Lackawanna County commissioners Chris Chermak and Brenda Sacco plan to oust Commissioner Bill Gaughan as chairman of the Board of Commissioners on Monday.
The commissioners have called a reorganization meeting for Monday at 10 a.m., an event that normally takes place after a commissioner election. Sacco will likely become the board's chair because Chermak said he doesn't want the job.
“It's clearly a personal vendetta against me, because I had the audacity to ask everybody to play by the rules and do the right thing when I came into office last year,” Gaughan said. “And I just don't think that people in Lackawanna County want to return to that kind of bygone era of politics as usual, backroom politics as usual.”
Chermak denied carrying a vendetta, but said he grew tired of Gaughan shutting him out from the operation of county government and showing disrespect toward taxpayers who spoke at public meetings.
"I've been alienated now for over almost two years and quite honestly, I've had enough," Chermak said. "And if Bill Gaughan wants to work together with (us) as a group of three, he's welcome, but I'm not going to be alienated anymore. We have a job to do, and it's all for the residents. It has nothing to do with politics."
Repeated efforts to reach Sacco were unsuccessful.
Sacco, a Democrat, and Chermak, a Republican, also decided to remove attorney Don Frederickson as county solicitor and replace him with attorney Paul James Walker, Sacco’s personal lawyer. The solicitor serves as the county's chief legal officer.
A county hiring form confirmed Walker's hiring by Sacco and Chermak at a salary of $55,015 a year.
Frederickson will remain employed by the county as general counsel, a post he previously held years ago. Another hiring form that Chermak and Sacco signed shows Frederickson will earn $50,447 as general counsel and will report to Walker.
Frederickson will also remain as the county's solicitor for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport board and the Board of Elections.
Chermak said he wanted Frederickson to stay because of his "wealth of knowledge."
Attorney Jack Price, who was general counsel, will become a guardian ad litem at $25,625 a year. Guardians represent minor children in family court cases.
Efforts to reach Frederickson and Price were unsuccessful.
Signs of the new alliance
Chermak sat between Sacco and Gaughan at a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport board meeting Thursday with Chermak saying he had to bring Sacco “up to speed” during a discussion on airport security. At times during the meeting, Frederickson and Sacco whispered to each other.
All three commissioners appeared Friday at a Scranton event honoring the 80th anniversary of the United Nations’ founding. Only Gaughan addressed the gathering as Chermak and Sacco stood together and looked on.
During the event, a group of students presented the commissioners with an olive tree as a gesture of hope and peace in celebration of the founding.
"We ask that you, our local leaders, use the influence and power of your position to push for peace in the world and in our own communities,” Abington Heights senior Ella Tourscher said.
Gaughan accepted the olive tree as Chermak and Sacco stood a few feet to his left.
Neither of his colleagues has spoken with him since Sacco took office, Gaughan said later.
An unusual majority - again
The moves by Chermak, serving his second four-year term, and Sacco, on the job two days as of Friday, mark the second formation of an unusual, inter-party majority in the last six years.
In 2020, Commissioner Laureen Cummings, a Republican, and Commissioner Patrick O’Malley, a Democrat, created a cross-party majority that split the county Democratic and Republican parties. Cummings and O’Malley lost re-election bids in 2023.
Bad blood
Typically, two commissioners from the same party form a majority on the three-member Board of Commissioners, but Gaughan, Chermak and Sacco have a tense history.
Gaughan and former Commissioner Matt McGloin dismissed Sacco as county planning and economic development director after taking office in January 2024, a decision Chermak said he had nothing to do with. McGloin resigned Feb. 24, triggering an eight-month legal fight that ended with Sacco sworn in as his replacement Wednesday.
Gaughan went to court to block the county Democratic Party’s use of the county home rule charter process that led to Sacco’s appointment. He lost before the county court of common pleas and the state Commonwealth Court. The state Supreme Court upheld the lower courts Monday and cleared the way for Sacco’s swearing-in.
Gaughan and Chermak have frequently tangled publicly over county finances and reassessment with Gaughan sometimes ridiculing his colleague.
At a Sept. 17 commissioners meeting, Gaughan accused Chermak of making “either completely false” or “completely misleading” statements about reassessment that amount to “scare tactics.”
“You don’t have to be a smart ass,” Chermak shot back. “You don't have to have scripts and ... just be a jerk.”
When Chermak said he might leave the meeting before he tackles someone, Gaughan accused him of threatening violence. At other times, such as when they presented a no-tax-hike 2026 budget last week, they have acted cordially towards each other. That day, Gaughan even thanked Chermak for helping craft the budget. Chermak thanked only county finance staffers.
Sacco's uncertain future
The leadership and personnel changes are somewhat surprising because Sacco’s future as a commissioner remains uncertain.
County judges appointed her Sept. 4 to replace ex-Commissioner Matt McGloin until a successor is elected or until Jan. 3, 2028.
A special election for McGloin’s seat is scheduled for Nov. 4, though the county Democratic Party remains in court challenging the election’s legality.
Sacco is not a candidate in the special election. The candidates are Republican Chet Merli, Democrat Thom Welby and independent Michael Cappellini, a converted Democrat endorsed by Gaughan and state representatives Kyle Mullins and Kyle Donahue.
Gaughan worries
Gaughan said he fears the county may return “to the chaos and political dysfunction” that produced a potential $37 million deficit and $19 million in unpaid bills last year.
“And this kind of erratic behavior I fear will jeopardize the stable financial path that we currently have the county on,” he said.
Sacco’s unwillingness to run for the seat in the special election because she would have had to resign her state job worries him, Gaughan said.
“She didn't want to present herself to the public to be considered for that because she'd have to resign from her state job, and then in the next breath, she gets appointed, she resigns from her state job, and now she's in here making these changes,” he said. “And to me it leads me to believe, like, what other schemes her and Commissioner Chermak have cooked up their sleeves behind closed doors, that they're going to try to institute here before she is out of office.”
Chermak responds
Chermak said replacing Gaughan is about him being shut out and the way Gaughan addressed certain taxpayers.
At a meeting last October that included a discussion of voter drop boxes, Gaughan said, "the level of ignorance, stupidity, and misinformation that was portrayed today as democracy is striking and shocking."
"Extremely disrespectful, which, to me, is unacceptable," Chermak said. "I don't think you should talk to anyone like that. Whether you agree with them or not, it doesn't matter. And I have a big problem with that."
Chermak specifically singled out Gaughan's attitude toward businessman Bob Bolus. Gaughan frequently parries with Bolus, sometimes sarcastically, and once had him removed from a meeting when Bolus refused to stop speaking.
"Certainly, there's no love there," Chermak said. "But you know what? Bob Bolus is a taxpayer. You give him his five minutes and let him say what he needs to say. But I don't agree with that back and forth."
In a news release, Sacco praised Walker as someone who "brings a wealth of legal experience, professionalism, and a strong commitment to public service that will greatly benefit our county government."
Chermak said he's "confident in Paul’s abilities and looks forward to his contributions to our county."
Walker, who lives in Clarks Summit with his wife, Sarah, and their three children, said he's "truly honored" to serve and wants to bring "transparency and hard work" to the job.
WVIA Reporter Kat Bolus contributed to this story.
