MILFORD, PA — Speaking near the conclusion of last week’s commissioners’ meeting, Pike District Attorney Raymond Tonkin asked if the salary board had a position on his request for a new investigator. Tonkin said he had not received any response to his December memorandum to the commissioners.

His query prompted expressions of surprise from the commissioners and chief clerk Gary Orben. No one could recall ever seeing Tonkin’s memo.

Tonkin’s appearance was not listed on the commissioners’ April 15 agenda. He spoke during the public comment period, in what some observers characterized as a political-year ambush.

Tonkin and the commissioners are all up for re-election this fall.

Following the meeting, Tonkin said the request was needed to comply with newly enhanced requirements of state law involving child-abuse cases. He said the new investigator would also work on drug-abuse investigations.

The commissioners have lately spent considerable efforts highlighting Pike’s drug problems and promoting the county’s drug-abuse prevention and rehabilitation efforts. Commissioner Matt Osterberg has been the principal spokesman. While maintaining no knowledge of Tonkin’s memo, he reiterated his position that Pike would not solve the problem by arresting people. “I’d rather spend the money on prevention and treatment,” he said.

Another official questioned the existence of the memo. “A memo that none of the commissioners or the chief clerk had ever seen…? Come on.”

The commissioners and Tonkin have had prior run-ins. In October, 2013, Tonkin told the Pocono Record that he was pressured by the commissioners regarding his state Supreme Court appeal of County Court Judge Joseph Kameen’s decision to grant a furlough from prison for a combat veteran who had been sentenced after multiple DUI convictions to receive treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Commissioners Chairman Rich Caridi, who frequently speaks to veterans’ issues, reportedly responded to the appeal, calling it an attempt to embarrass Kameen and demean veterans.

Tonkin denied the charges in the article, noting that the law did not allow for furlough in the case and that Kameen denied a similar request earlier for another veteran.

In other business, the commissioners proclaimed April 12 to 18 as the Week of the Young Child. Luann Cavallaro Genovas, director of the Mt. View School in Matamoras, and founder of Recognizing Excellence in Early Childhood Education (REECE), honored Commissioner Karl Wagner for his continued support of the organization’s work over its 13-year existence.

The commissioners approved an agreement contracting Palmetto Posting to post and document postings of tax delinquent properties. Cindy Erdman of the Tax Claim Bureau said the county now has between 1,400 and 1,600 such properties.

The commissioners also received the Pike County Conservation District’s annual report from director Sally Corrigan, who reported that revised state law amending controversial large setbacks from protected water bodies is now causing new problems, because of added documentation requirements.