The LuLac Edition 217, May 7th, 2007

PHOTO INDEX: CANDIDATES FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, SAM TROY, DISTRICT "C", IN THE FOREGROUND TIMES LEADER REPORTER BILL O'BOYLE, CANDIDATES IN DISTRICT "B" TONY THOMAS, VINCE GUARNERI AND LISA MCGLYNN COPE, BLOG EDITOR DOING "MIKE" CHECK BEFORE EVENT, SIDE VIEW OF THE AUDIENCE MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE, CHARLOTTE RAUP, CANDIDATE FROM DISTRICT "E" HAVING A WORD WITH MODERATOR SUE HENRY FROM WILK NEWSRADIO, CANDIDATE FROM DISTRICT "A" TIM GRIER, AND COUNCIL CANDIDATE IN DISTRICT "B" RAY ARELLANO AT THE PODIUM.

INSIDE THE FORUM

Media coverage from the Times Leader and The Citizen's Voice was on page 3 and 4 respectively of the daily newspapers. Both WYOU TV and WBRE TV covered the Forum............Christine Katsock, the architect of the Legislation that made the District elections a ballot issue was in attendance..........Former Council At Large candidate Rick Gazinski attended, Gazinski ran a very strong race in the 2003 election........Current retiring Councilman Jim McCarthy was also there rooting for his son Justin.......Robert McGinley, former City Development Director under the McLaughlin administration in the back of the room was in attendance..........Audience members commented that there is a plethora of qualified candidates. One race in particular was District D where a few members discussed the number of good candidates in that district alone. Two incumbents, Mike McGinley and Bill Barrett, newcomers Tim Anderson and Bruce Szercinski, as well as Joe Daniel who ran two previous races. Many felt that if there were not districts in place, District D might be a formidable proving ground for city wide council.......Speaking of Daniel, he was the first to arrive on the scene....Charlotte Raup was making her rounds telling voters how important it is that an actual crime watch leader be a member of Council The last candidate to run for Council and be a Crime Watch leader was Guy Izzo in the 1999 race.....Mike Merritt impressed many with his "to the point" presentation and his command of the issues. A few audience members told me they don't care who the heck he's related to, pointing to the mini
controversy that ensued when he got the Democratic endorsement in District E. Merrit is the cousin to Bill Brace, long time city leader. An old politico said if you looked hard enough, everybody in Wilkes Barre could be related to each other.....Ron Silkosky is making noise with his web site and hammer logo. Audience members were enthralled with his manner and allusions to the movie "The Candidate". Silkosky is running in District E...........Linda Stetts made her way through the crowd promoting shade trees for the city as well as a better, cleaner parks program. The wife of County Commissioner Steve Urban, Stetts is also running for Mayor in the fall election.....Tony Thomas impressed many in the crowd with his almost photographic rundown of city streets that were paved, will be paved, need to be paved. A wag in the crowd said he might be a better head of PennDot than the current one holding the job.......John Maday impressed many with his quiet manner and bold proposals. A person with hours of volunteer commitments under his belt, Maday made the rounds with an easy manner and smile.......Another individual people talked about was 71 year old Ray Arellano. "That guy's 71???" someone said. Arellano gave a reasoned presentation and had an entourage that provided voters with a neighborhood by neighborhood map of his district........Tim Grier got the longest and loudest applause lines. The U.S. Army veteran made quite an impression as an energetic and passionate voice for change. Word from the crowd was "if not this election, one in the future for him".............Vince Guarneri made the rounds in a necktie that featured his children on it. He engaged Mrs. LuLac and I about our old neighborhood, the Rolling Mill Hill section when we first got married. Guarneri felt that the new format will give voters more accessibility to its candidates.....Peter Gagliardi made the rounds, afterwards he was lobbying for more debates on both TV and Radio that would inform the public of the stances of the candidates....A man making serious noise in District A is business leader Rick Cronauuer. The candidate circulated and used the time before and after the meeting to greet the people in the audience. He got many kudos on his demeanor, presentation and according to some, firm handshake....Turned out that Sam Troy and I had something in common. Sam is the son of Wilbur Troy who was extremely active in the Tom Lehman for State Senate (see LuLac
Edition # 207, April 29th, 2007.) The late Wilbur Troy was a true Liberal Democrat who supported most of the national Democratic party belefs. He also served with distinction on the Wyoming Vallety West School Board. I first met Mr. Troy and his wife Jane when Hubert Humphrey came to the area in 1972...Sue Henry did a magnificent job as an emcee and really "moderated" the question and answer session deftly and with class. Attired in a smart blue buasiness suit, Henry won more listeners to her already popular radio show...Walter Griffith, Junior did very well in his presentation despite coming in from a weekend trip to Jersey. Griffith's presentation also got long applause lines...Justin McCarthy made the rounds too as he went from district table to table....This blogger's intention was to hit Mario Fiorucci's "State Of The World" meeting prior to the Forum but some night before health issues prevented me from making it a full day. Russ Diamond was the main speaker...Vince Guarneri commented about my photo on the blog site making me seem smaller in width than I actually am. When I published the first book, I wanted a photo taken that would re-introduce me to the community since I had been out of the public eye since my auto accident. The photographer did his magic and made me longer......the cruelest cut though came from an audience member who told Mrs. LuLac that I looked a little lie Vice President Dick Cheney. Kill me now, will ya!!!!........Kevin Lynn from WILK talked about The Forum on his morning show on WILK. We thank him for his kind words and continued honesty in his opinions.......The Forum was also an indication of either the strength or the weakness of the GOP in Wilkes Barre. In each district, there was a Republican representative which is a good thing. But out of 28 candidates, 6 GOPers entered the fray with only a Republican battle in District B between Guarneri and Cope. Still, in a tight district, like say "District A", a Republican
just might have a chance to sneak through.......And finally many thanks to Mrs. LuLac for her help in setting up, taking the photos and handling some media matters for me. In addition to her great judgments on all things great and small, she doubles sometimes as a faster version of my once nimble legs.