The LuLac Edition #1389, Nov. 30th, 2010

PHOTO INDEX: HOME RULE AND COURTHOUSE PHOTO COURTESY PITTSTON POLITICS.COM.

PICK 3

The long awaited decision on who will join the Home Rule Commission as citizen participants came down this evening. The Times Leader is reporting that, James Bobeck, Rob Bakewell and Susan Shoval were chosen tonight for three citizen seats on Luzerne County's home rule transition committee.
Bakewell, Edwardsville, has a master's degree in international relations and has been working at Cardinal Glass Industries in Mountain Top since 2005, most recently as operation support manager/project manager.
Shoval, Kingston, has a bachelor's degree in economics and was co-founder of GUARD Insurance Group. She is co-chair of the Luzerne County Diversity Commission and serves on other boards.
Bobeck, Kingston, is an attorney currently working as an administrative law judge for the state Bureau of Hearings and Appeals, as an associate with Saunders and Rooney P.C. in Plymouth and providing pro bono legal services for indigent clients.

I am certain that there will be a few nitpickers out there saying these were bad choices but I think they will be in the minority. The opponents of Home Rule said constantly that the fix was in for Mike Giamber. Looks like it wasn't. Then there were the ones who said that the citizens panel would be cronies of some of the members. These three candidates are going to be very good choices. Susan Shoval has a laundry list of community involvement and will provide good input from both a business and volunteer standpoint. I'm not sure what Bakewell's degree in International Relations will bring to the table but at least the board was not afraid of someone with an education. And the Christmas miracle in this whole deal is Atty. James Bobeck. They got themselves an Attorney that works sometimes for free. A good start, now let's stop complaining about this new form of government and let these people get to work.