Luzerne County Courthouse
File photo
Two more citizens applied for the vacant fifth chairmanship seat on Luzerne County’s Election Board by Wednesday’s deadline — Democrats Stacey E. Fiester and Patrick Smith, officials said.
That brings the total prospective appointees to five. Applications were also received from Republicans Vivian Kreidler-Licina and Frank Yamrick and Democrat Christine Boyle.
Fiester, of the Stillwater section of Huntington Township, has 25 years of experience as an analyst in health care organizations and more than a decade of office management experience.
Smith, of Hanover Township, is retired and worked in the security field and for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections.
No current election board members are seeking the chairmanship seat — a possibility that had been discussed during a past board meeting.
The county’s home rule charter created a unique structure for the fifth chairmanship seat by removing county council from the selection process. Instead, the four council-appointed board members — two Republicans and two Democrats — choose a fifth citizen of any affiliation or no affiliation.
Denise Williams, a Democrat, last filled the seat and served since April 2021, resigning in December because she is running for county council. Prior to Williams, the board had two other Democrats, a Republican and an Independent in the fifth chair seat.
The board has postponed its Feb. 19 meeting until Feb. 26, when it will publicly interview all applicants using questions pre-determined by the board and confirmed by the county law office.
This meeting will be at 6 p.m. at the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre, with instructions for the remote attendance option to be posted under council’s authorities/boards/commissions online meeting section at luzernecounty.org.
The current election board members are Republicans Alyssa Fusaro (vice chair) and Rick Morelli and Democrats Albert Schlosser and Daniel Schramm.
If a board majority does not select someone within 60 days of the vacancy declaration — March 15 — any resident may petition the county Court of Common Pleas to fill the seat.
The volunteer election board provides general supervision over elections, certifies results and makes determinations on the tallying of flagged ballots during post-election adjudication.
While all five board members have equal voting power, the citizen in the chairmanship seat prepares meeting agendas, presides over meetings and often issues public statements on the board’s behalf.
The county law office is screening all five applicants to verify they have no home rule charter conflicts.
As previously reported:
Kreidler-Licina, of Nescopeck Township, is a homemaker and previously worked as a certified nursing assistant and in a local distribution center. She ran for county council in 2023 and for the government study commission last year.
Yamrick, of West Wyoming, founded and served as president of the Swoyersville metal machining firm Belrick Corp. for more than 50 years. He also had served on the advisory board that oversees the county-owned Wyoming Valley Airport in Forty Fort and Wyoming and on the Luzerne/Schuylkill County Workforce Investment Board.
Boyle, of Wyoming, is retired following a career in the insurance industry that included various managerial positions.
