Candidates will be needed if Luzerne County Council approves study commission referendum

Now that a Luzerne County Council majority is poised to approve a government study commission question Tuesday, a focus will become which residents are interested in serving.

If the referendum proceeds as expected, county 2024 primary election voters will simultaneously decide if they want to convene a commission and elect citizens to serve on the panel. The selected residents would only serve if the referendum passes.

Council has not yet decided the number of commission members — state law allows seven, nine or 11. Council Vice Chairman John Lombardo said he is aware of several council members, including himself, leaning toward seven.

The study commission must examine the county’s current home rule structure and decide if it wants to prepare and recommend changes. If so, the commission would be free to recommend alterations to the existing charter, an entirely new charter or a return to the prior three-commissioner/row officer structure that was replaced by home rule’s 2012 implementation.

Voters would ultimately have to approve a commission recommendation for it to take effect.

It is a long-term commitment for those interested in serving. Study commissions have nine months to report findings and recommendations and an additional nine months if they are opting to prepare and submit government changes. An extra two months is allowable if the commission is recommending a charter electing council by district instead of at large.

How to run

The only eligibility requirement for candidates for the office of study commissioner is that they be registered voters of the county, according to the state’s home rule handbook prepared by the Governor’s Center for Local Government Services, which falls under the Department of Community and Economic Development.

Current officeholders, including local, school, county and state officials are eligible to serve as members of government study commissions, the handbook said.

And because the office is nonpartisan, those covered by local or state civil service regulations also are eligible to serve, it said.

To appear on the ballot, candidates must obtain at least 200 signatures from county registered voters on their nomination papers.

Candidates must circulate their nomination papers to obtain signatures between the thirteenth and tenth Tuesdays before the primary.

The primary is scheduled to be on April 23, although state officials continue debating options to hold the election sooner.

If the election date and calendar don’t change, study commission candidates could seek nomination signatures between Jan. 23 and Feb. 13.

Candidates filing nomination papers for government study commissioner do not have to pay a filing fee since they serve without compensation, the handbook said.

Last commission

In May 2009, the last time a study commission was on the ballot, 20 residents from throughout the county appeared on the ballot.

That commission was 11 members and ended up drafting the charter in place today.

These citizens held weekly meetings — broadcast online with public input solicited at each — between June and December 2009 to determine how it wanted to proceed, its report said.

The commission met with numerous officials of Luzerne County and other counties, interviewed those knowledeable about county government, reviewed other charters and examined the government form and operations both here and in other counties, its report said.

The group decided in December 2009 to take the next step and draft a proposed charter.

“Each agreed that Luzerne County government could be strengthened and made more responsible, accountable, economical, and efficient under a changed form of government,” the report said.

The commission then started the process of drafting a charter by analyzing, debating and considering hundreds of proposals and ideas for possible inclusion in the charter here, it said.

It released a final report and recommended charter in August 2010 that was approved by voters in the November 2010 general election, putting an end to the commissioner/row officer structure in effect more than 150 years.

The current charter has 11 council members elected countywide and an appointed manager, with all row offices eliminated except for the DA and controller.

Study commissions typically retain a solicitor and consultant to assist.

Lots of work

Former county councilman Rick Morelli, who served on the last study commission, said the quality of a commission’s work “all really depends on the group that gets in there.”

Morelli said he’s already heard of plans by outside forces to line up and back some commission candidates. He believes, based on conversations with some council members, that there are “powers to be” driven by a desire to make it easier to obtain contracts and funding from county government.

“That’s outside influence,” Morelli said. “When I was on the commission, the 11 of us did not have any agenda other than trying to make the government better.”

He argued that some of the current home rule practices that increase transparency — more public meetings before decisions are made, input from 11 council members, advance posting of documents before votes — may be viewed as undesirable to outside entities requesting something.

“The only thing comforting in all this is I do believe at the end of the day the public will see the current government is working and the agendas certain people have will be exposed,” Morelli said.

Morelli encourages residents to consider running, particularly if they have an open mind and a willingness to commit their time.

“It was a lot of work, and there’s a lot that goes into it,” Morelli said. “It’s also a give and take. You will win some battles but not others.”

Council has scheduled a public hearing on the proposed study commission ballot question at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre, with plans to vote on the referendum at its 6 p.m. meeting that evening. Instructions for remote attendance are posted under council’s online meetings section at luzernecounty.org.