Proposed charter would reduce Luzerne County Council from 11 to 9 at start of 2028
Voters currently elect council members on a rotating schedule of five or six every two years, and the next future election in 2027 would be a six-member selection.
Under the recommendation approved Thursday, voters will select four council members instead of six in 2027.
Commission Vice Chairman Vito Malacari was the lone commission member to vote against this plan. He favored an option to keep council at 11 until the start of 2030, citing increased work that will be placed on council in the first two years of the transition to the new plan.
Commission member Stephen J. Urban said he wants to implement the reduction to nine as soon as possible.
Commission Secretary Matt Mitchell concurred, saying he believes the adopted plan will be the "cleanest and most efficient" way to move forward.
With this change, voters would then select four or five council members every two years.
Final report
The commission has added a July 28 meeting to its roster so it can approve the final proposed package, which includes the new charter, the question that will be placed on the ballot and a report detailing the changes and some reasoning behind them for voters.
Once approved, the proposed charter and final report must be formally certified by Council Clerk Sharon Lawrence. Lawrence must then deliver it to the county election board within five days.
The election board must vote to place the referendum on the ballot. The next regularly scheduled election board meeting is Aug. 20.
While some portions are still under construction, a copy of the draft final report is posted with Thursday's agenda at luzernecounty.org.
Malacari suggested adding creation of a transition committee in the final report to ensure the county meets initial requirements specified in the new charter. A few study commission members could agree to serve on this temporary committee and meet every four months to track compliance with new charter deadlines and provide additional background on the intent of requirements to council if requested, he said.
Commission member Mark Shaffer said clarification is needed in a section of the draft final report that states the current volunteer citizen election board will be retained in the new charter.
Shaffer said council will have the option to place county employees and elected officials on the board after 23 months if a council majority determines a change is warranted, with a majority-plus-one council vote required for such a change.
The commission informally agreed to add a footnote noting retention of the current five-citizen structure is pending council review.
The report says the study commission deliberated numerous changes and opted to keep the following intact: a council elected at-large instead of by districts; an appointed county manager; an ethics code and commission; a resign-to-run provision for the district attorney and controller if they seek other offices; term limits; and language barring council members from interfering in day-to-day operations.
It said the updated charter "represents a thoughtful evolution of county governance," proposing a "more streamlined" county council with "enhanced responsibilities and tools." The proposal also "modernizes legal structures, including the creation of one of only two Public Defender Advisory Boards in the state, increasing the county's legal independence," it said.
"These changes are not just procedural; they are foundational. They aim to build a government that is more efficient, responsive, and aligned with the values and needs of Luzerne County residents," the document said. "Adopting this charter is not about rejecting the past — it's about building on it with clarity, purpose, and a renewed commitment to public service."
Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Did money or politics cause Colbert cancellation? Either way, the economics are tough for TV
CBS says its decision to end Stephen Colbert's late-night comedy show is financial, not political. Yet even with the ample skepticism about that explanation, there's no denying the economics were not working in Colbert's favor. The network's bombshell announcement late Thursday that the 'Late Show' will end next May takes away President Donald Trump's most prominent TV critic and the most popular entertainment program in its genre. The television industry's declining economic health means similar hard calls are already being made with personalities and programming, with others to be faced in the future. For the late-night genre, there are unique factors to consider. As recently as 2018, broadcast networks took in an estimated $439 million in advertising revenue for its late-night programs, according to the advertising firm Guidelines. Last year, that number dwindled to $220 million. Once a draw for young men, now they've turned away Late-night TV was a particular draw for young men, considered the hardest-to-get and most valuable demographic for advertisers. Increasingly, these viewers are turning to streaming services, either to watch something else entirely or catch highlights of the late-night shows, which are more difficult for the networks to monetize. More broadly, the much-predicted takeover of viewers by streaming services is coming to pass. The Nielsen company reported that during the last two months, for the first time ever, more people consumed programming on services like YouTube and Netflix than on ABC, CBS and NBC or any cable network. Networks and streamers spent roughly $70 billion on entertainment shows and $30 billion for sports rights last year, said Brian Wieser, CEO of Madison & Wall, an advertising consultant and data services firm. Live sports is the most dependable magnet for viewers and costs for its rights are expected to increase 8% a year over the next decade. With television viewership declining in general, it's clear where savings will have to come from. Wieser said he does not know whether Colbert's show is profitable or not for CBS and parent company Paramount Global, but he knows the direction in which it is headed. 'The economics of television are weak,' he said. In a statement announcing the cancellation, George Cheeks, Paramount Global's president and chief executive officer, said that 'This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show's performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.' Cheeks' problem is that not everyone believes him. Colbert is a relentless critic of Trump, and earlier this week pointedly criticized Paramount's decision to settle Trump's lawsuit against CBS over a '60 Minutes' interview with Kamala Harris. He called Paramount's $16 million payment to Trump a 'big fat bribe,' since the company is seeking the administration's approval of its merger with Skydance Media. On Friday, the Writers Guild of America called for an investigation by New York's attorney general into whether Colbert's cancellation is itself a bribe, 'sacrificing free speech to curry favor with the Trump administration as the company looks for merger approval.' CBS' decision made this a pivotal week for the future of television and radio programming. Congress stripped federal funding for PBS and NPR, threatening the future of shows on those outlets. Journey Gunderson, executive director of the National Comedy Center, called the decision to end Colbert's show the end of an era. 'Late-night television has historically been one of comedy's most audience-accessible platforms — a place where commentary meets community, night after night,' Gunderson said. 'This isn't just the end of a show. It's the quiet removal of one of the few remaining platforms for daily comedic commentary. Trump celebrates Colbert's demise Trump, who has called in the past for CBS to terminate Colbert's contract, celebrated the show's upcoming demise. 'I absolutely love that Colbert got fired,' the president wrote on Truth Social. 'His talent was even less than his ratings.' Some experts questioned whether CBS could have explored other ways to save money on Colbert. NBC, for example, has cut costs by eliminating the band on Seth Meyers' late-night show and curtailing Jimmy Fallon's 'Tonight' show to four nights a week. Could CBS have saved more money by cutting off the show immediately, instead of letting it run until next May, which sets up an awkward 'lame duck' period? Then again, Colbert will keep working until his contract runs out; CBS would have had to keep paying him anyway. CBS recently cancelled the 'After Midnight' show that ran after Colbert. But the network had signaled earlier this year that it was prepared to continue that show until host Taylor Tomlinson decided that she wanted to leave, noted Bill Carter, author of 'The Late Shift.' 'It is a very sad day for CBS that they are getting out of the late-night race,' Andy Cohen, host of Bravo's 'Watch What Happens Live," told The Associated Press. 'I mean, they are turning off the lights after the news.' Colbert, if he wanted to continue past next May, would likely be able to find a streaming service willing to pay him, Wieser said. But the future of late-night comedy on the entertainment networks is genuinely at risk. Trump, in fact, may outlast his fiercest comic critics. Jon Stewart, once a weeknight fixture, works one night a week at 'The Daily Show' for Paramount's Comedy Central, a network that seldom produces much original programming any more. ABC's Jimmy Kimmel, who was chided on social media by Trump on Friday — 'I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next' — has a contract that also runs out next year. Kimmel, 57, openly wondered in a Variety interview before signing his latest three-year contract extension how long he wanted to do it. He's hosted his show since 2003. 'I have moments where I go, I cannot do this anymore,' Kimmel told Variety in 2022. 'And I have moments where I go, what am I gonna do with my life if I'm not doing this anymore?' It's a very complicated thing ... I'm not going to do this forever.' Colbert, Kimmel and Stewart were all nominated for Emmy awards this week. ___ AP journalist Liam McEwan in Los Angeles contributed to this report. David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at and David Bauder, The Associated Press
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
White House Wants Bias-Free AI for Government Work
The White House is cooking up an order to make sure AI tools that work with the government stay politically neutral. Officials worry models trained on internet data can drift into liberal or conservative slants, so this would set a clear standard. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 3 Warning Sign with UAL. At the center of the plan is AI czar David Sacks, who has pointed to embarrassing moments like Google's Gemini painting a black George Washington or diverse Nazis. OpenAI, Anthropic, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Elon Musk's xAI fear it could pick industry winners and spark free speech fights. This order lands just as the Pentagon is handing out nearly two hundred million dollars in AI contracts. Tying neutrality to federal deals could shift who wins big and shape how the industry builds its next generation of tools. It also comes bundled with moves to boost chip exports and speed data center approvals. As Washington juggles bias concerns and tech rivalry with China, investors will be watching every step. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Justice Department asks court to unseal Jeffrey Epstein grand jury records
The Justice Department has asked a federal court to unseal grand jury transcripts in Jeffrey Epstein's case amid a firestorm over the Trump administration's handling of records related to the wealthy financier. Deputy attorney general Todd Blanche filed a motion urging the court to release the transcripts a day after President Donald Trump directed the Justice Department to do so. The Trump administration has been embroiled in controversy since the Justice Department last week announced that it would not be releasing any more evidence in its possession from Epstein's investigation. Mr Trump's demand to release the grand jury transcripts came after The Wall Street Journal reported on a sexually suggestive letter that the newspaper says bore Mr Trump's name and was included in a 2003 album for Epstein's 50th birthday. Mr Trump denied writing the letter, calling it 'false, malicious, and defamatory'.
