A one-year “cooling off period” for Luzerne County elected officials and board members was debated during Thursday’s Government Study Commission meeting.
The seven-citizen commission has been meeting regularly to assess potential county home rule charter changes and aims to place its proposal on the November 2025 ballot. Voters will then decide whether to switch to the new structure or keep the system in effect since January 2012.
For background, the current charter prohibits county council, the district attorney and controller from the following for one year after leaving office:
• Appointment to a county authority, board or commission.
• County employment.
• Employment or compensation by any individual or business that served as a contractor to the county or its boards during the time the elected official served.
• Paid consulting for the county or its boards.
The last three prohibitions apply to citizens serving on county boards and commissions. In addition, members of the election board and tax assessment appeals board are barred from appointment to any county board for a year.
Elected officials
Vito Malacari, Study Commission vice chairman, said he would remove the one-year restriction on elected officials serving on county boards because their experience could be valuable. However, he believes it is imperative that the other safeguards on county employment and paid consulting remain in place.
Commission Secretary Ted Ritsick agreed that former elected officials should be permitted to serve on boards because they have institutional knowledge.
Member Matt Mitchell said the county sometimes struggles to find applicants for boards, prompting him to conclude the gains of eliminating the elected official barrier outweigh any negatives.
Member Stephen J. Urban concurred, saying prior elected officials should not be restricted from serving on boards.
Commission Treasurer Cindy Malkemes and member Mark Shaffer said they are still on the fence about eliminating the one-year ban for appointments to boards.
Malacari pressed for other opinions on whether the ban on county employment and consulting should remain in effect.
Urban said elected officials leaving office may have a skill set needed in the county and questioned if they “deserve to be pushed aside for someone else” if they are the most qualified for a position and could “hit the ground running.”
Commission Chairman Tim McGinley said he believes it is “very important to have a separation” through the one-year ban because the public would question if the prior elected office was the reason that person immediately “jumped over.” A cooling off “separates you from the previous spot.”
Ritsick said he sees both sides — the benefits of hiring someone knowledgeable about county government and the negative public perception of possible political influence.
He questioned whether a compromise could require a council majority-plus-one to confirm the county’s hiring of a former elected official for any position within a year of their leaving office.
McGinley said he fears that option would add complexity and not be perceived positively by the public.
Mitchell said he does not support eliminating the employment and consulting ban due to the “optics.” Even if there are good intentions and the elected official would be the most qualified person, permitting such a hiring could be viewed as a negative by the public, he said.
Boards
Regarding boards, Ritsick said he does not believe advisory board members should be subject to the one-year restrictions because they have no power to enter into contracts and only make recommendations.
Shaffer and Malkemes said they agree with that distinction.
Malacari supported the proposal but said restrictions should be kept for all other boards “to avoid any potential pitfalls.”
But Ritsick said some other boards should be considered along with advisory boards. He cited the county Planning Commission as an example, saying it does not approve contracts. This commission approves or denies land development and major subdivision applications. Ritsick said there are not many professionals involved in planning in this region, and he does not believe any experienced board members should be precluded from seeking a position in the county planning office if they resign.
McGinley said he did not support that idea but asked Ritsick to put his proposal in writing for further discussion.
Maps
The commission will publicly post draft maps as part of its review of options to keep county council seats at large, switch to election by regional districts, or adopt a hybrid of both options.
Ritsick said the initial maps will show potential layouts of three, four, five and seven districts and include the number of registered voters and their political party affiliations, total population and municipalities in each zone.
He has emphasized these maps are solely for research purposes because extensive due diligence is required before the panel reaches a decision on the matter.
The posting will be under the commission page at luzernecounty.org, accessible through a commission banner on the main page.
The commission plans to discuss the maps at its next meeting Feb. 6.