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I wandered into downtown Wilkes-Barre yesterday to do some Boscoving and check out the Green Party gathering on Public Square. Pictures here. I always park in the Boscovs parkade for the free parking and this time it only cost me 42 bucks.
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I ran into Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tom Leighton who is running for the PA State Senate seat being vacated by Ray Musto who is now caught up in the corruption investigations that have snared 28 people in Luzerne County so far.
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We were both pressed for time and I didn't expect to see him so the tough questions will have to wait to another day. For all the attention that has been put on attracting new businesses to downtown W-B I think one of Leighton's biggest successes is keeping the anchor store open. If Boscovs closes it's doors it would be the death knell for the square.
In an interview with the CV he defended the tough decisions he has had to make as Mayor such as raising taxes and closing Firehouses.
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His opponent for the Democratic nomination State Rep John Yudichak gave his pitch to the CV
for "modernized government in Harrisburg."
for "modernized government in Harrisburg."
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Yuddy keeps racking up the labor endorsements.
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7 comments:
Hey, let's face it, these labor people eat a lot of pizza so I'm not going to throw stones at them What does upset me is that in Harrisburg, they don't take these guys out for pizza dinners, it's the big buck dinners for our finest legislators in Harrisburg. I'm still waiting for Yuddi's feet to be held to the fire for using his per diem to buy a house and not giving it up till he was caught. How about making those tax statements public so we can see if he really did not take the midnigt pay raise. If he gave it to charity and took a tax deduction then he took the raise through the back door. What I don't understand is why not donate back to the state? He could have it all taken out in the form of state wage tax and then not claim the refund. Oh well, I'm holing the "NO PIZZA FOR YOU" just a bit longer but I feel a no pizza coming for Yuddi. I want to see the records and I want him to explain away the per diem scam.
Looks like chrome dome Tommy has been eating a lot of pizza too...
Pete, thats a good point. He donated the pay raise they did in the term before his. Also he voted against the most recent pay raise. I was told recently, he was the only one to do that.
He only had a 25% stake in the house he uses in Hburg. So he wasn't using per diems to pay down a mortgage like other reps
Lets see Mayor Tom making 80 grand a year as mayor of Philadelphia oh i meen Wilkes-Barre. I get confused because we have more cameras then Philly. Mayor Tom who is also a real estate agent and shows properties in the city and is the Mayor. The man who also on city time showed properties. The man who is pals and flat out lied that he doesnt talk with and indicted individual who use to work for him. The only people with his signs up in Wilkes-Barre are people who are his friends or work for the city. Another problem with him is he has the negative ads of Ed Mitchell on his side. I am not a political person I am just telling you what the people say. Some city employee or Leighton lover is going to bash me now.
Austin, we have to revisit the original intent of the per diem. First of all, if you didn't live "X" number of miles outside of Harrisburg, you were not entitled to it. The orignal intent was to cover the cost of a motel/hotel room and to pay for the meals one normally eats at home ... breakfast and dinner. Yuddi took the full perdiem to pay on his share of a house he lived in while in Hsb. Does that mean that technically he lived within the limits that disqualified him from the per deim? Did he stay within the "spirit" of the law by paying on a house which was building equity? Yep, he gave up his share but not till he got caught in the houseing scheme and a scheme it surely was. It's easy to vote no on a raise when your vote does not have the effect of stopping the raise. I still want to see proof that he has not taken more than his original salary prior to that midnight raise. I'm sorry but bad pizza is bad pizza and Yuddi made a bad pizza. People overlook that Mayor Tom had a heck of a job on his hands when he took over for the energizer bunny but he took on the job and did it justice. Mayor Tom gets a free pizza because good work deserves a pizza award. By the way, for the first time ever, I am offering Mayor Tom the topping of his choice!
i agree with the other anon poster, mayor tom doesnt need anymore pizza
Good points PP.
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