ARCHBALD - Petitioners in the battle to place a government study commission review of the Home Rule Charter on the Lackawanna County ballot in May will take the next step today by presenting a petition in motions court at 9 a.m.
Attorney Frank Ruggiero, counsel for study proponent Chuck Volpe, addressed more than 100 supporters at Sebastianelli's Restaurant on Thursday night, saying attorneys also would ask the court to set a hearing date to address the validity of the more than 2,700 signatures gathered and presented to the county in favor of the study.
The requested hearing would address the question of whether both the petitioners' referendum and the county commissioners' proposal to eliminate elections for four row offices can be on the ballot in May, Mr. Ruggiero said.
On Tuesday, the county commissioners approved an ordinance to let primary election voters decide the fate of the register of wills, recorder of deeds and clerk of judicial records and make the office of sheriff an appointed position, causing them to remove themselves from the Board of Elections.
"We're going to kick their butts in court, kick their butts because the law is on our side," Mr. Volpe said in an animated speech behind the restaurant bar. "The mission is we're not forcing anything on anybody. We're going to let the voters decide."
The group needs to present 3,490 signatures by Feb. 19 for the Home Charter Study referendum to end up on the ballot, Mr. Volpe said. From there, individuals interested in running for the seven-person study commission would have from Feb. 19 to March 12 to garner 200 signatures and file a petition to have their names added to the ballot.
Mr. Volpe said the commission would review the charter, which could lead to a new form of government. He told the crowd he envisioned a system structured around a single, elected county executive and a part-time county council, although the commission would not be required to adopt that form of government.
Mr. Volpe said he'd be in favor of consolidating the recorder of deeds, clerk of judicial records and the register of wills into one elected person, while keeping sheriff as an elected office.
The insurance executive said at the gathering he had no intention of running for county executive should the referendum be passed in May, however he would seek a seat on the seven-person government study commission.
Old Forge resident Laureen Cummings said she's frustrated with the current commissioners but thinks caution should be taken in choosing a county executive and council form of government like the one in Luzerne County, which she thinks is failing. "It's great to see all these people finally waking up," Ms. Cummings said.
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Judges serve as election board
A trio of Common Pleas Court judges will serve as the Lackawanna County Board of Elections this year.
President Judge Thomas Munley on Thursday appointed himself and Judges Vito Geroulo and Terrence Nealon to the board for the 2013 election cycle.
The county commissioners, who act as the election board in most years, stepped aside Wednesday because of the expected appearance of one or more referendums dealing with the county Home Rule Charter on the May 21 primary ballot.
Under state law, the president judge is required to appoint a new election board to replace the commissioners when a question related to the adoption or amendment of a county charter is on the ballot.