How the Luzerne County Recorder of Deeds office transitions from Mary Dysleski at the helm to the leadership of James �Red� O�Brien should take shape over the next few weeks.

  O�Brien hopes to visit the office in the next few weeks to meet with employees and see day-to-day operations first hand. O�Brien already has gathered job descriptions on the office�s 17 employees.

�I wanted to get an idea of who each individual is that I�m going to be working with, what their job entails and who I need to speak with about getting certain things accomplished,� O�Brien said. �I�ve also already starting reviewing the budget.�

Despite a campaign that was highly critical of Dysleski�s management of the office, O�Brien hopes he could spend some time with his predecessor before he takes over.

�I�m going to give her a call and hopefully we could get a few things squared away,� he said. �I wanted to wait until after Thanksgiving.�

Dysleski declined to comment on the transition, saying she hasn�t personally spoken with O�Brien. She confirmed O�Brien, not her, will be developing the office�s budget for 2008. Dysleski made that decision after speaking with Budget and Finance Chief Sam Diaz.

�I told (Diaz) I really didn�t think it was appropriate for me to present a budget because it was based on my plans for 2008,� Dysleski said. �I said it was fine with me for Mr. O�Brien to present his own budget with his own plans.�

O�Brien also will visit Lackawanna Recorder of Deeds Evvy McNulty, wife of his campaign advisor Jim McNulty, to see how she operates her office.

�I just want to take a look at how things are done up there and see if we could incorporate any of their policies to streamline operations and save taxpayers� money,� O�Brien said.

May enters 117th race

Republican James May has made it official � he will challenge state Rep. Karen Boback, R-Harveys Lake, for the GOP nomination in next year�s primary election in the 117th District.

May served as an officer and chaplain in the United States Army, including tours of duty in Iraq and working at the Walter Reed Army Hospital. He describes himself as a conservative Republican with Ronald Reagan ideals committed to lowering taxes, creating smaller government and reinforcing traditional American values. May wants to eliminate school property taxes, make teacher strikes illegal and is an advocate for open records.

�While I personally like Karen Boback, I was disappointed to find her continually siding with the liberal democrats on these, and a host of other issues,� May asserted in his announcement.

The 37-year-old is from North Moreland Township in Wyoming County. He is a regional director for admissions at Baptist Bible College in Clarks Summit and he and his wife Jill have two sons and one daughter.

James Conmy covers courts and politics. He can be reached at 570-821-2118 or jconmy@citizensvoice.com.