The LuLac Edition #338, Nov. 3rd. 2007

PHOTO INDEX: GOP CORONER CANDIDATE JAMES DESIDERIO, HIS DEMOCRATIC FOE JOHN CORCORAN, CURRENT GOP INCUMBENT RECORDER OF DEEDS MARY DYSLESKI AND HER CHALLENGER PITTSTON AREA SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER AND AVOCA TAVERN OWNER JAMES "RED" O'BIREN.

THE OTHERS

In Luzerne Cuounty there are a few other races being contested on the county wide level. One is an open seat and the other has an incumbent defending her record. Let's start with the Recorder of Deeds race.

DYSLESKI

Mary Dysleski ran a very formidable campaign in 1999 and succeeded long time 8 term Record of Deeds Frank Castellino. The Dems had a tough primary and the Republican won the seat. When she took over, it appeared that though Mr. Castellino was revered in the Courthouse, the office needed some progress. There were reports of one cash register and a cigar box to keep track of change when people made copies on the "honor" system. In a Courthouse full of lawyers, that is incredible in itself. Dysleski made the changes, won another term and won high marks from both sides of the aisle. Recently two long time members of the Recorder of Deeds office, (staff she inherited from Mr. Castellino's reign) were arrested and indicted for stealing a lot of money. Dysleski says it was because of the way she reorganized the office was the reason why the people were caught. Most people seem to be buying that arguement, especially people who remember the folksy but inefficient charm of the Deeds office prior to 1999. She has gained endorsements from both newspapers and seems to be poised for another term. Her problem though is a weak Republican party that might be overwhelmed by workers at the polls.

O'BRIEN

Dysleski is opposed by James "Red" O'Brien who says he was spurred to run by the thefts in the Recorder of Deeds office. Always ambitious, O'Brien in 2006 ran for Tom Tigue's open seat for State Representative in the Pittston and Pocono area. He lost to current Rep. Mike Carroll. His fellow school board member Terry Best was also in the race and to this day there are arguements going on in the Pittston Area as to who entered the race to prevent the other from winning, Best or O'Brien. O'Brien is young, a pretty good speaker and has a loyal cadre of friends who will support him to the hilt. He has the strength of the heavily Democratic Third District that might put him in reach. His pitfalls though are his lack of experience in the job or any type of area related to it. There is a thought that he's running just to obtain the row office, nothing more, nothing less. O'Brien has a TV spot running which opens with a pair of eyeglasses similar to what his foe wears. Then the spot goes on to hit his opponent on the thefts in her office. Whether this will be enough to put him over the top is open to question. This race though will give a clear signal if the Democratic party can produce for a candidate not well known in the county or well versed for the position. If they can do it, the GOP might as well fold up and go home.

THE OPEN SEAT

Dr. George Hudock was appointed by Governor Raymond Shafer in 1969 to fill out the unexpired term of Dr. John Gibbons. Dr. Hudock kept on winning by such large margins that the local Democratic party persuaded him to switch. After his death, Governor Rendell appointed Dr. Jack Consalvo to the job. It was a good pick but the "pooh bahs" in the Democratic Party got their jock straps in an uproar and cried like little babies that they weren't consulted enough. Now the "pooh bahs" couldn't take their wrath out on big Ed who routinely delivers big checks from Harrisburg to Luzerne County politicos. So in the spring primary, they encouraged two funeral directors, John Corcoran, a school board member from the Wilkes Barre Area and James Desiderio, a Mountaintop Funeral Director to run. Consalvo got beat by a pretty close margin by the popular Corcoran and with no one on the GOP side, it appeared "that was that". But Desiderio decided to run on the GOP side and now we have a contest of sorts. There are people on each side who love them both, and it appears Corcoran has the edge with the party behind him. No one is spending any real money either except for some signs and small ads. Desiderio has run county wide races before so that it might give him a boost too. But what I hear from people is that no matter who wins, the Coroner for the first time in 48 years will not be manned by a Doctor. And some people feel because of that, the voters are the losers in this race.

SCRANTON COUNCIL

We've been talking so much about the Wilkes Barre Council race lately, we'd be remiss in not telling you about the Scranton Council race. Democratic incumbent Robert McGoff and Bill Courtright, the other mainstay are running against the Republican challengers, Giovanni Piccolino (owner of Buona Pizza) and Pat Rogan, a 20 year old from the city, who beat out Democrat incumbent Courtright for one of the endorsements from the Scranton Times Tribune. Other than that tidbit, the race has been quiet, and most people expect the two Democrats to be re-elected but at least the city GOP is putting up some opposition this time.

McGoff cast the controversial vote to turn back on Channel 63 earlier in the year and Courtright ran in a State Legislative race last year that saw TV anchor Frank Andrews win.

IT'S PAPER!!!

Recently, the Lackawanna County Board of Elections authorized the lease of a Premier Election Solutions optical scan voting system that uses paper ballots to replace the county's suspended electronic touch-screen machines for the general election. This means voters will physically mark their choices for public office for the first time since 1930, when the county abandoned paper ballots in favor of mechanical lever voting machines. As the Carpenters used to sing, "It's Yesterday Once More". Or on a more current topical area, the people at Dunder Mifflin must be so proud!