NEW CASTLE —
With a simple vote, two elected positions were eliminated in Lawrence County last week.
The Lawrence County commissioners made that move, deciding to do away with the positions of jury commissioners.
The people in these two posts — one designated for a Democrat and the other for a Republican — essentially have served as the overseers of the process used to pick county residents to serve in jury pools.
In learning of this move by the commissioners, you might be wondering about jury commissioners and how these elected officers could be eliminated so easily. There are different ways to answer this question, but the basic answer is: They aren’t needed.
They really haven’t been needed for some time. The process of creating jury pools is best handled by automated systems, with names plugged into computers. The system obviously requires human oversight, but it does not require electing someone to do the job.
And it certainly does not require a system where party loyalty plays a role.
But jury commissioners have persisted throughout Pennsylvania. And the reason is politics. County government in most parts of Pennsylvania stands as an example of patronage politics at its zenith. Positions — sometimes quite obscure positions — are given elected status, with salary, staffing and authority to go with them.
We have long supported serious revisions to the structure of county government. Our reasons are simple: As it exists, county government is a system with more than its share of inefficiencies, where politics can trump sound management. Artificial barriers exist within different county offices, making it difficult to combine operations or shift staff when practical to do so.
If you look at many of the elected positions in county government, you would be hard pressed to come up with a rationale for putting them on the ballot, let alone creating a system that pits one party against another. Jury commissioners are just one example of that.
Defenders of the status quo often tout the fact voters are given the ultimate power over county row office positions through the ballot. While that’s technically true, such power ought to be linked to the voters’ abilities to see how those offices operate and how the elected officials manage them.
The fact is, most county row offices have very limited decision-making authority outside basic office management. They don’t make public policy the way city councils, school boards or township supervisors do. They simply run their offices.
As such, those operations are largely internal. Unless something significantly bad happens (remember former county treasurer Gary Felasco?) most row officers operate out of the public eye.
So we are glad the Lawrence County commissioners took the initiative to eliminate the jury commissioners. It’s an example of what can be done to make county government more efficient.
Editorials
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Our Opinion: Elimination of jury commissioners is right move
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Our Opinion: Lousy voter turnout is a missed opportunity
Tuesday’s primary in Lawrence County had its share of winners and losers. But — based on the numbers — the biggest winner has to be voter apathy. Countywide, voter turnout in the primary was a whopping 17.1 percent. In case you missed it, our use of the term “whopping” is sarcasm.
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Our Opinion: Pennsylvania’s primary system is controlled by parties
Should Pennsylvania’s primaries be open to independent voters? That’s an interesting question and one we have explored in the past on this page.
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Our Opinion: State audit says city school district failed to collect from non-residents
Audit information about non-resident students who didn’t pay tuition at New Castle raises more questions than it answers. At least so far. We expect more details when the Pennsylvania auditor general’s office completes its report and the New Castle school district provides its response.
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Our Opinion: Make the most of your power to vote by casting ballot tomorrow
So what kind of turnout will there be for tomorrow’s primary? Recent history suggests somewhere between low and lousy. This year’s elections are devoted to local races, and there are few major ones being contested in the primary.
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Our Opinion: Privatization of county jail is worthy of examination
Generally speaking, we support government efforts to seek more efficient ways to provide essential services. So we have no problem with the decision by the Lawrence County commissioners to solicit proposals for the private operation of the county jail.
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Our Opinion: We endorse candidates for New Castle board
The New Castle school district is often a study in contrasts. There are complaints about the district on everything from taxes to nepotism, from test scores to ethical slights. Yet at the same time, plenty of students within the district excel. It’s a tribute to the hard work of those students, their families and the educators who support them.
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Our Opinion: You should be frightened, outraged by IRS abuse of power
When people talk about government posing a threat to citizens, a common topic these days is unmanned drones. But a more credible threat may be the Internal Revenue Service. This agency, responsible for collecting taxes and enforcing related rules, has the ability to make life miserable for the average individual.
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Our Opinion: Our endorsements for City Council race
The city of New Castle needs help. Financially distressed and operating under Pennsylvania’s Act 47, New Castle must find ways to reverse its population loss and fiscal challenges.
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Our Opinion: Court frowns on gerrymandering, but only slightly
Pennsylvania legislators have received the green light to put their own political interests ahead of yours. That’s a key point in the latest Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling on legislative apportionment in the commonwealth.
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Our Opinion: Study says distracted driving deaths are under reported
Suppose you operated a piece of heavy machinery at your job. And suppose it’s machinery that moves quickly with little effort. What would happen if you decided to take one hand off that equipment — while it was still in motion — and instead focused your attention on a telephone call?
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