Pocono News Section

Unanswered Questions Surround Reilly's Sudden Retirement

Unanswered Questions Surround Reilly's Sudden Retirement - Tuesday, June 1, 2010 at 04:20AM EST

Reported by: Andy Mehalshick
Tuesday June 01 2010
WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY -- There are many unanswered questions about the fate of Luzerne County Clerk of Courts Bob Reilly. As we told you yesterday, he announced his sudden retirement.

Reilly was charged in April with taking some $1,500 in kickbacks from a contractor who did work with the county. The FBI alleges that Reilly took the money from Barton Weidlich, who was hired as a handyman at warehouses where county records are stored.

Weidlich was working for a company called LRW, which was hired by the county in 2005 for record maintenance and storage. LRW is now being questioned by the FBI. The company has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

Reilly sent a letter of retirement to the governor and Luzerne County President Judge Thomas Burke over the holiday weekend. Reilly also contacted county officials about his county pension. But county leaders we talked with, including Controller Walter Griffith and Prothonatary Carolee Medico Olengenski say hold on just one minute. "Someone should not be allowed to retire if they did something that was improper or criminal while they were in office. That should be fired, not retirement."

The way the records are stored is now being questioned. Susan Hartman, an official with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, has been inspecting the county records at the Thomas Building in Wilkes-Barre. They already have concerns. "There is no climate control. The temperature fluctuations between 90 degrees today, last Thursday it was warmer to very hot at times. That destroys paper in the long run," says Hartman.

The county is now looking at possibly hiring another company to handle the storage of records.

And the new county policy withholds a pension decision until the case works its way through the courts.

As for Reilly's replacement, the governor could appoint a new Luzerne County Clerk of Courts. That person would then have to be confirmed by the state senate.