The LuLac Edition #208, April 30th, 2007

PHOTO INDEX: THE LATE CIVIL RIGHT LEADER, MARTIN LUTHER KING WHO MOST LIKELY WOULD NOT HAVE A PROBLEM WITH COUNCIL CANDIDATE TIM GRIER'S SKIN CANVAS AND ONE OF MY FAVORITE RADIO GUYS, ALWAYS STIMULATING THOUGHT AND PUBLIC DEBATE, KEVIN LYNN.

LYNN PITCHES

GRIER HITS

If you were listening to the Morning News program on WILK Radio this morning between 7am and 730am, you might have heard Kevin Lynn talking about the South Wilkes Barre City Council Forum held last night. Lynn made a comment about Council and Mayoral candidate's Tim Grier's tatoos saying that it indicates the person with the ink might have made some bad judgements along the way. To his credit, Grier called Lynn and explained that it was indeed art and that as far as bad decisions went, he did not get the tatoos in a place like jail but was involved in the body art community for a while. Lynn and Grier then had a cordial exchange on the issues and what seems to be a stumbling block for the young candidate had more light cast on it. I'm glad Grier called Lynn. He acquitted himself well and engaged Kevin in a sane, articulate debate that spoke well of the two men. I have had occasion to meet Tim Grier and he confided to me that sometimes he was self concious about the body art in the context of him running for elected office in Wilkes Barre. If he had not pointed the art out to me,I would not have even noticed. Working in the radio industry in the nineties, many young people his age had body art. It was not an issue in the way they sounded on the radio or in some cases sold advertising for the industry. As long as they did their jobs, no one cared about the insignias on their body canvas. Right now, Wilkes Barre is at a crossroads in a crucial election. The last thing that should be on anyone's mind is how a candidate looks,whether it be how tall or short they are or even how much ink is on their bodies. Grier has offered himself up as a candidate for public office because he has a passion for change. In some instances, he has burst through the door instead of politely knocking. But change is not about politeness anyway. In this part of the world, we moan about how all young people want to do is just hang out in bars and watch NASCAR and then go home and watch the NFL network. We dercy the apathy and say the only people interested in the voting are people over 45. In Tim Grier we have a veteran in his 30s who is pursuing a degree at a State University. The guy has a full plate but has jumped into the fray as part of this historic election. He should be applauded for his interest and ideas. The late Martin Luther King Junior said he wanted a world where people were judged by the content of their character instead of the color of their skin. I'm assuming he meant any color, manufactured or not. Let's judge our council candidates by what they say, not what they look like.

INSIDE THE ENDORSEMENTS

A few weeks ago, Mike Merritt received the endorsement of the City Democratic committee for Council in District "E". Many politicos cited the nod as business as usual since Merritt was a relative of Bill Brace. I stated in my blog that that fact didn't bother me as much asthe fact that Merritt worked in the same place as Tony Thomas. Now, I don't care what people do for a living and these guys are hard workers at Metropolitan. As a United Way staffer in the 80s, I toured that facility many times and no one stands around. But with the new reprsentative number of Council people at 5, these guys are one short of a quorum!! Anyway, a Democratic committee member weighed in on the proceedings of the actual endorsement process. And since we love the"inside baseball" stuff of the political game, we thought we'd share this glimpse into the meeting where the endorsement was made. This is aletter that was sent to the Times Leader last week:

Editor:

As a member of the Wilkes-Barre Democratic Executive Committee, I would like to comment on writer Ron Lieback's April 11 article about the committee's endorsement for District E of Wilkes-Barre City Council. One of the executive committee's responsibilities is to help Democrats select the Democrat they feel is the best suited candidate for their prospective elected seats. I sat and listened to all of the candidates pitch for the party's endorsement. First was Ron Silkosky, which int hree sentences asked that there be an open primary and the committee not endorse any candidate for District E. That was it; end of pitch. Second was Charlotte Raup. She told us about her involvement with Wilkes-Barre's Crime Watch. Yet she said nothing about her plans, if elected, as a council member. She, too, was very short-winded and asked for an open primary. Next was Virgil Argenta. He told the committee about his accomplishments as a businessman and landowner in our city. Yes, Mr. Argenta respectfully requested the nomination but also asked to leave the primary open. Now to me, that's talking out of both sides of his mouth. The fourth candidate was Mike Merritt. He spoke about his roots inWilkes-Barre and proceeded to tell us his hopes and aspirations as acouncil member and District E representative. Mr. Merritt asked to be selected for nomination as the endorsed candidate. As Mr. Merritt walked out of the meeting room I felt if it was a no-brainer that he should get the party's endorsement. Reading in your article, I understand Mike Merritt may be a relative of Chairman William "Bill" Brace. Chairman Brace told me nor anyone else of such a relationship. Mr. Merritt won the party's endorsement not by being a relative, but on Mr. Merritt's own merit.

Mike Belusko Wilkes-Barre Democratic

executive committee member