Luzerne County’s study commission approved a final charter proposal recommending council downsizing, term limits, and stronger ethics rules for the November ballot.
The commission members voted in favor of approving the new changes and cleared the path for potential adoption of the rules on the Nov. 4 election day. Among those in support were Chairman Ted Ritsick and Vice Chairman Vito Malacari, while the commission Treasurer Cindy Malkemes voted against the charter. Commission members held a series of long negotiations prior to voting, where Secretary Stephen J. Urban highlighted the clear improvement over the previous charter that was approved in 2012.
Among the charter’s changes is an effort to give more power to council members, who function as the officials tasked with determining how a county proceeds after elections. The bipartisan commission – which was comprised of four Democrats and three Republicans – was able to find common ground in several areas, including a home rule structure that would help dictate the county’s future. A home rule gives local governments and county commissions autonomy from the larger state government. The original home rule charter that Luzerne County was functioning from had remained unchanged for almost 15 years.
Some were less enthusiastic about the proposed changes, including Councilmember Mark Shaffer, who said he remained concerned about the possibility of the charter opening up the ability for elected officials to be part of the county’s election board. Shaffer highlighted keeping elected officials off the county election board as his primary reason for running to be part of the commission, and the clause of the new charter convinced him to vote no.
“I am really concerned about the ability of the council to change how the board of elections is structured. I worry they will use it to change elected officials, specifically members of council on the board of election,” Shaffer said after the vote. “We write charters protecting against the worst, and so I’m looking at what the worst can be.”
Chairman Ted Ritsick also spoke after the vote, highlighting some of the strong changes that made him support the charter. He commended the rest of the commission on coming up with documentation that allowed the commission to “learn from the past and adapt for the future.” Ritsick was joined by all but two of the highest-ranking members of the commission in his support for the proposed changes.
“We’ve made county government more streamlined and efficient by reducing council size down to nine, requiring a mandatory reserve fund and tightening controls amid year spending. We’ve made the county government more accountable by adding protections for whistleblowers and penalizing intimidating, piloted the citizen majority ethics commission and strengthened the commission’s role and reported obligations,” said Ritsick. He also touted the benefits to the budget that would come from the reduced council size of nine members.
The final vote, which took place Monday at 6 p.m., was the last hurdle before the charter is placed on the ballot on November 4th. At final vote, the Luzerne County charter passed by a vote count of 4-2, with one member voting not present.
