A letter to Lackawanna County President Judge James Gibbons seeking clarity on the proper composition of the county Board of Elections is part of a “scheme” by Democratic Commissioner Brenda Sacco to remain in office despite Tuesday’s special election to decide her successor, Democratic Commissioner Bill Gaughan said.
The election board tasked with certifying the results of the upcoming contest is currently composed of county Judges Terrence R. Nealon, Margaret Bisignani-Moyle and Frank Ruggiero. It’s a role commissioners would otherwise play if the office of commissioner wasn’t on the ballot.
The letter sent Thursday to Gibbons, signed by new county Solicitor Paul James Walker of Clarks Summit and election board Solicitor Donald Frederickson, seeks “clarification from the Court on the proper constitution of the Board of Elections for the upcoming general election.” It notes that, while the office of commissioner appears on the ballot, “none of the sitting commissioners are candidates or running for re-election.”
Sacco, recently appointed to temporarily fill former Democratic Commissioner Matt McGloin’s vacant seat, has said she hopes to hold the seat for the remainder of McGloin’s unexpired term running into early January 2028. That’s the unexpired term the winner of the special election between Democrat Thom Welby, Republican Chet Merli and independent candidate Michael Cappellini is expected to fill, replacing Sacco as commissioner after the election results are certified.
The letter “is totally absurd,” Gaughan said. “It’s clear that this is the scheme that I was referencing, I wasn’t quite sure what it was going to be, but the scheme that they’ve cooked up is they want to get back on the election board so they can find a way not to certify the election so Brenda Sacco can stay in power for two years unelected.”
Sacco did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Walker, Sacco’s former personal attorney whom she and Chermak hired as county solicitor Friday, rejected Gaughan’s allegation.
“First of all Commissioner Sacco cannot vote on the Board of Elections for this particular election no matter what,” Walker said. “That’s unequivocal.”
He noted in a statement the letter does not take a position on the law.
“It is a request for dialogue with President Judge Gibbons about procedures for how the Board of Elections is composed,” the statement reads. “However, we also understand that the Courts are a busy place and do not entertain any expectation of a rapid response. This is a basic opportunity for conversation that we look forward to having with the Court whenever we are all able. Any indication to the contrary is paranoia. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Gaughan was unconvinced.
“It’s the most ridiculous attempt at subverting an election that I’ve ever seen,” he said. “And it makes no sense at all. Why else would they want to be on the election board if not to try to stop the certification so that she can remain in power? Because she has repeatedly refused to answer a simple question about whether she would accept the results of the election on Tuesday and would step down once the election was certified. So this letter, on the heels of all of that controversy, just proves to me that this must be the scheme that they have cooked up.”
While Walker and Frederickson’s letter said they seek clarity regarding the composition of the election board on behalf of “a majority of the Lackawanna County Board of Commissioners,” Republican Commissioner Chris Chermak said he had nothing to do with the letter.
“I’m not part of that and I don’t think a commissioner should be on the (election) board,” he said.
Chermak reiterated that position later, after Walker disputed that he wasn’t involved.
“It had nothing to do with me,” Chermak said. “I didn’t have anything to do with it. … I wasn’t part of it.”
Gaughan reacted thereafter.
“If that’s the case then you have Brenda Sacco and her former personal attorney acting on their own, which is totally ridiculous and totally inappropriate,” he said. “Because I certainly wasn’t consulted.”
Asked about the letter, Frederickson deferred to Walker. “This is his project,” he said.
The letter to Gibbons also says he need not respond in writing.
“Rather than have any written back-and-forth, we would be glad to discuss this matter with you at your convenience,” it reads.