Krushnowski

Democrat Patricia ‘Patty’ Krushnowski announces run for Luzerne County Council

Wilkes-Barre resident Patricia “Patty” Krushnowski announced Wednesday she is seeking a Democratic nomination for Luzerne County Council in the May 16 primary election.

A mother of three from the city’s Miners Mills section, Krushnowski said she is a “proud union member and community volunteer.”

Employed by Verizon for 27 years, she is a union steward for IBEW Local 827.

She is a longtime volunteer and co-chair of the NEPA Labor Day Festival and a co-chair of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Labor Council Veterans Committee, which helps residents at the VA Medical Center. Krushnowski also is a member of the Telephone Pioneers of America and has been an advocate for victims of domestic abuse.

Krushnowski is a graduate of Bishop Hoban High School.

“I’ve watched for the past several years as Luzerne County Council, with its lopsided Republican majority, made mistake after mistake, bad decision after bad decision. But when they made Luzerne County a national laughing stock during the election with the paper issue, I knew I had to step up and help to change things,” she said in the announcement.

Her announcement included this statement:

“What’s happening in Luzerne County isn’t about politics. It’s about poor leadership. Members of county council have pressured managers to hire more Republicans, creating a culture which spurred good employees to leave,” it said.

She also asserted the county “waited until just a few months before a major mid-term election to hire essential managers with little or no election experience, resulting in last November’s disastrous lack of paper at the polls.”

“Look at the situation right now. Three years after the pandemic, and they still can’t make a decision on what to do with American Rescue funds. They used taxpayer money to hire a firm to help score requests. They don’t like the results and may go back to the drawing board, and Luzerne County residents still haven’t benefited from the funds meant to help them. This is bad leadership pure and simple, and it needs to change.”

A majority of Luzerne County Council seats — six of 11 — are up for grabs this year.