Subtle, Slightly Transparent Changes at Schuylkill County Commissioners

Schuylkill County Commissioners met for the first time in 2024 last week. And when they did, there were some subtle changes that could be a positive going forward.

These changes certainly aren’t mind erasers and they are, putting them in perspective, baby steps. But they’re baby steps in the direction we’d hoped for for months.

Night Meetings

The first change we learned about on Tuesday evening, a few hours after the Commissioners had formally reorganized for the year and Larry Padora was named Chairman of the Board.

This year, the Commissioners will meet during the evening hours 4 times in 2024. That’s up from the typical 2 night meetings they have every year.

The public has been begging the Commissioners to meet at a time other than the typical meeting time of 10 a.m., which prevents many people from attending and voicing their concerns.

The Caution Tape

Another major change inside the board room last week was the caution tape. This is the caution tape that was placed on the row where media sits to prevent reporters from sitting in a certain area to block their view of certain things in front of them.

OK, we say media and reporters in the plural but in reality, it was The Canary.

The tape was strung across this row of seating for months but on Tuesday and then again on Wednesday, it wasn’t. It’s still there, but it’s neatly folded on the work area in that row of seating.

Padora says, somewhat in jest, the tape will stay down so long as The Canary (or others) don’t take photos over someone’s shoulder.

Budget Adjustment Transparency

An issue that we’ve been hitting on for even longer than the caution tape debacle is the County’s transparency with budget adjustments and supplemental spending.

The issue becomes such because the County does not tell the public anything more than the department where the adjustment is needed and the dollar figure being adjusted on its meeting agenda.

This keeps the public in the dark to possibly question these adjustments and additional spending resolutions. And anytime the public has raised questions about them in the past, they’ve gotten nothing but the silent treatment from County officials.

The first and only time the public learns details about them is moments before a vote is taken to approve them.

Some who’ve questioned this – including The Canary – want the County to post the information Commissioners get on them when the meeting agenda is released. Until last week, the County hasn’t done anything to that end.

However, after last week’s Work Session meeting, Padora showed off how he’d taped that information outside the board room doors so the public can quickly see what these adjustments are all about before the meeting starts.

The new Commissioner didn’t shut the door on possibly getting that information included with the agenda available to the public the day before meetings.

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