A panel of Lackawanna County Court judges denied Brenda Sacco’s petition to enter litigation over filling a commissioner vacancy, ruling that her interests are adequately represented by the county Democratic Committee and she has no legal standing to intervene in the case.
The litigation was started last month by Democratic Commissioner Bill Gaughan and the county over filling the vacancy of former Democratic Commissioner Matt McGloin for the nearly three years remaining on his unexpired term.
Brenda Sacco. (TIMES-TRIBUNE / FILE PHOTO)
In a decision issued Wednesday, Senior Judges Carmen D. Minora, Robert A. Mazzoni and Vito P. Geroulo determined Sacco has no “legally enforceable interest” in the case. That renders moot her companion motion for a protective order against the media from reporting on her, and thus the ruling also dismisses that motion.
The judges noted the Lackawanna County Democratic Committee’s legal response in the battle to fill a commissioner vacancy closely mirrored Sacco’s petition to intervene in the matter. The committee and Sacco both contended the county’s Home Rule Charter trumps a state court rule that would cut the committee out of the candidate selection process.
“In fact, the Democratic Committee’s Answer is identical to Sacco’s Proposed Answer. It is apparent to this court that the Democratic Committee simply copied Sacco’s Proposed Answer” and adopted it as its own, the ruling says. “It is so identical that the Democratic Committee’s claim for relief is advancing Sacco’s interest,” instead of its own “in requesting a denial and dismissal of Gaughan’s Petition to Amend. That claim has since been amended” by the Democratic Committee.
The Home Rule Charter process had the Democratic Committee picking three candidates to forward to county judges, who then would select one of the three to fill the McGloin vacancy. The committee named three candidates — Sacco, who is a former county director of economic development, Olyphant Borough Council President James Baldan and Scranton School Director Robert J. Casey — as candidates to potentially replace McGloin. The Gaughan/county challenge claims the charter is trumped by Pennsylvania Rule of Judicial Administration 1908 of 2019, which says the county court — not a political party — shall receive applications from any interested candidates for the position.
Noting she is the Democratic Committee’s top candidate, Sacco sought court approval to formally enter the litigation, claiming she is victim of a “smear campaign” against her via reporting by The Times-Tribune. If allowed to intervene in the case directly, Sacco would have backed the Home Rule Charter/county Democratic Committee process that made her the top finalist; and she also would have filed a separate motion for a protective order against Gaughan/the county “from orchestrating false news stories about (her) in the local press,” according to her legal petition prepared by attorney Paul James Walker of Clarks Summit.
In response to such claims in Sacco’s petition, Lackawanna County Solicitor Donald Frederickson issued a statement Friday saying: “To the extent that Lackawanna County is being accused of ‘leaking’ information to the press, this accusation is completely false and not based in reality. Any information which the county has provided to the press is public information which any citizen and taxpayer is entitled to receive. At no time was any confidential or privileged information relating to any employee or former employee disseminated by the county government.”
The Democratic Committee’s answer, filed Monday and prepared by attorney Adam Bonin of Philadelphia, claims the court rule was not established to guide Courts of Common Pleas when filling a county vacancy, but rather was created to give guidance when filling other elected office vacancies pursuant to statutory authority, including under the Pennsylvania Borough Code and the Pennsylvania Public School Code.
“It is specifically denied that the resignation of Commissioner Matt McGloin created such a scenario, as his vacancy must be filled pursuant to a Home Rule Charter provision and not pursuant to statutory authority,” the Democratic Committee reply states. “The Supreme Court cannot simply promulgate internal rules that change the scheme of an enacted Pennsylvania Home Rule Charter.”
Meanwhile, Republican Commissioner Chris Chermak opposes the county’s participation in the litigation and also has filed in court a legal action to remove the county as a party to the case.
The panel of judges has scheduled oral arguments in the litigation to be heard April 22. Briefs from all parties in the case must be filed with the court no later than Monday.