SCRANTON, Pa. — A fiery Lackawanna County Board of Commissioners meeting ended in a 2-1 vote Wednesday to temporarily appoint attorney Chris Munley to the bi-county board overseeing the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport.
The appointment replaces Commissioner Chris Chermak on the airport board. Chermak is currently one of five finalists under consideration for the airport’s open executive director position. The bi-county board is scheduled to meet next week to coordinate interviews with those final candidates as they work to name a new director.
The resolution to seat Munley only passed after a dramatic shift on a second vote. The meeting featured bitter sparring and required two separate attempts to pass the measure. The first vote deadlocked 1-1 after Chermak abstained "out of an abundance of caution" to avoid a conflict of interest as an active applicant. However, after Commissioner Thom Welby immediately reintroduced the resolution, Chermak cast the deciding vote in favor alongside Welby to pass the measure 2-1, while Commissioner Bill Gaughan voted in opposition.
Gaughan strongly opposed the move, raising "serious concerns and questions" about the ethics of the vote. Specifically, Gaughan questioned whether Chermak should "be permitted to vote on the appointment of the very person who could ultimately cast a vote on his own employment". He also questioned whether it was legal or necessary to appoint a temporary voting member to a seat that has not officially been vacated.
The bi-county airport board operates under a joint agreement between Lackawanna and Luzerne counties. Under the agreement, any motion or resolution—including the final selection of the airport’s next executive director—requires a majority of support from both partner counties to pass.
