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1 SCRANTON CITY COUNCIL MEETING
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5 HELD:
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7 Tuesday, May 12, 2009
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9 LOCATION:
10 Council Chambers
11 Scranton City Hall
12 340 North Washington Avenue
13 Scranton, Pennsylvania
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CATHENE S. NARDOZZI, RPR - OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER
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2 CITY OF SCRANTON COUNCIL:
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MR. ROBERT MCGOFF, PRESIDENT
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6 MS. JUDY GATELLI, VICE-PRESIDENT
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MS. JANET E. EVANS
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9 MS. SHERRY FANUCCI
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MR. WILLIAM COURTRIGHT
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12 MS. KAY GARVEY, CITY CLERK
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MR. NEIL COOLICAN, ASSISTANT CITY CLERK
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15 MR. AMIL MINORA, SOLICITOR
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1 (Pledge of Allegiance and moment of reflection
2 observed.)
3 MR. MCGOFF: Roll call.
4 MR. COOLICAN: Mrs. Evans.
5 MS. EVANS: Here.
6 MR. COOLICAN: Mrs. Gatelli.
7 MS. GATELLI: Here.
8 MR. COOLICAN: Ms. Fanucci.
9 MS. FANUCCI: Here.
10 MR. COOLICAN: Mr. Courtright.
11 MR. COURTRIGHT: Here.
12 MR. COOLICAN: Mr. McGoff.
13 MR. MCGOFF: Here. Dispense with
14 the reading of the minutes.
15 MS. GARVEY: There is no business at
16 this time in Third Order.
17 MR. MCGOFF: Thank you, Mrs. Garvey.
18 Any announcements from council? Mrs.
19 Gatelli?
20 MS. GATELLI: This Saturday evening
21 at Holy Rosary Hall there will be a benefit
22 for Carol Cavaletti. She is a North
23 Scranton resident that is battling cancer.
24 The proceeds will assist Carol to pay her
25 medical fees and any other expenses that may
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1 arise during her illness. Tickets are
2 available at the door. This summer the Boys
3 and Girl's Club has announced a Parket
4 Program. It runs from June 22 to August 28,
5 Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 1:00 and it's a
6 playground program with arts and crafts,
7 games, lunch, snacks, and it will be
8 conducted at Bancroft Elementary School,
9 John Adams, McNichol's Plaza and West
10 Scranton High School, and it is for children
11 ages 6 to 18.
12 I wanted to talk about a book that
13 was authored by a Clarks Summit resident and
14 it's called "Father's Day" and it's a
15 private eye novel and it's by Keith Gilman.
16 Keith was a resident of the Hill Section and
17 he was a 1977 graduate of Central High
18 School. He will have a book signing at the
19 Anthology Book Store on the 30th of May at
20 2:00. And that's all I have. Thank you.
21 MS. EVANS: Please remember in your
22 prayers all those who have died this week,
23 particularly, Olga Lucas, faithful member of
24 the Pinebrook Neighborhood Association and
25 downtown senior citizen center, and her
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1 devoted family and friends she leaves
2 behind. Also, please pray for Molly Maraski
3 ski who passed away last night from cancer,
4 and Molly had just loss her husband to
5 cancer about a month and a half ago. They
6 leave behind two sons and I ask that
7 everyone please remember Molly, her husband,
8 Larry, and their children and family and
9 friends in your prayers.
10 Saturday, May 16, is Armed Forces
11 Day. The Armed Forces Day parade will kick
12 off at 10:45 in downtown Scranton. Please
13 come out and line the streets of our city to
14 honor our servicemen and woman. We owe them
15 that much.
16 And the Upper Hill Ecumenical
17 Committee invites everyone to partake in the
18 Friendly's Family Fun Night next Wednesday,
19 May 20, from five to eight p.m. A percentage
20 of the food receipts from those who dine at
21 Friendly's in Dunmore will be donated to St.
22 Francis of Assisi Kitchen, and that's it.
23 MR. COURTRIGHT: Mr. McGoff, I just
24 wanted to see if I could -- I think
25 possibly some people might speak on this and
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1 maybe we can get this out of the way in the
2 beginning. I believe we all received a
3 letter from Mr. Jarbola, the District
4 Attorney, about us asking for a criminal
5 investigation into the tax office and just
6 some of the highlights he has there is that
7 he was under the impression, as we were,
8 this was a forensic audit and it wasn't and
9 I guess the disturbing thing is that he had
10 has not had one single conversation with
11 anyone from that office, so what he's saying
12 is, he can't do a criminal investigation
13 until there is audit and I would just like
14 Mr. Minora could you -- did you get this
15 letter or could you give us --
16 MR. MINORA: I read it.
17 MR. COURTRIGHT: -- your opinion on
18 it?
19 MR. MINORA: It was in my box, I read
20 it.
21 MR. COURTRIGHT: Would you willing
22 to --
23 MR. MINORA: Sure. I actually took a
24 look at the analysis that they had on-line.
25 It's not a forensic audit. It's not an
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1 audit. They're terming it an analysis. As
2 far as I know, that's not an accounting term
3 that has any kind of credibility for
4 anything, and in order to proceed with a
5 criminal charge, a very basic thing you have
6 to prove in a theft is that there was
7 something missing. This analysis doesn't
8 say there is anything missing. I know what
9 Mr. McGovern said in the newspaper, but if
10 you take a look at that analysis on pages 12
11 through 14, which is what I looked at it,
12 doesn't say money is missing. It says it's
13 unaccounted for. Unaccounted for is not a
14 theft and a Court of law would throw out a
15 criminal charge based on that.
16 I read Mr. Jarbola's letter, he
17 asked for a forensic audit, I think he and
18 everybody else thought it was a forensic
19 audit for a year, and a forensic audit would
20 be the necessary basis to begin a criminal
21 charge for a theft because it would show
22 money. Well, it would show whether or not
23 money was missing and if money were missing
24 then he would have credible evidence of a
25 theft. There is no credible evidence of a
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1 theft in this report. I don't know whether
2 it is or it isn't, but I can tell you for
3 sure there is no credible evidence in this
4 report of a theft and it would be really
5 dereliction of duty to just try and arrest
6 somebody without evidence.
7 MR. COURTRIGHT: So where do we go
8 from here? What did we do?
9 MR. MINORA: Well, I think, you know,
10 the first step if there is a question of
11 criminality and, incidentally, this analysis
12 indicates there isn't any. Now, it's an
13 analysis, it's not a forensic audit, so is
14 that credible? I don't know. The first
15 step would have to be a forensic audit, and
16 I can tell you I have been in the District
17 Attorney's Office 32 years, there is no
18 Forensic Auditing Division. It's a very
19 expensive undertaking and in a situation
20 like this, I'm no expert, but it would be
21 well into the hundreds of thousands, if not
22 more. I mean, this analysis was, I don't
23 know was in the paper --
24 MR. COURTRIGHT: We've already spent
25 $130,000 and counting.
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1 MR. MINORA: Right.
2 MR. COURTRIGHT: For this?
3 MR. MINORA: Right. Spent 130,000
4 for this and, I mean, I understand it
5 provides guidelines and going forward,
6 ideas, which is great because, obviously,
7 you know, going forward there needs to be
8 some things looked at, but in retrospect in
9 terms of making a criminal charge out of
10 this, it can't be done. It can't be done.
11 Wouldn't get past a preliminary hearing.
12 MR. COURTRIGHT: But I think this
13 council, and I think the people out in the
14 audience and the viewing area, would like to
15 know for sure what's happened so the only
16 way you are telling me that is going to
17 happen if we get a forensic audit, which we
18 haven't gotten yet, we paid $130,000, we are
19 still paying, I would suggest that we stop
20 paying. You know, what are we paying for
21 right now?
22 MR. MINORA: I don't know. But
23 without a forensic audit, frankly, you don't
24 have anything -- I mean, by the very name a
25 forensic audit indicates that it is for
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1 legal purposes, for a legal outcome of some
2 kind, criminal or civil, and that's the
3 basis of a forensic audit. It looks to any
4 criminality or some fraud of some kind.
5 That's what they do and this -- it starts
6 out by saying it's not a forensic audit,
7 it's not a -- what does it say? It's not an
8 audit, it's not a review, and it's not an
9 attestation. Those are all things that
10 would be guidelines of some kind set forth
11 by, you know, the certified public
12 accountants, and will give you something,
13 but this, as I said, gives guidelines going
14 forward and I don't think it's nothing, it
15 has guidelines going forward on how to
16 handle accounts, you know, with tomorrow's
17 money and next week's money, but looking
18 backwards, no, it doesn't do any of that in
19 a very good way.
20 MR. COURTRIGHT: So I guess we
21 thought we paid for a forensic audit,
22 somebody dropped the ball and we didn't get
23 a forensic audit and now the three taxing
24 bodies are going to have to decide if
25 whether they want to pay for a real forensic
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1 audit in order for us to go forward; is that
2 --
3 MR. MINORA: That's exactly right.
4 MR. COURTRIGHT: -- forward. All
5 right.
6 MS. FANUCCI: I mean, I was under the
7 assumption that's what we were getting and
8 we feel mislead in that department.
9 MR. MINORA: I understand.
10 MS. FANUCCI: And especially the fact
11 that we waited so long to get nothing. We
12 actually received nothing in return.
13 MR. MINORA: Well, it's -- as far as
14 looking back and looking for criminality or
15 fraud or that kind of think, there isn't
16 anything in there that you can point to as
17 particularly helpful. As I said, it has
18 guidelines for going forward so that extent
19 if it couldn't have been done internally at
20 least they did that from an external
21 standpoint.
22 MS. FANUCCI: My next thing, and I
23 think we should send a letter finding out,
24 how did they figure out we were $12 million
25 ahead and it was gone because it's
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1 inaccurate. Their first assumption is
2 wrong. The claim in the beginning was not
3 accurate.
4 MR. MINORA: Well, there's a --
5 MR. FANUCCI: I mean, you can't say
6 it was there if you can't find it now.
7 Where is it?
8 MR. MINORA: Well, there were a lot
9 of loose comments that really --
10 MS. FANUCCI: Yeah. Exactly.
11 MR. MINORA: -- that had no basis I
12 think.
13 MS. FANUCCI: I'm sorry, I didn't
14 mean to take on your role, but it's
15 frustrating.
16 MR. MINORA: I didn't do it.
17 MR. COURTRIGHT: Thank you.
18 MR. MINORA: You are welcome.
19 MS. GATELLI: I would just like to
20 say that I attended the meeting last Friday
21 at the Commissioner's Office with the school
22 district and the county and the city
23 represented and we did discuss the matter
24 and they are going to have the solicitors
25 get together and try to all agree with the
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1 declaratory judgment that we made last week
2 here at this particular meeting. They all
3 agreed that that was something that they
4 wanted to do, but they had to go back to
5 their board and see if the school board
6 would agree with those proceedings, so that
7 the solicitors will be meeting to go forward
8 with the declaratory judgment and the next
9 meeting is next Thursday at 2:15 with all of
10 the interested parties, and that's all I
11 have to report from the meeting.
12 MR. COURTRIGHT: Thanks.
13 MR. MCGOFF: Okay. Citizens
14 participation. Andy Sbaraglia.
15 MR. SBARAGLIA: Andy Sbaraglia,
16 citizen of Scranton. Fellow Scrantonians, a
17 few words on 7 -- I guess it's 5-B. It
18 seems like we are going to come into
19 $2,318,352 for some projects. There is a,
20 well you got the backup there, they did a
21 lot of different ways of doing it, but the
22 portion of it for $916,485, which was the
23 second part of it, 300 is supposed to go for
24 roads, $400,000 for -- $300,000 for roads,
25 $400,000 for job creation, but the
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1 administration cost is $66,485. Who
2 actually does the administration on that?
3 Would that be our good office down there?
4 MR. COURTRIGHT: I think so.
5 MR. SBARAGLIA: The SRA or down there
6 at HUD? One of them, huh? Okay. The
7 second is 5-C, our costs overrun on our
8 bridge. You know what, originally, they
9 were going to do that bridge for $1.5
10 million, it then went up to $7,025,000 so
11 forth and so on. Now it's up to $8,735,250
12 or an overrun so far of $1,710,000. This is
13 Lackawanna Avenue in reverse. We are going
14 to spend $30 million and still climbing on
15 the 5000 block and now on the other end we
16 are going to spend God knows how much more.
17 All I know is something is wrong somewhere.
18 Well, it's hear nor there.
19 Now, we all know, I don't really
20 like to get into it too much, but some of
21 the things draw you in and you got to ask
22 questions, like Carl Greco, $6,050 to the
23 mayor's campaign. Now, we all know he got a
24 job with I think with Scranton Redevelopment
25 Authority, and then we have some more money
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1 given Boscov's. We just gave him $3 million
2 now he gives back I think it's $6,000 to the
3 campaign. You start looking at the amount
4 of money that was received by this man and
5 start looking at all of the names and you
6 will see a names with a lot of construction
7 going on with the city tied in with this.
8 Now, I'm not saying it's illegal,
9 I'm just saying something is wrong with the
10 way the system runs. We got to get away
11 from this type of a system even if the
12 citizens have to pay for the campaigns for
13 -- like they do for the presidential
14 campaigns so much money, we got to do it
15 here in the states -- I mean, in the State
16 of Pennsylvania because you don't know if
17 there is illegal or not illegal. I have no
18 way of knowing it. All I can say is we give
19 the man $3 million, he gives back $6,000, I
20 mean, it's just not quite right. Now, I'm
21 not saying it's illegal, I'm just saying
22 it's not right and the lot of these things
23 are people having contracts, but in the
24 city. That's not right. Somewhere we got
25 to pay for these campaigns. It's the only
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1 way we are ever going to get an honest
2 government inside anywhere in this age.
3 The system that we have now is
4 inherent corrupt, there is no question about
5 that, because they are out there getting
6 money from all kind of pacts, this, that and
7 whatever and things are done by the amount
8 of money they receive or they call it an
9 ear. They are not bribing a politician,
10 they are giving money so they can lend an
11 ear. Now, it's semantics. There is
12 something wrong with semantics. You can't
13 call one thing one thing and another. It
14 just don't smell right. Like you used to
15 say, there is something rotten in Denmark
16 and there probably is a fish, and if you
17 keep it long enough it stinks. In politics
18 it's getting like that, and that's sad. We
19 got to turn from the way we with are doing
20 it to a knew way. There has got be a
21 different way and a better way. We don't
22 want to ruin democracy, but it's being
23 trampled on. The people are being stepped
24 upon in a lot of different ways and they
25 shouldn't be.
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1 Government, like I said, for the
2 people, by the way, it should be theirs.
3 Well, I'm not going to get off the soap box.
4 Thank you. Ozzie Quinn.
5 MR. QUINN: Ozzie Quinn, Scranton/
6 Lackawanna County Taxpayers' Association,
7 Incorporated. First, I'd like to say that
8 our interview with the tax collector
9 candidates, Bill Courtright and Mrs. Flynn
10 will be shown for the first time tomorrow
11 night at 9:00 p.m. on ECTV.
12 As long as I'm going to talk about
13 the tax collector and your argument before,
14 again, we are going to have to pay for that
15 forensic audit because somebody wasn't
16 paying attention down there. Somebody
17 wasn't paying attention, so there no was
18 communication. We have to pay for it, the
19 taxpayers. Even if the AG does it, the
20 Attorney General, it's our money. It's
21 ashame.
22 And, Mrs. Gatelli, I got five phone
23 calls today about South Side about the mayor
24 debate last night, they said they never saw
25 the mayor over there in eight years.
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1 Now, we are $170 million in debt
2 principle only, all right? I hope that
3 soaks in everybody. Wage tax is 2.4 and
4 Mr. Doherty promised eight years ago to
5 decrease it. No way. Nonprofits he
6 promised, too. He didn't do a thing.
7 Now, let me speak about our lecture
8 at the church I go to. In the Catholic
9 church a lecture gets up and reads Holy
10 scriptures. Well, let me tell you
11 something, I got a piece -- I got a piece --
12 a couple of pieces of mail that would be
13 hypocritical to get up there and read Holy
14 scriptures and call people like that, their
15 families that, obstructionist, ineffective,
16 embarrassing, destructive. How would you
17 like to have your little son or daughter
18 read that? That's terrible. And that man
19 is a lecture. He is a hypocrite and it's
20 time we vote him out. There is no --
21 MR. MCGOFF: That's out of order
22 Mr. Quinn.
23 MR. QUINN: I can speak when I want
24 to speak. The lawyer will tell me when.
25 MR. MINORA: You can't advocate a
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1 candidate from that podium. You know that.
2 We have had this discussion before.
3 MR. QUINN: What's that? What case
4 you quoting? The clock is off now. What
5 case are you quoting so I can look it up?
6 Give me a citation. Can you give me the
7 citation? You can't give me the citation.
8 You know, I went to an agency once
9 and I complained, and the guy who was head
10 of that agency said to me, "If you don't
11 like those people and the way they are doing
12 it then vote them out."
13 Let's vote them out, Mrs. Gatelli,
14 Mrs. Fanucci --
15 MR. MCGOFF: Mr. Quinn, you are out
16 of order.
17 MR. QUINN: Thank you.
18 MR. MCGOFF: Bob Bolus.
19 MR. BOLUS: Good evening, Council.
20 Bob Bolus, Scranton. Such hostilities.
21 It's so much fun to come here. On the gas
22 line, the leachate -- or the line going from
23 the Landfill Alliance up through Dunmore,
24 you know, I brought it up several times, and
25 I haven't heard any comments about any
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1 emergency plans in place or we're going to
2 charge a fee for the gas going through that,
3 pass legislation and put some money in our
4 coffers, and I think it's time now to act
5 about it instead of talking about it.
6 You know, it was interesting last
7 night, I don't know if any of you had the
8 opportunity to attend the debate, I found it
9 very refreshing, and it was educational, we
10 actually learned a different variety of
11 brain drain. All of us had a different
12 version of it, but the end result is that it
13 all comes down to the same people are
14 leaving Scranton. No matter which way we
15 want to classify it or which way we were
16 criticized for even answering it. We had
17 9,000 jobs, I have no clue where they are.
18 I would like to see them. We still have the
19 nonprofits taking advantage of all of the
20 people in the City of Scranton, the KOZ's,
21 and nothing has been done.
22 You know, we sit here and we see
23 money going out in campaigns, we see
24 legislation passed here for grants to do
25 something, do a study, hypothetically one on
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1 Nay Aug, a study is done knowing full well
2 we have no money to build anything, yet the
3 good ole' boy club and the cronyism somebody
4 gets paid to do a study knowing full-well
5 the city has no money to do anything, and
6 that's what's got to stop. We have to go
7 back to the issues here of putting every
8 single contract, no matter what it is, out
9 to bid professional or otherwise. We have
10 lost that. We have allowed politics in this
11 city and game playing to take over the
12 people.
13 We get 80 some million dollars. You
14 have the same 80 some million dollars I'll
15 make you money, I'm not going to spend it,
16 that's for sure, especially if it's not
17 going to places it should, and I believe
18 that should be the theme of everyone.
19 We are sitting here, and I listened
20 to a lot of things last night and I have
21 listened to the council debates and, you
22 know, we all come here and we speak and why
23 do we do this? Because we have nothing
24 better to do? I don't think so. I think we
25 are all concerned and we are concerned for
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1 where is Scranton going. We have listened
2 to all of the hype. We have listened to an
3 individual taking credit for a medical
4 school and how many people are going to stay
5 from this medical school in Scranton? Just
6 a curiosity question, how many doctors do
7 you think we are going to have stay in the
8 City of Scranton? A hundred, 200 are going
9 to stay here after they get an education?
10 How many people stay from the University of
11 Scranton or Marywood after they get their
12 degree or they come back and get their
13 master's? Do they stay here and build a
14 business.
15 And we this tremendous growth, we
16 have this tremendous tax base that's been
17 created, I don't know where it is, and maybe
18 I'm looking in the wrong direction. These
19 are the things this council or a future
20 council or a future mayor has to look at.
21 We have to stop the exodus of the city, we
22 have to stop the exodus of the money going
23 out and we need to settle contracts and we
24 need to stop playing games. That's the hard
25 thing that we do here.
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1 You know, you can go and put into a
2 campaign one candidate had 500 people
3 contribute, gets a grant for something, that
4 gets better that you have a grant for four
5 for five grand, get $150,000 payback, it's
6 better than going to a casino. Instead of
7 hedging a bet you get 100 percent of your
8 money, and that's what's happening here and
9 we have exposed ourselves to that.
10 And, you know, as we go went through
11 a campaign, each and every one of us, we
12 have learned a lot about each individual and
13 we have learned about the little secrets,
14 all of the little nooks and crannies out
15 there that are affecting the innocent
16 people. That's the kids that want to stay
17 here. That's the individuals that are
18 trying to build a life here, and it's the
19 seniors that are being destroyed by it.
20 It's so important now that we look to the
21 present and we figure out how we are going
22 to change the channel. It's not going to be
23 one individual doing, it's got to be all of
24 us. That's the people sitting home, that's
25 the people sitting here, the people that
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1 attend, this is an issue that we should
2 start holding town meetings monthly, more
3 involvement in council and administrations,
4 in the government of this city, but more
5 importantly the people. Set up committees
6 where retired people or people want to
7 volunteer their services to help this city
8 get out it's debt. So, on May 19 I'm asking
9 everyone out there, this is your city, it's
10 your right, don't give it up. Go out and
11 vote, you have a lot of candidates running,
12 you have had plenty of time to make your
13 decision, but do what's right for yourself
14 and do what's right for the city and get out
15 and vote. Thank you.
16 MR. MCGOFF: Les Spindler.
17 MR. SPINDLER: Les Spindler. City
18 resident and homeowner, taxpayer. I just
19 want to set something straight that I said
20 last week. In mentioning council who was in
21 place when the South Side Complex and golf
22 course were sold, and I mentioned Brian Reap
23 as one of the council people, Brian Reap was
24 the only person who voted not to sell the
25 South Side Complex and the golf course.
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1 Next thing, I want to talk about
2 this flyer that came around last week where
3 the mayor says he is working to keep our
4 city safe. Well, last Thursday on Taylor
5 Avenue two men had a home invasion, two men
6 had guns and invaded a home, three people in
7 there, and where is the beat cop? Downtown.
8 There is no crime being committed downtown
9 the crime is in the neighborhoods and Chris
10 Doherty has got the beat cop downtown.
11 And another thing, he says how great
12 his statistics were about the crime in the
13 city, well, in 2008 there was five murders
14 in the city that were never reported to
15 Harrisburg. That's why statistics look so
16 good because none of the violent crimes are
17 reported to the right parties.
18 The next thing, Mrs. Gatelli and
19 Mrs. Fanucci, the two of you should be
20 ashamed of yourselves. Blaming the League
21 of Women Voter's for giving answers to Mrs.
22 Evans, to giving the questions to Mrs Evans,
23 that's why you didn't show up at the debate
24 last week, that's a crime. The League of
25 Women Voter's has been longer than the two
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1 of you put together. They are a very
2 reputable group and you accused them of
3 giving questions to another person, that's
4 just outrageous. And, lastly, Mrs. Evans
5 wouldn't need the questions on what to
6 debate the two of you. And I think the two
7 of you owe an apology to the League of Women
8 Voter's, but I don't think you each have
9 enough class to do that.
10 Another thing, the mayor says that
11 Business Weekly names Scranton one of the
12 best cities to raise your children. Well,
13 as I just said before, that's because none
14 of the violent crimes are reported and
15 Business Week doesn't know about them. Is
16 there something funny about violent crimes,
17 Mrs. Fanucci? Maybe you wouldn't think it
18 was funny if it happened to you.
19 MS. FANUCCI: What are you talking
20 about, Les, move on.
21 MR. SPINDLER: As I said, five
22 murders weren't reported last year. Now,
23 last night it was reported that the
24 Brooking's Institute said the city is
25 suffering from brain drain, and brain drain
27
1 is our young children graduate from a
2 college are leaving this city. Now, who has
3 been mayor for seven and a half years now?
4 So I guess the Brooking's Institute is
5 saying Chris Doherty is the reason why we
6 have brain drain in this city.
7 And on that same subject, I put a
8 question to this council few months ago, I
9 said, "Can any of you up there give me one
10 reason why a college graduate would stay in
11 this city or a young family looking -- a
12 young couple looking to raise a family would
13 move into there," and nobody said anything.
14 There is nothing to keep young people in
15 this city contrary to what Chris Doherty
16 says, unless they want to get a job at
17 Poochie. Oh, I forgot, they closed.
18 Last night the mayor talked about
19 putting a library in South Scranton. The
20 city has nothing to do with the library
21 system. The library system falls under the
22 county, and the county has already said the
23 commissioners stated they are not giving any
24 money to a new library, so where does Chris
25 Doherty coming off to say he was wants to
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1 build a library in the South Side. There is
2 nothing wrong with the downtown here. It
3 has been there for years and years, it's a
4 beautiful building, he just wants to waste
5 more of our tax dollars, at least the
6 commissioners are smart enough to know we
7 don't need one.
8 And back to what Andy Sbaraglia
9 said, Al Boscov came here begging for
10 $3 million, it's funny he needed $3 million
11 so bad but he had $6,000 to give to Chris
12 Doherty's campaign. What is wrong with this
13 picture? I guess he didn't need the money
14 too bad if he $6,000 to throw towards Chris
15 Doherty.
16 And lastly, the mayor said last
17 night that the DPW workers have the most
18 dangerous job. I almost fell out of my
19 chair when I heard that. To the
20 firefighters and police officers, I mean,
21 that's a slap in the face to them. These
22 men risk their lives every single day when
23 they leave their house going out on their
24 jobs. I'm not DPW doesn't have danger, but
25 for somebody to say that's a more dangerous
29
1 job than a police officers or a firefighter
2 that just -- it's just unbelievable, and I
3 know why the mayor said it because it's the
4 only union in the city that supports him.
5 Thank you.
6 MR. MCGOFF: Lee Morgan.
7 MR. MORGAN: Good evening, Council.
8 I really appreciate the opportunity
9 opportunities I've had to watch most of the
10 candidates express what they believe is in
11 the best interest of the city and it's
12 future, and a lot of people may not like
13 certain candidates and, of course, that is
14 their prerogative, I think that they should
15 appreciate anybody who decides they are
16 going to run for an office no matter who
17 they may be or no whatever stand they make.
18 I did watch the mayor's debate
19 yesterday, I was there. I watched the
20 council debate at the taxpayer group and,
21 you know, of course, the one at the
22 University of Scranton. I'm looking forward
23 to watching the tax collector's debate, and
24 I also appreciated the opportunity to hear
25 what some of the candidates for school board
30
1 had to say.
2 So the most important thing that I
3 could say to everybody here tonight is that
4 on the 19th everybody should vote because
5 that's what's going to make this city move
6 forward one way or another and I would hope
7 that people talk to their neighbors and
8 their friends and ask them to come back to
9 the system because if you don't vote we
10 can't make the change we need, and I think
11 that's been a problem in America for a long
12 time because voting empowers everyone no
13 matter who they are, no matter their
14 economic status, their race, anything, and,
15 you know, if we are going to make change
16 it's going to require struggle and the
17 residents of this city your opportunity is
18 coming and I just hope, actually hope, that
19 everyone will vote irregardless of who you
20 vote for. Go to the polls, convince your
21 friends to go to the polls and let's move
22 this city forward.
23 MR. MCGOFF: Bill Jackowitz.
24 MR. JACKOWITZ: Bill Jackowitz,
25 embarrassed South Scranton resident and
31
1 member of the Taxpayers' Association. I
2 wasn't going to speak on this, but I have
3 to, the single tax office. I heard what
4 transpired with Mr. Courtright's question
5 prior to this, we are missing the entire
6 point. The entire point is, and what the DA
7 needs to be looking at is it's been reported
8 that state law, single tax office law of
9 1929 combining 23 accounts into one account
10 and also the hiring of a solicitor is in
11 violation of state law. That is what the DA
12 need to be looking at. You need to start
13 the investigation into the violation of the
14 state law single tax law 1929.
15 So, Mr. Courtright, please bring
16 this back up on motions. We know that a law
17 has been broken. Let's not worry about the
18 money, let's not worry about audits, that
19 will come once the investigation is started.
20 The DA needs to investigate the violation of
21 single tax law 1929. It's been reported,
22 the FBI has been in contact with them and
23 they confirm that that law has been broken,
24 so it needs to be checked into. So, please,
25 somebody look into it.
32
1 Okay, I would like to thank
2 Councilwoman Evans and candidates Joyce,
3 Rogan and Miller and Morgan for showing
4 respect to me and all of the citizens who
5 showed up for the debate and for those who
6 watched the debates on television. That
7 includes the taxpayers' debates and the
8 League of Women debates. The only way we at
9 citizens have an opportunity to know where
10 our candidates stands and what they stand
11 for is for them to answer our questions or
12 answer questions that are put forward to
13 them.
14 We, as the single taxpayers -- or
15 correction, the Taxpayers' Association have
16 never, ever abused anyone who has came to us
17 for debates. We have had Congressman
18 Kanjorski there, we have had Lou Barletta
19 there, we have had school board members
20 there, tax collectors there, mayor
21 candidates, and we never, ever once abused
22 anyone. So for Mrs. Gatelli to say she was
23 afraid because she wasn't going to be get a
24 fair shake, I have to disagree with you
25 because we would give you the same shake
33
1 that we gave everybody else.
2 And as far as not showing up for the
3 League of Women Voters, again, the League of
4 Women Voters's have been around for a long
5 time. They have not a partisan group. They
6 do not endorse any candidates, they never
7 have, and Patti Fowler deserves an apology.
8 She is a city employee. She works. She is
9 a city inspector, Mrs. Fanucci, and I don't
10 think that's funny.
11 MS. FANUCCI: I think it's --
12 MR. JACKOWITZ: I think she got --
13 MS. FANUCCI: And I --
14 MR. JACKOWITZ: Excuse me, I'm
15 talking.
16 MS. FANUCCI: Well, don't ask a
17 question.
18 MR. JACKOWITZ: I am talking.
19 MS. FANUCCI: Well, you asked me a
20 question.
21 MR. JACKOWITZ: I didn't ask you a
22 question, I think you are hearing things.
23 MS. FANUCCI: No. But that's okay.
24 MR. JACKOWITZ: But she deserves an
25 apology. She is a city inspector. She is
34
1 hired by the city to go out and inspect, she
2 is a health inspector, and now we are going
3 to tarnish her reputation saying that she
4 leaked questions and that's the reason why
5 we were afraid to go and talk and answer
6 questions to the be public, and that's
7 exactly what it is. You were afraid because
8 maybe you don't have the answers.
9 Okay, a trip down memory lane, 2005,
10 109 returned from Iraq sustaining seven
11 casualties. Mayor Doherty attends Syracuse
12 basketball game. No bonus for returning
13 city employees, veterans returning from
14 Iraq. Again, a slap in the face to
15 veterans. No wage tax reduction as promised
16 seven years ago by Mayor Doherty. No
17 contracts, police officers, $13,000 raise
18 for the chiefs. No attendance at city
19 council meetings as promised seven years
20 ago. No town hall meetings with residents,
21 only speaks to the Chamber of Commerce state
22 of city address. Most of the people in the
23 Chamber of Commerce are not even Scranton
24 residents. $175,000,000 deficit short-term,
25 $400 million long-term. 6,000 jobs that's a
35
1 joke. 8.7 percent unemployment reality. If
2 6,000 were created why do we have an 8.7
3 unemployment rate in the area? I don't
4 understand it. Maybe someone during motions
5 can explain it to me. Thank you.
6 MR. MCGOFF: Mike Dudek.
7 MR. DUDEK: My name is Mike Dudek,
8 608 Depot Street, Scranton, that's in the
9 Plot. I left a copy in the Union News for
10 everybody on city council for you to look at
11 at your leisure. Page six is what I would
12 like you to look at when you have an
13 opportunity. Those are the labor figures
14 provided by the Department of Labor on a
15 monthly basis to news outlets that publish
16 economic news. They pointed out the
17 unemployment rate in the area is
18 8.7 percent, for Lackawanna County it's 8.1,
19 but 12 months ago the Lackawanna County
20 unemployment rate was 5.5 percent. The
21 difference between 5.5 percent and
22 8.1 percent is 44.5 percent. That's the
23 rates of acceleration of unemployment in the
24 city.
25 In other words, there are no 6,000
36
1 jobs created here. For 6,000 jobs to be
2 have been created, 10,400 jobs would have to
3 have been lost and the city police would
4 have been spending all day down by the
5 unemployment office trying to direct the
6 traffic in and out of the building with
7 10,400 jobs loss. The accurate numbers is
8 more like 4,400 jobs and no jobs gained.
9 Now, every now and then I try to
10 give some guidance to members of city
11 council, and when you are a council person,
12 you really have three things to do, you
13 research, you vote on issues based on the
14 research, and you are exposed to the public
15 like you are here at this meeting in order
16 to explain your vote, whether it would be a
17 meeting like this or any other type of
18 forum, okay? The way our country's
19 government is structured, and I don't care
20 what state you are in, no elected official
21 has more exposure to the voters or to the
22 people as a city or a borough council person
23 or Illinois in they are called aldermen.
24 You have more exposure to we, the people,
25 than any other elected official. There is
37
1 no insulation between you and us. You
2 pretty much have to sit there and take it
3 and some of you have taken it with quite
4 good grace.
5 But one thing has happened that has
6 absolutely left me livid and left me very
7 angry and for once in my life I am not going
8 to pull a punch. Whenever an elected
9 official owes an explanation to the people
10 as was for instance last week with the
11 debate tore city council, for people not to
12 show up, especially incumbents to that
13 meeting, is one of the most despicable and
14 cowardly things I could ever see, and I
15 don't want a coward on my city council.
16 That was cowardly on your part.
17 And, furthermore, to insult the
18 League of Women Voters who have been around
19 longer than the dough boys of World War I,
20 that's just showing such a tremendous lack
21 of integrity that I can't even begin to
22 contain my rage about it. Thank you.
23 MR. MCGOFF: Bob Martin.
24 MR. MARTIN: Distinguished members
25 of Council, Bob Martin, president of the
38
1 FOP. I was away and missed some of meetings
2 in the last couple of weeks. Some of my men
3 and women that I represent said that there
4 has been some numbers banting around about
5 their salaries and their wages and their
6 benefits and kept calling me with concerns
7 about those numbers, so I thought maybe I
8 better just stop by and see it I can put
9 some perspective on these numbers. I heard
10 numbers of 80,000, 62,000.
11 MS. FANUCCI: 79.
12 MR. MARTIN: 62, 56,000 bating
13 around, I'm not sure, but I do know that
14 from last year those W-2's that were
15 submitted at that time our base wage was
16 40,009. We received longevity. We receive
17 longevity the same as seven other comparable
18 cities in the State of Pennsylvania:
19 Allentown, Bethlehem, Harrisburg, Lancaster,
20 Reading, Wilkes-Barre, and York. They all
21 receive longevity. It's not unique to
22 Scranton. We receive 1 percent for every
23 two years of service with a cap of 10
24 percent.
25 So, with those figures in mind, and
39
1 believe me, I'm really slow at this, a
2 little behind in school, we are at about
3 45,000 for base wage for a second year
4 patrolman, okay? It should be pretty close.
5 Ten percent, that would be giving
6 benefit of the doubt if the guy has got
7 20 years of service in he is getting 10
8 percent, 1 percent for every two years. On
9 top of that, you have to remember that this
10 year every patrol officer received a Court
11 award from the SIT violation from the
12 Commonwealth Court, seven judges en banc
13 which came through I think in the
14 neighborhood of about $6,000, so now we have
15 a base wage for the year of 2008 about
16 $50,000.
17 What I want everybody to understand
18 is that anything above and beyond that is
19 either overtime or extra duty. Now,
20 overtime, and I know that Chief Elliott has
21 received accolades from his supervisors and
22 his bosses that he has kept control over the
23 overtime, and I think he has done an
24 extremely good job in that area, so beyond
25 that, the only thing left is extra duty.
40
1 Extra duty is the CMC. We are hired at
2 football games, we are hired at Friendship
3 House, so essentially those guys that are
4 making 59, 60, $65,000 a year, what they are
5 doing is they're out there working extra
6 jobs. They are out there working a second
7 job. No different than someone else, such
8 as yourself, that would go to work and then
9 come home and then go out and do another
10 job, so those are where the numbers are
11 coming from and that's what everybody that I
12 represent is concerned about.
13 But beyond that I don't think where
14 these numbers or why these numbers are as
15 important as everybody thinks they are
16 because again, we tried to negotiate, we did
17 negotiate July 27, 2008, came to an
18 agreement, left the table, two weeks later
19 it fell apart because the city wanted to
20 continue and add management rights.
21 October 1, same thing happened at the
22 University, a month a half later management
23 rights fell back on the table and the whole
24 deal fell apart.
25 So the point I'm driving home here
41
1 is that money and benefits is not the
2 contentious issue here. It's not the issue
3 that's driving this away from the table or
4 driving this to a relatively fair and
5 equitable solution to this. It's not -- we
6 are not the greedy people that everybody
7 thinks we are. This is about the management
8 rights. Those rights we are not going to
9 give up today or any time. The city wants
10 to take those rights for all mandatory
11 subjects of bargaining, our hours, our
12 schedules, includes our hours, our days off,
13 our vacations. They are mandatory subject
14 to bargaining. Comp time, overtime,
15 mandatory subject of bargaining. The
16 Recovery Plan strips those statutory rights
17 away from us, the comp time was taken away
18 from us. Longevity. We negotiated for it,
19 it was in our contract, 41 of our men and
20 women lost their longevity. It was striped
21 away from them just last July 7, July 8,
22 taken away, just a pay cut. Some of them
23 lost 3 or 4 percent.
24 These are the management rights that
25 the city talks about they we are not going
42
1 to give up. This fight is not about
2 benefits and money as much as it is --
3 they're a major factor, don't misunderstand
4 me, they are major factor, but they are not
5 what this whole argument is about. Thank
6 you very much.
7 MR. MCGOFF: Stephanie Gawel.
8 MS. GAWEL: Hi, everybody, how are
9 you tonight? I strongly disagree with what
10 has been put out by the administration.
11 They have been concerned about the jobs
12 which it says, oh, we are trying to keep the
13 jobs in the city and we are trying to bring
14 them in, we know they tried to basically run
15 Buono out of business because they wouldn't
16 cow-toe to them.
17 We know that he basically put
18 Channel 61 out of business when it was
19 Scranton Today. I mean, that was Jack
20 Finnerty's dream, he is the one that started
21 it, he built it up by himself with some
22 help. He ran it from the library, he didn't
23 have to buy a building, it was 90 percent
24 volunteers. The only one that got paid was
25 the tech person. We need to thank Jack
43
1 Finnerty, Leslie Collins, Attorney Brian
2 Lenahan, Emily Perry, Lynn Palalino, Karen
3 Bazzarri, Lorainne Tallo, Annette Palutis,
4 Dan Chefaro, Barbara O'Malley, Scott Thomas,
5 Lori Cadden and anyone else I might have
6 forgotten for all of the services they had
7 given us the ten years before the TV station
8 got taken out from underneath them.
9 Mr. Doherty says he is for citizens,
10 but 90 percent of the campaign money came
11 from people who didn't leave here in the
12 city, we all know that, it came from
13 Waverly, Philly, on and on. He never talks
14 to the people of the Scranton, never or he
15 would have been here a couple of different
16 times. The only time he showed up is to
17 Mr. McGoff in office. That's it. It's the
18 only time I have seen him in council. By
19 the way, welcome aboard.
20 We all know he doesn't go to any of
21 the neighborhood meetings when asked and
22 doesn't -- and he has been sent letters, he
23 has been called, the whole nine yards, and
24 the man doesn't even have the manners and
25 the courtesy to say, no, I'm not coming. He
44
1 just doesn't show. He has never been to the
2 lower Greenridge, he said last night he was
3 at the Plot, I don't know. He has never
4 been back at Keyser Avenue when it flooded,
5 back at Cameron Avenue and North Garfield,
6 that area nor has he held any of the
7 promises as far as I know.
8 He says his opponents run a negative
9 ads, he is the only I hear running the
10 negative ads when I'm hearing the ads and
11 the Times and the governor are right there
12 with him and they all should be ashamed, and
13 that's why I discontinued the Times and I
14 will be calling the Times Leader to find out
15 about their paper.
16 How many people are aware that NCC
17 is moving to Dickson City? Why, they don't
18 want to put the mercantile tax? Do they
19 need more room? If they need for room we
20 got Southern Union that's got parking, the
21 whole nine yards. I think it's a good deal
22 for them, but they are moving to Dickson
23 City.
24 Please don't say the men and women
25 that put their lives on the line on a daily
45
1 basis don't deserve a little more than the
2 rest of us. They deserve a lot more. I
3 certainly don't have the built to do some of
4 the work they do and I don't have the
5 bravery, I'm a woos.
6 Okay, 75 percent -- as for the
7 Recovery Plan, probably 75 percent of the
8 citizens didn't read the small print. We
9 all believe the spin that was put on it.
10 You believe what you hear and that's why we
11 are where we are at. For the mayor to say
12 he wants the latest crime fighting gear,
13 well, we probably could have had, you know,
14 he had computers in the cars that were never
15 fixed for the longest time, we still don't
16 have cameras in the cars that would save us
17 so much money and save lives it's not even
18 funny, but he doesn't do it. We know that
19 there is no defibrillators in any of the
20 cars, not on one side or the other side, as
21 Mr. Courtright had mentioned. Now, that
22 stuff everybody knows, again, you can do
23 through state grants, federal grants, I bet
24 if you is the Marine Corp League they would
25 even, you know, do a fundraiser and get some
46
1 monies together to get some of these stuff
2 for us, so I don't know. There is too much
3 missing. The only one playing the old
4 school politics is the mayor and Governor
5 Rendell. You don't have to be the smartest
6 kid on the block to see that.
7 Oh, by the way, like everyone else
8 ahead of me I would like to know where the
9 6,000 new jobs are. I can't figure it out.
10 I'm not the brightest math person in the
11 world, but I know if we have got an eight
12 point something in unemployment we don't
13 have 6,000 new jobs in the area. The Times
14 reported that -- well, I already went over
15 the contributions and truly we know he
16 doesn't really, you know, truly shows he is
17 not in touch with the average citizen of
18 Scranton, ones that struggle to pay the heat
19 bill, the water bill, the sewer bill, and
20 most importantly, the mortgage payments.
21 Could I finish up real quick?
22 MR. MCGOFF: Quickly.
23 MS. GAWEL: Okay. As for any of the
24 former mayors who are backing Mr. Doherty,
25 shame on you. I realize Jimmy Connors' job
47
1 may be on the line, but when the mayor
2 doesn't think we should compensate our
3 firemen and policemen who went to overseas
4 to Iraq and Kuwait, shame on him. This
5 mayor never goes to cops or a fireman's
6 funeral to say thank you to the family for
7 their years of service. Mr. Connors does,
8 Mr. Peters does, etcetera. Thank you for
9 your consideration, Mr. McGoff.
10 MR. MCGOFF: Carl Kupchunas.
11 MR. KUPCHUNAS: Good evening. My
12 name is Carl Kupchunas, I'm a lifelong
13 resident of the City of Scranton. As we all
14 know, next Tuesday, May 19, is primary
15 election day. The Bill of Rights of the
16 United States give all citizens over the age
17 of 18 the right to vote. It is the right
18 that shouldn't be taken lightly. The
19 problem in our area is voter apathy. It's
20 very important that everyone who is
21 registered to vote do so. I cannot and will
22 not tell you who to vote for. I will give
23 you some information that maybe will help
24 you make a good decision when you go to the
25 polls on Tuesday.
48
1 If you are in favor of wasteful
2 projects such as the Electric City sign of
3 Linden Street, the $300,000 dog park, the
4 narrowing of the 500-block of Lackawanna
5 Avenue, the bridge to no where and the ever
6 popular treehouse, you know what to do.
7 If you appreciate getting lied to by
8 a politician who took credit for the medical
9 college and the lower Greenridge flood
10 control project, you know what to do. We
11 all know Senator Mellow brought the medical
12 college here. The flood control project was
13 the Army Corp of Engineers project was which
14 first proposed and started through the
15 Connnors' administration.
16 If you believe a politician who is
17 first closing the fire companies, then does
18 a switch because it's unpopular with the
19 citizens, you know what to do.
20 If you appreciate having your
21 mailbox filled are propaganda one but seven
22 times, which is not only very annoying but
23 it's also very environmentally unfriendly by
24 a politician who claims to be a friend of
25 the environment, you know what to do.
49
1 If you are an in favor of the local
2 biased newspapers and their recent seven
3 days newsletter in favor of certain
4 politician when newspaper are supposed to be
5 fair and even in their coverage of all
6 candidates, not just the one, then you know
7 what to do. You can make your voice heard
8 by canceling the subscription to this bias
9 publication and let them now how you feel
10 about the uneven coverage of the elections.
11 If you are into fantasy and the
12 imaginary 6,000 jobs where no one seems to
13 know where the 6,000 jobs are if they even
14 exist when unemployment is at a record high
15 in Scranton, you know what to do.
16 If you are no respect for our
17 hardworking police and firefighters who put
18 their lives on the line protecting the
19 citizens of Scranton and the administration
20 who doesn't want to give them a fair and
21 proper wage, who had to wait seven years for
22 a contract, that's un heard of, you know
23 what to do.
24 If you enjoy paying the 25 percent
25 tax increase and one of the highest wage
50
1 taxes in the state and possibility of more
2 25 percent tax increase in these tough
3 economic times, you know what to do.
4 If you like having your tires
5 damaged, your car alignment damaged by
6 potholes which like many affect all of the
7 city streets, you know what to do.
8 If you are in favor of all of the
9 empty buildings and, of course, the white
10 elephant of the Southern Union building on
11 Lackawanna Avenue along with the record
12 number at homes for sale in the City of
13 Scranton, you know what to do.
14 However, if you want change, a
15 change that the citizens of Scranton need
16 and badly deserve, no more distressed city
17 status which has been that affect for
18 17 years you can get this chance. All it
19 takes is a strong of the pen next Tuesday
20 and the citizens of Scranton will have
21 spoken. Remember, choose your candidates
22 carefully and end the current rubber stamp
23 mentality. Make your voice heard and vote
24 next Tuesday. Thank you for your time.
25 MR. MCGOFF: Liz Hubbard.
51
1 MS. HUBBARD: That's a hard act to
2 follow. Just a couple of questions and a
3 couple of -- several weeks ago when Mr.
4 McGovern he talked about the companies that
5 had been taking the wage tax out of people's
6 salaries and not turning it over to the
7 single tax office, does anybody know if
8 that's being pursued because I would think
9 that would be illegal from my own years that
10 I worked with my husband in our business.
11 You don't deduct money from people's
12 paychecks and then keep it, you know, and if
13 that is, in fact, happening or has happened
14 what is the tax office doing about it?
15 Anybody have any idea?
16 MS. EVANS: I believe they indicated
17 that evening that they were pursuing those
18 types of cases legally.
19 MS. HUBBARD: Okay. Another thing,
20 last night at the debate the mayor made a
21 big point of saying how he was for the
22 neighborhoods, but in '06 when they had that
23 flood meeting, and I believe Mr. Hubbard
24 spoke on it several weeks ago and elaborated
25 on what had gone on at the meeting, the only
52
1 thing he neglected to mention was that the
2 mayor slept through that whole meeting and
3 there were many people that witnessed it and
4 we actually I think somebody has it on tape.
5 Channel 61, the money that was used
6 to renovate Mansour's building up there, are
7 we going to get any of that back now that
8 they are not there any more? If somebody
9 could give me answers to that.
10 And, Judy, could you explain it me
11 what a master's equivalency is?
12 MS. GATELLI: I'll do that in
13 motions.
14 MS. HUBBARD: Oh, I may not be here
15 for that.
16 MS. GATELLI: Well, you will watch
17 it on TV. I'm going to answer all of my
18 questions in motions.
19 MS. HUBBARD: Are you making a note
20 of that question?
21 MS. GATELLI: I have a note.
22 MS. HUBBARD: Okay. Anything being
23 done about the skunks because they are still
24 there? Well, I guess I'll have to wait
25 until motions or else catch you tomorrow on
53
1 TV. And, by the way, Sherry, that's a cute
2 little dog, what is it?
3 MS. FANUCCI: A miniature toy
4 poodle.
5 MS. HUBBARD: He's adorable.
6 MS. FANUCCI: Liz went by the house
7 and actually thought there was a skunk on my
8 porch and it was my dog. She is black and
9 white and small. So, I mean, the irony of
10 the whole thing was actually very funny for
11 us.
12 MS. HUBBARD: But anyway, I would
13 like people out there and make sure
14 everybody gets out and votes on Tuesday
15 preferably for Gary and Janet and her team.
16 MR. MCGOFF: Please, that's out of
17 order, Mrs. Hubbard, you know that.
18 MS. HUBBARD: I'm entitled once in
19 awhile to get out of order.
20 MR. MCGOFF: It's out of order Dan
21 Hubbard.
22 MR. HUBBARD: Good evening, Council,
23 Danielle Hubbard, lower Greenridge. A
24 couple quick points tonight really based at
25 Mrs. Gatelli. I have been home the last few
54
1 meetings and watching a couple of comments
2 were made: One, Judy had made a comment
3 that the D.A.'s Office had told her to wand
4 the residents coming into this building.
5 Well, my question was who had ordered or
6 told the police department to do the
7 wanding?
8 Secondly, what were they searching
9 for because under Pennsylvania state law
10 this is a public building and residents are
11 allowed to carry weapons in and out of this
12 building freely under law. In Pennsylvania,
13 schools and courthouses you are not allowed
14 to carry a firearm on you. At the
15 courthouse if you go into the security check
16 point with a firearm, they do provide you
17 with a secure and safe lockbox for your
18 firearm at the security check point. So if
19 you were to wand residents in this facility,
20 which is not marked or posted anywhere in
21 the building disallowing firearms, and not
22 to mention it is a public facility, you
23 would have had to provide residents with a
24 safe and secure lockbox that night.
25 So I would like to know that with
55
1 the potential Second and Fourth Amendment
2 violation by wanding residents and possibly
3 searching and seizing any firearms that you
4 would have had on them that night who gave
5 that order to do it because that is
6 protected under the state constitution and
7 the federal constitution. In Pennsylvania,
8 you actually can openly carry a firearm
9 without a permit in plain sight of public --
10 in public facilities other than courthouses
11 and schools, so who gave the order for the
12 Scranton Police Department to search, in my
13 mind illegal search, residents coming into a
14 public facility for weapons that they would
15 have been legally allowed to carry in and
16 out of this facility?
17 Anybody have an answer? I mean,
18 that's a pretty serious violation. You
19 cannot just decide on one day that you are
20 going to put up an intimidating security
21 force at the door and wand residents at a
22 public facility that they are by law allowed
23 to carry firearms in and out of. And let's
24 talk about intimidation. You know, comments
25 were made about you know, council members
56
1 feel intimidated in chambers. Well,
2 Mr. Quinn was just gaveled the first time as
3 being out of order, he was not rowdy, he was
4 just told he was out of order because he had
5 been I guess campaigning. The officer
6 behind me took ten steps closer to Mr. Quinn
7 that nobody saw on camera, and you want to
8 talk -- I mean, you are intimidated?
9 You have a police officer in council
10 chambers who walks to the podium as soon as
11 somebody is gaveled out of order. I mean,
12 that's intimidation. That's actually very
13 intimidating to a lot of residents that want
14 to come and speak.
15 And secondly, my last point in
16 closing was under what context is it okay
17 for an elected official from her seat during
18 a public meeting to use the term Nazi in
19 reference to a resident in this city? You
20 said it. It's on the record. What's the
21 definition that you would use to defend
22 using or calling somebody a Nazi from your
23 seat on council during a public meeting?
24 There is a lot of people in this
25 city that are offended by that term. I
57
1 lived right below a lady in Tel Aviv that
2 was a survivor of the camps and just the
3 mention of that term put her in tears
4 because she lost her mother and father and
5 her entire family and she was a sole
6 survivor, so to throw that term around in
7 these chambers in this country in this day
8 and age that loosely is embarrassing and
9 outright wrong.
10 And the residents of this city
11 deserve an apology, the Jewish community of
12 this city deserves an apology, and to be
13 honest with you I think quite honestly it's
14 part of your liable suit where you were
15 actually suing somebody for making a
16 reference to you using that term, so you
17 really don't have a grounds to sue somebody
18 for linking you to that term when you sit
19 here under your official capacity and throw
20 it around like it's nothing. That's a very
21 serious term to be used from an official
22 seat by an official person who is up for
23 reelection in this city. Thank you.
24 MR. MCGOFF: Donna Dominick.
25 MS. DOMINICK: Donna Dominick,
58
1 homeowner and taxpayer. I am here for two
2 things because I'm just frustrated. As far
3 as these 6,000 jobs go Mrs. Schumacher last
4 week said a friend of hers wanted to know
5 about them. Everybody here is talking about
6 the 6,000 jobs. I haven't met anybody in
7 the last week and a half that doesn't want
8 to know about these 6,000 jobs. From where
9 I'm sitting, Mr. Doherty in the last few
10 days has had everything under the sun
11 printed in the Times. I think to put the
12 issue to rest all he has to do is have all
13 of those jobs, the 6,000, published in the
14 Times. I think that would put it to bed
15 once and for all. Everybody would know what
16 those jobs were.
17 Second thing, and this is like
18 beating a dead horse, when it comes to the
19 reducing firefighters or closing engine
20 companies or fire stations, Mr. Doherty
21 said, "Not in the near future," Mr. Hayes
22 said "Not at this time," well, you can't
23 expect that he would say anything other than
24 that, it's election time. I mean, he would
25 have to be a very stupid man to say anything
59
1 other than that. I don't think you can
2 believe anything that come out of his mouth
3 if his tongue came notarized.
4 And I have one little four line poem
5 I would like it say before I leave and that
6 is: Our firefighters risk their lives day
7 and night, yet we have a mayor who continues
8 the fight. His view of our police officers
9 is very, very dim, so why on earth would you
10 reelect him. Thank you.
11 MR. MCGOFF: Charlie Newcomb.
12 MR. NEWCOMB: Good evening, Council.
13 Just two short ones tonight. I would like
14 to remind everybody next week to go out and
15 vote on Tuesday and I would just like to
16 remind everybody no matter who you are going
17 to vote for look at what these candidates
18 stand for for city council, for mayor. Look
19 at the problems in Luzerne County, two
20 judges going to jail, school directors
21 arrested, corruption. Everybody just look,
22 and you know what, the biggest thing to do
23 is follow the money whenever you are going
24 to vote for a candidate.
25 My opinion is, whether it's
60
1 Mr. Doherty, Mr. DiBileo or Mr. Bolus, you
2 have to ask yourselves, people listening out
3 there seeing all of the billboards, TV
4 commercials or whatever you do, why would
5 you have to spend $1 million, and whether
6 it's $700,000, $800,000, a million dollars,
7 just think of these numbers, for a position
8 that pays $50,000 a year.
9 So, all I could say and is just
10 listen to what they have to say, look at all
11 of your contributors, who gives to who, who
12 works where, who has a job here or who has a
13 job there and just look and see how much
14 money these people spend to get elected,
15 because like Andy Sbaraglia said in the
16 beginning, something has to change. That's
17 way, way too much for anybody to be spending
18 on any kind of candidacy. It's almost like
19 the person with the most money wins the job.
20 And one other thing I would like to
21 touch on, Mr. Martin touched on it a little
22 bit, but Mrs. Fanucci, when Stu Renda was
23 here last week and he gave you all of them
24 numbers, did he give you a breakdown on like
25 how much of those numbers were, let me think
61
1 of the word here, private money, for like --
2 MS. FANUCCI: Well, it depends on
3 what you are saying? You mean, like what is
4 the base salary, what is the overtime?
5 MR. NEWCOMB: I'll elaborate what I
6 mean by private money. It would like, in
7 other words, we are going to use a police
8 officer, for example. Like, let's say he
9 made $80,000, I'll just use that for a
10 number.
11 MS. FANUCCI: Right.
12 MR. NEWCOMB: Okay. Well, the
13 people, I'm sure you know or maybe you
14 don't, but what the people out there would
15 have to know is, see, if you have a second
16 job or I have a second job you get two
17 W-2's. Like, in other words, if I work say
18 for K-Mart and I work for my company --
19 MS. FANUCCI: This is the W-2, this
20 would be from the city. So, yeah, this is
21 from the city.
22 MR. NEWCOMB: So what I'm trying to
23 say is with any private money, what I mean
24 by private money is if they were work CMC
25 for eight hours, what has to happen is if
62
1 it's private and that's all private money
2 they have to pay the city, and that's a
3 straight rate, and then it goes to that
4 police officer, but it's all added into
5 their W-2's.
6 MS. FANUCCI: Right.
7 MR. NEWCOMB: So what I'm trying to
8 say is somebody that makes sixty, seventy or
9 eighty thousand dollars, there could be
10 thirty to thirty-five thousand dollars of
11 that that comes from private money which
12 means if let's say you had affair at a
13 wedding or something at the Cultural Center
14 and you had to have a policeman or a fireman
15 there, well, you got to pay them a straight
16 eight hours or whatever or whoever long they
17 have to get paid, so you have to pay the
18 city. You don't pay them, you can't do that
19 anymore, you have to pay the city and then
20 the city puts it into their paychecks. So I
21 just wanted to know if you broke down --
22 MR. FANUCCI: There was a breakdown
23 between overtime, which would be anything
24 above what their normal salary was.
25 MR. NEWCOMB: Right.
63
1 MS .FANUCCI: Longevity pay. Yeah,
2 everything was broken down.
3 MR. NEWCOMB: But, I mean, he gave
4 the numbers from the private money, too?
5 MS. FANUCCI: He did. Well, he
6 didn't say -- it wasn't private money, it
7 was overtime. I believe it was an overtime
8 section of money that was outside of your
9 normal salary.
10 MR. NEWCOMB: Right, but I just want
11 to say overtime is if they get time and a
12 half, the employees.
13 MS. FANUCCI: Right.
14 MR. NEWCOMB: You don't you get --
15 you get a straight rate for private, I just
16 wanted to know.
17 MS. FANUCCI: I don't remember seeing
18 a separate section of private.
19 MR. NEWCOMB: When you get those
20 numbers look at it because it's very
21 important. Like, if I was a policeman and I
22 worked the St. Patrick's parade extra time;
23 well, then I would get time and half.
24 MS. FANUCCI: Right.
25 MR. NEWCOMB: But if I went tomorrow
64
1 and I had to go to CMC of the Friendship
2 House or something and I wanted to stay
3 eight hours, I get a flat right, you know,
4 like my hourly rate and you have to --
5 MS. FANUCCI: We could ask them for
6 that.
7 MR. NEWCOMB: Yeah, just because,
8 you know, there is a big difference and, you
9 know, there is a big difference in the money
10 when they do that.
11 MS. FANUCCI: I definitely will ask
12 him for that, for that breakdown.
13 MR. NEWCOMB: Okay, thanks.
14 MS. FANUCCI: Sure.
15 MR. NEWCOMB: And again, I would just
16 like to say when everybody goes out to vote
17 next week just vote your conscience, vote
18 your heart and like they say just follow the
19 money and see where it goes. Thanks.
20 MR. MCGOFF: Any other speakers?
21 MR. TALIMINI: Joe Talimini, citizen
22 of Scranton. I would like to mention a
23 couple of things. First of all, I want to
24 thank Mrs. Evans for mentioning the fact
25 that be this coming Saturday is Armed Forces
65
1 Day. If it wasn't for the Armed Forces I
2 can assure you that none of you be sitting
3 up here and none of us would be out there,
4 so it would be a very good idea if during
5 the course of your campaigning you manage to
6 show up for Armed Forces Day. It won't be a
7 drunk fest. There won't be any big parades,
8 big bands or anything else, but it is a
9 chance to honor the veterans.
10 And I'd also like to mention the
11 fact that somewhere along the line the
12 United States I think introduced a
13 constitution back in 1776 or 1777 or
14 something like that.
15 MR. MCGOFF: 1789.
16 MR. TALIMINI: 1789, thank you,
17 Mr. McGoff, and I think there was the first
18 of the 14 amendments that were added later
19 on, something about free speech. I think
20 the free speech applies to the citizens of
21 in this room as well as to those of you who
22 sit up there. So, Mr. McGoff, I
23 respectfully ask gavel a citizen out of
24 order that you also gavel your committee
25 members out of order because they, too, are
66
1 just as guilty as some of the people who
2 speak out, and I noticed you have been very
3 reluctant to do that, but I ask that you
4 please do that from now on.
5 On Friday is another day that nobody
6 seems to know about and that's the
7 policeman's memorial day, and it's a very
8 important day. We have a little situation
9 out in the hallway which should have been
10 resolved a long time ago.
11 I would like to point out something
12 that happened to me about a week ago on
13 Saturday, and it's the first time in
14 58 years it's happened. I was driving into
15 Wal-Mart, there was a car directly behind
16 me, and when I pulled into my parking space
17 the gentleman pulled up directly behind me
18 and parked his car. He got out of his car
19 and he walked up, and I happened to have
20 purple heart license plates on there, and he
21 asked me if I was a purple heart veteran and
22 I said, yes, I was. He extended his hand
23 and he shook my hand and he said he was with
24 the Friends of the Forgotten. I had no idea
25 who they were, but in 58 years it's the
67
1 first time anybody has acknowledged the fact
2 that we did have a war in Korea, and I'm
3 very pleased to say I got the gentleman's
4 card. It says, "Thank you for your service.
5 Friends of the Forgotten, Northeast wing of
6 Pennsylvania."
7 The other thing I would like to
8 mention, and this is I guess it could be
9 ruled politics, but we have an election
10 coming up next Tuesday, Washington West has
11 been the polling place for District 16-1,
12 nobody has acknowledged it. I think they
13 had a paid legal advisement in the paper on
14 Sunday, 16-1 will not be voting at
15 Washington West next week they will be
16 voting instead at the United House, and I
17 would like to point that out for all the
18 viewers, all the seniors who can't come
19 here, the people who don't know because
20 unless they are advised this way a lot of
21 people are going to be going to Washington
22 West and when they find out they can't vote
23 there they are going to go home. So I don't
24 know who is derelict in this, but I would
25 like to make a very, very specific note of
68
1 that. There will be no voting at Washington
2 West this year, it will be at United House,
3 and I understand it's only for one year, so
4 thank you very much floor your time.
5 MS. SCHUMACHER: Good evening. Marie
6 Schumacher, resident and member of the
7 Taxpayers' Association. First, the big fib,
8 the 6,000 jobs created or the claim I should
9 say of 6,000 jobs created. Probably the
10 easiest method of measuring job volume in
11 the city is to use the EMS/LST amounts that
12 are included in the budget. This EMS/LST
13 tax is imposed at a flat amount of $52 for
14 every worker earning over $12,000 annually,
15 so it's a simple matter of dividing the
16 amount budgeted by 52 to determine the
17 number of worker's earning over $12,000.
18 Hardly a family sustaining amount in the
19 United States.
20 Using this formula for 2006, the
21 first year of this tax was imposed, you will
22 find there were 40,385 wage earners. In
23 2009, the wage earner's amount to 25,547, a
24 decline of 14,838. So we must conclude one
25 of three things: Either the Scranton
69
1 workforce has declined by 14,838 or 14,838
2 workers slipped below the $12,000 a year
3 threshold or there is an error in the 2009
4 budget.
5 Personally, after reading the
6 newspaper regularly and seeing all of the
7 drug arrests, I think that maybe the 6,000
8 jobs have been created in the underground
9 market and they are all drug sale's people.
10 Now, as to the 71 percent of the
11 voters being correct in vote for the
12 Recovery Plan. My main question is what
13 percent voted for the Recovery Plan because
14 the mayor in June of 2002 warned there would
15 be a tax increase if it wasn't approved?
16 Tonight during motions, I hope to
17 hear Mrs. Gatelli ask Mr. Minora two things:
18 One, Mr. Minora said -- or the analysis of
19 the single tax office said the budget was
20 exceeded and when they exceeded the budget
21 they dipped into tax revenues of the city
22 and assuming the boroughs and the county.
23 Now, what is that called? It sounds as
24 though it is theft from the city taxpayers
25 to me.
70
1 And I would like and expect an
2 answer tonight on what the remaining road
3 blocks are before BRT must pay for the land
4 they have been using at 800 Providence Road.
5 I would like to know if OECD is
6 moving back to city hall in July or not. If
7 not, what will be the cost of their monthly
8 rent where they are if they are to remain in
9 the Scranton Life building?
10 I would like know if the city is
11 still at risk for the Village of Tripp Park
12 water runoff problem or has the developer
13 come up with the solution? Has any council
14 person investigated to see how our
15 permit/inspection process has failed in this
16 endeavor? This never should have happened
17 in the first place and I would like to
18 believe somebody up there is finding out
19 what went wrong.
20 And then last night the mayor said
21 we are building housing for the community
22 medical college students. I don't recall
23 seeing this item in the capital budget or in
24 the OECD budget line item. Where does the
25 medical college housing appear in the city
71
1 budget? I'll look forward to those answers
2 during motions. Thank you.
3 MR. MCGOFF: Anyone else?
4 MS. WILLIAMS: Good evening. Joanne
5 Williams, homeowner and taxpayer. Well,
6 welcome to the negativity. You know, I was
7 going to come down here tonight and say a
8 few things, but once again I was approached
9 by Mrs. Hubbard and asked me why I'm here,
10 why do I come during election? Why?
11 Because I live in the city all my life and I
12 love the city and I have been here before
13 the cameras and I'm tired -- and they talk
14 about negative -- why people don't come here
15 and speak positive about the city, who would
16 want to come here in this room and take this
17 harassment? This is constant -- and the
18 looks by Fay Franus.
19 MR. MCGOFF: Please.
20 MS. WILLIAMS: It's terrible. Well
21 --
22 MR. MCGOFF: We are not going to use
23 names. It's out of order.
24 MS. WILLIAMS: Oh, but it's all right
25 when other people use names though, isn't
72
1 it? That's okay.
2 I just want to touch on a few
3 things, Mr. Bolus all of a sudden is
4 pro-Genesis Wildlife Center, it's amazing.
5 I recall when the Wildlife Center first came
6 to the park these people poked fun at the
7 park, made fun of the monkeys, the TV's,
8 said the zoo was no place to put animals.
9 Mrs. Beck talked about me last week
10 about the signs and everything, I'm glad to
11 see her back and her husband, she can put
12 100 signs in her yard it's still a false
13 political statement. The mayor is not
14 closing fire houses.
15 Each week everybody speak on crime
16 and high taxes and how we can save money,
17 I'll say it again like I said a few years
18 ago, back a few years ago when a playground
19 was being built for children by volunteers I
20 didn't see -- well, they say my name, Mr.
21 McGoff, like Mr. Quinn, Mr. Bolus,
22 Mr. Spindler, Mr. Beck, and I can go on and
23 on and, Mrs. Evans, you weren't there either
24 and I know you told me you had a back
25 problem. Well, I have a back and neck
73
1 problem, too, but all I did is paint and
2 help serve refreshments. I mean, where were
3 you people then? You want to raise to your
4 children, no volunteers, huh, at that time.
5 As far as the medical school it's
6 very, very dear and near to me. My husband
7 was diagnosed, my late husband, was
8 diagnosed with mild dysplasia syndrome in
9 2005, a form of leukemia. We had to go to
10 Philadelphia. We had to go Fox Chase in
11 Northeast Philadelphia. Gene's Hospital
12 which is supported by the students at Temple
13 University. Let me tell you, what a
14 beautiful sight it was to see those students
15 working with the doctors in that area and
16 trying to find a cure for leukemia. Yes, we
17 need a medical center. Why did the medical
18 center come here? Absolutely. The governor
19 helped, Senator Mellow helped, but Mayor
20 Chris Doherty sat down with four or five
21 doctors a few years back and wanted to know
22 what the city was like, what the people were
23 like, where were you going, was it a good
24 place to put a medical school. They saw the
25 vision there thanks to Chris Doherty.
74
1 And I'm going to tell you one more
2 thing, I'm going to say it, get out and vote
3 people on May 19. Get out and vote for the
4 people who have made the hard and tough
5 decisions to make this city move forward.
6 We know who they are, and I'm going to say
7 it, Mayor Doherty, Mrs. Gatelli and
8 Mrs. Fanucci. Thank you.
9 MR. MCGOFF: Please. Wait one
10 moment, please, I'm sorry. Once again,
11 advocating voting for or against a
12 particular person is out of order. I'm
13 simply asking you to refrain from doing
14 that. It's a simple request and one that we
15 should follow. Thank you. I'm sorry, Mr.
16 McCloe.
17 MR. MCCLOE: My name is Brett
18 McCloe, Scranton taxpayer and homeowner. I
19 was just sitting at home actually and I was
20 watching and I, too, sort of had a problem
21 with the 6,000 job number. My job I do for
22 a living totally depends on that number.
23 More so than that, what I do for a living
24 totally depends on what kind of money these
25 6,000 or whatever people make. If the
75
1 average of those jobs, if there are 6,000 at
2 all, which I don't really see, if the
3 average of those employees cannot afford to
4 buy the very good and services that they
5 sell that is a recipe for disaster.
6 Eight, 10 and 12 dollar an hour jobs
7 just gets the taxes paid. Period. That is
8 not economic development. We need to take
9 the emphasis off of economic development and
10 put it towards developing an economy with
11 good paying jobs. These 6,000 jobs that he
12 is talking about, first of all, I don't know
13 where he got that number; number two, people
14 just aren't making that kind of money, and
15 even if with the medical school, I'm not
16 sure if I want a doctor who graduates from
17 this medical school who is $200,000 in debt
18 then marries another person, another
19 doctor who is also $200,000 in debt, then
20 goes and buys a $400,000 home at Tripp's
21 Park or wherever, you are looking for a
22 person to come into the city who is almost a
23 million dollars in debt right off the bat.
24 You know, I have seen it. I have seen
25 people that are that deep in debt. If these
76
1 are our new citizens, okay.
2 Well, I guess I wasn't really
3 prepared. I was just sort of ticked off and
4 I don't mean to get on you, Mrs. Fanucci,
5 but --
6 MS. FANUCCI: Get on me all you
7 want. Go ahead.
8 MR. MCCLOE: I'm not trying to,
9 believe me. I'm not trying to, but it's
10 more for the mindset of the people of this
11 city. A couple of weeks ago what I found
12 was one of the most economically divisive
13 statements I ever heard was that no one has
14 to pay the same kind of insurance -- or
15 everybody else has to pay more insurance
16 than the firefighters, and not that you were
17 factually wrong, I'm not going to dispute
18 that, I don't know anything about the
19 mechanics of the numbers, but what that did
20 is psychological it just drove a wedge into
21 a lot of people's minds. What it did was it
22 made people think that, well, I pay all of
23 this and they don't have to pay that.
24 Well, guess what, People, you don't
25 have to run into a building that's on fire.
77
1 None of you have to suck in noxious fumes.
2 None of you have to worry about the asbestos
3 that might be floating in the air and maybe
4 20 years down the line, oh, you have got
5 something, such and such. That insurance
6 that they get is well-deserved. For me who
7 waits tables, what I pay in insurance, so
8 what if it's more than -- so what it it's
9 way more than theirs? They are there to
10 save my life.
11 I guess that's all I have to say
12 expect for, Folks, this is the time. Get
13 out there and vote. The time for talking
14 about certain things is over. We have a
15 chance to change lot of things, not just in
16 our city but within ourselves which will
17 change the city. Thank you. Thank you very
18 much.
19 MS. STULGIS: Ann Marie Stulgis, I
20 live in the City of Scranton. First off I'd
21 like to clarify something we have been
22 hearing a lot about, beat cops. Beat cops.
23 How great beat cops are. How the mayor is
24 bringing beat cops back. Well, Folks, may I
25 remind you that we have approximately 30
78
1 less cops than we did when this mayor came
2 into office? Can I also remind you that he
3 is the one that eliminated beat cops, as
4 much as I came here and protested it
5 happening, he is the one who eliminated them
6 and now it's election time and beat cops are
7 the savior of all saviors. Maybe they would
8 have been had they stayed here and been
9 working the last seven years.
10 It all started on October of 2002
11 when he stated we already have enough cops,
12 and then in November of '02 the first eight
13 were eliminated and then it continued and
14 continued right up to December of '04 when
15 he eliminated ten more and now we have beat
16 cops. Yeah. We have a beat cop in downtown
17 Scranton. Well, what about North Scranton,
18 where is their beat cops? What about the
19 Hill Section, where is there beat cops?
20 Where are all of the beat cops? There is
21 ten federally funded OECD -- or COMM-D
22 officers, we don't have a ten of them out
23 there. I don't know where the federal funds
24 are going, but we could do not have ten
25 COMM-D officers on the street.
79
1 Now, we also over the past few years
2 have been blessed with a 25 percent property
3 tax increase, exorbitant increases in our
4 sewer bills, increases in our garbage bills.
5 We have eliminated firefighters, we have
6 eliminated police officers, we have
7 eliminated 48 clerical workers. Where did
8 the money go? Police cost less, fire costs
9 less, clerical costs less. We're sort of a
10 disoriented business. They are the service
11 people, where did the money go? What did my
12 money get used for if it wasn't for my own
13 protection and the protection of my family?
14 What did it get used for if? Well,
15 it got used for the Davis trail maybe, the
16 trail that got washed away and never got
17 repaired or did it get used for, hmm, the
18 green slime pond where all of the fish died?
19 Did it gets used for that? What did it get
20 used for? Did it get used for the treehouse
21 for handicapped people that people in
22 wheelchairs can't get to? Did it get used
23 for the bridge to no where? What did it get
24 used for? Or did it get used for, hmm, the
25 glass we used on the streets instead of
80
1 cinders, did it get used for that or the
2 thousands of dollars for garbage cans and
3 flower pots, did it get used for that? What
4 did it get used for, I'd like to know
5 because the taxpayers have a right to make
6 sure they have enough protection.
7 And then we have already also heard
8 about the Recovery Plan, oh, those dastardly
9 unions, oh, how they won't allow the city to
10 recover. They just won't obey that Recovery
11 Pan. Well, the mayor got his management
12 rights and just what did he change? Did he
13 change anything in the fire department?
14 Nope. Nothing. Did he change anything in
15 the police department? Well, if you count
16 the fact that we don't have overtime
17 anymore, so quite often the city is being
18 covered by four police officers, 27 square
19 miles and have you got four police officers
20 working, that's about the only thing that's
21 changed is you have less protection. Other
22 than that, nothing has changed. Nothing has
23 changed.
24 The great Recovery Plan, perhaps
25 some of you can find out for me why the
81
1 mayor has consistently violated his own
2 Recovery Plan. Page 63 of the Recovery Plan
3 very specifically says that no city employee
4 can have a pay increase for 2002, 4, 5 and
5 beyond. Well, by gosh, there are some city
6 employees that have received in excess of
7 $20,000 in pay increases. I don't hear
8 anybody on council saying, wait a minute --
9 well, maybe an exception or two, wait a
10 minute, he violated the Recovery Plan.
11 Those raises are in violation of the sacred
12 Recovery Plan, but he did it.
13 And, also, if you wouldn't mind, I
14 would like to know the Recovery Plan
15 mandates that our business manager go out
16 and solicit funds in lieu of taxes, I wonder
17 if you could find out just exactly how much
18 more money our business manager, Mr. Renda,
19 has selected in lieu of taxes over what was
20 collected by the previous administration?
21 Thank you.
22 MS. FOWLER: I'm patty Fowler,
23 otherwise known as the scapegoat. I'm
24 uncomfortable being here, but I'm here, too.
25 MS. FRANUS: Fay Franus, Scranton.
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1 At last week's council meeting, Mrs. Gatelli
2 requested the list of all lawsuits filed
3 against the city by the owner of a local
4 website. It's important tonight to mention
5 some of those lawsuits that were filed:
6 Number one, the sale of the South
7 Side Complex, a public recreational park
8 that belonged to the citizens of the
9 Scranton; number two, the municipal golf
10 course, a city asset, which provided annual
11 revenue for the city; number three, ECTV's
12 zoning appeal which the Courts ruled against
13 ECTV; number four, OECD funding of the
14 mayor's advertisements during political
15 campaigns.
16 It is clear that these lawsuits are
17 filed on behalf of the people and the best
18 interest of this city. On the other hand,
19 Mrs. Gatelli, an elected official is using
20 taxpayers' money to pay for her private
21 lawsuit which benefits only herself.
22 Mrs. Gatelli further stated at last
23 week's council meeting that she intended to
24 pay what was billed by Wright and Reihner
25 Law Firm, the City of Scranton, for her
83
1 personal lawsuit which totals $38,704. I
2 would like Mrs. Gatelli to produce a
3 cancelled check as evidence of her payment
4 for her private lawsuit because it is
5 difficult to take Mrs. Gatelli at her word.
6 For example, she promised four years
7 ago in the Scranton Times that she would not
8 vote for more borrowing. She lied to the
9 taxpayers and voted for borrowing in 2006,
10 2007, and 2008. It appears fair to say that
11 Mrs. Gatelli, who does not tell the truth,
12 has little room to accuse taxpayers of
13 lying. Can we, the taxpayers, afford four
14 more years of Mrs. Gatelli. Thank you.
15 MR. MCGOFF: Anyone else?
16 MR. ELLMAN: Ronnie Ellman, homeowner
17 and member of the taxpayers. I'm not going
18 to Judy bash yet, you ought to be -- I'm
19 afraid you'll tell one of your friends or
20 something and they'll raise my sewer rate or
21 something. You remember when I told you
22 don't put nothing in print that can come
23 back and haunt you? True, wasn't it?
24 MS. FANUCCI: I don't know.
25 MR. ELLMAN: Not you, but the mayor.
84
1 This shouldn't have been in print. Even the
2 single tax office doesn't know about jobs
3 like that. Next they will be telling us
4 that he invented the Internet instead of Al
5 Gore.
6 You know, I know everybody has seen
7 this trashy stuff here, you know, that's --
8 to me it's -- this political rhetoric is --
9 it's just not just nonsense and distortions
10 it's --I'm trying to be nice and polite,
11 it's -- I don't know, to me it's a blatant
12 lie. It's from a man that's desperate,
13 that's in trouble, that's drowning, that's
14 grasping at straws. He didn't need to print
15 stuff like this right off the bat. It
16 backfired on him because these were given to
17 me by one of his supporters that said things
18 like that to me at my office, you know, at
19 lunchtime.
20 But, one thing Mr. Quinn has been
21 harping about trying to save properties
22 instead of tearing them down, there is so
23 many houses that could be saved. I got one
24 behind me that was a first time homeowners
25 and the lady lost it because her husband
85
1 wouldn't work and the house was nice. Now
2 they've striped it and the pipes are gone I
3 understand, but it cost five, $10,000 to
4 tear down a house. I just don't see why if
5 you want to keep young families here let
6 them have the house reasonable and get them