Luzerne County Councilman Stephen A. Urban approached the podium during public comment Tuesday to seek an investigation of county Manager C. David Pedri over statements attributed to the manager in a new book.
Author Ben Bradlee Jr.’s book, “The Forgotten: How the People of One Pennsylvania County Elected Donald Trump and Changed America,” says Pedri, a Democrat, suggested to the county prison union that voting for Trump would be against its economic self-interest, but the workers “did not care.”
According to the book, Pedri said, “They were all voting for him anyway because it was time to shake things up.”
Speaking during an on-the-road council meeting in Hazle Township, Urban said he believes both the county and district attorney should investigate because the manager cannot instruct employees how to vote while he is on county time.
“There’s nothing in his duties that says he’s a political animal, that he is to go to a union — any union — and tell them who to vote for and tell them who their self interest is,” Urban said. “He was hired by council to be the administrator of the county — not a politician.”
In response, Pedri said he never made any statements to workers about voting a certain way during county duty or time.
“Mr. Urban can say what he’d like, but I’m not going to let what I do every day be sullied by another ridiculous Mr. Urban statement, which is a falsehood,” Pedri said. “I’m putting you on notice sir right now that that is a falsehood.”
The manager said his conversation with some prison union representatives — not the entire union — was outside work hours and not presented as a directive to reject Trump.
During a meeting break, Pedri said he is fully aware of requirements to refrain from on-the-job politicking and would not risk violating them.
“I made it almost three years as manager without Mr. Urban trying to drag me into political mud, and this is another ridiculous statement by him.”
Urban also questioned if Pedri is “out there telling his people and staff” which council members to select because he has a majority of “friends at the main table.”
He was referring to an unusual seating arrangement at the municipal building in which three council members often in the minority — Urban, Harry Haas and Linda McClosky Houck — were seated with their name cards at separate ground-floor tables while the others were in a row on an elevated platform.
McClosky Houck told the council clerk all 11 council members fit on the platform at a past meeting there, but the clerk said a table on the elevated portion has since been removed. The clerk said she followed the same seating arrangement used at the courthouse, which left Urban, Haas and McClosky Houck on the ground-floor ends. Councilman Edward Brominski, also in the minority, was to be seated with Urban but was absent.
Observing McClosky Houck seated below, council members Robert Schnee and Chris Perry offered to change places with her before the meeting started. McClosky Houck declined, saying she already unpacked her materials.
