The LuLac Edition #2498, August 19th, 2013

Carolee Medico Olenginski with former Luzerne County Controller Walter Griffith in a photo taken back in 2009.  (Photo: LuLac archives).

CAROLEE OUT OF THE BULLPEN
 
Like a retired veteran ballplayer pushed aside by a new regime, Carolee Medico Olenginski did not go quietly into that good night. As a matter of fact she left the Courthouse kicking and screaming at the behest of County Manager Bob Lawton. But she has re-emerged on the political scene.
Once thought banished, Medico Olenginski returns to the scene as an unintended consequence of Walter Griffith’s zealous attempt to find out just where all that money went for the Sterling Hotel. The Luzerne County GOP Sunday night gave the nod for the current, lame duck Prothonotary to run for the Controller’s office. With rumors abounding that certain members of the Executive Committee were feeling out people of all political stripes, this news was a tad surprising. Scott Cannon of Video Innovations tweeted to me that he was “stunned”. As was many of the followers of the political scene.
With Medico Olenginski the county GOP reveals a few things. The first is a paucity of well known candidates that can make a county wide race. The second is that it appears the party is more interested in winning rather than governing under the new form of Home Rule Government.
If Medico Olenginski is elected, this thing has reality show written all over it. Carolee has battled with Gene Klein, Jim Torbik, Sam Guesto, Doug Richards, Tom Pribula, Bob Lawton and anyone else in a position of authority. There is no reason to believe that this will not continue under her new position. It is doubtful that she will be given the interim post by the County Council but the vote might be closer than one might think. It all depends how Independent Rick Williams and the Urbans vote.
There are pros and cons to this move. First the pros:
1. Medico Olenginski is well known. She has been a fixture on the public scene since the mid 90s when she began her battle with the Luzerne County legal system over a divorce. She was then elected to the Prothonotary’s office in 1997 when there was a controversy over the way the office was being handled by the late Eugene Duffy. People have known her name for over twenty ears.
2. Carolee has a built in base of loyal supporters who will stand with her solidly. In her victories and defeats, (she’s won two,) they are rock solid. Add that advantage with the hard core Griffith supporters who feel he was wronged and you get a pretty decent start in votes to overcome by a Democratic candidate.  
3. More than any other candidate, she can lay claim to the Griffith watchdog legacy fighting to oppose a government that sent her packing and can be painted as ineffective and cumbersome. Again she will get the support of those Home Rule voters who will like nothing better for her to wreck havoc with the County Council. Remember, she sued to keep her job. She's not unacquainted with the local barristers.
The Cons.
1. Medico Olenginski is a polarizing figure who will most likely see things black and white, not the gray nuances of compromise government.
2. Carolee has made it clear that she has no love lost for Robert Lawton or the new Home Rule Governing body. There are some voters who might see this as rather being an obstructionist rather than a watchdog.
3. As one of the few elected officials, Medico Olenginski will need to pick staff members to help her run this office. She has a history of dispatching once loyal deputies with very little provocation. Plus, can she run the office in terms of fiscal audits which has been a challenge for every Controller since the days of Matthew Leib. (We’re talking early 60s here folks!)
Once more Carolee Medico Olenginski has become a factor in Luzerne County politics. It is said she has been cruel, kind, arbitrary, fair, visionary and reactionary. It all depends who you talk to or who experienced her first hand.
But all that said, the GOP Executive Committee hope voters in November will love her as much as they seem to in this selection.