Luzerne County Council Vice Chairman Brian Thornton blasts campaign mailer

Luzerne County Council Vice Chairman Brian Thornton said a recent campaign mailer put out by the county Democratic Party in the council race contains “intentional disinformation.”

“I am the first to acknowledge that politics is a dirty game, and one needs to have thick skin to stay in the game. However, every one of us on both sides of the aisle should rebuke rhetoric which clearly crosses the line when blatant lies are being disseminated in written form to the public,” Thornton said.

The mailer, which he said was sent to 50,000 voters, repeatedly calls Thornton a “fat cat” and says he “did nothing” and is “costing taxpayers millions.”

Here are the three mailer assertions made, along with Thornton’s response and some background based on past reporting:

• Claim: “Brian Thornton did NOTHING to help the Water Street Bridge in Pittston — the bridge is now closed.”

Thornton: “That bridge was permanently closed by PennDOT PRIOR to my election to county council. Immediately after my election, I submitted several plans to PennDOT which would reopen the bridge on a limited basis to light traffic or at least to pedestrians. But all my plans were rejected. In the end PennDOT took control of that bridge and offered to pay for its reconstruction, thereby SAVING county taxpayers between $40-45 million.”

Background: Officially named the Firefighters’ Memorial Bridge, the county-owned Susquehanna River crossing which links Pittston and West Pittston closed in August 2021 due to concerns over a bent eye bar. Thornton started serving on county council in January 2022. PennDOT had agreed to assume responsibility for replacing the county bridge because it is part of a bridge bundling that also will replace the nearby state-owned Spc. Dale J. Kridlo Bridge (Fort Jenkins) Bridge.

• Claim: “Brian Thornton dragged his feet and said NO to $55 million in state funding to fix the West Nanticoke Bridge — the bridge is now more expensive than ever and closed.”

Thornton: “I never said no to state funding. That would be idiotic. But I did oppose the $55 million loan which the county Redevelopment Authority needed to borrow with our county as co-signer. That is an enormous amount of borrowed money to force our taxpayers to repay should the Redevelopment Authority ever default on its loan. The loan was approved nonetheless, and the project moved forward without any delay. Since then, we on county council secured an additional $10 million from the state to address the rapid inflation since the COVID pandemic.”

Background: A council majority voted in September 2022 to provide a loan guarantee needed to create a new $55 million casino gambling fund to pay for county-owned infrastructure projects, including work addressing the deteriorated county-owned Nanticoke/West Nanticoke Bridge over the Susquehanna River.

Under legislation pushed by former state Sen. John Yudichak, this loan will be repaid with $3 million provided annually for 25 years from the casino-gambling Local Share Account (LSA). As required in the legislation, the county redevelopment authority handled the borrowing.

A council majority had voted to provide the loan guarantee, in the unlikely event that casino revenue ceases, because the redevelopment authority agreed to limit use of the borrowed funds to county-owned infrastructure. The state has been forwarding $3 million to the redevelopment authority. Thornton was among three council members voted against the guarantee.

The county closed the bridge on March 20 after engineers performing an inspection found further deterioration and section loss of primary, load-carrying components.

In addition to the casino gambling fund, the county received $10 million in federal funding allocated through the state for this project.

County council voted in August to hire Modjeski and Masters Inc. as the engineer to develop three replacement options — a step necessary because federal funding is involved, officials have said.

• Claim: “Brian Thornton pushed to hire his buddy as county manager, who left town with a county pension after less than a year on the job.”

Thornton: “Prior to my election to County Council, the previous sitting county council appointed an independent committee consisting of private citizens to do a search for a new county manager. That panel submitted three candidates whom they recommended for the job to the new council body, which included me. Our council then voted to hire the individual from Kentucky to the county manager position. No one on council, including myself, had ever heard of this person prior. During his short tenure on the job, I abhorred his performance and told him so on multiple occasions. On the vote to award him a small pension, I voted NO. He certainly was no buddy of mine.”

Background: Citing a state law requirement, four of five county Retirement Board members had voted in January 2023 to approve a $191.68 monthly pension for former manager Randy Robertson. Robertson automatically qualified for a pension after a little over five months on the job because he was 68 at that time. The state’s county pension law — Act 96 — requires a pension to be provided to departing workers over age 60 regardless of how long they’ve worked for the county, officials had said.

Thornton voted as a retirement board member against Robertson’s pension. Thornton had been among the council members strongly supporting Robertson’s hiring as top manager, but later expressed displeasure over Robertson’s performance.

Party response

County Democratic Party Chairman Thomas Shubilla provided this comment about the mailer Tuesday: “It was a piece approved by labor representatives, and we stand by the piece that we put together. We feel that Brian Thornton has been wasting taxpayer dollars.”

Shubilla said the Democratic council candidates were not involved in the mailer.

County voters will select five county council members in the Nov. 4 general election, and there are 10 contenders. The candidates: Democrats Chris Belles, Steven M. Coslett, Tony Perzia, Dawn Simmons, and Denise Williams, and Republicans John Lombardo, Jackie Scarcella, Thornton, Stephen J. Urban, and Greg Wolovich.

The mailer came up during public comment at Tuesday night’s county council meeting.

County Controller Walter Griffith said the Democratic Party owes Thornton an apology, emphasizing Thornton generated millions of dollars in new revenue for the county by pushing for higher interest earnings on county funds.

Griffith said he has no problem with campaign mailers if they are factual. He said he is not close to Thornton, even though they are both Republicans, but does not want to see someone lose an election due to false information.

“If you want to put hit pieces out, at least have the decency to make sure they are true,” Griffith said.

Williams said she does not approve of negative campaigns and had no involvement in the mailer.

“I am very disappointed in it as well,” she said of the mailer.

County Manager Romilda Crocamo also spoke at the podium, saying she has always been a proud Democrat but believes the mailer about Thornton is “not the Democratic party that represents me.”

“Shame on them,” Crocamo said. “It was hateful, and it was filled with misinformation.”

She apologized to Thornton “on behalf of the political party that I am a member of.”