Five Pittston Area Board of Education incumbents and one newcomer are running for five school board seats in the coming elections. Below are profiles for the candidates in the race:
John Adonizio
John Adonizio is running for reelection to the Pittston Area Board of Education. Neither he nor the Pittston Area Visionary Team, a political organization promoting Adonizio along with Board of Education members Matt Marriggi, Marty Quinn, and Tim Cotter, have responded to requests for comment about his campaign.
According to a Pittston Area Visionary Team post on Facebook from before the primary, Adonizio is a graduate of the Pittston Area High School class of 1976 and works at Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority. Adonizio has also represented Pittston Area on the Wilkes-Barre Area CTC Joint Operating Committee and is the president of the Luzerne Intermediate Unit Board of Directors.
The post said that Adonizio prioritizes “student success and vital fiscal management” and providing resources to students and teachers.
Marissa Chiumento
Marissa Chiumento has been a resident of Pittston for a little over a decade and won nominations to both the Democratic and Republican party tickets. Chiumento said that she wanted Pittston Area to provide accessible education that ensures student career readiness and overall wellbeing.
“I decided to run for school board, because I do truly, deeply care about the future of the community and the quality of education that’s available to all of the families,” Chiumento said.
Chiumento currently works as a clinical pharmacist for Geisinger in its endocrinology department and as the pharmacy manager for Geisinger’s specialty Medication Therapy Disease Management programs. She is also the owner of the 570 Event group, which is an entertainment company that helps organize events such as weddings.
Art Bobbouine (courtesy of Art Bobbouine)
Marissa Chiumento (Natasha T. Photography)
Tim Cotter (CHRISTOPHER DOYLE/STAFF PHOTO)
Katherine Healey (courtesy of Katherine Healey)
Matt Marriggi (Christopher Doyle/Staff Photo)
Marty Quinn (CHRISTOPHER DOYLE/STAFF PHOTO)
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Art Bobbouine (courtesy of Art Bobbouine)
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Katherine Healey
Katherine Healey first won a seat on the Pittston Area Board of Education in 2021 and won nominations this year to both the Democratic and Republican party tickets. She is a health and physical-education teacher at Hanover Area School District and has basketball and softball coaching careers of over 40 years that put her in the Luzerne County Sports Hall of Fame.
Healey said she was inspired to run by conversations with her late uncle, Pittston political mainstay Mickey McFadden, as well as her experiences being responsible for student safety. She said one of her priorities was promoting transparency with the community. A central plank of her campaign is a senior tax rebate. She motioned to effect it at the last school board meeting, though other board members withheld their second to bring it to a vote, saying they wanted to investigate the logistics further before they can support it.
“I’d like to see more open communication with the taxpayers and the school district and everybody involved,” Healey said. “I think we need more open dialogue and respect.”
Matt Marriggi
Matt Marriggi first joined the Pittston Area Board of Education in 2021 and won a place on the G.O.P ticket. He said he was proud of recent investments the school board has made in safety, adding metal detectors and more security to Pittston Area buildings. He also cited investments in technology like Chromebooks and what he said was the school board’s work to promote student performance.
“I think we’ve done a really good job at moving the district forward,” Marriggi said.
Marriggi is a director working in the health care industry, experience he said could help him navigate issues many school districts face with escalating health care costs.
Marty Quinn
Marty Quinn, who won a nomination on the Democratic ticket, said he has been on the Pittston Area school board for around 35 years. He said he was proud of investments in growing the school’s physical infrastructure. (Quinn is the namesake of the school district’s Martin F. Quinn Primary Center.)
Quinn, said he worked on the railroad for years as a pole lineman, primarily around Buffalo and has worked as a truck driver. He is also an Army veteran and served in executive positions with IBEU Local No. 1153 and Teamsters Local No. 701, according to a Pittston Area Visionary Team post on Facebook.
“My agenda’s the same as it was 35 years ago,” Quinn said. “The kids, the teachers, the school. That’s the way it works for me.”
Write-In Campaigns
Pittston Area is holding an additional election for a two-year term on the seat that had been held by the late Frank Lawler. Because a panel of county judges rejected the Luzerne County Democratic Committee’s attempt to nominate a candidate, there are no named candidates running on any major-party ticket for the seat.
Art Bobbouine and Tim Cotter, whom the Pittston school board appointed to fill the vacant seat, are running write-in campaigns for the role.
Art Bobbouine
Bobbouine said he was a former chief deputy sheriff at the Luzerne County Sheriff’s Office and is now a constable and security-company owner. If elected to the school board, Bobbouine said he would use his experience to prioritize investments in school safety.
“I think we have to be proactive instead of reactive,” Bobbouine said. “To me, there’s no price to put on safety of the kids.”
Bobbouine is a graduate of Pittston Area High School and his children and parents are all Pittston Area students or alumni. Reflecting on the state of the district, Bobbouine, who has endorsed Healey, said he believes some members of the school board have grown too insular.
“It’s time for new ideas,” Bobbouine said.
Tim Cotter
The Pittston Area Visionary Team did not respond to a request for an interview with Cotter and no other contact information for Cotter could be located. In a post on its Facebook page, the Pittston Area Visionary Team said Cotter is an attorney and certified public accountant who graduated from Pittston Area High School in the class of 2002. He later attended college at Brown University and received his J.D. from Villanova Law School. After graduation, Cotter worked at Deloitte Tax LLP in Philadelphia before relocating back to Northeastern Pennsylvania.
The post said Cotter works with several local nonprofits, including the Brian Cashmere Memorial Scholarship, the Dupont Youth Baseball Association, and the Pittston Arts Council.