A Luzerne County Council majority advanced an ordinance prohibiting the use of county staff or resources to transport mail ballot drop boxes to sites approved by the county election board.
Council also voted Tuesday to confirm county Manager Randy Robertson’s nominee for the vacant administrative services division head position — Sugarloaf Township resident Jennifer Pecora, who currently works as Butler Township manager.
The drop box ordinance will require a public hearing and majority vote at a future council meeting to take effect.
Councilman Tim McGinley said the ordinance won’t stop drop boxes because county Election Board Chairwoman Denise Williams and citizens already have said they would transport the boxes to sites if the county won’t handle that task, which McGinley said creates a liability concern.
There also is no language in the ordinance prohibiting county sheriff deputies and election bureau workers from continuing to retrieve the ballots voters deposit in the boxes and return them to the election bureau for processing, McGinley said.
Councilman Chris Perry said he doesn’t like drop boxes but cannot support an ordinance that interferes with the citizen election board’s authority to decide that the boxes will be used in the county.
The county had one drop box inside the county’s Penn Place building in downtown Wilkes-Barre in the November 2020 election and has gradually expanded to five, with the others inside the Pittston Memorial Library, Hazleton City Hall, the Wright Township Volunteer Fire Department and Misericordia University in the Back Mountain.
Councilwoman LeeAnn McDermott said she is against drop boxes but is not supporting the ordinance because it does not eliminate them.
“This is not the way to get rid of them,” McDermott said.
Council Vice Chairman John Lombardo said he was “compelled” to support the ordinance because he opposes drop boxes but conceded it “still allows for the function of drop boxes” because it does not ban sheriff deputies and other county workers from retrieving ballots from the boxes.
“You’re just eliminating one small piece of the puzzle,” Lombardo said, warning the ordinance also would likely subject the county to litigation.
In addition to Lombardo, the ordinance was introduced by Carl Bienias III, Kevin Lescavage, Brian Thornton, Gregory Wolovich Jr. and Stephen J. Urban, who had drafted the document.
Council member Matthew Mitchell voted against the introduction along with McDermott, McGinley and Perry. Council Chairwoman Kendra Radle was absent.
Thornton said he believes council has a right to determine if taxpayer funding is used to transport the boxes, and he expressed confidence council would prevail if litigation is filed over the matter.
He estimated half of county residents adamantly hate drop boxes, while the other half loves them.
“We are so deeply divided in this county over this issue,” Thornton said.
Administrative services
Eight of the 10 council members voted to confirm Pecora for the administrative services position at $94,500 annually.
Thornton and Lescavage voted no, with Thornton echoing concerns raised by county Controller Walter Griffith earlier in the meeting about a lack of transparency and advance information about the nominee.
Thornton said the public and council members have a right to know about the compensation and background of the nominee days before the meeting, which was past practice.
Robertson had said he was concerned about jeopardizing the nominee’s current employment if she was not confirmed, but Thornton said transparency is necessary for government positions.
Robertson said he respects the feedback and county’s home rule charter and will consider both in future nominations.
He said Pecora was thoroughly vetted by a selection committee and has agreed to give up her post as an elected township tax collector before starting work as a division head.
“I have confidence in her,” Robertson said. “She’s ambitious, and she’s driven.”
He said she has a “lot to learn” in the new position.
This division head oversees the election bureau and seven other departments: human resources, purchasing/acquisition, information technology, GIS/mapping, licensing/permits, community development and tourism. David Parsnik, the last permanent administrative services head, had resigned in September.
Robertson introduced Pecora, who was seated in the audience, but she declined to address the crowd.
According to an online profile, Pecora has worked for Butler Township government for more than six years, first as budget/finance manager from January 2016 through November 2018 and then as township manager from November 2018 to the present, according to an online profile.
She previously held a payroll administration at Bimbo Bakeries USA and has a bachelor’s degree in business administration marketing and management from Penn State University, the profile said.
McGinley agreed information on nominees should be publicly disclosed in advance but said he believes Robertson should have support to select his leadership team.
Wolovich and Urban made similar statements.