Luzerne County Council committee interviews 24 board applicants

A Luzerne County Council committee publicly interviewed 24 citizen applicants for board seats last week, but most won’t be filled until 2024, council Vice Chairman John Lombardo said.

It had been unclear if council would be making numerous appointments to boards at its last meeting of the year on Tuesday, including two seats on the Election Board and four on the Luzerne County Community College Board of Trustees.

A determination was made that no action should be taken until the new year on the election board, community college board and several others because the seats won’t technically be vacant until the end of this month, said Lombardo, who chairs the committee that interviews and screens prospective appointees.

Lombardo said the only appointments that will be made Tuesday are for seats that already expired on the Children and Youth Advisory Board, Forty Fort Airport Advisory Board, Drug and Alcohol Executive Commission and Mental Health and Developmental Services Program Advisory Board.

Council will reorganize in January, with five new members joining the 11-member legislative body.

Lombardo encouraged citizens interested in openings to submit applications so they can be interviewed in another public session early next year, particularly for the election board.

Information is posted under council’s authorities, boards and commissions section at luzernecounty.org.

Election Board

Council appoints two Democrats and two Republicans, and those four select the fifth seat, with that person serving as chairperson.

The volunteer citizen board oversees elections, makes determinations on flagged ballots and write-in votes and certifies election results.

The seats held by Republican James Mangan and Democrat Audrey Serniak expire Dec. 31.

Mangan did not seek reappointment. Serniak is seeking another term in the unpaid seat and was among those interviewed last week.

For the Republican seat, Roxanne Arreguin and Vivian Kreidler-Licina are on the eligibility list due to past public interviews, and no new applicants were interviewed last week.

During her 2022 interview, Arreguin, of West Pittston, said she was a retired accountant from Tuscon, Arizona, and moved to Pennsylvania four years prior for her husband’s employment. She said she applied for the election board seat to serve the community and because she believes safe and secure elections are very important for all registered voters.

Kreidler-Licina, of Nescopeck Township, is a homemaker and unsuccessfully sought a Republican nomination to run for county council in the May 2023 primary election.

She said in 2022 that she submitted her application for the election board seat because she had become more involved as a Republican committee member and wanted to restore public confidence in voting. She emphasized the need for fair and free elections and identified mail ballot drop boxes as a problem.

Lombardo said another Republican has expressed interest in resigning from a different county board to seek a seat on the election board, but she would not be eligible. The county’s home rule charter says citizens cannot be appointed to the election board if they have served as a member of any other county authority, board or commission within the prior four years.

Regarding the Democratic seat sought by Serniak, Jackson Township resident Peter Wolman also interviewed last week. However, several council members said Wolman will be ineligible because he is an Election Day poll worker. County officials have said poll workers cannot be appointed to the election board because they receive payment from the county, which would be a charter prohibition.

In his interview last week, Wolman said he is retired from a health care management career, with experience overseeing both projects and workers, and has insight on election matters from serving as a judge of elections. He described the board as a “critical element” in ensuring free and fair elections.

Serniak, of Plains Township, is the most veteran seated board member, serving since July 2019.

At one point in 2021, Serniak was the lone seated election board member because the chair and vice chair had resigned, and council swiftly removed two others when those two named county Councilman Stephen J. Urban the new board chair against the solicitor’s repeated warning council members can’t serve on the board under the county’s home rule charter.

A retired personal insurance service representative, Serniak said during her interview last week she got on the election board shortly before the state implemented mail ballot voting, and she has been actively involved in making sure procedures were implemented to address the major changes.

“It’s been tremendously rewarding, and I’d like to continue that,” Serniak said of her board service.

No other Democrats have interviewed for the seat.

The remaining two council-appointed election board members — Democrat Daniel Schramm and Republican Alyssa Fusaro — are in terms that do not expire until the end of 2025. Denise Williams, a Democrat and board chair, serves through April 20, 2025.

In addition to preparing for and attending evening board meetings, election board members must be available on Election Day and during the day for a little over a week to two weeks after each primary and general election for the adjudication process.

Community College

Four seats are open on the 15-member board of trustees that oversees the Luzerne County Community College.

The four community college trustee seats expiring the end of this year are currently filled by Joseph Lettiere, James Dennis, Bernard Graham and Attorney Catherine O’Donnell, the county’s website says.

O’Donnell already was on the eligibility list for reappointment consideration due to a past public interview, and Dennis and Graham participated in interviews last week.

Council now has eight people seeking the four seats.

In addition to the three seeking reappointment, William Lewis and prior county councilman Robert Schnee already were on the eligibility list. Three more citizens interviewed for eligibility last week: Joseph Cotter, Megan Kennedy and Robert Linskey.

Assessment appeals

Two of three seats on the county’s assessment appeals board are set to expire the end of this month, with those seats held by Kenneth Temborski and Richard Long, the county’s website says. Michael G. Vacendak, the third member, has a term running through 2025.

The only applicant on the eligibility list is Jenny Centrella, who interviewed last week.

Centrella said she has more than 30 years of experience as a certified real estate appraiser. She is interested in serving because she wants to ensure the evidence property owners bring to the board is accurate and not inflated and that the county is “getting a fair shake,” she said.

Reappointments

William Hardwick is seeking reappointment to the five-member county Flood Protection Authority, which oversees the Wyoming Valley Levee system along the Susquehanna River.

Hardwick said he is semi-retired and hasn’t missed a meeting in his first term. He said he learned a lot about the levee and its significance in his first term and wants to be a part of continued plans to maintain the flood protection system.

Nobody else has applied for the vacant seat.

Among the others seeking reappointment:

• Redevelopment Authority

Stephen E. Phillips is seeking another term on the five-citizen board. Like Hardwick, he noted he has not missed a board meeting. There are no other applicants.

• Transportation Authority

Joseph Padavan and John Young are seeking reappointment to the nine-member board, which oversees public transportation. There are no other applicants.

Both men cited current work to revamp routes to maximize services and the authority’s upcoming opening of a new $58 million operations facility at the former Murray Complex site in Wilkes-Barre.

• Zoning Hearing Board

William Harris is seeking another term on the three-person board. He has served on the board 15 years and said the board received standing ovations at least three times this year for its decisions.