There is a serious question as to whether or not the incumbent commissioners have earned another term.
In the primary, the voters decided not to return the Chairman, Roberta Kelly. Instead, attorney Michael Giangrieco, with an arguably successful practice spent a significant sum of money to promote himself and wind up at the top vote getter. The following questions should be asked of Mr. Giangrieco by everyone who comes in contact with him: “Do you intend to continue your practice of Law if you are elected in November?”; “If not, why would you give up a practice which in all likelyhood earns you multiples of the salary you will receive as a commissioner?” “According to an article in the Pennsylvania Law Weekly, although you can serve, you will have to excuse yourself from a significant amount of decision making due to potential conflicts. How do you intend to address that problem?”
Commissioner Roberta Kelly has not taken her defeat quietly, she is running a write in campaign. Whether or not this will be successful will be anyones guess. It is my understanding that in the modern history of Susquehanna County, no one has ever won a write in campaign for commissioner.
Of course all this could change. Currently running are an independent (Tom Jurista), two sanctioned republican candidates (Giangrieco and incumbent Jeffrey Loomis), and two write in candidates with no endorsement (Kelly and Fred Baker). Conventional wisdom says that Giangrieco and Loomis will probably win as the endorsed candidates, but will that happen? I do not believe the republican party has ever been so split up. Although republicans hold a roughly 2 to 1 margin of registered voters, those votes will be split among at least the five mentioned above. Why at least? Simply put, there are quite a number of republicans who really don’t like the idea of MaryAnn Warren (Democrat) being returned to office. The other democratic candidate is Leon Allen. A significant number of republicans are supporting him.
Assuming that most democrats vote to retain Warren and to install Allen, there will be very little crossover vote to the republican side. The republicans on the other hand, will have their vote split between the endorsed candidates, the write ins, the independent and the crossovers to vote for a democrat.
This could make for a very interesting election. If the electorate is finally fed up with two women running the show (Kelly and Warren), you may see a very interesting outcome of this election. It is also interesting to note that while Giangrieco spent a significant amount of money to almost guarantee his election in the primary, with the exception of several small concentrations in areas where he is or has represented the municipality, very little promotion is occurring around the county. This could lead one to believe a comment made by one in the Law community who said that he is so sure of himself that he doesn’t need to do any more self promotion. Others have characterized him as being a ” legend in his own mind”.
What a pathetic state of affairs we are in. Our little county needs real leadership, not the less than dynamic duo, incumbents former dental hygienist (Kelly)or a secretary to a failed chamber of commerce (Warren), neither of which really understand the workings of a $20~ million company, i.e. Susquehanna County. The third incumbent (Loomis) does in fact understand money as well as the workings of business, arguably saving the county many thousands of dollars. However, that being said, it is well known that this commissioner has not attended charm school and doesn’t care about that aspect of his existence.
So, the electorate of Susquehanna County has a real challenge this time. There are seven major candidates for county commissioner, but few real choices. Please make sure when you vote, choose very carefully. The future of Susquehanna County is at stake - not just for the next four years - the next class of commissioners will lay the foundation for many years to come.
Michael “Mike” Giangreco is touted as the most likely winner in the number one spot, but his lack of self-promotion for the general election may hurt him. As the county solicitor he is arguably knowledgeable. He has expressed his opinions on a couple of the issues. He has not really said much else. In the past he has been against the formation of the Railroad authority. He claims to support economic development, but is unsure if it should be returned to the county. As a commissioner, he may find it a little difficult to form decisions.
Jeffrey IRVING Loomis may understand money, but he is undisciplined at spending it. As a matter of fact, it would appear that he is undisciplined in many things. Any decision by the board of commissioners that are in opposition to his position is followed by numerous emails and other means meant to undermine said decision.
Roberta Kelly is just plain narcissistic. She tried to run the county as her own fiefdom and cared little about how she did it. She would blame others for her mistakes and take credit for their successes. Cross her path and look out.
Fred Baker is relatively unknown. He is for bringing economic development back into the county, instituting an office of designated grant writer, offering tax abatements to start-up businesses, aiding the Railroad Authority, cutting the cost of government, fiscal responsibility and lowering commissioner’s salaries.
Tom Jurista is promoting the business practices of IBM as his platform. He has run unsuccessfully as a Democrat once, Republican twice and finally figured out that to be put on the ballot in the general election, he would file as an Independent. His support base is 125 signatures on the petition.
Maryann Warren is led into supporting whichever commissioner gets to her first. She is probably the least knowledgeable of the three incumbents and even admits the job has been a “learning experience.”
Leon Allen is an entrepreneur who does not come off well as a speaker, but is quite knowledgeable. He also supports a designated grant writer, bringing economic development back into the county and unlike Don Quixote embraces the idea of windmills or at least wind production in the county.
Michael Giangrieco is ONLY electable if the voters are sucked into the idea that because he is a lawyer, he knows what’s best for them.
If he is unsure of what he needs to do or may find it difficult to form decisions, as stated in gopfan’s comment, this should be a huge red flag to the voters.
By the way, just what does Michael Giangrieco actually stand for? Knowing he is the endorsed republican candidate doesn’t necessarily make him the best choice. Maybe the two write-ins and the independent running know something the rest of us should.
Is he really on the platform of the Republican Party in Susquehanna County, ready to represent the citizens of this county, or is it just a power thing? The voters have a right to know. Information about where Michael Giangrieco stands on important issues such as economic development and whether or not he intends to continue his practice should have been available for months, but it has not.
Got to control the sheep in Susquehanna County. Baaaaaa
The following is my opinion only. I base it on my observations and no one else has solicited my response.
Loomis obviously has experience in the job, however, his huge ego gets in the way of keeping the rest of us as the ones whose interests should come first. If he is challeged he reacts like a child throwing a tantrum and works to undermine anything he doesn’t approve. His lack of discipline carries into budgetary spending. His inability to comprimise or accept opposing decisions is the single biggest reason for the dissention from the commissioners office. His ads regarding taxes are especially agregious, not because he is lying, because they are meant to mislead. His first administration did indeed cut taxes a small amount, but that was overshadowed by a total increse of 20%. Then when the present three took office, they changed the budget, already complete, to insitute the largest increase in the county’s history. Of course they haven’t raised them since, it was outrageously high to begin with! This not behavior that I look for in a commissioner.
Kelly has been on an ego trip from the beginning. She lorded the chaimanship over not only the county employees, but also the other commisioners. This, of course, guarenteed Loomis’ opposition and ensured a lack of cooperation lasting for the entire four years. She has told courthouse employees to keep information from the other commissioners and failed to perform duties she chose to undertake (i.e.: Failure to attend Board of Director meetings of Barnes Kasson prior to it’s three month loan default on a county garanteed loan). She couldn’t get credit for grants associated with the Rail Authority so she tried to scuttle its leadership. This not behavior that I look for in a commissioner.
Warren waffles and really doesn’t realize the importance of the position. It appears that all of her decisions are dictated by Rick Ainey. Unfortunately, he is probably less informed but willing to use his influence to get her to do his bidding. She is too easily influeced without being able to make her own choices. This not behavior that I look for in a commissioner.
Personally, I will not vote for any of the incumbants. That leaves Allen - endorsed Democrat, Giangreco - endorsed Republican, Jurista - endorsed Independent and Baker write-in.
Giangreco garnered a huge lead in the Primary. I don’t believe that he has capitalized on that lead. The fact that he hasn’t come forward on any position has actually worked for him. His position as solicitor has kept him too close to the county’s political workings, but I feel he has no real connection to the rest of the county’s residents. The Primary is a huge popularity contest and the Geneal is also to some extent. He may still have enough momentum to keep him in the forefront. Like it or not, I am resigned to the fact that he will be first, or at least second in the race.
That leaves second and third to the remaining three: Allen, Jurista and Baker. All three have given their ideas for betterment of the county. A designated grant writer and recovering economic development as a county function are on both Allen and Baker’s platform. Allen further proposes investment into alternative energy souces such as wind.
Baker also proposes incentives to county employees achieving cost cutting measures, tax abatements for start-up businesses and reducing commissioners’ salaries.
Jurista plans to evaluate all the employees jobs to eliminate some of the 200 county employees. Furthermore, he wants to remove funds from the employee retirement fund and return them in the form of tax rebates. I believe both of these ideas are costly and possibly downright dangerous. Kelly’s intimidation caused an exodus of employees that has already proven costly to the county. The loss of the voter Regisrar cost the county $40,000.00 due to ballot reprinting for errors in the last Primary. The county had to put huge sums into the retirement account to prop it up after the last crisis lost it two-thirds of its value. The present custodians have been successful and are very capable and we should not second guess them. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” Another ineresting point is his endorsement as an Independent candidate. While endorsed candidates of the other parties must win that endorsement, an Independent only needs 125 signatures on a petition. He has failed to get the democratic and Republican endorsements in the past and now hopes to secure the position because his name finally is on the ballot.