Citizens Opposing Premature Selections

Why would you settle on and vote for any candidates for elected office long before the entire field is set?

Endorsements well over a month before potential candidates can file and carry nominating positions? A tad premature, wouldn’t you say?

Citizens' Voice: Watchdog group endorses 13 candidates for county council

Citizens Opposing Political Suppression, a watchdog group that opposed Luzerne County's home-rule charter and is looking into how municipalities can secede from the county, has endorsed 13 candidates for county council.

The home-rule charter, which was approved by voters Nov. 2, eliminates county commissioners as chief decision-makers and establishes a part-time county council with 11 at-large members. All 11 council members will be elected next year and must appoint a manager as chief executive when they take office in 2012.

Charmaine Maynard, executive director of Citizens Opposing Political Suppression, served on the Luzerne County Government Study Commission, which wrote the charter, and was the only member to vote against it. Maynard wanted a smaller council with members representing districts and wanted to elect the county's chief executive.

"I know all the flaws (in the charter)," said Maynard, of Sugarloaf Township. "Without the right people in there, we're going to be screwed."

Flaws? Our new super duper, double-secret form of government is going to be flawed right from the get-go? Oh, goodie.

The Conyngham-area organization known as COPS endorsed seven Democrats for county council - Wil Toole, Michelle Bednar, Kevin Casey, Casey Evans, Thomas Ksiezopolski, Thomas Rome and Gary Reese; and six Republicans - Michael Cabell, Kathy Dobash, William James, Moderno "Butch" Rossi, Edward Warkevicz and Frank Vandermark.

I’m sure the endorsed candidates are all qualified and as squeaky clean as the wind-driven culm. But some rather astute political observers expect upwards of 50 candidates to emerge when the date to file and carry finally arrives. Some are calling those estimates conservative.

With that said, why would we endorse any candidates before we know who will round out the field?

And, COPS? How about if we tweak that acronym just to meet the needs of the overall electorate in this county? How about Citizens Opposing Premature Selections?

Later