Former state Rep. Thom Welby will take the oath of office Tuesday as a Lackawanna County commissioner, but he’s already studying up.
Welby is heading to the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania conference in Hershey. The three-day conference starts Sunday.
“I am (going) for Sunday and Monday, and I'm going to come back Monday night and get sworn in Tuesday morning,” Welby, 76, of Scranton, said.
The county Board of Elections cleared the way for Welby’s swearing-in Friday by certifying the results of the Nov. 4 election. Welby, a Democrat, defeated Republican Chet Merli and independent Michael Cappellini in a special election for commissioner that determined who will serve the rest of ex-Commissioner Matt McGloin’s term. The term expires Jan. 3, 2028. McGloin resigned in February.
Welby’s swearing-in is at 11 a.m. in courtroom 4 at the County Courthouse. President Judge James Gibbons will administer the oath.
Commissioners Bill Gaughan and Chris Chermak are also expected to attend the conference.
Gaughan loves the conferences
Gaughan, who attended the conference in Gettysburg last year, said commissioner conferences are “definitely are worthwhile.”
“It's a great opportunity to work together with the other county commissioners from across the state and in our own region,” Gaughan said. “One thing I learned here from going to these conferences is depending on the size of the county, the problems are the same. It's just either a bigger problem or a smaller problem depending on the size. But we all go through the same issues, and it's really important to work together collectively, to take all the concerns to the state legislature ... and the governor because you're much more powerful as a body.”
A perfect place to learn
Welby said the conference is a perfect place to learn about serving as a commissioner from other county commissioners.
“I'm just really fortunate that that that they're having this as I'm going in,” he said. “I want to share some things. I assume we're going to have some brainstorming, question and answer sessions.”
Welby said he wants to learn how other counties deal with state mandates on protecting children.
“There's a couple things I want to bring up and wag my finger about,” he said.
Welby on reassessment
Welby, who wanted to delay the effective date of new property values developed during reassessment the last three years, said he won’t try to stall it now that Gibbons has blocked allowing a delay.
Last week, Chermak and Commissioner Brenda Sacco asked the county court to postpone the effective date for a year. They cited flaws in notices of new property values sent to property owners and local municipalities.
In a one-sentence order with no explanation, Gibbons dismissed the request.
“My impression is that it is resolved,” Welby said.
He does think the county did a lousy job explaining how to appeal new values, especially to elderly property owners. Gaughan has defended the county’s attempts to explain the process, saying residents had numerous chances to learn about reassessment.
“They said that they did due diligence by having some town meetings,” Welby said. “Well, I think they could have done some seminars that ECTV (the cable channel) would have taped for free and aired for free for months explaining things to them and maybe print up a little how-to ... sheet, a little flyer, and mailed it out to all the taxpayers. I think a lot could have been done to help people, and it wasn't done.”
He plans to do that when he’s in office.
“I think we have to accept what the court ruled and move forward from here and do the best that we can to help people moving forward within law,” he said. “I’m sorry, I still get worked up about it ... We'll just have to spend a couple of months helping people to understand it and do something about it.”
For Welby, this is it
Welby, a legislative aide to state Rep. Bridget Kosierowski the past couple of years, repeated he won’t seek another commissioner term in 2027.
“I have no intentions of doing any more than that, and I can't imagine anything that would change my mind,” he said. “I'd like to retire once and mean it.”
As Welby takes the oath, Sacco, the county’s third female commissioner, will depart after only 34 days in office.
“Even though it has been a short period of time and I should have been seated nine months ago, I am honored to have served the people of Lackawanna County in my time in the seat,” Sacco said during her final commissioner meeting Wednesday.
She cited the reassessment delay fight and an exploration of seeking payments in lieu of taxes from local non-profit institutions as things she tried to accomplish while in office.
The county common pleas judges appointed Sacco on Sept. 4 to replace McGloin, but she did not run in the special election. Because of a legal fight brought by Gaughan that went all the way up to the state Supreme Court, Sacco wasn’t sworn in until Oct. 22.
Commissioners earn $88,929 a year.
