2025 Nanticoke News

1/9/2025
Nanticoke City Council votes to place term limit question on primary ballot
mroarty@timesleader.com

NANTICOKE — Residents might once again have the opportunity to vote on whether or not council members should have term limits.
During Wednesday’s combined work session and regular meeting, council unanimously voted, on first reading, to place a question on the May 25 municipal primary election ballot to eliminate Section 2.10 of the City of Nanticoke Home Ruler Charter, which states that council members may not serve more than three elected, consecutive terms.
Nanticoke previously put the same question on the ballot in 2023, with the majority of voters opting to keep term limits in place.
Former council member John Telencho asked council why they wanted to ask voters a question they seemingly already answered.
“What message are we sending to the people of Nanticoke?” he asked. “Why are we doing this again?”
However, several council members stated that many residents had told them they were confused by the wording of the question and didn’t understand what they were voting for in 2023.
“A lot of ‘em were misunderstood on the question,” said Council President William Brown, adding that the residents he spoke with asked him to put the question on the ballot again.
City Clerk Jennifer Polito agreed and said she fielded multiple calls from residents who were confused about the question.
Council member Mark O’Connor echoed those same thoughts.
“So many people told me they couldn’t understand the wording in it,” he said.
O’Connor was appointed to council last year, when his wife, incumbent Democrat Lesley Butczynski, was unable to take her seat due to the term limits remaining in place.
Butczynski was first appointed to council in 2012, when she filled the seat vacated by Councilwoman Margaret Hydock, following her resignation.
Butczynski then won a one-time, two-year term in 2013. She subsequently won a four-year term in 2015 and a second four-year term in 2019.
City Solicitor William Finnegan told The Times Leader back in August of 2023 that the language in Section 2.10 of the Home Rule Charter is vague, adding that the drafters of the charter did not define how long a term is — but that he would interpret it to be a period of four years.
At the meeting, O’Connor said Butczynski’s initial reelection was reason enough to believe voters didn’t understand the term limit question.
“So we’re gonna try it again because of the people coming to all of us saying, ‘What happened here? Why isn’t Leslie there? What was wrong?’ It was misworded. They didn’t understand it,” he said.
When it was asked why Butczynski was able to run again even though it was unclear whether or not she’d be able to serve, Finnegan reiterated that the home rule charter does no prohibit someone from doing so. They just can’t take office.
Finnegan also stated that it’s likely there will be other charter amendments in the future.
“There are areas in the charter that, frankly, lack clarity,” he said.
Also at the meeting, council approved several of Mayor Kevin Coughlin’s re-appointments including:
• Christina L. Josefowicz to the Nanticoke City Municipal Authority
• John Gregorowicz to the Nanticoke Police Civil Service Board
• Larry Karnes to the Nanticoke Fire Civil Service Board
• Tony Prushinski to the Nanticoke City Housing Authority.
City Hall will be closed Monday, Jan. 20 in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The next council meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 22.