Luzerne County manager praises election board and bureau staff

Luzerne County Manager Randy Robertson attended Wednesday’s county Election Board meeting to publicly thank the five citizens for volunteering to serve.

“You get a lot of input from a lot of various people on one side or the other, and you seem to do a very balanced job of trying to sort through that and do the right thing by the majority of the county, so my thanks to you,” Robertson told the bipartisan board.

Robertson also commended the three election bureau staffers seated with the board — Director Michael Susek, Elections Operator Emily Cook and new Election Deputy Beth Gilbert McBride — for “what you’re doing in a challenging place in a challenging time.”

Robertson said he has emphasized during his first month on the job that he expects department heads to lead and stressed everyone needs to “stay in your lane because that way we don’t cross each other up.” He said he is working to move the county forward the “best way I can.”

“You just have to have some confidence that that’s what I’m trying to do. There will be times when people disagree with our decisions,” Robertson said, speaking during public comment at the start of the meeting.

As expected, several citizens sharply criticized the hiring of McBride during a second public comment at the end of the three-hour meeting, with some describing the hiring as political and calling for McBride to give up her Wilkes-Barre City Council seat. Several said the “optics” are bad.

The county law office concluded there are no legal prohibitions for McBride to work as election deputy while serving the remainder of her city council term, with the agreement that she won’t be running for re-election.

Susek said he never met McBride before she applied for the position and was not her friend. Any implication politics were involved would be a “misstatement of fact that needs to be corrected,” he said.

He said he recommended five applicants for interviews and chose McBride and another applicant to advance to second interviews before selecting McBride based on his belief she was the “strongest candidate.” After days on the job, she is “already an asset to the team,” he said.

Susek also noted he supports free speech but has become uncomfortable with online comments about the hiring that he characterized as “sexist.” He said he has personally received menacing voicemails since he started as election director last year that, at times, have made him uncomfortable coming to election board meetings. Some election directors across the country have received death threats, he said.

“I’m entirely confident in my decision,” Susek said, referencing the hiring.

McBride said she is “here to do a job” and plans to “hold this office in the highest regard.” She said she obtained the position on her own merit and is “excited to be here.”

In meeting business, the election board tabled a decision to obtain a post office box for $1,500 annually so mail ballots and possibly other bureau mail won’t be picked up, sorted and delivered to the bureau by county building and grounds workers.

Board members said they want to further review the logistics. It’s also unclear whether the election board or county administration would have authority over making such a decision.

Board Chairwoman Denise Williams also sought discussion about switching to a new outer mail ballot envelope that contains a window allowing the county to instantly detect whether voters placed their ballots in a blank inner secrecy envelope as required for the ballot to be counted.

Williams said she read a report that another county used such envelopes and was able to contact voters so they would have an opportunity to correct the error.

Other board members raised concerns about the legality, including the potential to glimpse voter ballot selections through the window. The matter will be further discussed at the board’s Aug. 10 meeting.