The LuLac Edition #155, Feb. 15, 2007

PHOTO INDEX: YOU KNOW I LOVE HIM, GAVE HIM MONEY, GOT HIS AUTOGRAPH, HAVE MY RENDELL FOR PRESIDENT GEAR READY TO GO AND DEFEND HIM AT EVERY TURN, BUT THIS PHOTO SAYS IT ALL ABOUT GOVERNOR ED'S INVOLVEMENT IN THIS WINTER DISASTER, "HEY, WHAT AM I GONNA DO ABOUT THE FREAKIN' WEATHER?"

QUICK HITS

WHERE'S ED?

In the aftermath of this tough snow storm and the foul ups related to it by both Penn Dot and the State Police, plus PEMA's seeming lack of interest, the question has to be "Where's the Gov?" in all this.

PENN DOT FLUNKIES

I have enormous respect for Penn Dot workers. As a matter of fact, a good friend of mine was employed by Penn Dot for about a decade before a work related injury felled her. (My blog readers will well remember the Christmas edition of LuLac, one of which featured a young lady under a Christmas tree. That was the Penn Dot worker). In my years of knowing her, she told me how she would need to be out and about early on days that storms might be brewing. Judging by the things the workers had to put up with this time, (travelers on the road and tractor trailers) I have no problem with the rank and file Penn Dot worker. But I have other questions about the other departments.

1. Some out of state travelers got information at rest stops and presumabley from the Penn Dot radio channels that everything was hunky dory and they could proceed with their travels. Yet they ran into problems. Where did they get that faulty information and who gave it to them?

2. The Northeast region has a Public Relations Department filled with political appontees. Every eight years, when there is a change in administrations, the Governor appoints people to these high paying jobs. These are sweet jobs. Holidays off, big bucks, full blown benefits and pension plus no heavy lifting. Last time around, there was a reporter from the Citizen's Voice that was a Ridge appointee. This administration's lineup includes a former aide to Senator Musto as well as a few others. Yet when Sue Henry and Nancy Kman tried to get a comment from the PR departmenmt early in the morning at a stage of critical mass, phone calls were not returned. Where were the PR people? In bed? At home? It seems to me that if you work for a state agency and that agency is in the midst of a situatiion where the media and the public need information, don't you think you could be available? Later the department issued a press release that essentially blamed the public for being on the road. I heard no actualities. no voices from the Department that could actually inform the public. But if it was an announcement about a bridge abutment coming down the pike three decades from now or a safety contest to see which third grader could spell the word "a u t o" , they'd be all over the media like white on rice. Disgraceful but what would you expect from political flunkies who will be out on their rear ends when Governor Ed waves bye bye in 2011.

THE BIG RIGS

Logic. Big trucks cause big accidents. Big rigs are responsible for traffic being tied up when they jack knife on the road. When a big storm is coming, why not intercept the big rigs and stop them from traveling until the main road ways get cleared? Or if you can't do that, make Interstate Traffic one lane and have the trucks backed up, allowing a Penn Dot truck to do its job and giving regular motorist traffic a fighting chance on getting through. You'd have to get the State Police involved in setting up checkpoints but with the number of exits in the state, it can be done. Oh wait a minute, I'm wrong, it can't. In my entire lifetime, I have never seen a "statie" out in a snowstorm on an Interstate. But in the summertime or at a DUI checkpoint when the ground is dry, they are as plentiful as Cuban cigars before Castro took over.

MAYOR TOM'S PRESS CONFERENCE

While Mayor Chris Doherty of Scranton called Sue Henry and Steve Corbett on the morning radio show this morning on WILK, Mayor Tom Leighton of Wilkes Barre waited until 3 pm to call a news conference. The Mayor said he and the city were using the same plan that's been used in the past (so does that mean this administration gets to blame Tom McGroarty for one more bad thing?), that residents should be patient and the main roads are being worked on. North Main Street which I presume is a main road is still snow covered. Still, we understand the Mayor's point that the DPW workers are only human and get tired. Mrs. LuLac and I have sore muscles where we thought there were no muscles. It is a hard job. However, when city residents were interviewed about their streets, everyone to a person made the comment that Barney Farms (where the Mayor lives) was most likely whistle clean. Nothing like a little class envy to stir things up.

THE BUSES

While Mrs. Lulac and I attempted to dig out my car (my concern was that my rag top was going to go the way of the Hoyt Library) we saw a few city buses going up and down the road. Everytime we saw them, they were empty. Wouldn't it be a smart thing to do if the LCTA began an emergency association with local businesses and transport workers to their jobs for free? Picture this: All Hanover Area residents working in the Industrial Park should meet in a designated area and have the bus take them to work. This would do three things,

1. Keep the buses busy.

2. Get people to their jobs. (In this new century, there are actually companies that dock you for not being there even in weather related events. Your house could be flooding, dammit, you're messing up that bottom line. Get here now they say. They either take money out of your check or charge you with an attedance violation. I used to work at one place where the rank and file women had to get there on time, child care and school issues be damned. They didn't come or were late, they got a penalty. But of course the managers of the centers, well the rank and filers always got an e mail from those people telling them they (the big shots) were working from home.

3. Provide a useful partnership between Government and Private Industry. This morning, Steve Corbett on WILK said he wanted government to take care of issues that involve humanity's needs. He's right. Government has a responsibility to take care of people in a situation like this and I can't think of a better way than to get them to work via mass transit, keeping them safe and freeing up the roads. And the good thing is you could use the money you have NOW to do this instead of inventing pie in the sky schemes about a New York raileway and inflatable damn.

JET BLUE BLUES

Did you see the people going to Cancun telling their tale of woe about not getting food and being stiuck on a plane for hours? Hey, you get what you pay for. Americans are notoriously cheap when it comes to travel, they want everything for nothing. They flew a discount airliner, that advertising itself as such to save some money. You get what you pay for. Case closed.

CITY COUNCIL RACE HEATS UP

Three men renowned for giving council and the Mayor fits with their public appearances before council,and one who was told by the Mayor that he should be ashamed of himself are thinking about taking the dialogue to the next level and actually running for office.
Tim Grier, Sam Troy, Bob Kadluboski and Walter Griffith Jr. have acquired nomination petitions for council, mayor or both. It appears that the quartet wants to keep their options open and not give the Mayor a free ride in the primary or the general election.
Kadluboski, a 51-year-old Democrat, obtained nomination petitions for city mayor from the Luzerne County Election Board office.
Kadluboski, has filed a federal lawsuit against the city in October, claiming it illegally terminated its towing contract with his company, City Wide Towing.
Troy, who was scolded by Leighton last week after his latest complaints to the council, , obtained papers to run for city council and says he’s “about 90 percent sure” he’ll run.
Troy, a 57-year-old Democrat, lives in the Heights and would face incumbent Kathy Kane in District C. Councilman Jim McCarthy also lives in that district, but says he’s unsure if he’ll seek re-election. In the meantime, a Republican in that district, Peter Gaglliardi has already made the commitment to make another run at City Council and reportedly has been urging fellow King’s Alumni to file for City Council since there is only a limited number of names to get on the ballot. If Gagliardi’s plan comes to fruition, it would be interesting to see so many King’s Alumni running against the policies of Leighton, who is also a King’s Alumus.
Troy has spoken out against the downtown theater project, the intermodal center, the proposed sex offender ordinance, plans for a 9/11 memorial and the city’s tax increment financing plan for the redevelopment of the Murray Complex. When Troy did that, Mayor Leighton told Troy she should be ashamed of himself.
Grier, who has raised numerous issues against city officials, took nomination petitions for council and mayor. He would need 10 signatures from voters in his district to run for city council.
Grier’s most publicized stunt occurred in November 2005, when he stood inside an election booth for 30 minutes to protest the electoral process, claiming it’s too difficult for independent and third-party candidates to get on the ballot.
In December, Grier took photos of and videotaped council members during a meeting in protest of the city’s decision to place cameras throughout the city. Grier has posted a few photos of City Council meetings on search engines like “You Tube”. Grier also had a political blog. A frequent letter writer to the newspapers, we have provided two of Grier’s letters to the Times Leader unedited.
Griffith, a 52-year-old Republican, has already announced his plans to run for council. Griffith has battled the city over a number of issues in the past, including its attempt to override a voter-approved referendum which will shrink council from seven to five members and have them elected by district instead of at large. He also has scrutinized the benefits of council members, been critical of the way Council conducts meetings and treats its citizens and has been very vocal regarding the plan for the city to institute an organization that would charge downtown businesses for police protection and clean up. This will be Griffith’s second attempt on City Council.

TIM GRIER, UNEDITED

Here are two letters Wilkes Barre activist Tim Grier recently wrote the Times Leader.

Editor,

I recently received my City of Wilkes-Barre 2007 calendar. Inside the front cover is a letter from Mayor Leighton to the residents of Wilkes-Barre. At the end of the letter, Mayor Leighton says, in regards to Wilkes-Barre’s alleged renaissance, “Seeing is believing…”
I find it hard to believe that the City continues to bombard the residents with this “I believe…” campaign, which is nothing more than slick advertising designed to fool the taxpayers.
Personally, I know that there has been a great deal of financial mismanagement in City Hall, and I know that the mayor is behind much of it. I know that many of the documents I have requested from City Hall regarding some of these transactions still have not found their way to me, so I know the mayor has something to hide.
Spending taxpayer money to try to trick residents into believing him is a slap in the face to all of the residents. I have come to the following conclusions regarding this “I believe …” campaign:
1. The mayor, his administration, and city council believe that we can all be bought off with a movie theater, a bar, a bookstore and a paved street. They believe that if we have these things that we will not ask questions about all of the corporate welfare and misspending that originates at City Hall.
2. The mayor, his administration, and city council do not respect religion. The last time I checked, none of us have seen Jesus, but there sure are a lot of folks that believe in him.
3. The mayor, his administration, and city council will do whatever it takes to keep us quiet, even if it means spending our own tax dollars to trick us while they give handouts to their campaign contributors.
“Seeing is believing…”, “I believe…” – Folks, these are simply career politicians’ ways of deceiving you while they bury the City further in debt while enriching their friends. As long as they continue to talk to the residents like they are all six years old, well, I guess I could say…
NO! NO! NO! NOOOOOO! That’s a BAAAAAAAD mayor! Bad, bad mayor! No more big fat salary and benefits for you until you clean up your act! Now, get out of City Hall and go back to trying to make a living as a realtor in the town you ripped off. BAAAAAAAD mayor!

Tim Grier
Wilkes-Barre, PA


The article you ran today with information about me, written by Kevin Amerman, contained a number of errors.
1. I did not file a lawsuit accusing "the mayor, council members and the city solicitors...". I filed a civil action against Tom Leighton, Tony Thomas, Bill Barrett, Jim McCarthy... etc. The action is filed against these people as individuals, not as public officials. If you are unsure, go to the prothonotary's office and examine the documents for yourself. There is a legal distinction between the two. A significant distinction. Your story is not factual.
2. I am not opposed to cameras being in the City, and I am on record as holding that position. I am opposed to UNREGULATED cameras being deployed in the City. There is a significant difference between those two positions. It is my opinion that there should be a policy governing the use of these cameras, and that policy should outline who can use the cameras, how long images are stored for and for what purpose. That is exactly how I explained my position to city council, so Kevin Amerman, who was there that evening, has misled your readers. A nonprofit should not have been formed to oversee the use and deployment of these cameras - City Council, the City administration, the Police Department and Crime Watch should all have a part in overseeing the use of the cameras. By forming the nonprofit agency,Tom Leighton and City Council have succeeded in creating an environment hostile to the residents who do not trust this current administration and also formed another nonprofit arm of the City that has already become a money pit.
Thank you for promptly correcting your errors and clarifying my position for your readers.
Tim Grier
Wilkes-Barree

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

A shelter has been set up in Rice Twp for people stranded on I-81. Two days after the snow. Better late than never.