SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Lackawanna County commissioners, as well as the county judge, have voted to declare yet another special election in the span of a week. This second special election is to replace the former clerk of courts, Mauri Kelly, whose resignation was effective Tuesday.
The Lackawanna County Commissioners, Bill Gaughan and Chris Chermak, along with county judge Terrence Nealon, met to discuss another special election on Wednesday afternoon.
This time, to fill the vacant clerk of judicial records row office.
The vote was two in favor, Commissioners Gaughan and Nealon, zero opposed, and one vote, Chermak, abstained.
"In my opinion, the election board does not have the authority to call for a special election, so to be consistent with last week's vote on the commissioner, I voted the same way and just abstained. I believe that to be true, so we'll have to see what happens after this," Chermak explained.
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"Yeah, I voted in favor of the special election, and what I've been saying from the very beginning is that there has to be transparency in this process, and since Commissioner McGloin left back in March of this year, I've been fighting against the political insiders of both the Democrat and Republican party who have tried to railroad this process," Commissioner Gaughan said.
This session also continued Friday's meeting, where the board of elections declared a special election to fill the vacant commissioner seat.
Michael Cappellini from Jessup intends to run as an independent for the commissioner seat in the special election.
"This is the voice of the people. We want to ensure that we continue to protect the constitutional right of a free and fair election, and I'm hoping that this motion that was passed today continues forward into November," Cappellini told 28/22 News.
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Cappellini tells 28/22 what he believes are the most pressing issues he'd like to tackle if elected a commissioner.
"The lack of information we have regarding the data centers, their placement, etcetera. In addition to that, I have a beautiful baby boy, I have a son on the way, and I really want to be able to make sure they grow up in a county that's physically solid and brings sustainable jobs to them as we move forward throughout the future generations," Cappellini explained.
Members of the public addressed the board, expressing their approval of these special elections.
Both are to take place in the general election on November 4.
Now, in his latest move, Commissioner Gaughan and Lackawanna County have filed an emergency application with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to stop the court of common pleas from filling a vacancy in the commissioner's office while their appeal is pending.
