The LuLac Edition #107, Dec. 11, 2006

PHOTO INDEX: TWO EARLY PICKS FOR 2008, FOR CONGRESS JOE LEONARDI PICTURED TO THE RIGHT OF JIM MATTHEWS, AND AL GORE FOR PRESIDENT PICTURED TO THE LEFT OF SENATOR JOE LIBERMAN.


2007 SIGHTINGS

Names are being tossed around for various offices next year on the local political scene. In Luzerne County, the row officers seem geared up for another run.
GOP Recorder of Deeds Mary Dysleski has held that office for 8 years replacing the legendary Frank Castellino of Pittston. There seems to be no fall out to her personally and politically from an investigation to one of her employees in the Deeds office.
Treasurer Mike Morreale, in office since 1979 when he was part of a revolt against the Democratic leadership, Clerk of Courts Bob Reilly, who replaced the late Gene Hudack who ran for County Commissioner in the late 80s and Sheriff Barry Stankus who beat Carl Zawatski twice are all set to make another run. Whether Morreale’s health and longevity in office, Reilly’s failed run for State Representative in 2006 against Eddie Day Pashinski and Stankus’ penchant for low key and low budget campaigns will have a measureable effect is anyone’s guess.
Dr. Jack Consalvo, appointed as Coroner upon the death of Dr. George Hudack is running for office for a full term in May. Consalvo’s appointment was held up for a while because the Democratic party big whigs were offended they weren’t consulted by the Governor. I realize now that the best way to become a member of the Democratic Executive Committee is to become a whining, big baby.
In the District Attorney’s race, Dave Lupas, a Democrat, won’t run for a new term if he runs for the open judge's seat. Attorney Joseph Sklarosky Jr., a Democrat, and First Assistant District Attorney Jacqueline Carroll are names being bandied about for the D.A. ‘s post. The last time the Republicans held the D.A.’s office was 1971 when Blythe Evans served in that capacity.
The race for the open Judge seat might include the current D.A., Atty. Tom O’Connor who ran the last time and finished strong. O’Connor has been seen on TV lately trying to save Bishop O’Reilly high school where his daughter attendsl. Atty. Conrad Falvello of Hazleton’s name has been mentioned as a strong contender too. A couple of questions follow these judicial candidates around. For Lupus, would another Hugo Selinski verdict or delay of trial give him political trouble? And would O’Connor’s long standing political ties to the county (his mother served for years as Register of Wills) and his brother Kevin has landed cushy political jobs as a matter of course) hurt him politically? The voters were not that forgiving to the politically connected O’Donnell clan in two recent elections. And can Falvello emerge as a strong candidate despite being pigeon holed as the candidate from Hazleton? The last Judge elected from Hazleton was Michael (“How Bout Them Bench Trials/Have Some Shrimp Scampi on me at Christmas but only if you’re a wheel who can help me!”) Connahan. Connahan defeated Atty. Joe Musto in an anti nepotism vote against Senator Ray Musto who was just starting his run in the State Senate in the early 80s.
Candidates can start circulating petitions in February.

THE TL WANTS
HIGHER PAY

So the Times Leader puts out an editorial saying that Commissioners and Row Officers need a raise. I agree with a caveat. And that is simply this: the elected officials become truly full time and punch a time card or have an electronic accounting of the hours they spend on county business. Jim Phillips was one of the few County Commissioners who worked a 9 to 5PM day. Phillips served from 1983 to 1991 as first a member of the GOP majority, then as a Minority member when Frank Trinicewski changed parties in the late 1980s. Everyone else, did the job part time. Ed Wideman attended to his real estate business, Frank Crossin Senior as well as Junior worked half days at the insurance office, Rose Tucker managed her travel agency, Eddie Brominski coached, Steve Yanoshak had his medical supply business, Trincewski had his real estate holdings and bar, Tom Makowski had his law practice, Tom Pizano ran his farm, Todd Vonderheid became a part time consultant and Greg Skrepenak coached two different high school football teams, runs a bar and serves as a sports commentator on WYOU TV. Steve Urban gets a pension which he earned and I’m told he is at the Courthouse the most out of the current trio now serving. Give them a raise to match a private sector salary, but let them keep private sector hours too. And if they don’t, just like in the public sector, penalize them, dock them or have them replaced.

LEONARDI SPEAKS

After running a very positive and tough campaign against Congressman Paul Kanjorski, Doctor Joe Leonardi provides for us some information on Wall Street West. When Leonardi expressed his concerns about the validity of the program, the local connected harrumphs degraded him and laughed at him as not being informed. Well, they were wrong and he was right. This article from the Wall Street Journal is an insight into the way our local community leaders constantly sell us a bill of goods in the interest of progress. Leonardi is a serious person with serious ideas. He should be listened to. Here's the article:

Wall Street gives US state the hot site cold shoulder:

Sharon Fisher

An attempt by nine counties in northeastern Pennsylvania to encourage Manhattan-based financial services companies to set up business continuity facilities has not yet signed any clients and is competing with already-existing installations in New Jersey.
The Wall Street West project, as the state government is calling it, is based in the Pocono Mountains and is intended to provide business continuity facilities -- including on-site employees -- to New York-based companies in case of a natural or terrorist disaster. The project has received US$15 million in three-year grants from the federal government for training residents, and it expects to receive more than $10 million from the state to help develop fiber infrastructure over the next 15 to 18 months, according to Jim Ryan, director of outreach and network development for the project. The state is looking at the project to help revitalize the blue-collar area, he said.(See "Disaster recovery site puts terrorist bull's-eye on Pa").
An award for a contract to provide fiber infrastructure was supposed to have been awarded on Nov. 17 by Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell's office but had not yet been awarded by press time, according to Laura Eppler, a spokeswoman for Ben Franklin Technology Partners, a Harrisburg, Pa.-based economic development organization. Ben Franklin Technology Partners is funded by the state and is helping with the project, and it is administering the federal training grant.
"Wall Street West" refers to Ryan's nonprofit agency set up to develop the area, but it has also been used to refer to the Penn Regional Business Center, a mixed-use business development planned by Larry T. Simon, a major Pennsylvania developer. The center hosted an event on Oct. 10 for 24 representatives from 17 Wall Street companies, including Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch & Co. and Prudential Financial Inc., featuring Dennis Yablonsky, Pennsylvania's chief of economic development.
Attendees, some of whom asked not to be identified, said in general that the project was interesting -- just not for them. They expressed concern about a number of aspects, ranging from the square footage the developer was looking to lease to a current lack of transportation and communications infrastructure. Other attendees indicated that they already felt they had enough redundancy in their existing setups not to need it.
Steve White, vice president of information systems services at Jersey City, N.J.-based Insurance Services Office Inc., said he thought the project was a great idea but that the developer was looking for anchor companies with larger square-footage requirements than his that would keep them regularly staffed. White said he is considering a lights-out, 6,000- to 15,000-sq.-ft. facility in 2009 as a secondary location to his company's Jersey City building and as a lower-cost replacement for an existing third-party disaster recovery company.
White said the developer planned a high-speed train from Manhattan that would make the trip in an hour, and he said that such a system would be necessary because the drive was typically 2½ to 3 hours, with traffic primarily dependent on a single road -- Interstate 80.
"It's still quite a sell job in terms of making [clients] aware of the benefits of this area and to locate backup operations here," Eppler said.
The project has major political support from Rendell and from U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.), who made it a part of his successful re-election campaign this year. Kanjorski is the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises, which has jurisdiction over securities, exchanges and insurance matters. According to the local media reports, Simon has made $77,500 in contributions to Rendell and $4,200 to Kanjorski, as well as $20,000 to State Rep. John Siptroth (D-Monroe/Pike).
However, the developer has said he will need to have clients in hand before developing the project, which he plans to start in June; at present there are none, said Ralph Wonder, director of public affairs for the Penn Regional Business Center. Wonder said the company is working with Accenture Ltd. and BearingPoint Inc. to help identify potential clients and is talking with "a couple of very, very major firms" that he would not identify.
While one organization, Computer Network Solutions LLC in Plainview, N.Y., has been referred to as a Wall Street West client on the project's Web site. But Emory Vandiver, a senior account executive, told Computerworld that Computer Network Solutions set up an office in Bethlehem, Pa., due to population growth, not to locate there as part of a business continuity plan or as part of the Wall Street West project.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released a report in 2004 listing a number of conditions for a secondary facility, including locating it outside of a 50-mile potential blast radius, within 125 miles of its headquarters and being on a separate power grid and watershed. While other areas such as Jersey City and Princeton, N.J., have long been popular as business continuity and disaster recovery sites, they do not meet all the conditions for the SEC, Wonder said. Pennsylvania does, he said.
Pennsylvania also offers much lower energy costs compared with New York and New Jersey, on the order of 6 to 7 cents per kilowatt compared with New Jersey's 11 to 14 cents, Ryan said. This is due to a combination of hydroelectric and nuclear power.
However, this may make some users wary, said Cal Braunstein, an analyst at Robert Frances Group Inc. in Westport, Conn. "A lot of people have crossed Pennsylvania off their list because of nuclear power," either because of concerns about a terrorist attack or another Three Mile Island nuclear accident, he said.

CITIZEN'S VOICE PHOTO

Living up to the name, or living down to it, as a tabloid newspaper, the Voice on Monday ran a photo of the worker buried underneat rubble in a construction accident on Public Square. You could see the guy's head and hand as he struggled underneath the weight of the bricks. Good photo but in questionable taste. But I defend their right as well as the freedom of the press in this case. Just would have a problem if it was a photo of my family member.