Citizens have one more opportunity to apply for Luzerne County board vacancies

Citizens will have one more opportunity to apply for vacant board seats before Luzerne County Council votes on the lion’s share of appointments Jan. 27, council Chairman Jimmy Sabatino said Wednesday.

Applicants must complete a public interview to be placed on the eligibility list for appointment consideration.

Sabatino said approximately a dozen citizens applied after the last public interview session on Dec. 8, warranting scheduling of another round of interviews on Jan. 20 to ensure nobody is excluded.

Others interested in being appointed should apply by Jan. 16, or the Friday preceding the Jan. 20 interviews, he said. Applications are posted in the council’s authorities, boards, and commissions section at luzernecounty.org.

Openings include two seats — a registered Republican and Democrat — on the county’s five-citizen election board, which is a high-profile independent body that oversees election procedures, makes determinations on flagged ballots and write-in votes, and certifies election results.

Four citizens are currently on the eligibility list for the election board — Republicans Roxanne Arreguin and Mark Robinson, and Democrats Al Flora and Audrey Serniak.

Several other boards already have more applicants than openings, including the traditionally popular Luzerne County Community College Board of Trustees (three openings, six applicants) and the County Convention Center Authority, which oversees the Mohegan Arena in Wilkes-Barre Township (two openings, five applicants), according to the latest eligibility list posted at luzernecounty.org.

In the meantime, the council is set to vote on Tuesday to start filling seats on a few boards that have more openings than applicants, including the Conservation District Board of Directors and the Forty Fort Airport Advisory Board, Sabatino said. Additional seats on these boards will then be filled as applicants surface, he said.

Council reps

Also during Tuesday’s meeting, Council members will select a council representative on several boards, including the Wilkes-Barre Riverfront Parks Committee and the board that oversees the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport in Pittston Township, which is jointly operated by Luzerne and Lackawanna counties.

The council must also select its representative on the county Retirement Board, which oversees the employee pension fund.

As the new chairman, Sabatino also has a seat on the bi-county airport board and retirement board unless he chooses to name a council designee in his place.

Sabatino said he will accept his seat on the bi-county airport board, but has not decided if he will serve or appoint a designee on the retirement board.

Sabatino said he will support the appointment of Councilman John Lombardo to continue serving on the retirement board, saying Lombardo’s “experience would be invaluable.”

Committee assignments

Sabatino also informed his colleagues this week of several council committee assignments he has made as chair.

Democrats Chris Belles, Steve Coslett, Dawn Simmons, and Denise Williams were seated on Monday, along with Republican Lombardo, who was re-elected. They are serving alongside six members who have two years remaining in their current terms: Democrats Sabatino, Vice Chairwoman Brittany Stephenson, Joanna Bryn Smith, and Patty Krushnowski, and Republicans Harry Haas and LeeAnn McDermott.

Sabatino’s committee assignments:

• Authorities, Boards and Commissions: Stephenson (chair), Williams (vice chair), and Lombardo

• Act 13 (oversees natural gas recreation funding): Krushnowski (chair), Coslett (vice chair), and Haas

• Budget, Finance and Audit: Belles (chair), Haas (vice chair), and Bryn Smith

• Real Estate: Simmons (chair), McDermott (vice chair,) and Stephenson

• Legislative: Stephenson (chair), Lombardo (vice chair,) and Sabatino

Sabatino said he is proposing a restructuring of other council committees that must be approved by the council before he can assign members.