Luzerne County election turnover continues with resignation of board chair

In a continuation of turnover, Luzerne County Election Board chairwoman Jeanette Tait announced Monday she is resigning from the board effective March 1.

Tait informed county officials of her resignation in a brief email, citing “personal reasons.” She could not be reached for comment Monday.

She is the second board chair in a little over a year. Her predecessor, Jose Adames, was appointed in January 2020 but resigned in June, citing increased work responsibilities. Tait was appointed to the board in July.

Tait’s departure comes as the county still has no permanent election director or deputy director.

The election board serves as an independent citizen body to oversee elections, make determinations on flagged ballots and write-in votes and certify election results.

Election board Vice Chairman Peter Ouellette said Monday the board will once again have to publicly seek citizen applicants for the unpaid seat. Ouellette said he was unaware of Tait’s plan to resign.

Five citizens serve on the board under the voter-approved charter that took effect in January 2012 — two Democrats and two Republicans appointed by council and a fifth citizen/chairperson selected by the four council-appointed citizens.

This fifth citizen can be any party affiliation or have no party affiliation. Tait and Adames were Democrats, but the chairmanship previously had been filled by Republican Lewis W. Wetzel and Independent H. Jeremy Packard.

Tait was among three applicants when she was selected last summer. Adames was one of two applicants when he was appointed.

Sitting in the chairmanship can be challenging because election board meetings have been attracting a regular group of critics, with at least one call for the resignation of the entire board.

At the last meeting in January, Kingston Township resident Denise Williams came to Tait’s defense, saying she believes Tait “runs an excellent meeting” and is disappointed in the way she and other board members are being “attacked.”

“I think you are doing a great job. I give you credit,” Williams told Tait and the other board members. She added the board members appear to be open to hearing all sides, which is important to filter out “unsubstantiated claims,” and said they should not resign as suggested.

The election director position is vacant because prior election director Shelby Watchilla resigned Dec. 25 to accept a private-sector position.

Veteran election bureau employee Andrea Hill, who works as an administrative assistant, is serving as interim director because county Manager C. David Pedri plans to re-advertise that opening.

Two of the four applicants for that position had withdrawn their names from consideration, and Ouellette has said he and others on the interview committee determined one of the remaining two applicants was not qualified and that the other would “not be appropriate for this time.”

The county lost two deputy election directors in the past year.

Prior deputy Mary Beth Steininger resigned in August to accept another position outside county government. Dino Ninotti, who was promoted to the position in September, resigned last month to take a private sector position.

Ninotti said before his departure he feels bad for the election staff and board members forced to continually endure criticism from some county officials who never personally observed their work throughout the election process and the challenges they encounter.

“They’re saying we’re incompetent, but none of them came to see how we perform,” Ninotti told a reporter last month. “Don’t judge people at the election office. We worked hard and all worked extra hours. I stand by the administration, board of elections and workers.”

Applications for the deputy position were due Jan. 27. Eight or nine applications were received by the county and are now under review by human resources to determine which meet minimum qualifications, county Administrative Services Division Head David Parsnik said Monday.

The election board is scheduled to meet virtually at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. Keith Gould, Joyce Dombroski-Gebhardt and Audrey Serniak also serve on the board.

A council majority voted last week to reject a proposal to ask May 18 primary election voters if they want to change the election board to a seven-member body of four citizens and three county council members.