Chermak: Keep Lackawanna County out of litigation over commissioner vacancy
Republican Lackawanna County Commissioner Chris Chermak argues in court the county should be removed from litigation over filling a commissioner vacancy.
The litigation was started last month by Democratic Commissioner Bill Gaughan and the county over filling the vacancy of former Democratic Commissioner Matt McGloin for the nearly three years remaining on his unexpired term.
Chermak filed a legal brief Friday restating his opposition to the county being a party to the litigation. The brief and another filing called an answer to the Gaughan/county litigation were filed jointly on Chermak's behalf by attorney Paul LaBelle, the solicitor for Chermak in his role as county commissioner, and attorney Howard Rothenberg, as Chermak's personal attorney.
Chermak's brief opposes a Gaughan/county motion to strike Chermak's initial filing to have the county removed from the litigation.
Senior Judges Carmen D. Minora, Robert A. Mazzoni and Vito P. Geroulo, assigned as a panel for the litigation, have scheduled oral arguments to be heard April 22. Briefs from all parties in the case must be filed with the court no later than Monday.
The litigation pits Gaughan/the county against the Lackawanna County Democratic Committee over whether the vacancy should be filled pursuant to the county's Home Rule Charter or a state court rule. The Home Rule Charter process had the Democratic Committee picking three candidates to forward to county judges, who then would select one of the three to fill the McGloin vacancy. The committee named three candidates — Brenda Sacco, who is a former county director of economic development, Olyphant Borough Council President James Baldan and Scranton School Director Robert J. Casey — as candidates to potentially replace McGloin.
The Gaughan/county challenge to the charter process claims it is trumped by Pennsylvania Rule of Judicial Administration 1908 of 2019, which says the county court — not a political party — shall receive applications from any interested candidates for the position. Conversely, the committee contends the charter trumps the court rule that would cut the committee out of the candidate selection process.
Chermak's brief says Gaughan never consulted with Chermak on starting the litigation and had no greater power to unilaterally do so. Chermak does not take a position on whether the charter or the court rule should be followed to fill the vacancy. Chermak agrees that the person selected must be a Democrat because McGloin was a Democrat at the time of his election, and thus the dispute is between the Democratic Committee and Gaughan as a Democrat, and not as a commissioner.
Chermak's 'only concern is that Lackawanna County and its assets and taxpayer money not be utilized to finance this dispute;' and if Gaughan and the Democratic Party want to pursue the litigation, 'they should do so on their own dime,' his brief says.
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