After a one-hour executive session Wednesday, Luzerne County’s Ethics Commission announced a complaint under its review will advance to a hearing in October.
Commission members said they are prohibited from discussing the nature of the allegations or the subject of the complaint — known as the respondent — under the ethics code adopted by county council.
For background, the code requires an outside attorney — in this case Attorney Michael Sharkey — to perform the initial investigation of complaints. Within 60 days, the attorney must determine whether the investigation should be terminated, further investigated or result in the issuing of a formal complaint spelling out alleged code violations.
If a formal complaint is issued, the respondent has 30 days to respond in writing, admitting to or denying the allegations.
Reading between the lines, the complaint known as “2021-1A” reached this stage because the commission announced Wednesday that the respondent did not file a response to the complaint.
A 15-day default notice was issued, and the commission agreed it will proceed with a hearing closed to the public at 3 p.m. on Oct. 19.
The respondent will receive notice of the hearing, the commission said.
However, the commission voted Wednesday to adopt a procedural change barring the respondent from appearing at the hearing to present a defense if that person does not file a response as required under the code.
All five commission members agreed on the decisions in the meeting at the county courthouse in Wilkes-Barre: county Acting Manager Romilda Crocamo, county District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce, county Controller Michelle Bednar and council-appointed citizens Diane Dreier and Thomas Mosca.
There are two ways matters proceed to hearings under the code: at the request of the respondent or when no agreement resolution is reached. The latter applies in this case because the respondent did not reply to the complaint.
While all complaints and hearings are kept confidential, the code says final written decisions of the commission spelling out findings, recommendations and any sanctions “may be made available to the public.”
Once the commission issues a final written decision, the respondent has the right to appeal the decision to the county Court of Common Pleas within 30 days.
Creation of the ethics code and commission were mandated by the county’s home rule charter that took effect in 2012. The code applies to all county government employees and elected officials, including members and employees of county boards, authorities and commissions.
One other complaint is still pending before the commission, called “2021-3,” members confirmed. The commission voted Wednesday to grant Sharkey’s request for an extension until Oct. 19 to continue investigating that claim of alleged wrongdoing.
Four other ethics complaints had been filed this year, but they were all dismissed, according to commission meeting minutes from April and May.
No complaints had been filed in 2020, minutes said.