Luzerne County voters made history in the November general election six years ago, approving a customized home rule county government structure.
On Tuesday, it appeared county voters approved two changes to this home rule charter and partially granted a third, although results were too close to call at press time midnight Tuesday, when results from 172 of 180 precincts were reported and more than 6,000 absentee ballots remained to be counted.
If the trend holds true, the approved charter amendments would:
• Lift a ban requiring county board/authority/commission members to wait one year after leaving their seats to run for county office.
• Require a majority of council votes — six instead of four — to amend the county budget in the years following council elections.
• Allow employees of companies with county contracts to serve on authorities at the council’s discretion.
A proposed amendment applying this same council discretion for appointments to county boards and commissions did not appear to have majority voter support at midnight.
County Council Chairwoman Linda McClosky Houck supported only the budget amendment but said she respects the right of voters to make the call.
“The whole point of home rule is it’s the will of the people,” she said.
The charter requirement to wait one year to run for county office was questioned in 2015 when two county authority board members opted to run for county council, although they lost the election.
The amendment involving the budget was based on a concern that four council members could hold up implementation of a budget in the years following council elections.
