Gov't consolidation prospects fading

An informal survey of borough and township leaders from throughout Cameron County finds little support for the sweeping changes in local government that will face a day of reckoning in just over a week.

If just one municipality refuses to put the home rule charter on the November ballot, the consolidation plan is dead in the water. Unless circumstances radically change over the next few days, Emporium Borough Council and the supervisor boards and Lumber and Grove townships are poised to vote against it.

On the other hand, Driftwood Borough Council has already signed on in support of the plan.

Cameron County Commissioners Tony Moscato, Patrick Rodgers and Glen Fiebig will make one last-ditch effort to rally public support for the plan and answer questions about it at 9:00 Thursday morning, during a public meeting at the Willows Inn in Sinnemahoning.

The public showdown is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 30, in the courtroom, when all of the township supervisors and borough councils are scheduled to decide whether the home rule charter will appear on the November ballot.

The plan would dissolve the borough and township governments and replace them with a nine-member countywide council, as well as a county manager and other officials with countywide responsibilities. At least 30 government positions from throughout Cameron County could be eliminated, resulting in lower operating expenses.

In the unlikely event that consolidation makes it onto the ballot, the referendum must be approved by a majority of voters in each municipality for the change to take effect. The offices of commissioner, township supervisor, tax collector, borough council member, mayor, tax collector, county auditor, borough and township auditor and jury commissioner would be eliminated.

Elected positions that would remain include: coroner, district attorney, prothonotary/ clerk of courts, register of wills/recorder of deeds, sheriff, and treasurer. Appointed positions would include: county manager, chief assessor, clerk for the governing body, police chief and director of public works.