Four years ago, incumbent Luzerne County Controller Michelle Bednar fought off challenger Walter Griffith.
Griffith had cordially congratulated Bednar on election night while stressing his loss was not a landslide. The final November 2017 general election tally was 24,470 votes for Bednar and 20,621 for Griffith.
Tuesday’s general election is their rematch, and both continue to insist their approach and style is what’s best for the county controller’s office — and, ultimately, taxpayers.
As Bednar, a Democrat, has stated in her campaign speeches: “The job of the controller or any other public figure is to get things done for the people of Luzerne County in the most economical way possible. It is not to get yourself on the front page or embarrass people for your own benefit.”
Republican Griffith’s assessment: “I get the fact that she’s quiet and doesn’t want to cause controversy, but that is not the role of the controller. If everything is working fine in the county, that’s great, but it is not. Watchdogs sometimes cause controversy.”
Both were unopposed in the May 18 primary. Bednar received 21,239 votes from her party, while Griffith secured 19,341 from his.
The controller is paid $64,999 annually to be the “independent watchdog over county fiscal and management activities” under the county’s home rule charter that took effect in January 2012. It gives the controller authority to conduct audits of any county department, authority, board or commission and latitude to perform a wide range of reviews, including fiscal, performance, management, contract and compliance audits.
Bednar has a $271,553 budget this year and a staff of four — a deputy controller and three auditors.
Bednar
A 55-year-old Conyngham Township resident, Bednar was first elected controller in 2013 and is seeking one final, four-year term, which is the max under the charter’s three-term limit.
Bednar said she has “learned and accomplished a lot” the past eight years.
While the staff is “considerably smaller” compared to other counties, the team here works cohesively and has been trained to perform audits in-house, she said. Bednar said she does not hire outside auditing companies due to the cost.
Before becoming controller, Bednar said she worked more than 25 years in the finance and securities investments field and served five years as an elected township tax collector.
“As long as I can remember, I have always enjoyed working with numbers and researching items,” Bednar said.
The controller’s primary function is auditing accounts and transactions involving county funds, she said.
As some examples of how the office has positively impacted the community under her leadership, Bednar said it identified and recovered more than $13,000 in hotel tax underpayments to the county, discovered numerous discrepancies in dental insurance processing and pinpointed $12,600 in rollback interest penalties over-reported to the state. The office also halted the practice of some residents improperly receiving multiple homestead tax credits, which led to the return of more than $204,000, she said.
All audits performed by the office are posted online on the controller’s page at luzernecounty.org.
The office also set up a confidential phone and email tool for employees and the public to report questionable activity. She’s also creating training classes for the county’s 69 elected tax collectors focusing on proper procedures.
Griffith
A 67-year-old Kingston Township resident, Griffith is midway through a county council term but said he wants to return to the controller seat because he would have expansive access to records and freedom to examine and highlight concerns.
He had served as controller 2010 until 2013. He resigned that year as part of a plea agreement for allegedly recording two phone calls related to office matters and a closed-door executive session without permission of the parties involved. He said he made a mistake in his efforts to fight for the people, and voters subsequently elected him to council in 2019.
A semi-retired former auto repair business owner, Griffith said he has proven his commitment to pore over records and press for explanations.
He cites the county Transportation Authority audit as an example, saying he read the entire document and publicly pointed out his discovery that volunteer board members were receiving life insurance. The authority board later voted to end the practice as a result.
His list of matters he believes warrant examination is ever-growing and includes procedural reviews “on how county functions.”
“The controller’s power is to identify problems, and if the manager won’t fix them, we need to point it out to council so it can take action,” Griffith said. “The controller is the only independent voice that people have on their government under home rule.”
An active participant in many county government meetings, Griffith said he is “very curious” and enjoys “making sure government functions properly.”
He said he is non-partisan and has challenged matters involving those in his own party.
“I’m an equal opportunity, good government person,” Griffith said, noting he also had a hotline for complaints when he was controller.