2013 ELECTION PREVIEW
Tuesday is Election Day and here are my thoughts on the big day in LuLac land. First off, since I’ve been accused of not covering enough Lac in the LuLac, let me start there.
SCRANTON MAYOR’S RACE
Bill Courtright vs. Jim Mulligan. Courtright won the primary fast and pretty convincingly over Liz Randol. Courtright stumbled early on when he was delinquent on a rental fee but made up ground fast. His signs are everywhere in Scranton and if he just holds on to his primary votes, he has a good base to build on. There is no convincing evidence that he has done anything to damage that base. To use a baseball analogy, he’s ahead 7 to 0 in the 6th inning.Jim Mulligan entered the race late because the Scranton City GOP ran two weak nominees. The guy who won resigned. (I won’t even print his name because it would be a waste of time and a reminder of just how he wasted the time of whatever is left of the GOP in Scranton, a party that by the way won 7 of the 13 Mayoral races in the last fifty years!) made it almost impossible for anyone to fill the void. But presto, just like that a Scranton Attorney with a history of unpaid bills and a sob story enters the race. Mulligan’s first mistake was to go on the Steve Corbett Show woefully unprepared. Then stories surfaced about not paying garbage feels and a few other things. Mulligan cited a near fatal accident as to the reason why he was in arrears.
The race in Scranton comes down to two candidates that have some flaws. It appears though that Bill Courtright has less personal baggage. So he should win a walk right? Maybe. The Scranton Times has endorsed Mulligan and it is being rumored that the Chamber of Commerce business types are pushing Mulligan very hard. My question has to be why? Why would a Chamber of Commerce that has done nothing to bring in livable wage jobs support a deadbeat to run a distressed city? Unless they think a guy who has skated his bills can do the same for the city? Really? That may come as a surprise to some LuLac readers who have seen many press releases from the Mulligan camp on this site. My thought process was everyone knew Courtright and as a nod to a party in Scranton that was pretty much left with a stinking heap of crap in August, well I wanted to give their nominal candidate at least some recognition. Let’s just hope Mulligan paid this poor sucker down in Virginia who is handling his media in advance. Mulligan will make race of it but Courtright wins.
LUZERNE COUNTY CONTROLLER
This is a battle of contrasts. Michelle Bednar, Democrat, younger, financial background, tons of party support from the higher-ups, a built in base of voters from the tax collectors, a registration edge in the County and promising stability and no theatrics as Controller.On the other hand, Carolee Medico Olenginski was tabbed late to run by the Luzerne County GOP because of Walter Griffith’s wiretap problems. Medico Olenginski has a core base of supporters that would walk on nails for her on Election Day. She began her political career as a voice in the wilderness saying the county Judiciary was a connected club and most likely corrupt. She was deemed a nut because she had no proof. But that proof arrived a few years after and her suspicions were vindicated. One still cannot discount the distrust of people even a few years after the Judicial convictions. Plus Medico Olenginski has two terms as Prothonotary under her belt and has proven she can win a County wide election. Despite Bednar’s war chest and endorsements, I believe there are enough disaffected Democrats, die hard Republicans, people who want her tenacity and openness to either preserve the charter or blow it up and former Controller Walter Griffith loyalists forming a coalition to put her over the top.
LUZERNE COUNTY COUNCIL
What started out as an unexciting race has turned into a donnybrook worthy of old time Luzerne County politics. This is the first time a Council has been up for reelection under the new charter. The people who are the incumbents are in a dangerous position. Unlike the old days in the County, all they have to stand on is their record. And with that record was a tax increase and the hiring of a Manager who has not endeared himself to the General Public. Plus there is a 436 million dollar debt. That debt came from previous Commissioners. Yet with that knowledge, there are voters saying we should scrap this form of government. I mean that’s crazy. That’s like after divorcing your first wife for trying to kill you with a knife, saying to your new wife who is rebuilding the wreckage of your life, that your tired of eating with plastic silverware. The second wife is trying to rebuild trust and fix the problem but you want to go back to the old ways!The incumbents are in a bind because they did raise taxes. Rick Williams, Harry Haas, Gene Kelleher and Linda McCloskey Hauck have to defend that. What most people forget is that there should have been a bigger increase from the get go. The County has no credit rating and can’t even refinance. While the challengers have good points, one must wonder what they would have done in the same position.
The challengers, Mike Giamber, Renee Ciarfrulli Taffera, Richard Hefron, Eileen Sorokas on the Democratic side and Paul DeFabo, Kahty Dobash, and Sue Rossi have been running individually and collectively. Councilman Ed Brominski has staked his political juice on the Accountability team of Giamber, Sorokus, Taffera and Heffron. McCloskey Hauck is backed by her Council incumbents who are not running as well as labor support. The GOP has not been running as a slate with Haas and Kelleher getting flack from their own party, DeFabo calling for no taxes, Dobash calling for more transparency and no taxes and Sue Rossi doing the same.
There is no party structure to guarantee votes for anyone. Whether that will help or hurt depends on who wins on Tuesday. The ironic thing about the Council race is that the stakes are big. If any group gets a majority, the next two years in County government will be explosive. And the sad part is only 25% to 30% of the people will light the match that makes the explosion!
PITTSTON AREA DISTRICT JUSTICE RACE
There is a big race in the Greater Piitston Area for the District Justice race. Two Attorneys, Alexandra Kokura and Gerard Mecadon are running for the seat. Both are attorneys and pouring tons of money into the race. And the stakes are high. Both know that the two previous Attorneys who held the position went on to become Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judges. The District Justice seat has been a launching pad for Judicial candidates. Only one Attorney who ran for Judge from a District Justice race in Luzerne County failed to get a seat on the higher court. (The late Michael Collins of Wilkes Barre). That’s why these two are battling it out. Kokura won the Democratic nomination by a scant eight votes. Mecadon took the GOP nomination. Koukua has a lot going for her. She’s young, talented, sincere, has connected with people, has a smart ad campaign and has been a trial master. She also got the endorsement of the Wilkes Barre Citizen’s Voice citing her positive presentation as well as her qualifications. That District holds a 5 to 1 registration for Democrats. Most see this as a cakewalk.I don’t. Here’s why.
District Justice nominations garnered by a member of an opposite party can sometimes provide a candidate a second chance. William Amesbury won the GOP nomination with less than 500 votes in his race with Kathy O’Donnell to succeed the late Michael Collins in 2001. He went on to win in the General Election.
In 1971 Representative James Musto passed away and the Luzerne County Democratic committee named Third District Chair Roscoe Mulcahy to carry the Democratic nod in the general election snubbing Musto’s son Ray. Mulcahy had a lot gong for him. He had powerful friends, he was a popular milkman who knew everyone and seemed to have it in the bag.
But then young Ray Musto got a nomination on the GOP ticket, beating Mulcahy in a Special Election and went on to the State House, the U.S. Congress and the State Senate. I’m going to be blunt here. The Italian vote in the Greater Pittston Ara will go for Mecadon overwhelmingly. He has the powerful and loyal backing of his own. Power brokers are on his side too.
For most observers, Kokura has it in the bag. I think this will be closer than people think because in politics in Luzerne County, and especially Pittston, sometimes it is instructive to look at the history before you start predicting the future.
WILKES BARRE SCHOOL BOARD
Very simple. Ned Evans former District employee vs Kathy Grinaway a widowed, working mother who has worked in the private sector all her life. Grinaway has presented herself well, Evans I’m told has not. People have told me there is nothing wrong with have former School District employees on a School Board. I agree. But you don’t want all of them to make a majority. Already political insiders are calling it “The Coaches Club”. That is just so wrong for the district. Plus look at how this district was asleep at the wheel when Attorney Anthony Lupus overcharged for professional services. They thought that was okay.This new crew is telling you school employees have a better understanding of what the district needs. Ned Evans has said he wants to meet face to face with prospective candidates. Why not judge resumes on anonymous merit? Well, then maybe a board wouldn't get to hire a Mayor’s brother for another job on the taxpayer dime or a State Representative’s son in law as a Curriculum Specialist. Or having qualified minority employee candidates teaching in the Lehigh Valley instead of in the Wilkes Barre Araa School District where kids are getting cut up by machetes outside their school buildings!
I have no trouble with educators being on a school board. As a matter of fact two educators served on the Wilkes Barre Area School Board with great distinction. Dr. Anthony Mussari and Dr. Tom O’Donnell served well. They knew their stuff. I’m sorry, Joe Caffrey, Denise Thomas and Ned Evans are no Mussari or O’Donnell. It’s time to put a new set of eyes on the board.
Caffrey, Thomas and Christine Katsock have double nominations. Gort 42 has made a big deal out of the fact that there are separate Katsock and Grinaway signs in the election. As well there should be. Katsock has a double and should be scared to death she will be cut by the old boys Democratic club. She is not one of them. That’s why her signs are out.
Grinaway signs are out because she has to win on her own with Republican and Democratic support. It is a race between Grinaway and Evans. It’s that simple.
PALM CARDS------DO THEY HELP?
How about those palm cards you get on Election Day? Do they help or hurt? My late uncle Timmy Pribula who served on School Boards in the 60s and 80s in Wyoming Area thought they helped. Even convinced me to print some up for a Student Government Election at St. John’s in Pittston. Mrs. LuLac eschews them but I keep them as a gesture of respect to those people wanting to be involved for whatever their motives while 70% of the other lazy idiots that live here sit on their asses drinking Keystone Light and watching “Duck Dynasty”. Watching it twice!Like chicken soup with cold, “They couldn’t hurt”.
As for my votes on Tuesday, I’m sure of two. This is not a Lulac endorsement, I only endorsed one person in seven years. This is just what I’m thinking. I’ve known Eileen Sorokas and her husband Rich for 33 years. I played in a softball league with Rick and he was always fair with my woeful team in terms of scheduling, organization and rules. Eileen has been involved in this stuff for years and could easily have been one of the naysayers when the Charter replaced the Commissioner form of government. She took binders and studied it to better represent voters if she got elected. Her heart, mind and spirit are in the right place.
For School Director I’m voting for Kathy Grinaway. Just met her in ’11 when she ran the first time. But I’ve seen her for years. Almost every Saturday or Sunday I’d see Kathy, her husband and their two kids in church. At Christmas time I remembered her husband always wore a red sweater that could compete with any Christmas light dangling from the telephone wires on Carey Street In Plains. Years went by and the kids got older and the guy in the red sweater passed away. During her Spring primary campaign, I was in no condition to go anywhere but I did vote for her then. My interest was just on the periphery until I did a show with L.A. Tarone and he kept on talking about how a School Board Majority can do whatever they want if they had 5 votes. Tarone said they could take a gym teacher and have him or her teach French Literature if they had the votes. After the crap this district has pulled, the Lupus stuff, the Leighton hiring over qualified candidates, Lou Elmy trying to get his wife a job, I realize I wanted Kathy Grinaway as that fifth vote.
As of now, those are the two. This past campaign has been crazy for me as a blog operator. I’m in Brominski’s camp, I’m in Bobeck’s camp. I’m for this one, I’m for that one. All I’m doing is just writing and hopefully giving you something to think about. In the meantime, in the next 48 hours I got something to do. Think. As well readers of this site should do.Then make your choice and go vote.