Controller Bios

Today we begin our extended Luzerne County Controller coverage. We begin with bios submitted by the candidates pursuant to our questionnaire. The order in which they are presented has been selected by the UNIVAC 3000.

Edd Brominski

1980/1983 Luzerne County Commissioner.... Balanced the budget each year ( I was Chairman the last 3 of those 4 years). Married to my first wife Dee (only wife) for 48 years. Two Children Ed Jr. and Lynn. Two Grandsons, Randy and Scott Salus. I taught for 15 years, was Mayor of Swoyersville for 4 years, worked in Insurance sales and management for 8 years , was the Director of the Assessement office in the county for 7 1/2 years, and worked as a medical prescriptions sales person for 5 years. Retired in 2005.

Walter Griffith

My name is Walter L. Griffith JR. and I am currently 54 years old and a lifelong resident of Luzerne County. I currently own and manage my own Auto Repair business and have done so very successfully since 1989. I am also very active in managing an organization that is responsible to submit a budget and balance our books each year, as well as organize and facilitate the operation of an organization that covers 4 states.

I currently have been very active in Wilkes-Barre City Government, as well as Luzerne County Government, and have been very active in the daily operations of these governments for the taxpayers of the City and County and have made much progress in being sure that our elected officials are held accountable to “us” the taxpayers.

I am running as your County Controller and have demonstrated time and time again my desire to represent each and every taxpayer and citizen in Luzerne County by my constant asking of the “tough questions” of your elected officials and will continue to do this on your behalf if elected as your County Controller in 2009.

I represented “YOU” the taxpayers when the County Commissioners were going to plunge the County into more debt with regard to the 16 million dollar loan and was successful in representing “YOU” by having that amount reduced to only 5.6 Million.

I also was at the meetings to represent “YOU” when the Debit Card issue was happening and the feel the Controller should have known about this long before the people were swindled out of thousands of dollars.

I was at the courthouse when 21^st Century Appraisals were doing our appraisals in a very shoddy and haphazard way that has cost the taxpayers of this County thousands of dollars.

I was at the Courthouse when the Salary Board was not functioning according to the law of the County Code as well and was very instrumental in helping your elected officials cut spending by my information.

My background politically is very simple…I am not related to any one in Luzerne County that works in the courthouse and I will not bankrupt my moral or ethic character to get elected to any position in government.

Alice Coffman

EDUCATION:

• Hazleton Senior High School, 1984
• Penn State Hazleton Campus, May 1986. Associates Degree in Business Administration

• Bloomsburg University, Magna Cum Laude, December 1992, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration majoring in Accounting.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

• Self-employed CPA, dba Coffman & Associates, located in Conyngham, PA since July 1996, specializing in small business and individual accounting and tax matters. Served as auditor for the Luzerne County Children’s Home and United Charities in West Hazleton, PA.
• Parente Randolph, Hazleton, PA; auditor of financial statements of both profit and non-profit entities and pension funds, spring of 1994.
• Deloitte & Touche, Fogelsville, PA; auditor of financial statements for profit entities and the Pennsylvania State University system, December 1992.

POLITICAL EXPERIENCE:

• None, this is my first time entering the political arena.

PERSONAL:

• Married August 25, 1990.
• No children, nine siblings, one deceased due to MS August 2008, twenty-six nieces/nephews, 10 great nieces/nephews, Parents both deceased.

Bob Sypniewski

DID NOT RESPOND

Bob Morgan

Bob Morgan is a lifelong resident of Luzerne County, born and raised in Kingston and currently residing in Fairview Township with his wife and two children.

He is a graduate of Wyoming Valley West High School and King's College where he received a B.A. in Government. While a student at King's he served an internship in the Washington office of Congressman Frank Harrison.

After graduation, Bob began a career in the financial services industry, beginning his career with Prudential Investments, one of the leading managers of retirement plans in the country. During his time at Prudential he served first as a Marketing Representative supporting the firm's regional pension sales representatives. In 1991, he began managing client relationships for a number of client's of the firm, eventually becoming an Account Executive with responsibilty for a team of service representatives who handled day to day operations for large corporate retirement plans with assets of over $750 million. Bob was also responsible for presenting semi-annual reports in face to face meetings with the Chief Financial Officers and pension trust committees of his team's plans.

In 1998, he joined Smith Barney as a Financial Consultant working with individuals managing their personal assets. During this time he managed a number of corporate 401(k) plans in the local community as well. At Smith Barney he attained the titles of Retirment Plan Consultant and Financial Planning Consultant. In 2006, Bob joined PNC Investments as a Senior Financial Consultant, earning the title of Assistant Vice President in 2007.

Bob has also served as Past President of the Friendly Sons of Greater Wilkes-Barre, served as Past Chair of the Awards Committee, and has served as a charter member of the committee for the organization's annual charity golf tournament. He is currently serving his 8th consecutive term, 13th in total, as Treasurer of the Friendly Sons. He is also a Past President, and past member of the Board of Trustees of the Wyoming Valley Serra Club. He and his wife have served as Chairpersons and sponsors of the Wyoming Valley March of Dimes Signature Chefs Auction in 2007 and 2008.

Nanda Palissery

I am 43 years old. I was raised in South Wilkes-Barre and Hanover Township. I attended Middle/High school were at Wyoming Valley West.

I graduated from high school in 1983. I have a sister and two brothers. My father taught at Luzerne County Community College from 1967 through 2000. He died last November. My mom, who lives in Shavertown teaches at LCCC also.

I attended LCCC for two years, and then transferred on to Texas A&M University, where I graduated in 1989 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. I worked for Westinghouse as an HVAC engineer and began law school at Temple University School of Law in 1990.

I graduated from law school in 1994. During the last 2 years of law school, I taught full time at LCCC in the areas of calculus, physics and laser technology. I opened my private practice in 1994 and have a general practice, with the bulk of my practice being criminal defense and civil litigation.

I am married since 1992, live in Dallas and have 3 beautiful girls 14, 13 and 10. They all attend Dallas school district schools.

My wife and I owned the Exit 6 bar in Luzerne for 5 years and ran it successfully until we sold it in
2006.

OVC Controller Questionnaire Answers Begin Tomorrow

OVC will begin its extended coverage of the Luzerne County Controller's Race. Nanda Palissery (R), Walter Griffith (R), Bob Morgan (D), Bob Sypniewski (R), and Alice Coffman (R) are pictured. Edd Brominski did not supply a photo.

A few weeks ago, the OVC staff sent a Controller questionnaire to the six candidates. Between now and May 19th, we will post their answers verbatim and without commentary.

OVC Hires Legal Correspondent

OVC is pleased to announce that they have added Bruce the legal correspondent to their staff. Bruce, pictured to the left, is a graduate of a Yale Law School and former Beechum County prosecutor.

Bruce will be commenting on legal issues of the day and handle all OVC legal matters, including copyright infringement, libel and slander actions, and various legal issues involving the registration and inspection of the microbus.

Bruce can be reached at brucehaller@yahoo.com.

CV's Coulter Jones wins the Yuri Andropov Award

Citizens' Voice "Beat Reporter" and "Community Watchdog" Coulter Jones has been awarded the prestigious OVC Yuri Andropov award. The "Yuri" is awarded to an individual who shows utter contempt for the Right of Free Speech. The Yuri was instituted by OVC in 2006 and is named after the former Soviet KGB Chief who fulfilled his childhood dream and became leader of the Soviet Union in 1982. Coulter will receive an autographed copy of Das Kapital, a fifth of Russian vodka, and a roll of duct tape.

In the May 2nd edition of the Citizens' Voice, Jones penned a column entitled "Campaign signs litter roadways as primary draws closer." To the staff, at OVC we love political signs and see them as one of the ultimate symbols of the democratic process and the Freedom of Speech guaranteed by the First Amendment. It is quite ironic and clearly in the spirit of Yuri that Coulter Jones would see signs as "litter."

Democracy is not always pretty and not always sterile. Unfortunately, the Coulter Joneses of this country want it to be that way. God forbid a couple of signs "litter" the public highways and byways.

Public spaces have always been a place where one can express his or her opinion. The pamphleteers who helped spawned the American Revolution used these public spaces to spread their message. The political signs in public spaces today are the pamphleteers of Colonial Times. Unfortunately, many local politicians don't understand this parallel.

Local townships pass anti free speech ordinances, because "everyone else is doing it," and because their solicitors don't tell them that what they're doing flies in the face of the First Amendment. Political speech is the cornerstone of the First Amendment, and laws which restrict it rarely meet the constitutional standard. The justification that political signs are "unsightly" or "litter" shows a deep misunderstanding of free speech guarantees of the First Amendment..

Don't get us wrong, after the election has passed, then the signs become litter. We have absolutely no problem with a township, a city, or borough requiring candidates to remove their signs within a reasonable time after the election.

The Wilkes-Barre City ordinance, to which Coulter refers in his column, is just plain unconstitutional, and Wilkes-Barre City should know better. The last time we checked, Wilkes-Barre City is not a First Amendment free zone.

And, as far as calling or e-mailing Coulter to notify him of signs that violate local ordinances, perhaps time would be better spent sending Coutler and the local officials a copy of the United States and Pennsylvania Constitutions, which both expressly prohibit such infringements on political speech.

Breaking News: Justice David Souter Throws in the Robe

NBC news is reporting that United States Supreme Court Justice David Souter will not return to the court in October, but instead will retire to his farm in New Hampshire. Appointed to the Court by Republican President George H. W. Bush, he usually votes with the more liberal wing on the court. He currently ranks fourth in seniority among the Associate Justices.

Souter is 69 years old and has never been comfortable with the Washington scene since being elevated to the Court in 1990. His retirement has been rumored ever since the election of Barack Obama.

When Bush, Sr. nominated Souter, he was opposed by a number of liberal U. S. Senators, including Ted Kennedy and John Kerry, who believed he was a judicial conservative in the mold of Robert Bork. Since his early days on the court, Souter has been a reliable vote for the liberal bloc on the court.

<sup>We have been unable to confirm that Souter's sudden retirement has anything to do with Bob Powell.

We will begin the the replacement speculation in the next few days.</sup>

Sparks Fly at the GOP Women's Forum

Republican Controller candidate Bob Sypniewski apparently never heard of Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment. Reagan often quoted what he termed his 11th Commandment. "Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican."

Sypniewski went on the attack against endorsed Republican controller candidate Nanda Palissery at the Luzerne County Republican Women's Meet the Candidates night. All five controller candidates attended the event on Thursday night at the Luzerne County Republican Headquarters in downtown Wilkes-Barre.

The sparks flew when Sypniewski gave his remarks. Each candidate was given a few minutes to pitch themselves before the crowd of about fifty people. Alice Coffman, Edd Brominski, Walter Griffth, and Palissery all touted their experience and frequently referred to each other in kind terms druing their presentations. The tenor changed when Sipniewski spoke last.

After his usual 15 of 16 children speech in a home with no heat or electricity, Sypniewski said "lawyers at the court house get dressed up and look real nice, but they have devious hearts." He comments were an obvious dig at Palissery, who is an attorney and many deem as the front runner.

Palissery took umbrage to the comment and didn't take it sitting down. He stood up and said he took offense to the comment, but Sypniewski did not back down.

Palissery was not the only one who took issue with the lawyer comment. Endorsed GOP judicial candidate confronted Sypniewski after the event, but Sypniewski again held his ground.

Sypniewskli didn't win any points with the GOP crowd, and one prominent Republican said she was "disappointed by the words of Bob Sypniewski. I think he crossed the line."

Controller Debate

The League of Women Voters held a debate for the six Luzerne County Controller candidates at Wilkes College last night. Pictured from left to right are Bob Morgan (D), Walter Griffith (R), Bob Sipniewski (R), Edd Brominski (R), Alice Coffman (R), and Nanda Palissery (R). About 35 people attended the debate, although we don't believe more than a handful were persuadable voters.

The candidates were allowed two minutes to offer an opening statement and two minutes to close. They were asked a series eight questions. Each candidate was given one minute to answer.

The questions ranged from the candidates views on nepotism (all were against it) to their first priority in office to "do you intend to spend 8 hours a day in the office" to the backlog of audits.

Here's what we came away with from the debate. Morgan thinks the controller's office still uses DOS computers from the 1970s, Griffith has read the county code from cover to cover, Sipniewski hates lawyers, Brominski got fired for the assessors office, Alice Coffman is an accountant, and Palissery doesn't look like a "good ol' boy."

All of the candidates seemed to be well aware of the fact that there is a mess not only in the controller's office, but in county government in general. All of the candidates stressed different startegy and tactics to correct the problems which have plagued county government over the past few years.

Palissery stressed the better use of personnel in the controller's office and blamed many of the problems on the lack of leadership in the office. He pointed out that since Maryann Petrilla left the controller's office to become county commissioner, Governor Rendell has failed to appoint a replacement. Palissery also stressed his level of commitment to the job and pledged select weekend and week night controller office hours to allow the public better access.

Coffman stressed time and again that the expertise she has gained as a Certified Public Accountant for the last eighteen years make her uniquely qualified for the job. She also portrayed herself as a workaholic who would dedicate long hours to the job. In a pledge which perked up our ears, she pledged to create a controller's blog. (Alice, if you need Buzz's assistance, you can have him, but the Univac 3000 stays here.)

Brominski stressed his years as a Luzerne County Commissioner and his years in the Luzerne County assessment office. We are unclear as to why he left that office, but he seemed to imply he was fired for being a whistle blower.

We were impressed by Sipniewski's forceful style, but we were also concerned that he may possess some of the detriments which hurt Steve Flood's cause when he held the office, primarily a confrontation nature. Sipniewski was by far the most confrontational of the bunch, attacking endorsed Republican Palissery on at least two occasions.

Giffith seems to have done his homework. He had with him a copy of the county code and a number of other documents. Griffith pledge to be in the office everyday from 8:30 to 5. He also took the strongest stand on nepotism, saying he wouldn't hire anyone in the controller's office who was related to or friends with anyone currently working for the county. Griffith also said he would either hire a solicitor from outside the county or a solicitor who had absolutely no ties county government or any existing solicitorships.

Morgan stressed the need to bring the office up to date. He said that the software system currently used in the controller's office is very out dated. He was also concerned about a lack of leadership in the office. He said his 20 years in the financial community gave him the qualities to be a good controller.

No fists were thrown, but the soundbite of the night came from Palissery. When Sipniewski implied that Palissery was part of the "good ol' boy network," Palissery, who emigrated from India at the age of two, stood up and said, "Do I look anything like a good ol' boy? I don't think so."

Palissery also had the runner up soundbite line. After hearing Coffman state that her expertise was accounting and that she would probably electrocute herself changing an electrical outlet in Stark Learning Center, Palissery quipped, "with my engineering degree, I could change that electrical circuit."

Stay tuned when OVC plays twenty questions with the controller candidates starting May 1st. (Well not actually twenty but you get the point.)