Sugar Notch happenings

This is a guest post from Mario Fiorucci. He is the Democratic candidate for Mayor of Sugar Notch.


SugarGate: Cover-up or just confusion?

At the Sugar Notch Council meeting in May, Council President James Mullin asked for approval to pay $2,700 of the $5,400 owed to the Commonwealth of PA. It was owed because 'taxes' on the Liquid Fuels Fund had to be paid to 'unfreeze' the account so the borough could use the money for road repairs, etc. At the council's next meeting in June, I (Mario Fiorucci), asked why taxes were owed on the Liquid Fuels Fund, which itself is funded by gasoline taxes. Council President JM insisted that the money owed to the state was to pay back employee payroll taxes that were not paid for over a year. I questioned his explanation and asked to see the minutes of the May meeting. They did not mention a word about how taxes were owed on the fund or that the check for $2,700 was approved to send to the state. Not a word about the whole thing was mentioned!

Luckily, a Citizens' Voice reporter was at the June meeting. In a report titled "Sugar Notch back taxes questioned", reporter Robert Olsen said "What it sounded like was there was money missing from the liquid fuels account that had to be paid back." I said "There was money missing from the refuse (Garbage) account, it's happened before." I thought the state found that the town misappropriated money from the fund and wanted it returned. The town has been running in the red and there were rumors that the mayor had to bail out the town with his own money at least two times for the last few years.

The article also said that I requested a copy of the meeting 'minutes' from May and had found that 'there was no mention of the $5,400 owed in them'. Council President JM said that the "unpaid taxes were discovered when the borough hired a new accountant. She reported the discrepancy to the state, which then froze the Liquid Fuels Fund." The article also quoted JM as saying he "failed to recall if anything was said about the problem or the request to approve the payment at May's meeting." He wasn't sure why it wasn't in the minutes. To me, this explanation was insufficient and still poses the question, "Was the money diverted from the employee payroll taxes so it could be used to just help keep the town running?"

At the regular July council meeting, I said "I know I heard council President JM ask for the check approval. If he did not, then how could I have been able to bring this subject up at the June meeting? And at the June meeting, not one council member volunteered to back me up by saying "they remember that a check for $2,700 was approved..or not" It seems that stealth government has returned to Sugar Notch, yet again.

I also asked the council and mayor to explain the payroll process. I thought the mayor was in charge of scheduling the police and maintenance employees. But they said that the Chief of Police Pelchar schedules hours for the police dept. employees. And councilman, Pat Dalton, schedules hours for the road crew. After they submit pay requests, the Treasurer issues checks. I then asked if the money was 'missing' and just 'not paid' as they claim. They said no money was missing. I do not have a lot of confidence in the council's ability to oversee an antique accounting and budget process. And from what I heard about the town, it has not paid the employee payroll taxes before, because several times when the town had to lay-off the road crew, for lack of funds usually, the state had to call the town to pay in it's taxes, so the road crew could file and get their unemployment checks! Things need to change in Sugar Notch and that includes looking at consolidation.

Sugar Notch

My pal Mario Fiorucci snagged the Democratic nomination for Mayor and will face off in the fall against Republican William A. Davis. He may also have won one of the nominations for town council. Did I miss the State of the World get together this year?

This may take a day or two to figure out. (vote for 4)

Yvonne M. Pelchar 110

Dominick Panetta 110

Mario Fiorucci 109

Herman G. Balas 99

Patrick J. Evans Jr. 99

Dolores Gegaris 81

Write-in 3

Mario Fiorucci in the news

SUGAR NOTCH MAYOR: Mario Fiorucci is seeking the Democratic nomination for mayor of Sugar Notch.

Fiorucci is employed as a medical records processor. A graduate of Hanover Area High School, he attended Luzerne County Community College; College Misericordia, class of 1980, where he received a bachelor of arts; and Georgetown University, class of 1982, where he received a master of arts in political science.

As mayor, he plans to begin a recycling program by piggybacking with either Ashley or Hanover Township; reduce council from seven to five members to save money; and merge the police department with Ashley or Hanover Township.

Fiorucci has worked on the regionalization issue since 1999 and is confident it will deliver better protection to the citizens of Sugar Notch. He does not believe the town can provide all municipal services necessary for a proposed 300 home development led by Earth Conservancy.

Mario realizes that a little town of less than 1000 people can't keep going it alone. It's a hard sell telling people that they can't afford their little fiefdom much longer and merge services and eventually their political identity with a larger neighbor. His annual State of the World Forum is coming up in May.

The chairman of PACleanSweep, Mr. Russ Diamond, will talk about his reform agenda and proposal for an unlimited constitutional convention for PA. A resident of Annville, Lebanon County, Mr. Diamond createdPACleanSweep.com after the midnight pay raise by the General Assembly.

The second speaker will be Mort Malkin. He is asocial-political activist and author of four books on health and fitness. He recently edited "The Lilac Book of Peace-Axioms & Quotes." He has a column of political satire called "Gadfly" in the Towne Crier and a health & fitness column called "The Body and Brain Trade" for the News Eagle.

Also speaking is Mr. Caleb Ginyard III. He will conduct a multi-media presentation about his famous father, Caleb Ginyard Jr., a renowned black doo-wopand spiritual singer. His book, "My Name is Caleb N.Ginyard: A Father and Son Autobiography of a Spiritual Musical Genius," is the basis of his presentation. Theelder died in 1978 after traveling the globe, creating a musical legacy as lead singer of several groups including the Du-Droppers, Jubalaires and Royal Harmony Singers, among others.

Annual Free Speech Awards at the State of the World. Special award to Kurt Shotko of Lackawanna County, for political protests at the Wilkes Barre, St. Patrick's Day Parade in 2005 and Tim Grier, presently a primary candidate for mayor and council in Wilkes-Barre. His most important protest was for third party ballot access. He stood in the voting booth for 30 minutes in 2005 without voting. His stance generated much needed media coverage of third party issues in NEPA.

The annual event takes place on the first Sunday in May. This years' date is 5/06/07. The event is held indoors and outdoors, rain or shine at 893 Main Street Sugar Notch, PA. From I-81 take the Nanticoke exit,then take Exit #1 into Sugar Notch. The building isthe last house on the right, exactly one mile from the first house in town. It will have several big State of the World sings on it. A parking lot is across the street in the Dr.'s Clinic. Phone Mario Fiorucci at 570-819-0721 or email him for more info. Food, music and refreshments are provided.