The Luzerne County Manager heads the

executive branch The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a State (polity), state. In poli ...

of the

Luzerne County Luzerne County is a county in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is Northeastern Pennsylvania's second-largest county by total area. As of ...

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

. The manager is appointed by the

Luzerne County Council The Luzerne County Council is the governing body of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. The council meets at the Luzerne County Courthouse in Wilkes-Barre. There are eleven members on the assembly (ten Republicans and one Democrat). The chair is both ...

. The manager directs the county's organizational, management, and administrative operations and activities. The current acting manager is Brian Swetz.

History

Luzerne County voters rejected

home rule Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...

proposals in the past (once in 1974 and again in 2003). However, from

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

to 2010, corruption plagued the county government. Three county judges, a

county commissioner A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States; such commissions usually comprise ...

, a clerk of courts, a deputy chief clerk, and a director of human resources faced criminal charges. These events persuaded the voters of Luzerne County to adopt a new form of government. On Tuesday, November 2, 2010, a home rule charter was adopted by a margin of 51,413 to 41,639. On Monday, January 2, 2012, the previous government (the board of county commissioners) was abolished and replaced with the new form of government (

council–manager government The council–manager government is a form of local government used for municipalities, counties, or other equivalent regions. It is one of the two most common forms of local government in the United States along with the mayor–council govern ...

). The first members of the Luzerne County Council were sworn in that same day. The assembly consists of eleven elected members. They appoint and work alongside a full-time manager. The manager oversees the county's day-to-day operations. In the beginning, Tom Pribula served as the

interim An interim is a period of temporary pause or change in a sequence of events, or a temporary state, and is often applied to transitional political entities. Interim may also refer to: Temporary organizational arrangements (general concept) *Provis ...

county manager. Several weeks later, the council appointed the first county manager (Robert Lawton).

''Serving "at the pleasure of county council"''

According to the home rule charter, the manager “shall serve at the pleasure of county council.” In other words, the council has the power to appoint and remove the manager. Each ordinance, resolution, and policy established by county council should be faithfully executed by the county manager. The manager may make recommendations to the council, but does not have the authority to vote on or

veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...

any legislation originating from the assembly.

List of county managers

References

{{Reflist Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Government of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania