HAZLETON — City Council unanimously voted Tuesday to proceed with a ballot question that asks voters to decide whether a government study commission is needed.
If council votes two more times to include the question, voters in Hazleton will decide in the May primary if a commission is warranted to explore changing the form of government.
Solicitor Sean Logsdon said the government study commission ordinance is not a response to the Justice Department’s lawsuit filed last week that alleges current voting procedures are unfair to Hispanic and Latino voters.
“This ordinance is something we had in the works before we even found out about the communication and the lawsuit,” Logsdon said. “We were working on this last year before we knew anything about that.”
The question under consideration for the May 20 primary reads as follows: “Shall a Government Study Commission of seven members be elected to study the existing form of government of the City of Hazleton, to consider the advisability of the adoption of a home rule charter, and if advisable, to draft and recommend a home rule charter?”
Council proposed a government study commission of seven members.
Mayor Jeff Cusat said during the meeting that Hazleton’s current form of government — an Optional Plan B as part of Pennsylvania’s Third Class City Code — has “limitations on revenue sources available to the city.”
“By going through a government study process and exploring home rule, we basically set our own guidelines on how to govern,” Cusat said. That gives different revenue sources and different limitations on government sources.
“This is not a response in any way to the DOJ’s absurd complaint they filed against us.”
The lawsuit claims the city’s current at-large method of electing city council members results in Hispanic and Latino citizens having less opportunity than other members of the community to participate in the political process.
“I don’t think our city is big enough or divided enough,” Cusat said Wednesday. “I’m not totally opposed to it. It needs to be thought out and not rushed. It is something else that will be explored during the study.”
