SCRANTON — Lackawanna County Commissioners Brenda Sacco and Chris Chermak teamed up to make Sacco chair of the board of commissioners, replacing a defiant Commissioner Bill Gaughan at a chaotic and sometimes confusing reorganization meeting marked by public expressions of support for Gaughan and sharp criticism of Sacco and Chermak.
Gaughan, a Democrat, served as chairman since taking office in January 2024. His tenure ended amid a chorus of boos and shouts of “shame” by a sympathetic crowd that gathered to support him.
Sacco, sworn in last Wednesday pursuant to a county Home Rule Charter process Gaughan and the county challenged in court, became chairman by a 2-1 vote, with she and Chermak voting yes and Gaughan voting no. It followed an earlier vote that deadlocked 1-1, with Sacco abstaining because the chairperson of the board makes more money.
She did not comment when asked directly by Gaughan if she’d respect the results of a Nov. 4 special election to fill the remainder of former Democratic Commissioner Matt McGloin’s unexpired term running into January 2028. Sacco previously said she hopes to hold the seat for the remainder of the unexpired term, despite the fact that the special election will ostensibly determine her successor.
Sacco later said there are legal questions to answer on that front and that she was “bullied” by Gaughan, accusing him of weaponizing the legal system to delay for months her appointment to the seat. At one point Gaughan derisively referred to Sacco and Chermak as the county’s new Republican majority.
Scranton resident Joan Hodowanitz described the meeting as “theater of the absurd.”
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Originally Published: October 27, 2025 at 11:11 AM EDT