Hey there fellow Monarchs, my name is Danny Bauder and I’d like to thank the Crown’s editorial staff for giving me this opportunity to discuss local, state and national politics. In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve worked for the Democratic party and Democratic candidates and I’ll bringing a left slant to this column. This column is editorial in nature and should not be viewed as the views of either the Crown or King’s College.
With all that out of the way, I’d like to give you an overview of what I’ll be bringing to you each issue. Here in Wilkes-Barre we have municipal elections this year which means the city council and mayor are up. In the mayor’s contest, incumbent Thomas Leighton ’82, will face a challenge from Republican Linda Stets. Look for an interview with Mayor Leighton in this space soon.
In the city council race, the college is in Council District C and is represented by Kathy Kane. Kane is the wife of District Justice Marty Kane, who I’m sure some of you have met, and has been on city council for a number of years. Kane is a former chair and vice chair of city council and lives in the Heights section of the city. She’s being challenged by Republican Pete Grella who ran unsuccessfully for County Treasurer a number of years ago.
In addition to these city races, Luzerne County will be electing three commissioners. Current Commissioner and former NFL player Greg Skrepenak is running with County Controller Maryanne Petrilla, while Steve Urban and Bill Jones are running on the Republican side. The top three vote-getters are elected, and law states that the board of commissioners must have two members from the majority and one from the minority.
I’m looking forward to discussing the candidates and issues facing both college students and the Wyoming Valley residents, as well as interviewing the candidates themselves. If you have any questions for me or for the candidates, feel free to send me an e-mail at crown@kings.edu.
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