Luzerne County manager vote on track for Tuesday

Luzerne County Council is still on schedule to select a new top manager Tuesday, the meeting agenda says.

The resolution up for approval contains blank lines to insert the name of chosen manager and compensation.

It says all other terms and conditions of employment will be stated in an offer letter made public at the time of the manager appointment.

The letter has not been completed because council must discuss the terms and conditions with applicants, it said.

Council is expected to discuss the terms in a closed-door executive session Monday night.

All three finalists recommended by the outside citizen search committee were publicly interviewed by council last week: prior county acting manager and chief solicitor Romilda Crocamo, county 911 Executive Director Fred Rosencrans and county Engineer William McIntosh, who oversees county buildings and grounds.

Salary decision

The search committee advertised the position at a base range of $116,322 to $180,000, although the final compensation determination is up to council.

Council allocated $145,000 for the manager salary in the 2023 budget, but that earmark can be adjusted. Prior manager Randy Robertson, the third to hold the non-interim position under home rule, had received an annual compensation of $181,500.

The county’s first manager Robert Lawton, had received $110,000 when he was hired shortly after home rule’s January 2012 implementation. His successor, C. David Pedri, who resigned in July 2021, was hired at $120,000 and rose to an annual compensation of $137,333.

Seven of 11 council votes are required to hire the manager.

Tuesday’s meeting starts at 6 p.m. at the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre, with instructions for remote attendance posted under council’s online meeting section at luzernecounty.org.

Social media litigation

Council also is set to vote on county District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce’s request to initiate litigation “regarding the social media crisis” through a contingent-fee agreement that does not require payment of legal fees unless the county recovers funds, the agenda said.

“There exists a serious public health and safety crisis as a result of social media companies causing a rise in rates of depression, anxiety, suicide and other tragic events among the residents of Luzerne County,” said the proposed resolution up for council adoption.

If approved, the county would enter into a contingency fee agreement with Conshohocken, Pennsylvania-based Bern Cappelli LLC, which specializes in litigation against social media companies. The firm would receive 25% of any recovered funds.

In a memo last month to county officials, Sanguedolce said he has been following claims from various municipal entities against social media companies, such as TikTok Inc., FaceBook Operations LLS, Google LLC and YouTube LLC.

“The claims are centered around evidence that these social media giants designed and marketed exploitative and addictive platforms with the intent to target our youth, resulting in widespread, harmful and tragic events,” the DA wrote.

He cited a “disturbing spike in suicides from school-aged children resulting in part from cyberbullying” and an incident in which the Kingston police chief was “sucker punched at a football game by a student on what is believed to be a TikTok dare.”

The mass tort litigation would be brought in the Northern District of California, it said, noting Bucks County was the first to file for damages based on these assertions in Pennsylvania.

American Rescue

Also on Tuesday’s voting agenda is a decision on the administration’s request to keep the county’s American Rescue Plan consultant at a cost of up to $908,392 for three more years.

Council had tabled a vote last month.

Council had unanimously voted last June to hire Columbia, Maryland-based Booth Management Consulting for up to $350,000 to provide guidance for one year on American Rescue eligibility screening and funding administration.

The county budget/finance division said Booth is nearing completion of its first-year contract and recommended retaining the company for continuity in processing recently awarded grants to ensure all federal compliance requirements are met.

To date, council has approved 145 American Rescue allocations, including internal ones.

In a lengthy discussion last month, some council members said they want to consider a change and seek proposals from other entities.

Consultant head Robin Booth has said the extensive documentation and reviews her company performed to date were essential to withstand federal scrutiny and said some challenges encountered with the application process stemmed from the 11-member council’s decision to handle the award determination instead of relying on a smaller committee experienced in such evaluations.

Work session

Discussion topics for the work session, which follows the voting meeting, include a proposed November general election ballot question on whether voters want to alter the composition of the county election board.

Council also is set to discuss Sanguedolce’s request for council to form an Opioid Advisory Committee to recommend allowable and valuable uses for compensation from litigation against opioid manufacturers and wholesale distributors.

The county has $4 million in settlement receipts from 2022 and 2023 and is expected to receive more.

Sanguedolce said in his work session submission that he and other overseers of departments impacted by the opioid epidemic suggest the following serve on the committee: a county council member, the county manager, the county drug and alcohol administrator, the human services division head, a provider/consumer representative, the court administrator and the district attorney.