Editing Luzerne County, Pennsylvania (section)

===21st century===
{{Further|Rust Belt|Kids for cash scandal|Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri|Tropical Storm Lee (2011)}}
[[File:Industry and Agriculture.jpg|thumb|[[Ashley, Pennsylvania|Ashley]]'s abandoned [[Huber Breaker|Huber coal breaker]] in May 2008]]
[[Image:Flood Walls on Market Street in Wilkes-Barre.jpg|thumb|The levees and temporary flood walls that protected [[Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania|Wilkes-Barre]] from [[Tropical Storm Lee (2011)|Tropical Storm Lee]] flooding in September 2011]]
Many factories and coal mines were long since closed by the turn of the 21st century. Like most regions in the [[Rust Belt]], Luzerne County witnessed [[Population decline|population loss]] and [[urban decay]] over many decades beginning in the mid-20th century. Luzerne County in particular had reached the apex of its population around 1930. However, despite continuing population loss in recent years, the economy has grown moderately; [[Warehouse|warehousing]] has replaced manufacturing as the main industry.<ref>{{cite web|author=Money By ADAM DAVIDSON |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/10/magazine/blaming-trade-and-voting-trump-in-the-rust-belt.html |title=Blaming Trade and Voting Trump in the Rust Belt – The New York Times |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=July 6, 2016 |access-date=January 19, 2018}}</ref>

In the late 2000s, several scandals related to public corruption, [[cronyism]], patronage hiring, and [[Government waste|wasteful spending]] affected the county.<ref name="standardspeaker.com">[http://standardspeaker.com/news/voters-say-yes-to-home-rule-1.1058604 Voters say 'yes' to home rule – News]. ''Standard Speaker'' (November 3, 2010). Retrieved on July 23, 2013.</ref> The [[Kids for cash scandal|"kids for cash" scandal]] unfolded in 2008 over judicial [[kickbacks]] at the Luzerne County [[Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas|Court of Common Pleas]] in Wilkes-Barre. Two judges, President Judge [[Mark Ciavarella]] and Senior Judge [[Michael Conahan]], were convicted of accepting money from Robert Mericle, builder of two private, for-profit youth centers for the detention of juveniles, in return for contracting with the facilities and imposing harsh [[adjudication]]s on juveniles brought before their courts to increase the number of residents in the centers.<ref name="wsj-frank">{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123854010220075533|title=Thomas Frank Says 'Kids for Cash' Incentivizes the Prison Industry|last=Frank|first=Thomas|date=April 1, 2009|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|access-date=August 25, 2009}}</ref> In the following years, additional county officials faced criminal charges (e.g., a clerk of courts, a deputy chief clerk, a director of human resources). County Commissioner [[Greg Skrepenak]] resigned in 2009; he was ultimately sentenced to prison for [[Pay to play|accepting money]] from a developer who received government-backed financing.

In May 2009, voters approved the creation of a government study commission. The commission proposed and wrote a [[List of Pennsylvania municipalities and counties with home rule charters, optional charters, or optional plans|home rule charter]] for Luzerne County. On November 2, 2010, the voters of Luzerne County held a [[referendum]] on the question of home rule. A total of 51,413 (55.25%) voted in favor of home rule, while another 41,639 (44.75%) voted against the move.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web |url=http://www.luzernecounty.org/county/departments_agencies/bureau_of_elections/election-results-archive |title=Election Results Archive |publisher=Luzerne County |access-date=January 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180111220601/http://www.luzernecounty.org/county/departments_agencies/bureau_of_elections/election-results-archive |archive-date=January 11, 2018 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> The home rule charter would eliminate the positions of the three county commissioners; they would be replaced by an eleven-member [[county council]] (who will appoint and work alongside a county manager). This referendum "starts a new chapter in Luzerne County history," remarked James Haggerty, the chairman of the commission that wrote and proposed the charter. The first election for the new government was scheduled for 2011 – which ended up becoming an eventful year for Luzerne County.

From March to June of that year, the Borough of [[Duryea, Pennsylvania|Duryea]] received national attention for its role in the landmark Supreme Court case ''[[Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri]]'', in which the court stated that "a government employer's allegedly retaliatory actions against an employee do not give rise to liability under the Petition Clause unless the employee's petition relates to a matter of public concern."<ref name="Cornell">{{cite web|title=BOROUGH OF DURYEA, PENNSYLVANIA, et al.,<br/> PETITIONERS v. CHARLES J. GUARNIERI|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/09-1476.ZO.html|publisher=Legal Information Institute, [[Cornell University Law School]]|access-date=August 26, 2013|date=June 20, 2011}}</ref>

The second major event occurred in September 2011, when Luzerne County witnessed historical flooding from [[Tropical Storm Lee (2011)|Tropical Storm Lee]]. The Susquehanna River reached a record high of {{convert|42.6|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} in Wilkes-Barre. The river topped the {{convert|40.9|ft|m|adj=on|abbr=off|sp=us}} level in flooding caused by Hurricane Agnes in 1972. However, unlike 1972, the levee system in Wilkes-Barre and several other communities held. Those municipalities without a levee system witnessed severe flooding.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120912101401/http://timesleader.com/stories/Mandatory-Evacuation-of-Wyoming-Valley-by-4-pm-,191403 Mandatory Evacuation of Wyoming Valley by 4 p.m.], Times-Leader, September 8, 2011</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-flooding-idUSN1E7880XA20110909 | work=Reuters | first=Paul | last=Eckert | title=UPDATE 3-Pennsylvania hit by huge flooding, towns submerged | date=September 9, 2011 | access-date=July 1, 2017 | archive-date=September 24, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924155128/http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/09/usa-flooding-idUSN1E7880XA20110909 | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/flooding-devastates-nepa-1.1199789 Luzerne officials issue mandatory evacuation in footprint of Agnes flood], Times Tribune, September 8, 2011</ref>

The [[Luzerne County Council elections#2011 county council election|first general election]] for [[Luzerne County Council]] was held on November 8, making it the third and final consequential event of 2011. In the end, six [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]], four [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]], and one [[independent politician]] were elected.

The home rule charter took effect on January 2, 2012. The Luzerne County [[County commission|Board of Commissioners]] was abolished and replaced with the new form of government ([[council–manager government]]). The last three commissioners were Chairwoman [[Maryanne Petrilla]], [[Stephen Urban|Stephen A. Urban]], and Thomas Cooney. The first eleven council members were sworn in that same day. According to the charter, the [[chairman|council chair]] is "recognized as [[Head of government|head of the county government]] for ceremonial purposes."<ref name="luzernecounty1">{{cite web |url=http://www.luzernecounty.org/county/row_offices/controller/home-rule-charter |title=Home Rule Charter |publisher=Luzerne County |access-date=March 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180204182339/http://www.luzernecounty.org/county/row_offices/controller/home-rule-charter |archive-date=February 4, 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The first council chair was Jim Bobeck.<ref name="youtube1">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UoGiwHEvpA | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/7UoGiwHEvpA| archive-date=2021-11-18 | url-status=live|title=Luzerne County Council members sworn in – The Times Leader reports |publisher=YouTube |date=January 2, 2012 |access-date=February 22, 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> During the first council meeting, Tom Pribula was appointed [[Interim management|interim]] [[Luzerne County Manager|county manager]].<ref>{{cite web|author=System Administrator |url=http://citizensvoice.com/news/luzerne-county-s-manager-search-1.1262279 |title=Luzerne County's manager search – News – Citizens' Voice |date=January 24, 2012 |publisher=Citizensvoice.com |access-date=January 19, 2018}}</ref> Several weeks later, the council officially appointed the first permanent manager (Robert Lawton).<ref name="pahomepage.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.pahomepage.com/news/luzerne-county-manager-robert-lawton-resigns/280048758|title=Luzerne County Manager Robert Lawton Resigns|date=November 26, 2015|website=pahomepage.com|access-date=March 16, 2017|archive-date=December 31, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171231155457/http://www.pahomepage.com/news/luzerne-county-manager-robert-lawton-resigns/280048758|url-status=dead}}</ref>

During the [[Luzerne County Council elections#2019 county council election|2019 county council election]], Republicans secured a majority on the county's governing board for the first time since 1989.<ref>{{cite news|title=Voting Republican again preferred choice in county|date=November 7, 2019|last=Buffer|first=Michael P.|work=The Citizens' Voice|location=Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania|url=https://www.citizensvoice.com/news/voting-republican-again-preferred-choice-in-county-1.2556383|access-date=December 22, 2019}}</ref>