Luzerne County manager seeks respect for workers

At the opening of her monthly division report last week, Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo called for respect toward county workers.

“You don’t have to respect me, and I’m prepared to take whatever bombs you hurl at me. But respect the staff. Respect their work. Respect their time. And respect the expertise they bring to this administration every single day,” Crocamo said during the County Council work session.

Crocamo said the lengthy division reports, posted on the manager page at luzernecounty.org, are a “snapshot of the dedication, effort, and professionalism of our staff.”

“We often speak about the work of government in the abstract, but the administration is the part of government that actually does the work. We don’t just take up valuable time just talking,” Crocamo said. “These are the men and women who show up every day, who carry out the programs, and who serve our residents directly.”

County workers “have been asked to do more with less, year after year, and they have continued to deliver,” she said.

To make her point, Crocamo took time to go through many of the statistics and updates in the report, prompting rounds of applause for several staff accomplishments.

Outside boards

Council’s Authorities, Boards, and Commissions Committee will meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre.

The committee is set to discuss and possibly vote on policies and procedures for outside county boards and a template to provide guidance on bylaws, the agenda said.

Council members have discussed the need for more accountability in tracking the work of outside boards.

Council Vice Chairwoman Brittany Stephenson, who chairs the committee, said it is trying to educate boards on the need to take ownership of posting meeting minutes and schedules and ensuring members are aware of other requirements.

Council members John Lombardo and Denise Williams are also on the committee, with Williams serving as vice chair.

Instructions for the remote attendance option will be posted in council’s online meetings section at luzernecounty.org.

Information on applying for vacant seats on county boards is posted in the authorities/boards/commissions section of the county site.

Blighted property

Council appointed two new members to the county’s Blighted Property Review Committee last week — county Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Margaret Thomas and county GIS/Planning and Zoning Director Dan Reese.

Jonathan Lang was appointed to fill a vacant citizen seat on the committee earlier this year.

The committee has been dormant for years.

Stephenson, who also serves on the committee, said she has been working to restore the membership and reactivate the group to focus on deteriorated properties that negatively impact communities throughout the county.

She is aiming to hold a committee meeting next month to reorganize and plan the next steps.

When it last met years ago, the committee was working to compile a countywide blighted property database that never got off the ground.

Under that plan, vacant and abandoned properties could be declared blighted and placed in the database for numerous reasons, including public nuisance code violations, safety problems that may attract and endanger children, unaddressed vermin infestations, or broken or disconnected utilities, plumbing, heating, or sewage systems.

Owners would have had an opportunity to correct deficiencies or present opposing arguments before their properties were officially added to the database.

Once properties were in the database, the county Redevelopment Authority could consider taking action to remediate problems, including acquisition, demolition, and rehabilitation, officials had said.