Luzerne County Employees Go Unpaid

... because the employee in charge of payroll was on vacation and no one approved the electronic transfer of funds into staff bank accounts.

Luzerne Co DA May Sue For More Staff

When Northampton County DA John Morganelli wanted to give mid-year raises to four of his assistant DAs, he had to sue for it, even though he had the money for the positions in his own budget. Now, Luzerne County DA Stefanie Salavantis is threatening to sue in Luzerne County over a shortage of DAs.

She has 26 in a County whose population is 320,920. That's one DA for every 12,343 persons.

Morganelli has 21in a county whose population is 297,735. That's one DA for every 14,177 persons.

The DA is an independently elected official.

Salavantis' First Assistant, Sam Sanguedolce, criticizes Luzerne County administrators:

"They have found room to hire managers, found room to hire assistant solicitors, found room to keep open Moon Lake Park, but if you take a look at crime, especially in Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton, how can you look at the district attorney's office and say we realize you lost people but we can't replace them? ... It's almost a pathological behavior that the government seems to be anti-law enforcement or at least soft on crime."

The Man Who Cast a Spotlight on Kids-For-Cash

If you ever meet Lehigh Valley Tea Party blowhard Joe Hilliard, you'll only see one arm. No, he did not lose a limb in Iraq or Afghanistan. In fact, he's never served in the military. He uses the other arm to pat himself on the back repeatedly.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Joe is a "limited government community organizer," and is seeking gigs as a consultant, activist and speaker. He shares no employment history. He did attend Lehigh University for about 1,000 years, but it's unclear whether he ever graduated.

But one thing he has done is prop himself up as the unelected King of the Lehigh Valley Tea Party. And on their forum, from time to time, he shares little nuggets about his past. "It is always amazing when people I don't even know call or email me for advice," he modestly claims.

Joe then modestly takes credit for bringing Luzerne County to its knees, and all over a slice of pizza.

"We are having impacts at the local government level which include defeating illegal bond issues and exposing fiscal 'smoke and mirrors'. In fact, such an effort led to a total collapse of one county government in our state - and exposed a huge nest of corruption which has led to many indictments including a few sitting judges. It is amazing what can be accomplished by following a few simple principles and pulling back the curtain to expose politicians and the games they play. I was there at the beginning of that effort. In fact, it all started with a meeting with myself and one county resident over a couple of slices of pizza."

Yesterday, the Standard Speaker paid tribute to a true Luzerne County watchdog, former Controller Steve Flood. A Democrat, it was Flood, and not Joe Hilliard, who was calling for an investigation into corruption by the local judiciary, and for five years before an indictment was ever returned. He even hired private investigators.

Hilliard is currently embroiled in a debate over the continued existence of the Lehigh Valley Tea party.

And judicial corruption? It's alive and well, as evidenced by a Lancaster County District Judge accused of fixing her own tickets.

Blogger's Note: The photo is a joke ... I think.

Would You Retain Any Luzerne County Judge?

Two former Luzerne County judges currently face a 48-count federal indictment for bribery money laundering, racketeering as a result of the "kids for cash" scandal. They were paid $28 million, under the table, to steer kids convicted of minor offenses to for-profit detention centers.

While these defrocked judges file motions and try to claim judicial immunity from civil litigation, two other Luzerne County judges - Tom Burke and Peter Olszewski - seek retention. One of them actually spent some time in Florida at one of the disgraced judge's condos.

Based on the comments at Lu Lac, I'd say both of these judges should be in trouble. But my bet is they'll be retained. The deck is already stacked in their favor. They serve ten year terms, which should be enough to insulate them from unpopular decisions. Then, instead of facing an opponent, voters only decide whether to keep or reject them.

I do think we need to continue electing common pleas judges instead of going the appointment route, which simply takes the politics away from the people. But retention elections after ten year terms is a bit much. They should run for the seat.