Election board seats might be filled next week citizensvoice.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from citizensvoice.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Luzerne County Council will hold a special meeting Tuesday to discuss and possibly take action related to the appointment of Councilman Stephen J. Urban as chairman of the county board of elections.
Councilwoman Linda McClosky Houck proposed resolutions that would declare vacant the election board seats held by Urban and the two board members who voted to appoint him chairman on Wednesday: Joyce Dombroski-Gebhardt and Keith Gould. All three are Republicans.
Board member Audrey Serniak, a Democrat, voted no on Urbanâs appointment.
Dombroski-Gebhardt and Gould âwillfullyâ violated sections of the county charter when they voted to make Urban chairman, which is grounds for their seats to be vacated, Houck alleges.
There is still no consensus on what to do if state and county regulations conflict.
The election board discussed but did not vote on an agenda item stating that state law would supersede the county charter and administrative code, when a conflict arises.
Board member Keith Gould noted there is âconstant conflict between the charter and state law.â
In those cases, the election board and other officials should always defer to state law, Gould said.
Board Vice Chairman Peter Ouellette said board members âneed to remind ourselves that we do follow the laws.â
The board defers to the county office of law as âthe authorityâ in cases when state and county regulations appear to conflict, Ouellette said.
Luzerne County Manager David Pedri has suspended the search for a new county election director, after two applicants withdrew and two others did not pass muster with an interview panel
Luzerne County Manager David Pedri has suspended the search for a new county election director, after two applicants withdrew and two others did not pass muster with an interview panel