The Luzerne County Board of Elections will choose a new chairperson this week â which might end the recent turnover among county election officials.
The selection will follow public interviews of three citizens who applied for the chairperson position, at a special meeting of the board at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
County council appoints four of the five members of the election board, which certifies the results of county elections. Council appoints two members from each of the major political parties, as stipulated by the county charter.
Those four members then appoint a fifth member, of any political affiliation, to serve as chairperson.
Luzerne County Council declared the position of county district attorney vacant on Tuesday, after longtime District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis filed to run for a seat on the county court of common pleas.
The county charter requires council to declare a vacancy if a district attorney files a nominating petition for another office, said Councilwoman Linda McClosky Houck, who proposed a resolution to declare the seat vacant.
Council voted 6-3 to approve the resolution.
Tim McGinley, Robert Schnee, Sheila Saidman, LeeAnn McDermott, Harry Haas and Houck voted yes.
Stephen J. Urban, Walter Griffith and Kendra Radle voted no.
Chris Perry and Matthew Vough abstained. Perry said his son-in-law is an assistant district attorney, while Voughâs father is county President Judge Michael T. Vough.
Fallout from the recent controversy over Luzerne County Councilman Stephen J. Urban’s appointment as chairman of the county board of elections might continue at Tuesday’s county council meeting.
The squabble between the Republican members of the Luzerne County Board of Elections and other county officials continued over the weekend, as county council prepares to vote whether to declare
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.