Top Lackawanna County Democratic officials battled publicly Monday after Commissioner Bill Gaughan introduced Dunmore Mayor Max Conway as his choice to fill a commissioner vacancy.
Gaughan blasted county Democratic Party chairman Chris Patrick for two decisions related to replacing former Commissioner Matt McGloin.
Patrick denied Gaughan’s claims and accused him of strong-arm tactics and twisting his words. State Sen. Marty Flynn questioned Gaughan’s ethics.
McGloin resigned as of Monday to “explore other options.” Sources say he plans to take a football-related job at Boston College.
At a morning news conference in the county Government Center, Gaughan said Patrick:
- Refused to tell him the names of 10 people the chairman will name to a 31-member party executive committee that will recommend three possible McGloin replacements.
- Told him the executive committee would not interview prospective candidates before deciding the three possibles. Instead, Patrick plans to appoint “a smaller group” that would review applications and recommend someone to the full committee, Gaughan said.
Democratic by-laws allow Patrick to name the 10 committee members. Gaughan said he has no problem with that but thinks Conway should be one of the three names recommended.
“Who are these 10 people? How do they get picked? What are their interests? That is totally fair, especially for a sitting county commissioner, to ask that question,” Gaughan said. “And to be told you can't have that, you can't have access to that information, what are we living in the Kremlin now? Or are we in the United States?”
In a statement, Patrick accused Gaughan of trying to “strong-arm me and control this process.” In an interview, he questioned Gaughan’s private vetting process that landed on Conway.
Patrick said he only wants the smaller group — himself and party executive director Al Patel and a couple of others — to reduce a list of 20 applicants to five or six for interviews because the committee only has limited time to decide. That includes eliminating people who have supported Republicans, people who’ve changed registration to Republican and “a Rubik’s Cube” of other factors, he said.
Patrick said he contemplated withholding the names of the 10 he’ll appoint, fearing they would be bombarded by lobbying calls. He promised Sunday to give Gaughan the names Monday and will do that but will not release the names publicly, he said.
Gaughan “twisted my words,” he said in a statement.
By 4:15 p.m. Monday, Patrick provided the names to Gaughan, who released them to WVIA. They are Brian Doughton, Al Patel, Kevin Swift, Frank Siderowicz, Wendy Evans, Nate Barrett, Tejas Patel, Justin Stevens, Randy Castellani and Eric Hartshorn.
Gaughan declined to back off his earlier contentions. He said Patrick only released the names and allowed interviews because of the news conference.
Patrick denied that.
“Whatever Billy needs to justify his childish behavior,” Patrick said.
A political party executive committee must recommend three names within five days of a commissioner vacancy, according to the county home rule charter. In this case, the Democrats have until Saturday to do that, but Patrick said he wants the process done by Friday.
The party executive committee is scheduled to meet Thursday.
The committee will submit three names to the county court of common pleas judges who must pick one, according to the charter. The judges have not set a procedure for their choice.
As he announced his resignation Friday, McGloin urged the committee to honor Gaughan’s choice. Hoping to influence the choice, Gaughan hosted a news conference Monday in the county Government Center to introduce Conway.
After listing his and McGloin’s accomplishments, he said replacing his former colleague “is about governance, not politics.”
Gaughan said he vetted several people — he declined to name them — in search of “accomplished public officials with the independence record, energy and commitment necessary to carry out this crucial work.”
Conway does more than required of a borough mayor, Gaughan said.
“He is a force for Dunmore’s economic development, fiscal stability, environmental well-being, government transparency and long-term best interests,” Gaughan said. “There is no time for on-the-job training ... I need someone who has experience governing. I need someone who is familiar with budgets and someone who has a passion to find solutions to complex problems. And Max is the man for this job.”
Conway, 32, who sells real estate for a living, thanked Gaughan for his confidence and touted his lifetime local roots and accomplishments as mayor.
They include he said, revitalization of the borough’s downtown, fighting blight, improving public safety and supporting business, despite Dunmore’s limited resources.
“My roots here run deep, and my commitment to this community is personal,” he said. “I'm proud of what we've achieved, but I also see the opportunity to potentially do more at a county level ... I don't care where good ideas come from. It could be from the left or from the right. If it's something that will better our community, I'm all in ... And as (the late President) Harry Truman said, and going back to I guess, my Dunmore roots, the buck stops here. We have a real opportunity to turn things around.”
Gaughan called on Patrick, state Sen. Marty Flynn and the executive committee to honor his selection. He raised the senator’s name, he said, because Patrick “made it very clear Marty Flynn would have a very big say in this.”
“I would hope that, as a Democratic state senator, that he would want an open, honest and transparent process, and this isn't going to be some backroom deal that gets railroaded through the committee,” Gaughan said.
A furious Flynn questioned Gaughan’s decision to host a news conference about a political appointment in a taxpayer-funded building.
“That's not government-related,” he said.
He angrily dismissed the suggestion the committee should automatically defer to Gaughan’s choice. He referred to Gaughan’s and McGloin’s votes to raise property taxes 33% this year.
“We didn't choose who got to raise taxes 33%,” he said. “Why should we care about his input now? The guy that he ran with left, so what's your input good for right now, especially being a Democrat politically and 2027 when we have to look forward?”
The next commissioner election is in 2027.
He ripped Gaughan for never running names by him or Patrick, despite knowing the party decides whose names go to the judge.
“So, the people that thumb their nose at the party structure, this is what they have to deal with, whether they like it or not,” Flynn said. “The (committee) people were elected to be in this position, so Billy Gaughan isn't the all-powerful Oz or me.”
Gaughan denied using the Government Center for politics.
“We're talking about governance. We're talking about the next two years and 10 months so that doesn't have any doesn't hold any weight at all,” he said. “It wasn't a political event.”
Gaughan said he discussed his decision with party officials.
“I told them I wanted Max Conway,” he said.
Reminded he did not discuss potential candidates more broadly with party officials, Gaughan said he didn’t “because Chris Patrick and Marty Flynn do not have to serve with this person.”
“I do,” he said. “And all I asked is that it's an open, honest, transparent process, and then whatever the committee decides is what the committee decides.”
Conway has served as the mayor of the county’s most populous borough since January 2022. In the May 2021 primary election, he easily defeated longtime Mayor Patrick “Nibs” Loughney for the Democratic nomination, then won the seat unopposed that November. Loughney had attempted to regain the mayor’s seat after losing a re-election bid in 2017.
Conway is married to WNEP weathercaster Ally Gallo. They have a daughter, Mollie.
