Luzerne County Council candidates on the Nov. 4 general election ballot have been invited to a Tuesday evening forum sponsored by the Wilkes-Barre Area League of Women Voters.
The public event will run from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Luzerne County Community College Educational Conference Center’s large auditorium in Nanticoke.
Questions will be developed by the League.
A recording of the forum will be available later in the week on the Luzerne County YouTube channel and the League’s website, www.lwvwba.org.
No political signs will be permitted during the forum.
County voters will select five of the 10 council contenders on Nov. 4 to serve four-year terms starting in January.
The contenders are:
• Democrats: Chris Belles, Steven M. Coslett, Tony Perzia, Dawn Simmons and Denise Williams.
• Republicans: John Lombardo, Jackie Scarcella, Brian Thornton, Stephen J. Urban and Greg Wolovich.
Council members receive $8,000 annually. In addition to adopting a budget, their duties include approving larger contracts, appointing members to outside county boards, enacting codes and ordinances, confirming nominations to eight division head positions and hiring/firing and evaluating the manager.
The five council members selected in November will take office or start new terms at the start of 2026 and serve with Democrats Joanna Bryn Smith, Patty Krushnowski, Jimmy Sabatino and Brittany Stephenson and Republicans Harry Haas and LeeAnn McDermott.
Ethics Commission
Also on Tuesday, the county ethics commission will meet at 2:30 p.m. in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre.
The commission is seeking contracted enforcement attorneys as required by the council-adopted ethics code so two complaints from June can be unsealed and processed. It voted in August to keep publicly advertising the enforcement attorney post until all three positions are filled.
A solicitation seeking proposals from attorneys has been posted on the county’s purchasing section at luzernecounty.org since Sept. 5, the site says.
Under the code, a commission-contracted outside enforcement attorney must open complaints and determine if they should be dismissed or upgraded to formal matters heard by the five-member commission. It mandates three attorneys so complaints could be assigned on a rotating basis as an extra check and balance.
The commission hasn’t had an enforcement attorney since it accepted the resignation of Attorney Qiana Murphy Lehman in May.
The recruitment of attorneys has long been a challenge. In 2017, a commission complaint remained unopened for months due to the lack of an enforcement attorney.
Tuesday’s agenda said the commission will review responses to the attorney request-for-proposals and vote to accept or reject them.
Another agenda item said the commission will discuss and vote on the reinstatement of Murphy Lehman as an enforcement attorney.
A link for the remote attendance option will be posted under council’s authorities/boards/commissions online meetings section at luzernecounty.org.
Honey Hole Road closure
County council unanimously voted last week to grant the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s request to temporarily close portions of county-owned Honey Hole Road in Butler Township for an Interstate 80 bridge replacement project starting in 2027.
According to the agenda, PennDOT is reconstructing the section of eastbound I-80 from the Route 309 interchange to the rest area at mile marker 270, and that project includes replacement of the eastbound and westbound bridges crossing Honey Hole Road and Nescopeck Creek.
Portions of Honey Hole Road under these bridges must be closed to replace the structures, it said. Detours are planned to accommodate the closures.
King’s College parking
In another unanimous vote, council extended a lease allowing King’s College to use the county’s upper parking lot on River Street across from the county courthouse through 2026.
Prior commissioners first enacted the parking arrangement in December 2003, with an original lease of $10,000 annually in the first decade and two additional five-year renewals at $11,000 and then $12,000 per year.
The most recent agreement was $15,000 for 2024 and $16,000 for 2025. The administration had recommended a shorter renewal in case the county identified a use for the lot, which is located between West Jackson and North streets.
King’s will pay $18,000 in 2026 under the extension.
Fund balance policy
Council also unanimously approved a policy encouraging the county to maintain a set fund balance reserve.
The administration suggested the county build and keep an unrestricted general fund balance equal to at least three months of regular expenses.
Based on finances, this three-month threshold would require a fund balance of approximately $33 million, county Budget/Finance Division Head Mary Roselle has said, emphasizing the target is fluid because operating expenses fluctuate from year to year.
The county is approaching that target because it ended 2024 with a $27 million fund balance, the outside auditor has said.
Councilman Harry Haas supported the concept after the administration verified it won’t seek tax increases for the purpose of increasing the fund balance.
Real estate
Council’s Real Estate Committee voted last week to advance the proposed sale listing of two county-owned properties to the full council for its consideration and possible approval.
The administration has suggested selling a commercial/office building in downtown Hazleton and a three-story brick structure on West Union Street in Wilkes-Barre that previously housed community development.
County Manager Romilda Crocamo told the committee the Hazleton property at 100 W. Broad St. is proposed for sale because inquiries were made by potential buyers.
Known as the Broad Street Business Exchange, that property is four stories with an attached wing and has been appraised at $2.1 million.
The county accepted ownership of the property in 2009 from the nonprofit Alliance to Revitalize Center City Hazleton because the property was headed for a delinquent tax auction. The nonprofit owners owed the county’s community development office more than $1.8 million in loans, which were at risk of remaining unpaid if the property was sold to the highest tax sale bidder.
Those community development loans remain as liens on the property, which means net proceeds from a sale would have to be applied toward the loans, officials said.
Tenants in the 44,480-square-foot structure include Luzerne County Community College, a coffee shop and a law firm.
The three-story brick Wilkes-Barre structure at 54 W. Union St. is vacant and should be sold because the county has no government use for it, Crocamo told the committee. Its appraised market value is $373,000.
If a council majority opts to list the properties, it would have to set up a format for prospective buyers to submit offers.
Penn State Extension
The Penn State Extension is holding a public demonstration in the county courthouse from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday to showcase work its educators are performing throughout the county.
Each educator will host a display table featuring program highlights and educational materials demonstrating the impact of Extension programs in agriculture, youth development, nutrition, community engagement and other areas.