Date set for reorganization of new Luzerne County Council

Due to the New Year’s Day holiday, newly elected Luzerne County Council members will take the oath of office and be seated with the full council for a reorganization meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 2, said council Chairwoman Kendra Vough.

The county’s home rule charter says council must meet and organize the first Monday of January in the even-numbered years following the election of members.

However, the county law office points to a definitions section of the charter that refers to a “next business day” as “any day not a Saturday, Sunday or a legal county holiday.”

The courthouse is closed Monday, Jan. 1, for New Year’s Day.

As a result, the council chair can wait until Tuesday, the law office determined.

Vough informed her council colleagues of the Tuesday plan by email, saying it is has been reviewed and deemed allowable by the law office.

“It also makes the most sense as to not bring council, building and grounds, sheriffs, the clerk and court representatives in on a day when the courthouse would otherwise be closed in observance of the holiday,” Vough said.

Vough said she is in the process of contacting incoming council members about the date and will update everyone as she finalizes plans for the swearing-in ceremony and reorganization meeting.

New to council are Patricia Krushnowski, Jimmy Sabatino, Joanna Bryn Smith, Brittany Stephenson and Harry Haas, who previously served on council from the inception of the home rule government in 2012 until the end of 2021.

Councilwoman LeeAnn McDermott also will stay put because she was elected Nov. 7 to serve another four-year term.

They will join Council members Kevin Lescavage, John Lombardo, Chris Perry, Brian Thornton and Gregory S. Wolovich Jr.

Council must choose a chair and vice chair at the reorganization meeting.

During the last reorganization meeting on Jan. 3, 2022, Vough was selected as chairperson, while Lombardo was named vice chair. The chair presides over meetings, prepares meeting agendas, serves as a ceremonial head and selects which council members serve on council committees.

The holiday timing of the reorganization also came up when the first 11-member council was seated in January 2012 because New Year’s Eve Day fell on a Sunday, which meant the courthouse was closed on the first Monday. In that case, officials opted to hold the swearing-in and reorganization on Monday with a ceremony that also ushered in the historic switch to a citizen-designed and voter-approved home rule structure.