Luzerne County Council members Chris Belles and Joanna Bryn Smith announced Monday they filed complaints over closed-door meetings of the commission that recommends opioid settlement fund awards to County Council for its consideration.
Created by council in 2023, the seven-member commission had taken the position that its meetings were not public based on court case law because it is advisory and not a decision-making body. However, it agreed to meet publicly, starting with its April 1 meeting, after several council members challenged that interpretation.
Belles and Bryn Smith both filed private criminal complaints against County Councilman John Lombardo, who has been filling a council-appointed seat on the commission.
Belles also filed a private complaint against County Manager Romilda Crocamo, who serves as commission chair.
The complaints were filed with Magisterial District Judge Thomas F. Malloy Sr. in Wilkes-Barre, and Bryn Smith said Malloy then forwarded them to County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce. The DA can approve or deny them, but Bryn Smith said he may recuse himself because the DA also serves on the commission.
Sanguedolce said Monday evening he cannot comment because he has not received the complaints and would first need to review them.
Lombardo said he has not been served and has been following the advice of legal counsel as a commission member on whether the meetings had to be public.
“It just sounds like a political stunt, which is sad, because there are people’s lives that are hanging in the balance when it comes to this money,” Lombardo said.
Crocamo, who is also an attorney, said she has not been served and has no comment at this time. She has expressed confidence that case law permitted the commission to meet privately.
The commission had been open about its decision to meet privately in the past, which is why it had held periodic public town halls to brief citizens on its work and obtain public input.
Bryn Smith said a PA Sunshine Act violation would amount to a summary offense in Pennsylvania.
She released this statement about filing the complaint against Lombardo:
“It is the responsibility of every elected official to bring transparency and accountability to government. These are the values I ran on, and these values were why the voters elected me. In fact, we were all elected because the people wanted to see more accountability and transparency in Luzerne County’s government. Councilman John Lombardo has not held up his end of the bargain,” she wrote.
Bryn Smith, an attorney, maintained the closed meetings were a breach of the Sunshine Act and also, “most egregiously, a breach of the public’s trust.”
Belles said in his statement that he promised to “handle the people’s business with transparency” when he sought the council seat last year.
“The moment the new Democratic majority County Council discovered the lack of oversight and secret OMAAC meetings, we didn’t just talk — we acted. Transparency isn’t a suggestion; in this case, it is the law,” his statement said.
Belles said he filed the complaint against Crocamo as chair and Lombardo as the council’s lone representative because “hiding government business is a betrayal of public trust.”
“Our neighbors deserve to know that there are ‘good guys’ in office who aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo and ensure that their voice is heard. The residents and taxpayers of Luzerne County need to know that we have their backs,” his statement said.
The commission also includes a council-appointed citizen, the county drug and alcohol director, the human services division head, and the correctional services division head.
