The LuLac Edition #2548, October 30th, 2013

TALKING IT UP  

The candidates for Luzerne County Controller as well as the 11 people vying for Luzerne County Council met at a forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters at Luzerne County Community College Attorney Christine McLaughlin moderated the gathering and the event ran on time.
Candidates were asked to say a few words about themselves but couldn’t help themselves from launching into their platform. It always astounds me that people who run for office sometimes have a difficult time talking about themselves. But all handled that task adequately.
The challengers in the County Council race, Mike Giamber, Renee Ciarfolli Taffera, Richard Heffron, Eileen Sorokas, Linda Rossi Paul DeFabo and Kathy Dobash went on the offensive citing the failings of the fledgling form of government. The incumbents, Harry Haas, Rick Williams, Gene Kelleher and Linda McCloskey Hauck admitted that there were problems but that there was more problems facing the county then the budget. Harry Haas gave an impassioned plea saying that the County Council has taken incremental steps in getting the County out of the mess. Williams cited the cultural and social divides that enabled corruption to happen. McCloskey Hauck and Kelleher spoke of the debt as just one of the components a Council member had to deal with. Kelleher said that an entertainment assessment should be implemented throughout the county and that the money made from that would be dedicated to paying down the debt.
Giamber talked about a CEO who ran a company into the ground and how the board moved to make a change in order to have that company be more productive. Renee Ciaruffoli Taffera, said that any government, new or old had to be held accountable. Richard Heffron added that there had to be ways to gain more revenues that will pay down the debt. Heffron said that Luzerne County is the only county without a credit rating throughout the entire state. Paul DeFabo said that there should be no new taxes on an already over aged and overburdened population. Linda Rossi made some great points saying that with KOZ Zone giveaways and tax exceptions for businesses that contribute nothing to the county have driven our young people out of town. She said that other areas have benefited from our hard work throughout the years. Eileen Sorokas made the point that savings could be made through employee attrition and that it would be unfair to place a burden on taxpayers who were already paying more than their fair share. Kathy Dobash came out swinging against the current Council taking Gene Kelleher to task for voting to raise taxes and charging former Council Chair Jim Bobeck with intimidation of her at meetings. Dobash did speak to the issue of the debt.
In the Controller’s race, both Carolee Medico Olenginski and Michelle Bednar spoke. Medico Olenginski led off and stated the obvious: you know me. She spoke of her experience as well as the years fighting corruption bringing up the long forgotten Little Red Wagon debacle she exposed. Michelle Bednar touted her experience in the financial industry and said that she would be vigilant regarding taxpayer dollars.
But the big issue was the debt. And how this county is so far in the hole that there doesn’t seem to be a way out.
Prior to the meeting, I had a chat with former Commissioner Ed Brominski about how much money the county gives away in tax forgiveness. Republican Council member Gene Kelleher and I reminisced about the old Crossin and Wideman team of the 60s.
And as I sat in the beautiful Conference Center at the sprawling campus at LCCC, I realized the main frustration with the debt is this: WE HAVE NOTHING TO SHOW FOR IT!
We don’t have a regionalized County Police force to get rid of ten dollar an hour cops working twice a week in a tiny borough.
We don’t have a state of the art library system that is the envy of the state.
We don’t have an economic development team that goes out and gets jobs but rather gives county welfare to fat cat businessmen who toss us a few flat screens for 5 million buck.
We spent all this money and we got squat. That’s the frustration and that more than anything else will be the main reason why people vote.
All of the candidates did talk about the county employees in relatiion to the debt but no one addressed this issue. If the County workers are underpaid and overworked, maybe the reason why there are overworked is because they don’t put in a 40 hour week like the rest of us. You’d be surprised at how much less overworked you’d be if you put in a few more hours.
Other than that minor criticism, everyone did well. Now it is up to the individual candidates and their organizations to get the vote out.