Urban
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Like so many blowhard politicians before him (and sadly, sure to come after him), Luzerne County Councilman Stephen J. Urban has been wasting the time of his fellow council members and anyone either sitting in on their meetings or spending time dutifully covering council developments.
How? By using the wrong setting to make legal claims about his removal from the county election board.
The right setting, at this point, is clearly and only a court of law.
County council removed Urban the Usurper from the county election board for a simple reason, giving a simple legal argument that has been unequivocally supported by two attorneys paid to advise council on such matters: The county charter bars any council member from being on the election board. Full stop.
Urban, to recap, was appointed chairman by the two (now former) Republican election board members — Keith Gould and Joyce Dombroski-Gebhardt — sitting on a five-member board that had been depleted to three thanks to resignations. County Chief Solicitor Romilda Crocamo advised the pair — in real time and in no uncertain terms — before they voted that the appointment violated the county charter, but they did it anyway, and Urban accepted the appointment.
County Council then held a special meeting where 10 of the 11 members voted to remove all three from the election board. Since Urban is the only member fighting the vote, that means all other Republicans on the council supported his removal, making this the definition of bipartisan.
Yet Urban has blathered and bloviated ever since, accusing council of failing to provide due process, of not following proper procedures, and of taking actions that he claims should have gone through a judge. That last one, not incidentally, is deeply ironic considering it is Urban who is avoiding going to a judge.
Urban boasted that he had “immersed” himself in reviewing laws for the last few weeks. Oooooh, two weeks! Well, let’s throw out the opinions of two attorneys who spent years learning the law and more years actually practicing it. They couldn’t have possibly learned more than Stephen J. Urban, esquire pretender, did in a matter of days!
Council’s action is done, it’s over, and there is zero indication that even one of them will consider reversing the decision. They did it in a bipartisan vote, after both Crocamo and County Assistant Solicitor Vito DeLuca stated with no doubt that council’s actions were legal.
This means Urban has only one recourse: Mount a challenge in a court of law. If he truly believes council acted illegally, hire an attorney and prove the case to a judge. If he succeeds, we’ll gladly admit he was right and sincerely thank him for proving an injustice had occurred. We’ll endorse having the county pay his legal fees, and call for a re-evaluation of county legal representation.
Everything else is diversionary drivel, political posturing and a waste of time for council, county administration, taxpayers, voters and residents.
Urban is playing an old game that does great disservice to those he presumably represents: He wants to look tough by fighting a legal battle in the court of public opinion, when any evidence he claims to have belongs in a court of law.
Show the backbone of your convictions and go to court, Mr. Urban, or shut up about this.
— Times Leader