Lawsuit seeks to stop Lawrence Co. panel

An earlier attempt at a preliminary injunction was dismissed.

STAFF REPORT

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — A member of the Lawrence County Government Study Commission is suing the panel to force it to stop meeting.

The suit, filed Aug. 8 in the county court of common pleas, is the second attempt by Richard Audino to halt the work of the commission, which formed after voters in the November election approved it and voted in its 11 members.

Audino intends to present a motion Wednesday morning for a preliminary injunction to prevent the panel from doing any more work.

It has been meeting to determine if it wants to recommend a different form of government to county voters. The county is governed by three commissioners now.

The first time Audino tried to stop the commission, he argued in common pleas court that it should no longer exist.

The panel had voted on Audino’s motion July 2 to end its business and terminate itself.

The commission had voted 6-5 at that meeting to conclude its business. It scheduled a meeting July 30 to prepare its final report.

Meanwhile, commission member Dwayne Evans changed his mind. He contacted commission chairman David Kennaday to ask advice, saying he didn’t understand what he was voting on when he voted to stop the study.

Kennaday called a meeting for July 24, and Evans made a motion to continue the study. It passed 6-3.

Audino named in his suit the six members who’d voted for that motion.

On Aug. 4, Senior Visiting Judge Michael Wherry granted a motion to dismiss Audino’s request for a preliminary injunction.

The attorney argued that the motion wasn’t served properly, was missing key legal elements and there was no indication Audino would be “irreparably harmed.”

Judge Wherry also questioned an assertion by Audino that Evans’ call to Kennaday and subsequent discussion amounted to a civil conspiracy.

He disagreed that the situation rose to the definition of an illegal agreement, or conspiracy.

After court, Audino said that he came to the conclusion change wasn’t needed after he’d been on the study panel for several months.

His new suit asserts that Lawrence County residents will suffer “immediate and irreparable harm unless the defendants are enjoined from continuing their misuse of county funds in their erroneous attempt to bring back to life” the terminated commission.