Citizens submit 1,899 signatures in quest to overturn Luzerne County’s new anti-discrimination ordinance

In the second step of seeking to overturn Luzerne County’s new anti-discrimination ordinance, a group of citizens filed 1,899 voter signatures Tuesday.

The process started last week with the submission of more than 100 signatures of voters willing to serve on a petitioner’s committee. This committee is coordinating the collection of signatures necessary to get a ballot referendum asking voters if they want to repeal the ordinance.

This citizen-initiated referendum option was part of the home rule government that took effect in 2012, but it has not been exercised to date, largely due to the steep signature requirement and tight turnaround.

At least 11,615 voter signatures will eventually be required to get a repeal vote on the ballot, or 10% of the county’s votes cast in the last governor’s race in 2022.

The submission completed Tuesday was required within two weeks of the County Council majority’s June 9 approval of the ordinance.

At least 1,162 signatures had to be turned in to Council Clerk Sharon Lawrence, and a group of seven proudly handed over that number plus an extra 737. These signatures were collected since Friday.

“If people weren’t so outraged over this ordinance, we wouldn’t have met the requirement,” said prior county controller Walter Griffith, of Kingston Township.

Griffith was accompanied by the following residents actively involved in the effort: Denise Jacobs, Kingston; Alyssa Fusaro, Luzerne; Cory J. Dunn, Hanover Township; Tom Potsko, Hanover Township; Tyler Meyers, Sugar Notch; and Joe Granteed, Plains Township.

Once Lawrence verifies the required number of signatures has been submitted, she must supply a new petition to the petitioner’s committee needed to collect the remaining signatures within 60 days, according to the charter.

If at least 11,615 signatures are submitted on time and verified, the council would have 30 days to reconsider its approval of the ordinance proposed for repeal.

Failure to repeal the referred ordinance would result in the county election board placing the repeal referendum on the ballot of the next election that falls at least 13 Tuesdays from then.

Based on the timeline, Griffith said Tuesday he expects the referendum would be on the 2027 primary election ballot.

Once Tuesday’s submission is cleared, the petitioner’s committee will coordinate signature drives throughout the county and conduct door-to-door visits to gather the next round of signatures, the group said Tuesday.

The ordinance establishes the creation of a county human relations commission to hear discrimination complaints involving employment, housing, healthcare, education, and establishments that sell goods or services to the general public. Council must still adopt an ordinance on the commission makeup.

A copy of the ordinance is posted in the council’s section at luzernecounty.org.

Supporters said the ordinance will protect classes not already covered in state and federal laws and speed up processing of complaints due to a state backlog. Critics argued the county should not get involved in such matters and raised concerns about potential liability, litigation, and added expenses.