Pocono News Section

County Judges Appoint Thomas Cooney New Commissioner

County Judges Appoint Thomas Cooney New Commissioner - Wednesday, December 23, 2009 at 5:35PM EST

Reported by: Andy Mehalshick
Wednesday, Dec 23, 2009 @ 05:35pm EST
WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY -- Luzerne County judges have appointed Thomas Cooney as the new county commissioner. The Jenkins Township man will fill the seat vacated by now disgraced former Commissioner Greg Skrepenak.

Cooney will be thrust into a county facing a budget crisis and a corruption scandal.

His appointment followed a day of interviews, questions and more questions. The day began with 67 would-be commissioners. By mid-afternoon that number was whittled down to 14, all of them interviewed by the 6 Luzerne County judges.

President Judge Chester Muroski read off the names of those who made the final cut. Those finalists then had to fill out paperwork, including their financial interests and a criminal background check.

As this was taking place upstairs, downstairs we saw county workers clearing out filing cabinets and other items left behind by Greg Skrepenak. He resigned last week and now faces federal charges.

We talked to several of the finalists like Timothy McKinley of Wilkes-Barre. "I'm very sad about the corruption charges because I've been a resident of Luzerne County since birth. I always loved Luzerne County, it's very disturbing to me see what's going on honestly. I will bring integrity and hard work," he said.

Another finalist was Nick Volpetti of Kingston. He felt the process was open and fair. "I think there were a lot of good people involved here, even those who didn't make the cut, some good people. May the best man of woman win," he said.

Judge Muroski insists everything was done to make the process transparent. "I think when you look at these particular interviewees, thereÕs no particular political connections they have been selected by quality and goal to serve the county properly."

All 7 judges voted on the new commissioner. Time is crucial as Cooney has to start working on the budget, which must be passed by next Thursday, or the county could be shut down.