Gaughan names Dunmore Mayor Max Conway to fill Lackawanna County vacancy, urges transparent party selection

Commissioner Bill Gaughan announced on the record that Commissioner Matt McGloin has resigned effective today and said he is nominating Dunmore Mayor Max Conway to fill the vacancy on the Lackawanna County commission. Gaughan urged the Lackawanna County Democratic Party executive committee to disclose the identities of the 10 members its chair will appoint and to conduct interviews before forwarding three names to the Court of Common Pleas.

Gaughan said the vacancy is a governance issue, not a political one, and argued that the selection matters because of ongoing financial and operational reforms he and McGloin have begun since taking office in November 2023. He told reporters the county entered office with $19,000,000 in unpaid bills from the prior year and a roughly $37,000,000 structural deficit. Gaughan said those conditions required immediate action and that he and McGloin "instituted major financial reforms" including joining the state's strategic management planning program and commissioning a top-to-bottom analysis of county finances and operations. He also said the county eliminated its Department of Health and that step "saved county taxpayers millions of dollars per year," and that the office of youth and family services was restructured, regained full state licensure and resumed services "in less than 1 year." (All program and savings figures were presented by Gaughan during his remarks.)

Gaughan described the party's selection process: an executive committee of 31 members will produce a list of three nominees to send to the Court of Common Pleas, which then selects the replacement. He said the county Democratic chairman, Chris Patrick, has the authority under the party bylaws to appoint 10 of the 31 committee members and that Patrick told him those 10 names would not be disclosed. "The residents of Lackawanna County deserve an open, clear, and transparent selection process," Gaughan said. He also said Patrick told him there would be no interviews of candidates at the committee meeting; instead, Patrick told Gaughan he would review resumes with a small group and decide which to present for discussion.

Dunmore Mayor Max Conway spoke after Gaughan and accepted the endorsement, saying he understands "the responsibility that it carries." Conway described his roots in Lackawanna County, his work as Dunmore mayor on downtown revitalization, blight reduction and public safety, and his work in real estate. He said he would bring "transparency, accountability, and practical solutions that put our people first" if selected and later appointed.

Gaughan said he requested the names of the 10 committee appointees and asked that candidates be interviewed so the full executive committee could evaluate them; he said those requests were refused. He criticized the lack of disclosure and said, by way of emphasis, "What are we living in — the Kremlin now?" He said his goal is for Conway to be among the three names the committee forwards to the court and that he will accept the committee's decision if the process is conducted openly.

Gaughan identified state senator Marty Flynn as a party leader who will have influence in the process and said he has raised his concerns with Flynn; Gaughan said Flynn did not take a position during their conversation.

No formal party vote or judicial appointment occurred at the news conference. Gaughan said he expects the executive committee to vote on Thursday; he did not specify the meeting location. According to Gaughan's description of the procedure, the party will forward three names to the Court of Common Pleas, and the court will select the new commissioner for the remainder of McGloin's term, which Gaughan said is two years and 10 months.

Next steps, as described at the news conference: the Lackawanna County Democratic Party executive committee is expected to meet on Thursday to produce three nominees to forward to the Court of Common Pleas; the court will then select the replacement. Gaughan reiterated that he will work with the appointee if the selection process is "open, honest and transparent."