public. “We can amend the charter until two months prior to the election.”
The Governor’s Center for Local Government Services also states that once a home rule charter is recommended, the commission is “not discharged until after the referendum.”
The proposed charter changes the three-commissioner form of government to an 11-person, elected, part-time county council with an appointed county manager. It also eliminates the elected offices of coroner, register of wills, prothonotary, sheriff, recorder of deeds, treasurer, and two jury commissioners. The district attorney and controller remain elected.
A recent version of the more than 70-page charter is available at www.luzernegsc.org, and a final version will be posted shortly, Haggerty said. Visitors to the site may also e-mail study commissioners directly with questions or comments.
Rick Morelli, commission treasurer, said there is a line between information and advocacy, but he will educate the public on the charter and speak at whatever venues he is asked. Public forums, similar to those held earlier this year, are also a possibility as the election draws nearer.
“Our job is to go out there and make sure the public knows the pros and the cons,” he said.
In addition to educating the public, the study commission must also ensure that certain county obligations are met, Haggerty said. This includes properly advertising the home rule question to the public, a requirement that was not properly handled when a charter was proposed seven years ago.
Luzerne County officials admitted in 2003 that legal requirements had not been properly followed in advertising the home rule question. To remedy the situation and be in “substantial compliance,” the county advertised the question multiple times in the days preceding the election.
The question should have been advertised at least once a week for three consecutive weeks in the month before the election.
Study commissioners will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Wyoming Seminary’s Stettler Learning Center on North Sprague Avenue in Kingston.