The LuLac Edition #432, March 4th, 2008
PHOTO INDEX: THE LACKAWANNA COUNTY COURTHOUSE, A
BOTTLE OF "BOSCO"
AND STATE REPRESENTATIVE
KEN SMITH.
NEWS FROM THE LAC
NEWS FROM THE LAC
A TAXING PROBLEM!
State Rep. Ken Smith owes more than $27,000 in delinquent property taxes, penalties and interest over a three-year period on his family’s long-standing South Scranton restaurant, according to Lackawanna County Tax Claim Bureau records.Mr. Smith said he doesn’t know why the taxes remain unpaid and that the nonpayment was unintentional. He said he thought they were paid, but the financial end of the business is left to his wife.
Okay, here’s the thing. Mrs. LuLac handles all the bills and financial stuff in our family because I am terrible at it. Always have been. But once in a while I’ll ask about how the taxes are going or how this is progressing. I don’t nag, I ask. I find it farfetched that Mr. Smith not once communicated with his wife, his business partner, regarding something as major as back taxes. And how politically tone deaf must one person be when an issue like taxes comes up and you, as an elected state official, ignore it or are "mystified" by it?
Smith, won his seat by knocking off longtime incumbent Rep. Fred Belardi in the 2006 Democratic primary, then winning without opposition that fall. He is up for re-election this year, but has no Democratic or Republican opposition. This mystifies me. You mean to tell me there was nowhere out there in Lackawanna County who thought he could be beatable? If someone had stepped up the plate, this would’ve been a ready made issue much like Mr. Belardi’s embracing of the pay raise that cost him the election.
THE PAPER CHASE
The Lackawanna County Commissioners announced that they are going for the paper ballots this fall. The Board of Commissioners felt that they were uncomfortable with the vendors from the electronic touch screen voting machines saying they could not get a guarantee on the investment of their money. The optical scan machines will be used in the April 22nd primary and beyond. Unlike the last fall election where votes were counted in one area, the new ballot machines will have an optical scanner in each polling place.
LAC LAYOFFS COMING?
Sources close to this site say that nearly 10% of the Lackawanna County workforce will be laid off due to financial belt tightening in the county. No announcement has been made but my sources tell me an announcement will be forthcoming in a few days. It is unconfirmed whether the layoff will be permanent or temporary.
HEY, IT’S “BOSCO”!!!!!
Jeez, talk about local reporting. WILK talk show hosts were recently harassed by an Old Forge man. The action was brought before a magistrate. The names of WILK staff were mentioned including Kevin Lynn, Nancy Kman and producer Mark Michaels. A newspaper reported his nickname as COSMO, (nope that’s from Seinfeld) then later on they reported his nickname as “BOXSKO”, (wrong again print heads!) the nickname is “BOSCO”. Now you might be wondering why I’m making such a big deal about this but truth be told, nicknames are hard earned. I was around at King’s when the individual in question got the name and the least the local media can do is get it right. B O S C O ! ! ! ! Like the chocolate drink or the Saint. St. John Bosco; Don Bosco, Founder of the Salesian Society. Born of poor parents in a little cabin at Becchi, a hill-side hamlet near Castelnuovo, Piedmont, Italy, 16 August, 1815; died 31 January 1888; declared Venerable by Pius X, 21 July, 1907. Pope Pius XI beatified him in 1929 and canonized him in 1934.
ALL THE WAY??
As the showdown between Senators Obama and Clinton comes to a head, there are many advocating for the New York Senator to drop out of the race. It should be historically noted that in the 1980 Presidential race, Senator Edward Kennedy who clearly did not have a majority of delegates against President Jimmy Carter soldiered on to the convention. So too in 1972 when Henry Jackson of Washington went to the convention with a coalition of votes that were anti-McGovern ballots. In 1976, Ronald Reagan went to the convention in Detroit with less votes than President Ford but stayed in the race until the end. So there is precedent for a candidate not withdrawing from the race, even though all appears to be lost. The rush to shove Senator Clinton out of the way seems very undemocratic to me.
posted by David Yonki @ 7:09 PM
8 comments
8 Comments:
maybe if lackawanna county would stop hiring outside consultants to do the commissioners job they were elected to do then they wouldn't have to lay off people
washo and o'brien, laurel and hardy, abbott and costello, martin and lewis all the same thing
Why no opposition for Smith? Well, I think the lack of interest from qualified individuals is based on just what the job pays.
Yeah, yeah, I know, it's a lot of money for a lot of people, 76K. Then there are the per diems, plus the car, blah, blah, blah. But let me tell you about the other side of the story.
When you're an elected official, you're expected to buy every raffle ticket, dinner ticket, picnic ticket, and box of cookies, candy, or whatever that is put in front of you. And how in hell do you say no? If you do, you run the risk of your entire consituency hearing that you're a cold, heartless tightwad.
Then there are all those of your own party running for office who expect a campaign contribution, which you give with a smile.
All of that eats quickly into the "big" salary.
Now, let's talk about travel. Don't know about you, but pounding up and down I-81 twice a week(at least)gets old in a hurry. Then when you're in district, you have to be "on" 24/7. Some Brownies want to present you with a cardboard box full of junk, you have to go meet them, smile, be happy.
Lastly, at least for this time around, there's that brutal two-year cycle, meaning that you never stop running, never stop campaigning, never get to do the job without all the nonsense.
No, really, I never did run for or hold any elected office. Much of what I said above pretty much nails why state rep has never been a very attractive calling. I'd speculate a lot of those with the legs to do the job right feel the same way.
As to Clinton and Obama, I can see a Clinton/Obama ticket. I've been thinking that way for months, and now I see Hilary has made the comment herself about Obama as HER runningmate. A lot of wiggling and pressuring is going to take place behind closed doors before this is said and done. I'd say that Obama would take #2, rather than run the risk of getting shelved for what could be eight years if she is elected.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Just as he can be polite, Bosco can be rude as well.
I can't believe no one stepped up against Smith. If I lived in the Lac, I would have done it. Would have been too easy.
Tom Carten said...
Mark "the Bosco" Michaels, noted Mafia figure, was hauled into court today on charges of saying, "Gosh it all to heck" when a persistent person called him for the 100th time that morning.
Said Michaels, through his mouthpiece, "He wanted to pull the Roscoe on me, but being a pacifist, I'd be blown away in a New York minute or a Wyoming Valley 25 years.
Steve "the Beard" Corbett said something, but nobody could figure out what it was.
3:15 PM
original comment edited by blog administrator.
Dave. As you know, I was the man who "harassed" your pal
Bosco. But did he tell you he started it? For years he uttered
obscenities at me with no provocation. You know how abrasive he can be. The police didn't even want to hear about that. That kangaroo court on March 4 was rigged against me. The Judge did not even consider what I had to say. She through the book at me. I will appeal and am confident I will prevail....Read the comments section in the Leader under the stories about the verdict. Everybody agrees with me.
IN RESPONSE
Dave. As you know, I was the man who "harassed" your pal...
PRIOR POST EDITED BY BLOG ADMINISTRATOR FOR CONTENT.
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