The LuLac Edition #2904, May 16th, 2015

SIGNATURE GATE!

Well it had to happen. With all the scandals we’ve had in LuLac land, we haven’t had one with a “gate”. But maybe we have one now, maybe we don’t.
The news broke yesterday that District Justice Jared Kane’s signatures were being brought to light by Wilkes Barre taxpayer advocate Bob Kadluboski who started to beat the drum. By the afternoon, the on line blog WB Truth had the story as well WILK, The Times Leader and The Citizen’s Voice.
Here’s what The Times Leader reported. A longtime community activist has raised questions about whether signatures on a campaign petition for district judge candidate Jared Martin Kane are legitimate.
City Wide Towing owner Bob Kadluboski has forwarded those concerns to Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis in a formal letter.
Following a review of the petition, a Times Leader investigation has revealed at least three possible discrepancies among more than 100 signatures.
Salavantis on Thursday said she was aware her office had received a letter from Kadluboski, but had not yet reviewed it.
“Our office has received a complaint involving the Wilkes-Barre race for Magisterial District Judge. The matter is under review to determine what action is necessary,” Salavantis said Friday.
“I am not unmindful of the timing of the complaint and its relation to the upcoming election; however, if an investigation is needed, it will be handled diligently.”
It’s too late for anything Kadluboski alleges to bump Kane from Tuesday’s campaign ballot, but Kadluboski is now asking whether some of the signatures are forgeries, and whether that breaks the law.
Luzerne County Administrative Services Division Head David Parsnik said March 17 was the deadline to challenge nomination petitions.
Complaints about petitions after that date must be filed in court or presented to law enforcement, he said.
So what we have here are 5 people claiming they did not sign the Republican petition. Kane who’s name was listed as the circulator had 104 signatures, 5 of the 99 are being challenged. Now.
District Judges can cross file and it is prudent for any candidate to try and win an election on both tickets. A future career depends on it.
In 2001, Attorney Bill Amesbury snagged the GOP nomination in South Wilkes Barre and went on to win two terms as the District Justice. In this election both Jared Kane and Tom Malloy got enough signatures to garner a GOP ballot position. It is rare for someone not to do this but it does happen. Kane and Malloy’s opponent Justin Woychik did not get enough signatures for the GOP. In District 11 3-08, Attorney Steve Menn did not secure enough for the GOP ballot.
A few observations here. As I sat in Abe’s yesterday morning eating my TGIF breakfast I saw a full page ad promoting Jared Kane. I thought, the kid is owning his candidacy. Having met him recently, I saw a young man who seemed focused on the task at hand. I also met him last year at the wake for a co worker of mine. He was compassionate, knew just the right thing to say to grieving family members and looked like he was in charge.
I’ve met Kane’s opponents, Mr. Malloy and Mr. Woychik. Good guys.
The nominating petition disclosure at this late hour is troubling for me. First off, if there were improprieties they should be handled by due process. Due process means what the law says.
That brings us to District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis. Not five minutes into this thing, there were people questioning the DA as to how she would pursue this and by God if she didn’t or came down on the side of those who found the petitions, then she must be someone's crony.
The DA’s job is to investigate, get the facts and then proceed. Right now speculation about what she will or will not do is pointless. Her office has to look at the case and see where it goes.
Let’s look at the lateness of the petition. The Election head says nothing can be done until after the Election. The time to challenge this was in March. That didn’t happen.
Plus there isn’t a nominating petition out there that hasn’t been fudged by a few names. Sorry no one will admit that but it does happen. Sometimes it slides, sometimes it doesn’t. But the time for that decision was March 15th, not May 15th. Where were those prying eyes back then?
I’m not siding with anyone here but if you are going to plan a big “October Surprise” as Bill Vinsko called it, you don’t do it the Friday before election day. What is perplexing to me is this. We know the Kane family has enemies but I thought they were way smarter than this.
If there were forgeries alleged they have to be proven. If the five Wilkes Barre residents didn’t sign them, then who did? And more importantly why did this happen now? A late surprise like this helps neither Mr. Kane or Mr. Malloy. For Mr. Kane he has to recapture his momentum. For Mr. Malloy, I bet he wishes the news came out sooner rather than later. For Mr. Woychik, it matters little because he is not on the GOP ballot.
If Kane is disqualified on the GOP ballot and has the nod on the Democratic side, he has to run in a General. If Mr. Malloy or Mr. Woychik wins the Democratic nod, then Kane is out.
What will matter is the aftermath of this thing. If Kane secures the Democratic nomination and Mr. Malloy gets the Republican nod, or vice versa, this will make for a humdinger of a General Election.
And the kicker is no matter where this leads for Mr. Kane and his committee or for the eventual winner on the other side (if there is no double nomination), Stefanie Salavantis will get the blame for doing too much or too little.
Welcome to Signature-Gate Folks. And the beat goes on.