Luzerne County Commissioner Stephen A. Urban had the nerve to tell the people about what is in the super secret audit of PA Child Care, owner of the juvenile jail in Pittston Township. PA Child Care threatened to file a lawsuit if information from the draft audit was given to the press citing "trade secrets." I don't buy it. The state Department of Public Welfare conducted an audit of how taxpayer money is being spent and we have a right to know. According to Urban taxpayers may be on the hook for $30 million to $40 million because of the lease.
County Children and Youth director Frank Castano and County Manager Sam Guesto refused to give a copy to Urban so he got a copy from the Dept. of Welfare. Commissioner Chairman Greg Skrepenak backs them up hiding behind the lame excuse of a threatened lawsuit if information from the audit was given to the press. Let them sue, what are they afraid of? Or a better question is, what is Skrep afraid of?
In an attempt at damage control the county Dems are in full insult mode:
Skrepenak said Urban could not be trusted with a copy of the draft audit, and on Thursday, Skrepenak said Urban proved him right. He called Urban “a coward.”
Skep also called him an “albatross,” a “liar” and a “sneak.”
Skrepenak said he will sue Urban if he is sued.
County Commissioner Rose Tucker said he’s a “bum” and said she wants to “strangle him.”
A law firm representing PA Child Care, which owns the Pittston Township center, said Urban’s audit release was “a desperate act by a desperate politician trying desperately to get re-elected.”
And to add to the nonsense:
“This would be displeasing in the eyes of the individuals who trained Mr. Urban in the military,” Guesto said. “You don’t call the press if you should move your battalion forward.”
Urban's response
“Rose can call me whatever she wants. I like Rose. She’s a sweet lady, but she has a responsibility here and she should not have shirked her responsibility by refusing to see the audit. She has a responsibility as an elected official to get involved in matters, no matter how difficult they are.”
Urban said Skrepenak is the one who put the county “at risk” with the lease.
“He’s got this county in a serious situation because he did not act prudently. He’s going to attack me because he has to cover it up.”
Remember that in 2003, Urban and then-Commissioner Tom Makowski voted to borrow roughly $9 million for a new county-owned juvenile facility. And then the money was pissed away on other projects.
Good for Urban to stand up to this thug - Skrep. The peole behind this deal are dirty and need to be exposed. It's too bad more people in Luzerne County don't pay attention to these types of events and therefore have a fuller understanding of the work Urban is doing.
ReplyDeleteI honestly believe that if PA Attorney General Tom Corbett wasn't a complete phony that Greg Skrepanek would be a felon.
ReplyDeleteDEBIT CARD.
He had a debit card for which he has no receipts, and his running-mate, the County Controller no less, says she never bothered to ask for receipts while she was looking over the books. More like cooking the books, MaryAnn.
Seriously, we should vote for whichever Republican stands up to Tom Corbett in the Republican primary, and then ask that guy/gal to crack some skulls at our courthouse.
I hope Mr. Barletta dethrones His Royal Nepotist, Paul Knajorski in the upcoming election. So these freakshow Dems won't have so much power. They have ruined this county.
The lawsuit is total bs. They can scream and shout the word "lawsuit" but they can't do anything if the audit information is made public. Generally municipal and county audit information is considered public information once the audit is conducted. Taxpayers are considered to be stakeholders so they have every right to view the audited financial reports.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Skrep and Todd gave $1 million or so of that $9 million to Leighton last year, no strings attached, for a restaurant on public square in the former bank building. What happened to that money, I wonder? There is no restaurant there.
ReplyDeleteSkrepenak is a fat drunk, and his reason for divorcing his wife is that she was into drugs and it wasn't good for the kids.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he could have been supportive of his wife, helped her during her troubled time, instead of throwing her out and then eating and drinking everything in sight, all the while teaching his kids that it is okay to lie and call veterans terrorists when it serves your purpose. But don't do drugs.