GOVERNMENT STUDY COMMISSION Panel will look at different types of government

There are 31 people vying for the nine-member, nonpartisan committee.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Lawrence County voters will decide by referendum whether they want to form a commission to look at alternative ways to organize county government.
There are 31 people vying for the nine-member, nonpartisan commission that will only take office if the referendum passes. The positions are nonpaying.
Referendum supporters say the move is an effort to look for more efficient and economical ways to run government in a county that has a shrinking population and rising taxes and unemployment rates.
They stress that any recommendations made by the commission must go back to voters for approval.
The commission would have nine months to meet and decide which form of government it will recommend to the voters, according to the Pennsylvania Governor's Center for Local Government Services.
The group could get an additional nine months if it decides to look at home rule, a form of government that gives communities even more options for change.
The government study referendum question facing voters in Lawrence County is not uncommon in Pennsylvania.
Since 1972, there have been 233 government study commission questions on ballots in 192 jurisdictions, located in 44 counties, according to the Center for Local Government Services.
Other facts: Study commissions can be formed in counties, cities, boroughs and townships.
There are six Pennsylvania counties that have conducted studies and adopted home rule forms of government: Allegheny, Delaware, Erie, Lackawanna, Lehigh and Northampton.
Lawrence County isn't the only Pennsylvania county looking at a countywide government study this year. Washington and Luzerne counties are also deciding whether to convene study commissions.
Panel's options: The study commission has several options. It can recommend no change to the current system of three elected county commissioners and various elected and appointed row officers.
Or it can advise voters that another form would be better.
The Center for Local Government estimates a study in a community the size of Lawrence County should cost anywhere from $8,000 to $10,000.
Marlene Gabriel, elections director, reminds those voters who normally vote a straight party ticket that they must answer the question and vote for nine candidates. The candidates are nonpartisan and not affiliated with any party for this race, she said.