Over the next several months, a commission of seven people will review Luzerne County’s government structure to decide what changes, if any, they recommend making.
“That recommendation could be any number of things,” said Tim McGinley, Luzerne County Government Study Commission chair. “The one caveat though is that anything recommended by the commission must go in front of the voters to be approved.”
The commission itself was also approved by Luzerne County voters in April’s primary election. At an organizational meeting this month, McGinley was voted chair of the commission.
Vito Malacari was named vice chair at the same meeting. He says the commission will be looking for ways to make county government run more efficiently. To that end, he plans to examine pieces like the size of Luzerne County Council and term limits of elected officials.
The county’s last government study commission took the county from being run by three elected supervisors to an 11-member council and a home rule charter. Malacari, a teacher, said he ran for the study commission after reviewing the 14-year-old charter with his students.
“There has arisen over the past 14 years, different issues that could be remedied and rectified through this study commission,” he said.
Study Commission History
Jim Bobeck was chair of the transition committee when the home rule charter was put into place in 2010. The study commission that produced that charter changed the county’s government for the first time in more than 200 years.
“It was a real monumental feat,” Bobeck said.
Bobeck’s committee had to make the charter and the new county council-based system work for Luzerne County and its residents.
Bobeck said he did not vote for the current study commission to happen, but he remembers why voters wanted it the first time around. The main reasons - finances, transparency in government, and lack of expertise in county management.
“At that time, the county was on pace for a $500 million deficit,” he said.
In addition to creating the 11-person county council, the home rule charter made the county manager an appointed position instead of an elected one.
Romilda Crocamo is the current county manager. She’s only served in the position under the home rule charter.
“Obviously we’ve encountered a lot of challenges, but we’ve cut down the debt, we’ve increased efficiency and I think we’re providing better services for the residents of Luzerne County,” she said. “But there are some areas in the charter that need to be addressed.”
The Study Begins
At the organizational meeting, members of the new study commission agreed to meet again on June 6 and set a full meeting schedule.
In addition to McGinley and Malacari’s titles, Cindy Malkemes was elected as treasurer and Ted Ritsick as secretary. Mark Shaffer, Matt Mitchell and Stephen J. Urban were also sworn in as members of the commission.
The commission has nine months to review and create a report on the current government structure and home rule charter. Then, they’ll have another nine months to prepare any changes they recommend.
The voters of Luzerne County will have the final say on any recommended changes.
McGinley is hoping his 12 years of experience on county council under the home rule charter will provide a good perspective on what can be improved.
He plans to not only look at the number of council members, but also how they’re elected.
“Right now they're elected in a countywide election, some people feel that they should be elected by districts,” he said. “Having served with 11 (members), it is sometimes difficult to get agreement.”
Malacari and McGinley said the next step will be for the commission to set regular meeting dates, get a budget from the county and look for a solicitor, consultant and recording secretary.
A solicitor, Malacari said, will help ensure the commission follows statutes laid out by the state Department of Community and Economic Development for government study commissions.
All meetings of the commission will be open to the public, and Malacari hoped for significant public input and engagement.
“We definitely want as much public comment as we can possibly get,” he said.
County residents were highly engaged in 2010 when the home rule charter was first created, Bobeck said. He’s not sure if that will be the case again.
“People were quite aware that change needed to be made,” he said. “This one's a lot different. There's less to get riled up about.”
Malacari does not anticipate a complete overhaul of the charter. Bobeck advised the same.
“Their goal should not be to create a perfect government, that is not possible,” he said. “Take a good hard look at what can we really improve, but at the same time, acknowledge what is working…look for tweaks.”
The next meeting of the commission will be June 6 in the Luzerne County Council meeting room. Future meetings and agendas will be posted on the county website.
