The LuLac Edition #5, 526, December 23rd, 2025

 

HAPPY

FESTIVUS

FROM

THE

LACKAWANNA

& 

LUZERNE 

COUNTY 

DEMOCRATS

FUN AND GAMES

IN LULAC LAND

EDITOR’S NOTE: I’m most likely going to piss off everybody with this edition but here goes. This concerns the state of the two Democratic parties in LuLac land. It’s ironic that I write this on Festivus, the holiday for grievances. The year the Democrats in LuLac land has a steady supply of those this items better left unattended to   became public.

As far as those being pissed off, you’re no more torqued off than I am trying to figure out this shit.

THE MATT McGLOIN  

VACANCY DRAMA

The former NFL player won election as County Commissioner but only served a short time because he had another job offer. The original offer fell through and McGloin having resigned went on to other options.

What ensued next was a cluster that could have been an episode right out of “The Office” sans references to Alfredo’s and Cooper’s.

The county Democratic Party executive committee voted to recommend three possible replacements – former county planning and economic development director Brenda Sacco, Scranton School Director Bob Casey and Olyphant Council President James Baldan.

The county common pleas court judges was going  pick the replacement from the three but then decided to wait until the resignation was  accepted.

Incumbent Billy Gaughan who ran with McGloin wanted to name the Mayor of Dunmore Max Conway but that hit a snag when the Chair of the Democratic party balked at that. What ensued was a month’s long court battle that finally was settled when Thom Welby was elected in a special election as County Commissioner but not before Brenda Sacco was named to fill the void. During that time, she promptly had the PR guy for the county fired.  It was a long unnecessary road to the ultimate conclusion that would have been disposed of quickly under a Luger/Pettinato or Corcoran/Alberigi administration.

 

MEANWHILE IN THE LU

GOOD NEWS, TRIALS,

ERRORS, SORE WINNERS

AND GRIEVANCES

The Luzerne County Democrats started off the year on good footing. They had a candidate for Judge, Mark Bufalino who was running unopposed in the primary and presented himself well.

After winning four seats on County Council in ’23. (they could have 5 and a majority but they screwed the woman running with them) and after a drubbing in the Presidential race, the need for unity was apparent.

The primary season for the Council races was filled with many events for all those running in the primary. There was solidarity and goodwill. The signing petition party in February (held on the same day the folks in the Lac were saying thank you to Matt Cartwright and Bob Casey) was successful.

The fall campaign was run with all five candidates supporting each other. There was an undercurrent though of disdain for the Republican incumbent majority who had spent money on replacing the interim county manager with an out of town jasper from Colorado, not executing American rescue money quickly enough and then getting hit with the lack of progress with bridge projects in the county. Now the latter was something beyond the control of the GOP majority but that didn’t seem to matter to them when they beat Matt Cartwright over the head with it the year before.

On Election Night, four of the five candidates prevailed giving the Democrats the chance to govern. You would think you’d be seeing it was time for a victory lap. Plans maybe for a Victory thank you campaign to reinforce what the voters in minority party county produced. Maybe a little chest thumping. High fives.

Silly me!!! I guess I’m of that generation that feels this is important, that class, grace and thank yous don’t matter.

Instead, when the party should have been doing all this, there were rumblings of changes in leadership. Nothing new, I thought. On a national level, come win lor lose, national party changes in leadership happens all the time.

But then we started to hear about trials and the fact that there was going to be retribution against party members for collaborating with Republicans. Was there a large monetary gift? Was there anything that was illegal? What happened to the joy of election night?

Uh………….no. But shortly after the election the executive Committee met and removed the chairman Thom Shubilla months before his term ended. Shubilla succeeded Kathy Bozinaki who went on to work in the Shapiro administration. Anyone involved in politics knows that being a party chair is a thankless job. You will please no one. 

Shubilla saw the handwriting on the wall and submitted a resignation.  But to add insult to injury, the Executive Committee with new members leaked that there was a 26-0 vote of no confidence.

Hmmm….the guy who funded a campaign, had to wait months for a reimbursement check because the new crew messed up his address, organized events, and made the decisions was humiliated in public.

Now this is not the first time a Democratic Chairperson was threatened with removal.  In June of ’22 Kathy  Bozinski had a leadership fight on her hands but beat down the challenge. That was in the summer and this was right after a fall victory.

So what was one of the differences between Shubilla’s removal and the Bozinski threat?

Shubilla made a decision to accept the resignation of his Vice Chair, The resignation was tendered on Holy Thursday April 17^th. The resignation was accepted by state party officials by e mail.

But at the meeting, the resignation was asked to be rescinded. Now unlike public office resignations like the McGoiin situation, political parties are a club. As my late friend Wil Toole would say to me, “in a club if you have the votes, you can do anything”. 

The other difference was Bozinski had the support of Eddie Day Pashinski but apparently Shubilla did not. A local political organization, Action Together played heavily into both the 22 and 25 situations.

The jettisoning of Shubilla and his Vice Chair Mary An Velez (the candidate who was allegedly cut by her running mates in ’23) was accompanied by action against Fern Leard and her campaign manager Shannon Groshek.

Fox  56 reported the committee then took up a disciplinary matter involving Fern Leard, ultimately voting by voice to find her in violation of party rules related to supporting a Republican candidate. According to information presented during the meeting, the allegation stemmed from Leard sharing a post on her personal Facebook account that depicted a Republican and a Democrat expressing mutual support.

Really? Is this the hill they want to die on?

Fern Leard? Disloyal of the party? She ran for State Representative TWICE in a district that has always been heavily Republican. My God, instead of helping her the Dems ran a primary candidate against her. She is a ubiquitous community member. Aren’t these the candidates they want? Apparently not.

Leard’s sanction, censure, removal, whatever the hell the Executive Committee did is downright MAGA inspired.

Perhaps this Action Together fueled committee wants to be called MAGA blue?

Too strong?

Well, when there were words like “trials” used ahead of the meeting you must wonder if this is the true representation of Luzerne County Democratic values. Hey, I get it, I want to see the Trumpers put out of business, but these new members have to remember a few things:

1. This is NEPA and you have to reflect on what the party lost to the Luzerne GOP.  We are a center right county.

2. You might have won but remember you still have a few thousand vote gap in voter registration.

3. To the first-time candidates, don’t get the impression that you are going to be king of the hill. You’ll find soon enough you’re just a cog in the wheel

Plus, as newly elected Council people and Executive committee members you can’t go to district meetings yelling and shutting down lifelong party workers for questioning you. This  I’m told by multiple sources from Kingston.

Also. one of you should have objected to the word trial.

Trials?

The very definition of a trial is this:

a formal examination of evidence by a judge, typically before a jury, in order to decide guilt in a case of criminal or civil proceedings.

I asked two GOP county chair-people what they do to people who don’t 100% adhere to the party line?

One said, “nothing”, the other said, “At every event I ever hosted, I thanked my people for being there and then said, and thanks to our Democratic friends for joining us tonight because we need everybody”.

And that folks is how the Republican party partly got the registration edge here in this county.

Look, people who are active in politics, come from a political family or are interested in what goes on know the nuances of politics.  So, to us this is part of the game.

But the vast majority of people who vote recently saw the following.

a. You won but publicly humiliated the chair who was leading you. To them that guy must have made a bad move. (One of the catalysts was by accepting a resignation that was tendered). But regular folks don’t know that politics can be about grievances just like life.

b.                The words trial, and censure got out. Who uses that language? Is the average Joe thinking,  in terms iof  a criminal trial?  The voter gathering carts in a supermarket lot or the lady in the day care center don’t know you’re a club!

c. Where do you draw the line?  You pick on one of your own who sacrificed her time and energy, spending time away from her beautiful family?

UPDATE: I read in a statement from the Luzerne County Democratic Committee website that Fern Leard is still a member of the Executive committee and I confirmed that with two other people. However, I’m told a censure resolution was being written up for the next meeting, then I was told that wasn’t true so I’ll simply quote Colonel Butler’s remark, “Frankly I don’t give a damn”.

Democrats on the Executive committee, friends of  foes of Fern, anyone reading this  unnecessary and worse political strategy of a winning party know this. 

 Hopefully realize  I am seeing this in the eyes of what regular folks, NOT US, think.

Let’s hope that the newly elected members not follow the draconian lead of what passes for an inclusive organization that appreciates its candidates instead of kicking them to the curb. 

Finally, let me close with this from a wiser and more qualified writer than I’ll ever be.

"The message is clear to all, activism of any sort has to be within the government, and no independent  voice or counter-opinion will be allowed. Everyone must stick to the party line." Jamal Khashoggi.

 rust me, you don’t want this to define the Luzerne County Democratic Party….