WILK Radio Interview, Mario Fiorucci, Candidate for Luzerne County Council

Fiorucci Promises to Inform Public

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Posted: April 24
Updated: Today at 2:40 AM

Fiorucci promises to inform public

By Jennifer Learn-Andes jandes@timesleader.com
Luzerne County Reporter

Luzerne County Council candidate Mario J. Fiorucci said he’s proven that he will let the public know what’s happening in county government if he’s elected.

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Mario J. Fiorucci

Age: 53
Political party: Democrat
Residence: Sugar Notch
Education: Associate’s degree, Luzerne County Community College; bachelor’s degree in history and law, College Misericordia; master’s degree in political science, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
Work experience: 1982-1989, VMS Realty and Integrated Resources, assistant national marketing manager for public real estate syndications; 1989-1993, Friedberg Mercantile and London Investment Trust, futures desk and floor trader; 1993-2002, Christensen and Associates and CitiStreet/Citibank, investor relations consultant and retirement specialist; 2002-2010, Diversified Information Technologies, medical records processor/specialist; 2010 to present, PA mentor for adults with developmental disorders.
Family: Single

Fiorucci, a Sugar Notch Borough Council member, regularly writes letters to local newspapers, has published free newsletters about local government affairs and isn’t shy about challenging or questioning government officials at public meetings. He also started the “State of the World,” a public affairs event attracting guest speakers, in 2000.
“I’d like to be on that council to make sure I’m a watchdog,” Fiorucci recently told a Times Leader endorsement panel.
Fiorucci said his willingness to speak out has prompted some to try to discredit him or portray him as a radical, but he said he can’t look the other way when elected officials ignore laws governing open meetings and spending.
“For some reason a lot of these towns – the experience I’ve had either going to council meetings as an activist and writing about issues or actually being on council – like to do things their way,” he said.
He doesn’t expect other county council candidates to team up with him.
“I don’t think you’re getting many people to stand with me because I seem to be standing on my own,” he said. “I’m amazed more people aren’t outraged at some of the things that occur in these small towns.”
Fiorucci said he’s been scouring the county budget to come up with ideas to reduce spending, particularly in court branches and the county prison.
He supports a 3-percent spending cut to help fund a voluntary retirement program to reduce personnel costs.
“I think we’d have to tailor this program to court and prison personnel rather than just general county employees like in the past,” Fiorucci said.
Implementing more technology could also reduce manpower in the county, he said.
Fiorucci said he’d rely on the manager to make recommendations on union contracts that come up for negotiation.
“There may have to be across-the-board cuts like in the auto industry. That’s what I think it’s coming down to for these local governments. We can’t afford I don’t think a county workforce our size,” he said.
Fiorucci voted for home rule and said he also helped get the previous home rule charter on the ballot, though it was defeated in 2004.
He supports a countywide search for the new manager or a statewide one if there aren’t enough viable applicants. He doesn’t want to target candidates nationally because he believes some of these applicants would take too long to understand the local government structure and use the county post as a “stepping stone to try to further their careers.”
Experience with technology is a must for the manager, he said.
“I’d be more comfortable with someone from the county because their learning curve will be shorter,” said Fiorucci, who also wants to create a countywide environmental advisory panel.


Send Question/Comment to the Publisher

County Council Business Must be Transparent

Council members serve the people.  We should not attempt to keep them in the dark on how decisions are being made.  I would rather put everything out there and hear the opinion of the citizens in an open forum.  This is their county, not the council’s.  I successfully got the local press involved to  stop a planned closed door meeting on taxes by the Sugar Notch town council so the public could attend.

On Accepting Political Endorsements

I don’t believe in them, and here is why…   Accepting an endorsement equates to “vote for me and I owe you a favor later.  That leads to poor decision making and corruption.  We can’t have that again.  It is unacceptable.  I would say to the voters…” Be careful in what you read into endorsements, it may be a red flag for deciding why you should not vote for someone.  I will accept donations from individual citizens.  Groups, companies, unions, don’t vote.  People do, individual voters.  Having a group come out and say we endorse this candidate implies that the entire group thinks alike.  I know that isn’t true and actually think it is a bit of an insult to the individual voter.  Look,… voters are smart enough to think for themselves.  They don’t need to be swayed by groups and told what to do.  I will not accept endorsements from groups.  I will not put myself in the position to owe anyone a political favor. 

My Stance on Luzerne County Taxes

I think we already pay enough taxes and don't always get quality services for the price we pay.  What we need is a real bottom-up review of services and what we spend on them.  By “real” I don’t mean the kind of cursory review that has been done in the past, rather I mean a review where we look at the details, line by line and ask some hard questions like…  Do we really need this?  Do the citizens value this service?  How does the price we are paying for it compare to what other communities pay?  We need to keep asking questions until we get to the bottom line.  Saying that is what we have always paid it is not acceptable.  We need to think out of the box.  I am not sure that has really been done before.