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My background politically is very simple…I am not related to any one in Luzerne County that works in the courthouse and I will not bankrupt my moral or ethic character to get elected to any position in government..
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He lays out an Action Plan for the office.
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Including a Pledge to be a “Full Time” Controller, place all County Audits online and to provide that all County Audits are done by Bid and all Bid’s submitted will be solicited from outside Luzerne County.
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He also has a picture of Tim Grier speaking before the Wilkes-Barre city council posted which I asked him about; I placed this picture to emphasize the people that are taxpayer advocates as well as to show I was a part of the fight at City Hall. I think a lot of people respect Tim as well as him being a good friend of mine...
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Walter is also running for the Government Study Commission.
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The other Republican candidates for the controller nomination are : Edward Brominski, Swoyersville; Alice B. Coffman, Sugarloaf Township; Nanda Palissery, Dallas; and Robert Sypniewski, Dallas. The winner will face the lone Democratic contender, Bob Morgan, of Mountain Top.
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None of the other candidates have website up yet as far as I know.
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Update: Griffith attended the Salary Board meeting today and sent along this recap.
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I represented the taxpayers today at the County Salary Board Meeting regarding the approval of all the court employee's salaries.
The Meeting opened with the public comment section of the agenda and I asked Chairperson Petrilla why the agenda and salaries are not made available long before 5 minutes before the meeting so the people can review the salaries and the creation of new positions. The people need to have sufficient time to read the agenda and the salaries to be able to be sufficiently educated to ask questions if we are going to move forward with an open and efficient government.
The agenda had the roster of the Salary Board as Urban, Pettrilla, Skrepenak, Martinelli and President Judge Muroski, however the President Judge was not at the meeting but his "Right hand Man" Mullroy was there in his place. I immediately spoke to object to this because the County Code stated the President Judge must be there not his designee as the County tried to do this time . I was successful in having the Court Tipstaff have the President Judge come to the meeting because he was summoned there by the Salary Board. I made this the first time the President Judge was actually a part of the process as prescribed by law...
I then raised the issue as to why AJ Martinelli was on the Salary Board when he is not the County Controller. I was told by Commissioner Petrilla that AJ is the Controller because the Governor issued a letter stating he was appointed by him as the Acting Controller. AJ Martinelli is not the Controller and has no place on the Salary Board.
There is supposed to be a salary freeze on the County Budget however in the enclosed documents you will see the County Courts are able to create new positions and fund them quite well.. Seems like a double standard..I will not allow this as the next County Controller..I will not vote to increase the payroll by increasing the staff..
I have enclosed the Exhibits of all the personnel at the Court system as well as the Agenda for your review and if there are any questions...please feel free to ask ..also note that there was no other candidates for Controller at the meeting...
The Meeting opened with the public comment section of the agenda and I asked Chairperson Petrilla why the agenda and salaries are not made available long before 5 minutes before the meeting so the people can review the salaries and the creation of new positions. The people need to have sufficient time to read the agenda and the salaries to be able to be sufficiently educated to ask questions if we are going to move forward with an open and efficient government.
The agenda had the roster of the Salary Board as Urban, Pettrilla, Skrepenak, Martinelli and President Judge Muroski, however the President Judge was not at the meeting but his "Right hand Man" Mullroy was there in his place. I immediately spoke to object to this because the County Code stated the President Judge must be there not his designee as the County tried to do this time . I was successful in having the Court Tipstaff have the President Judge come to the meeting because he was summoned there by the Salary Board. I made this the first time the President Judge was actually a part of the process as prescribed by law...
I then raised the issue as to why AJ Martinelli was on the Salary Board when he is not the County Controller. I was told by Commissioner Petrilla that AJ is the Controller because the Governor issued a letter stating he was appointed by him as the Acting Controller. AJ Martinelli is not the Controller and has no place on the Salary Board.
There is supposed to be a salary freeze on the County Budget however in the enclosed documents you will see the County Courts are able to create new positions and fund them quite well.. Seems like a double standard..I will not allow this as the next County Controller..I will not vote to increase the payroll by increasing the staff..
I have enclosed the Exhibits of all the personnel at the Court system as well as the Agenda for your review and if there are any questions...please feel free to ask ..also note that there was no other candidates for Controller at the meeting...
nice site..very good use of a patriotic template.....
ReplyDeleteLet the record show that NEGATIVE CAMPAIGNING began on 3/21, and it BEGAN WITH WALTER GRIFFITH.
ReplyDeleteI was just on your site, Walter.
1. Why mention that Bob was getting $60 per day to sit on the reassessment board? Who cares? Are you saying that $60 a day is too much? That is incredibly dumb. Of course he is going to get a little bit of money for working all day - he has a wife and kids to feed. WOW...$60 a day! If you get elected, will you accept a salary? Will it be at least $60? If so, I'd suggest you stop the hypocricy. That was just a stupid thing to put in there, and decency would say to take it off and appologize.
2. Your second negative comment:
You say: when Bob saw the way the taxpayers were being treated by 21st Century Appraisals as a member of the Assessement Board, why did he sit there for 4 months and not bring this information to the attention of the Commissioners???
again - really such a trivial, foolish point. You saw a need in the county, and tried to fix it in the way you chose. Bob saw a need and decided to do two things: to continue on the board, so that he could make a very real difference in the lives of literally hundreds of people he helped, and also to run for controller. I'm sure Skreppie would have really done a lot with that information, had Bob taken it to him. And by the way, he could ask the same thing of you: when you saw the way the taxpayers were being treated, why didn't you volunteer to sit on the board that could actually do something to FIX the problem instead of looking for what would get you the most publicity? Bottom line is this: Bob, like you, saw a problem and worked to fix it. I personally think that he had a much more real impact on the lives of everyday citizens than you did. He saw a need, and helped. Your question is very shortsighted and immature.
3. Please run a spell & grammar check on your website.
That is my "poosition on reassessement"
Hank -
ReplyDeleteYou made your point very well. I'll be curious to see how/if Walter responds.
WALTER, WALTER, WALTER!!!!
ReplyDeleteAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!
Why in the world did you do this? R's have got to get focused on issues and quit this stupid ripping of each other. I am SO disappointed. You should have just stuck to the issues instead of trying to make us think bad of Bob for taking $60 a day for sitting on the reassessment board. That was really dumb and very unnecessary. c'mon - get focused on the issues. I agree with Hank on this one:
WHO CARES?
ditto's to Hank and Dave.
ReplyDeleteDave from Dallas:
ReplyDeleteThe issue is that Bob took $60.00 per day, of taxpayers money, to work for the taxpayers in the assessors office, and didn’t say anything about the things that were going on against the taxpayers for 4 months because he didn’t want to ruffle any feathers or disappoint those that got him the job in the assessors office, and maybe loose his appointed Board job. This speaks load and clear of his ability to be a true representative of the taxpayers.
Gene -
ReplyDeleteYou make no sense. Think about what you are saying.
1. "He took $60 a day". Again - who cares? If Walter - or anyone running - is elected, will they accept at least $60 a day in salary? Is that not taxpayer money? This is barely above minimum wage. Please - make that your big issue with Bob and see how stupid you look. People are not dumb: He, his wife and 3 kids need to eat.
2. You say he didn't say anything that was going on "because he didn’t want to ruffle any feathers or disappoint those that got him the job in the assessors office, and maybe loose his appointed Board job blah, blah, blah".
Please tell me:
QUESTION #1: Are you sure he did not say anything to anyone? You may want to double check your facts (hint: did he ever talk to Steve Urban...A COMMISSIONER?) How do you know he didn't talk to anyone? Because he didn't talk to YOU? Bottom line: he did, so you can now go crawl in a hole and look foolish.
QUESTION #2: I love it! Somehow you seem to know Bob's motives for why he does what he does. Must be 2 people: you and God (i.e. you say he supposedly didn't say whatever you wanted him to say because "he didn't want to ruffle feathers".) Please tell me how you know that to be true? YOU DON'T! And since you have absolutely no way of knowing a person's motives, I suggest you cut this crap, and just stick to the issues at hand.
3. The word is "lose" not "loose" a job. Learn to spell.
...and the award for looking utterly rediculous goes to....
ReplyDelete"GENE FROM DALLAS!!!"
I am extremely disappointed in
ReplyDeleteANYONE who worked for the Luzerne
County Assessment Board during these formal and informal reviews and said NOTHING about the unfair
practices that were ongoing. To me, it is the same as all the other
people in the Court House who knew
full well what the 2 corrupt judges were doing, but kept their mouths shut and let it go on and on. This is the whole problem in
Luzerne County.
What I think is very wrong, too, is
for anyone who was a paid employee
at any monetary amount working for the county to turn that around in a campaign run as "helping people through the appeals process"
You were working for the county, not helping the people who were so
wrongly over-assessed. If you really wanted to help the people,
you would open your mouth about the
injustices that were being carried out in that office! And don't go to the commissioners who obviously
turned a blind eye to this whole ordeal! Go to the DA, the PA Attorney General and/or the FBI! We need people who were on the inside to speak up. Go to the Press! Tell what you know. There is still time to help, as many people are still struggling in this battle. It has been most unfair. And if you are a person who was lucky enough to get an
UNDER assessment, or stayed the same, you have no right to speak against those still fighting, as you have no idea what they are going through, no idea. The cost, the time, the worry and the stress.
And many are being mistreated!
By the way, Walter Griffith has been a taxpayer advocate for many, many years. He has dedicated a great deal of time and is not afraid to ask the tough questions. If it weren't for him, the commissioners would have been able to borrow 18 million more dollars. His efforts kept it below 6 million. He has never been
paid a cent for any of his hard work and countless hours expended on behalf of the taxpayers. I think we all know he has no other
motive in seeking office.
I feel like I'm arguing with a rock...or someone only slightly more intelligent.
ReplyDeleteOn his website, Walter Griffith says about Bob Sypniewski, (quote) "why did he sit there for 4 months and not bring this information to the attention of the Commissioners???"...again, that's a direct quote from Walter!
Now you say of Bob, (quote): "If you really wanted to help the people,you would open your mouth about the injustices that were being carried out in that office! And don't go to the commissioners who obviously turned a blind eye to this whole ordeal"
So, let me sum up your argument against Bob Sypniewski:
DON'T VOTE FOR BOB, HE NEVER TALKED TO THE COMMISSIONERS ABOUT WHAT HE KNEW, (...er, wait, what's that? he did talk to them? oops...Oh, in that case, what I meant to say was
DON'T VOTE FOR BOB - HE TALKED TO THE COMMISSIONERS ABOUT WHAT HE KNEW.
I suggest the Griffithites have a pow-wow here in the very near future and figure out what in the world you are talking about. It is obvious you want to throw mud, now you need to come up with a reason why.
Walter's not a bad guy, but whoever he has that is doing his bloggin for him is proving to be really, really dumb.
Again, anyone who was a paid employee sitting on the review panels was not "assisting" the
ReplyDeletetaxpayers. They were paid to fight against the taxpayers. Anyone who sat there and saw the
grave injustices but continued to collect their pay, whatever the amount, and keep their mouth shut, has a lot of audacity to "use" that position now as "assisting" the taxpayers! The commissioners were not listening to anyone; the
paid employee very well could have helped the cause and the plight of the taxpayer by going to the press, the State Attorney General, the FBI, and be a full blown whistle blower. THAT would have helped; for someone on the inside, with inside information to SPEAK UP! Don't come around now, running for office and claiming you were "assisting" the taxpayers!
I have a real problem with that, and I am NOT stupid. Stupid people might fall for this baloney!
Walter Griffith has a proven record as a taxpayer advocate and has never earned a cent for his
sacrifices. That says a lot about him!
I DONT EVEN KNOW WHERE MY PANTS IS!!!
ReplyDeleteName One thing Walter did that saved the taxpayer money. i want to hear proof. My taxes went up, the scandals are getting bigger. Yet Wlater has been an adovcate to me. Show me!!
ReplyDeleteDear Terri,
ReplyDeleteWalter reprented the taxpayers in the Luzerne County COurt of Common Pleas to reduce the money that the County Commissioners wanted to borrow last year to offset the budget shortfall. He did it on his own time and with hisown money and was successful in getting the money reduced from 16 million to 5.4 million..do you remember this article???If Walter wasnt there to fight for you and the rest of the taxpayers, the Commissioners would have had to borrow an additional 11.6 million..how about the time he fought the Commissioners on the Salary Board to get a hiring freeze..just think how much your taxes would have gone up if it wasnt for Walter Griffith taking time from his day to be at the meetings for you. Now lets support Walter and get him elected to help us from inside the Controller's Office..
It sounds like a political speech Gene. In case you did not see the county did increase our taxes regardless to what you say Walter did. The hiring Freeze was not becasue of Walter, it was from Mary Ann and Steve Urban and I bet you that they don't take orders from Walter. No coummunity advocate will ever control how a county government or any government runs. That is a fact. I appreciate him taking the time and attending the meetings. I understand this, By the county not getting the full amount that they needed to borrow they went an increased out taxes to get the money they need. Thanks Walter you are the best!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteTerri,
ReplyDeleteSounds like you are as uninformed as you are uneducated..I wish you knew half of what you say you know and wish you could attend the meetings and see the impact that this taxpayer advocate has on the Commissioners.
They dont take their orders from Walter, but they at least respect him for knowing what he is talking about at the meetings, maybe that is why you dont attend them. This is not a political speech just plain good old advice..Quit while your ahead.
Talking points, name calling and insults. this sounds like walter
ReplyDeleteAudrey from Shavertown said...Walter is at every commissioners' meeting and stood up for all taxpayers at the budget hearings. How often do we get a chance to elect a proven county watchdog to watch the county coffers?
ReplyDelete