LAWRENCE COUNTY Coroner nomination falls through again

The state Senate did not vote on the governor's nomination.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Another attempt to nominate a new coroner in Lawrence County has failed.
Pennsylvania state senators worked well into Wednesday night but never voted on Gov. Mark Schweiker's nomination of Roger M. DeCarbo Jr. for the Lawrence County coroner's position, according to DeCarbo.
Schweiker sent DeCarbo's name to the Senate on Nov. 15 for consideration. Two-thirds of the Senate, or 33 members, must approve of a nomination by the governor to make it effective.
State Sen. Gerald LaValle of Rochester, D-47th, who represents most of Lawrence County, could not be reached to comment.
No votes on nominations
But DeCarbo, a Democrat, said Friday that LaValle reached him on Thanksgiving morning to say that the Senate did not vote on any county office nominations when it ended its last session late Wednesday. The Senate will not meet again until January.
LaValle said earlier in the week that senators were bickering over several nominations for state judges, and if those could not be worked out, other voting would likely not take place.
It appears that Schweiker's nomination will now die because it was not acted on within 25 days.
Two other nominations made by Schweiker to fill the Lawrence County coroner post had previously failed because the Senate failed to act. Those nominations, however, were for Theo McCracken, a Republican.
LaValle said at that time he would block any Republican nomination because the office was held by an elected Democrat.
Retired
J. Russell Noga, a Democrat who served as county coroner for 18 years, retired in January 2001 and his son, Russell S. Noga, who was his father's chief deputy coroner, has been the acting coroner for the last 11 months.
LaValle said earlier this week that he would support DeCarbo's nomination because he is a Democrat.
DeCarbo said he will now focus on the coming year's election for coroner. He said he intends to send Gov.-elect Ed Rendell a letter stating his interest in the job and his qualifications, but he will not lobby Rendell to nominate him for the post.
Russell S. Noga has also said he will seek the coroner's office in the coming election.