A legal challenge in Lackawanna County more than 20 years ago might have set a precedent for how Luzerne Countyâs next district attorney will be appointed.
How to appoint the next district attorney is one of two questions that remain unresolved since longtime District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis announced she would run for a seat on the county court of common pleas in the May 18 primary.
Salavantis said she would resign as district attorney once she is certified as a candidate for judge, which she said will likely happen around March 24.
However, county council declared the position of district attorney vacant on March 9, since the county charter states a district attorney must resign if he or she files a nominating petition for another office.
Or better yet, let’s call it what it is: Utterly undemocratic.
County Election Board members Joyce Dombroski-Gebhardt and Keith Gould - both Republicans - made a mockery of their solemn duties and turned Luzerne County election governance into an autocratic, lawless troika of self-serving GOP wingnuts when they ignored advice of an attorney paid to guide them and appointed County Councilman Stephen J. Urban as new board chairman.
To be perfectly clear, this has absolutely nothing to do with which party these three scofflaws belong to. Their action, and their mealy-mouthed, hubris-filled justification for the unjustifiable, would be reprehensible regardless of political affiliation.