Untangling the web

"I just look at the little tab that has my name next to them and I sign them.- Luzerne County Commissioner Greg Skrepenak


Mike Buffer has great rundown of the latest web of deceit that we call Luzerne County government in the Citizens Voice today.

The crime fighting research trips to New York City by a bunch of county officials who have nothing to do with law enforcement were never approved by the board of commissioners and in many cases were paid for by county debit cards that got them all into hot water. The crime fighting superheros are Skrep, former Chief Clerk Sam Guesto, former Human Resources Director Doug Richards, indicted multi job holder Bill Maguire, exotic dance critic prison Deputy Sam Hyder and the best dressed man in Luzerne County, Bill Brace. No changes in policy resulted from the research although Skrep wanted to buy a $2 million computer system that none of the local police departments could agree on.

Since then we have learned that Doug Richards invented a company to do payroll work for the county drawing up a contract that was never approved by the commissioners but invoices were still approved by the Controller's office. Nobody seems to know anything about Continental Consultants Group Inc. and B&M Investigations Inc. or William Grub and John Luango. Grub and Luango are retired NYC cops that have done well in the security consultant business. They are doing so well that Luzerne County paid B&M $35,000 for a background policy report that no one can find. Reputation is everything.

Some choice Skrep highlights and quotes:



Skrepenak also denies knowledge that two retired New York City police detectives involved with those trips had business ties to county contracts now being investigated by the FBI and the county solicitor....Skrepenak has acknowledged that several former top aides are talking to federal investigators and could implicate him in the ongoing corruption probe...Skrepenak said he didn't know this month Grub and Luongo had ties to contracts between Luzerne County and two companies - Continental Consultants Group Inc. and B&M Investigations Inc..."What we found is guys who have 20 years in the police department, they don't make great money with the NYPD," Skrepenak said...


Skrepenak said he didn't notice that Grub was listed as B&M president when he signed the $35,000 contract. He said he "didn't know specifically who B&M was" and doesn't "look at whose names are on" contracts he signs.

Luzerne County Spokesperson

The job has been vacant since Kathy Bozinski got dumped in a cost cutting move a few years ago but I heard a rumor that the position will be filled in the near future.

The leading candidates are pictured here.

Pennsylvania Lt. Governor 2010

There seems to be a couple of dozen people running for Lt. Gov of PA in 2010 from both parties. A few of the Republican hopefuls are hitching their bandwagons to GOP front runner Attorney General Tom Corbett including MSNBC talking head Joe Watkins.

Watkins spouts the usual Republican talking points that the world will end because there is a Democrat in the White House and the deficits began on January 20th of this year. He often gets his facts wrong but that doesn't matter. Why let the facts get in the way of a good opinion.

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Carolee doesn't like the carpeting

This is like deja vu all over again.


Office too rundown for Medico Olenginski

... the rug had a black stain that appeared to be grease. She also described dirty walls, furniture “marked beyond normal use” and a six-inch section of missing plaster.

Happy Thanksgiving

We all have our holiday traditions and in the Gort household it includes making the traditional stuffing with the help of our dog and cat. They spend so much time in the kitchen I'm thinking of getting them both a chef's hat. I'll get up early and stuff the bird then pop it into the oven along with cooking a ham and local made Kielbasa. Other family members are in charge of the side dishes and desert which will all be washed down with Beaujolais Nouveau.
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Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because we have a large family gathering that doesn't involve a wedding or a funeral.
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Another tradition is to thank Miss Cellania for the pic.

Thanksgiving memories

TO HELL WITH THANKSGIVING AND BLACK FRIDAY!!!

By Mean Old Man


Here we go again with the stupid "get together with the stupider relatives" holiday of Thanksgiving. As you can tell, I'm not my usual jolly self only for the simple reason that I have to deal with these dumbbells every year at this time. Of course, it doesn't end with Thanksgiving, next we have Christmas and then New Years, too. Damn!!!

In my day we celebrated Thanksgiving too, but we didn't make a big family spectacle out of it. Pops would go out that morning and hunt down a good wild turkey for Mom to throw in the trusty coal stove. He'd be back around 8 and sit in his easy chair chugging down Ballentine while good old Mom slaved around the kitchen for five or six hours. By the time dinner was ready, Pops was plastered to the gills, usually complaining that the potatoes or the stuffing was overcooked or undercooked. Of course, my sissy brothers would always be whining about not getting enough on their plates and Pops usually would wallop them across the face (this was usually followed by Mom walloping Pops with her pie roller). God, those were fun days!!! We didn't have to worry about stupid relatives coming over and ruining things because Pops didn't get along with any of them and they didn't want to be around him anyway, since they were twirpy tea totalers. Once, my Mom's "dainty" brother, Uncle Jools, wanted to take me on a camping trip, "To get you out of this unholy, alcoholic environment." He bought me a pocket knife, a neat flashlight, and a great compass. I actually was looking forward to camping since Pops never took me anywhere but to the woodshed. Anyway, when we were ready to leave the house for the weekend, Pops came home unexpectedly early from the beer garden. Needless to say, he accused Uncle Jools of trying to turn "my boy against me!" He told Jools to clear out of the house immediately or he would mount his head over the fireplace. Poor Uncle Jools ran faster than a squirrel from Thelma Jean's shotgun and that was the end of my camping trip. Afterwards, Pops accused me of not loving him and when I told him all that I wanted to do was experience camping, he immediately set up a makeshift tent in our back yard. "Have fun camping," he shouted at me. "Don't step foot in this house for anything until tomorrow night!" Mind you, it was around 25 degrees at night with snow. I spent the entire time huddled under a thin blanket. The cheap tent could barely keep the wind from freezing me up totally. By the time Pops let me in the next day, I was blue from the cold, starving and had developed severe pneumonia; I almost died. But I learned one thing; Pops loved me a lot or he wouldn't have been so jealous of Uncle Jools. Gee, I miss Pops a lot; to hell with Uncle Jools!!!!!!

God, I hate holidays!! I'd rather be in a dentists chair having a root canal with no Novocain than to deal with all of this!

Of course, if it were only Thanksgiving that would be bad enough; but then I have to deal with all the crazy liberals jamming my stores and more importantly, my traffic on Friday. Why is it that every danged person these days has to have a car?!? In my day you were lucky if you saw three or four cars on the street at one time. Now there's more cars than people!!! Thanks commies!!!

SO, all you bleeding heart liberals have a nice Thanksgiving. Don't forget to drop a buck in the Salvation Army basket on Friday, too (the Kremlin's low on money). As for me, come Friday, I'll be sitting in the Legion with Creep and Gummo (provided I don't get crushed by traffic), slugging a few Stegs, smoking a Lucky and listening to the soothing sounds of Johnny Ray singing "Whiskey and Gin". Happy Thanksgiving and go to Hell!!!

Malcolm on the move

Republican Snyder County Commissioner Malcolm Derk has expressed an interest in running for the Pennsylvania 10th US House of Representatives seat currently held by Democrat Chris Carney. I talked with Derk over the weekend and he sure sounded like a candidate. He criticized Carney for calling himself a fiscally responsible Blue Dog Democrat who "hasn't walked the walk" based on his votes for the stimulus package and health care bill. He said he would make a decision soon and would need $500K for a primary campaign if he has opposition. Right now it looks like he won't have a primary opponent and will probably get some help from the NRCC and other groups in the general election.

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He may be a bit iffy but his pals have been filling my inbox and ringing my phone promoting his candicy Susquehanna University Young Republican Eric Sweeney set up a Facebook page Derk 2010 for Congress and I have been playing telephone tag with Matthew Rousu professor of economics at Susquehanna University who created Draft Derk for Congress.

The Daily Item has a story about the race .

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What has Congressman Carney been up to lately? He voted for a long overdue reform of the health insurance industry. He had another town hall in Montrose and had to deal with tea bagger nonsense about health care and questions about gas drilling. He said he wants to study the problem of gas drilling. Sorry Chris study (delay)is just going to make the matter worse. Stop it now and let the EPA and the PA DEP get a handle on it and develop some rules.

Carney has been a champion of Dairy farmers , local fire companies and veterans .

He has a bunch of money and has been a good fit for the district,

I love this from WKOK: Derk says he’s seen the postings and talked with some of the bloggers.

He knows how to get his message out.

One and done

I had a great conversation a few days ago with an old Air Force pal who is now an assistant US Attorney in another part of the country. He couldn't comment on what is going on around here but told me how the Department of Justice deals with public corruption cases. The first goal is to get the crook out of office and by the time someone gets a target letter their goose is cooked. To get the offender out of office and avoid a long expensive trial a deal is offered. Plead guilty to one charge, resign your office and go to jail for a short time or we will take it to trial and hit you with a list of charges that you know that you are guilty of and spend more time behind bars. This works as long as the judge is willing to go along with it.

A case in point. The Juvie Brothers, Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella, agreed to to plead guilty to 2 charges in exchange for a 7 year sentence. Federal Judge Ed Kosik rejected the plea and a 48 count indictment was then filed by the US Attorney. It will take some time to bring this to trial.

On earlier threads some commenter's defended a few of our local crooks saying taking some clothes or travel money was no big deal if that was the only thing they did. What else did they do? The feds know.

Shop til you drop

Another crook gets a slap on the wrist.


CV: A tearful former magisterial district judge Karen Holly was sentenced today to two years probation, including 30 days in a federal halfway house, for stealing $6,300 from her employer...Holly will be allowed to work, attend religious services and shop during her 30 days confinement, which won’t begin until at least Jan. 3.


Allowed to shop? This sentence was handed down by a federal judge but it reminds me of the punishment of long time Luzerne County employees Robert Pritchard and Carl Salitis who stole tens/hundreds of thousands of dollars and were sentenced to house arrest by then Judge Mark Ciavarella.

And what about the top dogs at the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority who became aware of the theft but didn't report it to law enforcement?

This week in Luzerne County corruption

Poor Skrep, many of his friends have been indicted or are under investigation or quit. He must be a lonely guy. It's no wonder that he doesn't show up for work at the Courthouse unless there is a public meeting that he just can't duck.

WILKES-BARRE - Luzerne County Commissioner Greg Skrepenak said Friday he isn't resigning but is aware he could soon face criminal charges.

When all this first broke I asked a few people who know him if Skrep was corrupt and most of them said no. A few suggested that he had enough money from his football days but was used by the powers that be to line the pockets of the usual suspects just like it has always been done. In other words he was too fucking stupid to know what was going on. I don't buy that.


Update: I have asked longtime Pittston Democratic politico and recent Independent candidate for Controller Wil Toole to occasionally weigh in with his thoughts about county government. He shares his thoughts about Skrep in the first of what I hope will be many guest posts. I have also reached out to other retired politicians inviting them to share their wisdom. There is nothing like experience.



People are waiting for the shoe to fall. It is my firm belief that people who do not have first hand information should not sit in judgment of anyone. I recall my very first meeting of Greg Skrepnak, it was at Kings College and there was a debate for all Commissioner candidates. I knew enough about government to know that there is absolutely no substitute for experience but integrity could come very close.

After the debate, I approached Mr Skrepnak, shook his hand and wished him well because men of integrity are needed on all levels of government. With all of my government experience, I thought that integrity would carry his lack of experience and he would learn on the job. After all, I had watched a young Frank Crossin go from a novice public official to a well oiled management machine. When he left office, there was nothing he didn't know or understand about county government. Therefore, Skrep would do just fine.

Skrep's problem came about through another character trait, loyalty. Skrep was loyal to his friends. He knew them, he trusted them and he covered himself in their consul. The problem was that they too were government novices and just didn't know that there was no such thing as the "old days". They thought they were doing things the way things were always done. Not so. Crossin and his peers understood how government operated and they stayed within the rules. People may not have liked the results or the way things were done but the efforts were legal. Crossin and company knew the value of experience, surrounded themselves with it and knew to not cross the line of right and wrong.

Skrep said he has done nothing wrong, has not cleaned out his office and has no intention of resigning. Speaking for myself, I can accept that. I can accept that he was not aware of the games being played and I can accept that what he did do, he thought was perfectly OK because his inexperience told him that those are the kinds of things that have always been done. Who exactly thought up the debit card use? Who exactly thought up the private contract use that has gone so far astray? Where was the public cop who was supposed to be watching? What happened to the checks and balances of government. The Controller, the army of county attorneys who hold solicitorship's, the experienced managers, the senior employees who should have known enough to blow a whistle or sound an alarm? There are more directions to point a finger than there are fingers.

So here we are and what do we do about it? Each of us have a responsibility and none of us have the luxury of sitting back and waiting for someone else to getter dun. In this past General election 65% of the voters allowed the privilege and responsibility to come and go, and didn't bother to participate in the process of choosing our public officials. So the choice of those who will lead us was determined by approximately 15% of those qualified to vote. Do we dare ask why things are as they are? For how long will we allow slogans to guide our judgement? Allow newspapers to advise us on whom should serve? When will we the people see though the nonsense, question the ability of those who seek public office and base our choice on something other than Party affiliation or recommendations of those who probably know less than the average bear?

This past Thursday, I physically delivered a letter to the Commissioner's office addressed to each of the three Commissioners. Without going into detail, I recounted some very pointed and specific experience I have and which they could make use of. I volunteered my time and made myself available to meet with them and their management team. No, I did not receive a call Thursday or Friday but did I really expect to? That's not a rhetorical question, now you can be the judge!


You can read the letter here.

Could have been a contender

TL:

Write-in ballots for jury commissioner showed Robert Kadluboski received 78 votes; David Yonki received 21 votes and Greg Gulick received 21 votes. Another 209 write-in votes were scattered with various people being listed.

Carney on Health Care

Commander Chris Carney has returned from active duty blowing up things in Afghanistan by remote control to vote on the health insurance reform bill. He sent us an explaination of why he voted for the legislation:


As you are all aware, Congress is currently considering historic health reform legislation. Recently, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, and the Senate will begin debating their health care reform legislation in the coming days. I would like to thank all of you who took the time to contact my office with your opinions on this critical issue. My office received an unprecedented amount of correspondence, containing carefully thought-out and passionate views.


While this bill is far from perfect and there is much more work to be done, it accomplished some important steps that I strongly support.


This legislation provides relief for working families.


The House bill takes a critical step toward providing quality, affordable health care while reducing the cost burden on our hardworking families and small businesses. Every day, I hear from people in Northeast and Central Pennsylvania who have lost their insurance, cannot pay their premiums, or are struggling to provide health care for their employees.


The Affordable Health Care for America Act reduces the deficit by $139 billion over the first 10 years, while providing health coverage to 96 percent of eligible Americans. The bill limits out-of-pocket expenses to $5,000 for an individual and $10,000 for a family and prevents individuals and families from going bankrupt due to medical costs. In addition, families currently pay an extra $1,107 a year in health insurance premiums to provide care for the uninsured through emergency room visits. This legislation eliminates that hidden health tax.


This legislation ends discrimination against individuals with pre-existing conditions.

As a cancer survivor, I am especially supportive of provisions that protect individuals with pre-existing conditions. It is wrong for insurance companies to deny coverage to someone because of a pre-existing condition or to take coverage away because someone gets sick.

Beginning in 2010, the limits how far back in a patient's medical history insurer's can look back for pre-existing conditions, from six months to 30 days. In 2013, this bill completely prohibits pre-existing exclusions. It also prohibits health insurance companies from rescinding existing health insurance policies when a person gets sick and eliminates annual or lifetime benefit caps.

This legislation increases coverage for senior citizens.

Seniors should not have to choose between paying for their prescription drugs and putting food on their tables. This legislation reduces the Medicare Part D donut hole by $500 next year, and completely eliminates it by 2019. In the meantime, seniors in the donut hole will have access to 50 percent discounts on brand-name drugs.

Our seniors deserve a Medicare system that provides them with the very best. This bill eliminates cost sharing for preventative services to encourage wider use of preventative care for Medicare beneficiaries.

Finally, the bill prohibits private insurers from charging older adults more than twice as much as younger adults.


This legislation provides greater insurance access for small businesses.

Small businesses face rising health insurance costs, high administrative costs, and pay more for less coverage. Many small business owners would like to provide their employees with coverage but simply can't afford to. Today, because small businesses have small risk pools, insurance companies can punish small businesses if one of their employees gets sick.

In 2013, health reform will give small businesses and their workers access to a Health Insurance Exchange - a new marketplace that allows small businesses to comparison shop for affordable insurance plans with lower rates, lower administrative costs, and greater choice. Some small businesses will also be eligible for a tax credit that will cover up to half the cost of providing coverage for their employees. Additionally, this bill prevents insurance companies from charging more because of an employee's health status, protecting small businesses from unreasonable rate increases.

I am confident that with the passage of the Affordable Health Care for America Act, we have taken a positive step toward strengthening health care, not only for Pennsylvania but for our nation as a whole.

11th CD tidbits

Trying to usurp Federal immigration law is one one thing but messing with the God given constitutional right of the people to have satellite TV is beyond the pale. Last Febuary Hazleton imposed a $10 satellite dish inspection fee that has been challenged in court as violation of Federal law. City solicitor Christopher Slusser sensibly doesn't want to defend the city in yet another lawsuit with the immigration ordinance appeal pending in the 3rd Circuit.
When Emmit Thomas of Penn Star Satellite of Wilkes-Barre told council no other municipality has a satellite dish ordinance, Mayor Lou Barletta said it wouldn't be the first time Hazleton was the first city to initiate legislation. Legislation that tries to overrule federal law is a bad habit to get into.

America's Mayor is still trying to retire the debt from his last unsuccessful campaign for Congress telling potential donors that if he can pay off the $250,000 he still owes mostly to himself he may make another try for the office. What a tease.

His Republican primary opponent Christopher Page calls this bullshit on his campaign blog.

Sadly, I'm the only candidate in this race who can promise that everything you donate will be used for the campaign, and I'm the only candidate who can promise that I won't take a penny from campaign funds. Most politicians wait until they are elected before they start taking your money, but Lou Barletta has sunk to a new low.

Incumbent Congressman Paul Kanjorski has ignored all this posturing and has been busy doing the job of governing which is not an easy thing. His amendment to the Financial Stability Improvement Act that would break up companies that are judged "Too Big to Fail" was voted out of commitee and Wall Street will do everything they can to defeat it on the House Floor.

The Kanjorski amendment would empower federal regulators to rein in and dismantle financial firms that are so large, inter-connected, or risky that their collapse would put at risk the entire American economic system, even if those firms currently appear to be well-capitalized and healthy. Therefore, American taxpayers should no longer be on the hook for bailouts, as financial companies would not be able to become "too big to fail." The Kanjorski amendment outlines clear and objective standards for regulators to examine financial companies and reduce the level of risk their activities pose to our financial stability and our economy.

The Congressman has found one of the rare subjects that is both good policy and smart politics not to mention common sense. He also voted for the Health Care bill that passed in the House.

His Democratic primary opponent Corey O'Brien has been going door to door . I asked O'Brien how he would vote on the health care bill but he didn't get back to me. I have left voice mail messages on his cell phone asking for comment on this and other issues and I'm awaiting his reply.

Challenger for Carney

Dan Hirschorn of pa2010.com is reporting that Synder County Republican Commissioner Malcolm Derk is looking to take on Congressman Chris Carney in the PA 10th Congressional District next year and will make a decision next month.

It's surprising that the GOP is having trouble finding a candidate to run against Carney because the conventional wisdom is it's a Republican district that he won in 2006 because Don ''the Tunkhannock Strangler" Sherwood was caught playing house with a girl that was younger than his daughters then Carney won reelection by 13 points against solid Republican candidate Chris Hackett in a Democratic year. The latest registration figures I've seen from the district is 49% Republican to 40% Democratic with 11% Independent/Other. Some other names that I've heard that may make the race are Republican Pike County Commissioner Richard Caridi who helped organize a tea bagger ambush of one of Carney's staffers and WNEP newsreader Marisa Burke. 2008 GOP primary runner up Dan Meuser still remains a possibility.

Derk said that "The area is hungry for a candidate” and “The largest challenge for any candidate in a tough economic climate is raising funds." He said Carney’s votes for President Obama’s stimulus package and for the recent House health care legislation had troubled him. “It really hurts to see more and more debt piled onto generations to come.”

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Derk looks to be a young man in a hurry. He is a graduate of Susquehanna University with a degree in both Political Science and Religion and at 27 is the youngest person ever elected Snyder County Commissioner. He won his first election when he was 20 serving on the Freeburg Borough Council between 2002 and 2007. My pals in the SU College Republicans must be proud. His Wiki page touts his opposition to the bailout of Boscov's Department Store and his campaign site stresses his commitment to fiscal responsibility.

Luzerne County Courthouse happenings

Luzerne County Human Resources Director Doug Richards resigned effective December 4th then was fired because he wouldn't spill the beans to Maryanne Petrilla about a dodgy contract with a New York temp agency that doesn't seem to have an address. The Feds raided his office after he was escorted out of the courthouse but tried to take records with him before he left the building.


Judge Michael Toole has unexpectedly decided to take a vacation for a few weeks. That's a bit odd because President Judge Chester Muroski is screaming for help to clear the backlog of cases because the bench has been short a few judges the last year or so. Maybe he just needs a break and it has nothing to do with all the rumors swirlling around him the last few months. Florida is nice this time of year for a boat ride after you get there on a private jet. It looks like like Chet has help on the way because Ann Lokuta will soon be restored to the Court.



A first. Former superintendent of the Pittston Area School District pleaded guilty to taking a $5,000 bribe for helping a contractor obtain work in the district and was sentenced to 13 months in prison reported to the Fort Dix federal correctional institution in New Jersey. The poor bastard, I wouldn't wish anyone having to spend time in New Jersey no matter what they did.

Idiot Watch

TL: ... Kingston Township police allege Dormio was observed Oct. 18 driving a 1994 Chevrolet Berreta without a right rear wheel on Memorial Highway. Police said a trail of sparks was coming from the rear of the vehicle...Police said they pursued Dormio for more than a mile until he stopped near Carverton Road.

This is his second arrest for DUI in a little over a month.

I've actually owned 2 cars that had a wheel fall off.

It's fixed

My computer underwent a successful hard drive transplant and all systems seem to be working fine. The good folks at Custom Computers in Kingston ordered the parts, installed them , gave it a good cleaning and made sure the thing wasn't haunted by worms or Trojan Horses, etc. Bob Sr., Chris and the crew have been great to work with over the years. Whenever I have had a problem or question I pick up the phone and call across the river instead of the other side of the planet. I highly recommend them.

Computer Problems

I'm not sure that this will even post.

The last few weeks I've had a problem loading IE7. I click on the icon and the widow opens then nothing happens. I do an end task then try it again and it usually opened on the 2nd or 3rd try. Today IE7 won't open at all and Firefox is running very slow plus I can't get into some of my offline apps such as pictures and documents. I re-ran all the protection software that is supposed to be running all the time and I still have the problem. Even disckeeper froze up.

So it looks like I will be offline for a few days while my tower makes a visit to Custom Computer for an exorcism unless someone can email or call me with a fix. My Yahoo email is still accessible but running very slow and I can't get into Facebook at all.


Update: My machine needs a new hard drive and a memory chip. I should be back online Thursday.

Luzerne County Courthouse Crime Watch

Photo by Pete G. Wilcox/The Times Leader

Better late than never.

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Gene Stilp of the Pink Pig fame was busy putting up posters around the Luzerne County Courthouse on Friday that asked people to report any wrongdoing to a Post Office Box.

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Commissioner Chair Maryanne Petrilla and Solicitor Vito Deluca are not amused.

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I predict that that all the posters will be in the trash by Tuesday.

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Local activist promotes courthouse crime watch

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Political activist has eye on county corruption

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YouTube weekend

By request. Thanks Danny.

I was listening to local talk radio yesterday discussing Bill Brace's $1500 suit and it sounded like queer eye for the corrupt guy.