The LuLac Edition #2042, May 1st, 2012

The late Governor Bob Casey and the kids. In a brochure and not at a ribbon cutting.

Groundbreaking photo at PNC Field. (Photo from Scranton Times.) 

THE CASEY MODEL

If only we had politicians in this area and in the country that would adopt the motto, “WWBCD”. Or what would the late Bob Casey do? I thought about this when I heard the news about the ground breaking ceremony with the Lackawanna County Commissioners and the new Triple A baseball deal. Apparently minority Commissioner Patrick O’Malley had his son in the photo with the other dignitaries. Some defenders of the Commissioner say that we people who call the photo and the placement of said child in the ceremony was “inappropriate”. I think it was for a number of reasons. Look, I get that O’Malley might be thrilled with the fact that baseball is coming back. For sons and fathers, baseball is a bond. And O’Malley has very strong convictions of family. For years, I looked forward to the O’Malley families “family” photos in the Times Tribune “Mother’s Day” edition. But this was not the time nor the place. Corey O’Bren and John Wansacz restrained themselves from having their children in the photo. And the biggest grand stander of them all, Bob Cordaro never tried a stunt like that. The late Bob Casey had a slew of kids. You saw them in some of his campaign brochures when they were younger but they never took part in ceremonies or politics until they were grown. Until they themselves earned the right to be there. Politicians need to know that when they represent the people…that means all of them. Maybe politicos of a different stripe should keep the phrase, “WWBCD”? when venturing out into a public, history making arena. 

LUPAS INDICTED 

The hammer came down today for Wilkes Barre Attorney Anthony Lupas. Lupas was indicted on 5 counts in federal court. The Times Leader reports that The indictment, which charges Lupas with five counts of mail fraud, alleges that between June 2006 and September 2009, Lupas enticed the client to give him money under the pretense it would be put into a trust account that would pay 7 percent tax-free interest. In reality, there was no trust fund, and Lupas allegedly used the money for his personal gain. The indictment lists only one victim, but attorneys representing dozens of other people allege they were also defrauded by Lupas. Those people are currently chomping at the bit to tell their story and they will most likely be part of U.S. Attorney Peter Smith’s ongoing investigation.

DA Stefanie Salavantis. 

 SALAVANTIS VS GELB

I did not vote for Stefanie Salavantis because I had great respect for Jackie Musto Carroll’s tenure in the DA’s office. Hundreds of women I knew browbeat me into the adequacy of Lesa Gelb to be a Luzerne County Judge. But as I look at the dust up between the new DA and the new Judge, I have to give credit to Ms. Salavantis. She challenged Gelb to recuse herself from two cases where her husband, Attorney Barry Dyler represented certain parties. Salavantis said, respectfully that perhaps a conflict existed since Gelb might have benefited from the judgement her husband got for the parties involved. Gelb took exception saying that she had no knowledge of the cases and her husband’s monetary renumerations. The Judge said that and I take her at her word because we all know Judges are honest. And if it’s the case, Gelb and her husband have an extraordinary relationship. According to published reports, Gelb’s reaction was kind of testy. A lawyer friend of mine opined that perhaps Salavantis, being new, might not have known any better than to rattle the judicial cages of the Judges. And that statement kind of sums up why Salavantis might have won the last election. Sometimes “new”, if not better, might be wildly entertaining and in some cases on target. Most likely Gelb’sdecision will be upheld because there is little connection between the cases. But the reaction of the two tell me things will remain interesting in the courts.