Uncertainties regarding Brenda Sacco’s swearing in as interim commissioner

The state supreme court ruled Brenda Sacco will serve as interim county commissioner. But with the upcoming special election, the length of her term is uncertain.

LACKAWANNA COUNTY, Pa. — For the better part of a year, the question of who will fill Lackawanna County commissioner Matt McGloin’s seat has been unanswered. 

County judges selected Brenda Sacco to serve as interim commissioner, but just before she was supposed to take her seat, a lawsuit halted the process. At the same time, another set of judges decided that a special election would occur so voters could choose who the next commissioner would be.

Now, a state supreme court ruling says Brenda Sacco will serve as the interim commissioner two weeks before the special election would take place.

“There’s still a lot of uncertainty, I think it’s frankly very courageous of Mrs. Sacco to want to still step up to the plate despite all of the insanity that has ensued,” said Paul Walker, Brenda Sacco’s attorney.

Part of the uncertainty is just how long Sacco will be the interim commissioner.

“What Mrs. Sacco hopes to be able to do is serve out the remainder of the term,” said Walker.

The remainder of McGloin’s term is 2 years.

Commissioner Bill Gaughan says he doesn’t believe Sacco can serve out the rest of McGloin’s term because one, Sacco isn’t running in the special election, and two, multiple courts have ruled a special election will occur.

“Our local judges and the Commonwealth court that there’s going to be a special election, ballots have been sent out, over 8000 people have already voted as of this morning,” said Bill Gaughan, Lackawanna County Commissioner.

But Walker believes there’s still uncertainty.

“There’s still an open case that is appealable challenging the election itself … Whether or not this election is valid under the law remains an open question,” said Walker.

Lackawanna County Democratic Committee leaders tell Newswatch16 that they are not going to challenge the special election, at least not now, which means voters will have their say on Nov. 4.