Walter Griffith for Controller

Walter L Griffith responds to my earlier post.


Dear Gort,


I appreciate your Blog today regarding the Luzerne County Blog Page and the comments that were made concerning the candidates that expressed their interest to run for this office in the County. I do however must clarify the comment about me being a " Pain in the Ass" which is referenced to Wilkes Barre Online Web Page.

The Wilkes Barre Online Blogger Mark Cour is a very knowledgeable and interesting writer and blogger whom of which I have the utmost respect and appreciation for, in regard to, his ability to express his opinion.

I consider myself a very knowledgeable and formidable person regarding the County and City Political scene in this County and I attend as many meeting as possible with knowledge and information that would make our elected officials at least think about the way they are treating us as taxpayers that are their employers not the other way around as they would like everyone in the County to believe.


I have been very instrumental in making the City get all the information about the City Council meetings posted online in advance of all the meetings, because of my constant and relentless attending the meetings and asking them to do it with the proper information and concerns for the taxpayers...If that is being a "Pain in the Ass" then I am guilty as charged but the taxpayers deserve this information so they can be informed about what OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS are doing in government.


I was the person that represented the entire Luzerne County Taxpayers in a lawsuit to stop the County from borrowing 16 million dollars because they mismanaged our money and therefore were not being responsible to US THE TAXPAYERS.


There are many things that I have been able to accomplish by just being at the meetings with the proper information and I am very proud of my accomplishments as a taxpayer advocate, however there are some in the County that feel that this is being a "Pain in the Ass" and that is fine and they are entitled to that opinion, however I feel this is the reason why the County and City Governments are in the state and condition that they are in at the present time because of the people not being there to keep them accountable but they rely on the press and the blogger to do the work for them.


I appreciate your Blog, as well as the blogs of so many others like Dave Yonki and Mark Cour, and would also appreciate the recognition of all the things that I do to make the government accountable to US the Taxpayers as well..

Walter L Griffith JR
Luzerne County Taxpayer and Activist

Walter Griffith for Controller

Luzerne County Republican candidate for Controller Walter Griffith had a gathering last night at the Ramada in Wilkes-Barre with a nice turnout.

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Just about every other county Republican candidate came out to show support for Walter and the rank and file in attendance expressed a unity that I have never heard from our local GOP.

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There was a microphone set up in the front of the room which always acts as a magnet to any politician but thankfully all of them kept their remarks short.

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All quotes are paraphrased.

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Gene Kelleher was the emcee of the event and the first to speak was former State Senator Charlie Lemmond. He wasn't planning to speak but the crowd demanded it.

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He said a conservative is a liberal who has mugged by reality. We keep exchanging one Democratic administration in the Controllers office for another and nothing ever changes. We need somebody to watch store and Walter is the guy to watch the store. This is going to be a retail election.

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Next up was Commissioner Steve Urban. It's no secret that Urban and Griffith have not always seen eye to eye in the past so his ringing endorsement of Walter put all that to rest. He pointed out that the Controller has to keep an eye on a Human Services budget $250 million, a General fund of $120 million plus serve on the Salary Board, Retirement Board and starting in October the Prison Board. That is a lot of responsibility and Walter is up to the job. Urban then blasted the local Democrats saying one party rule has resulted in 15 indictments so far. He claimed not to know the name of his opponent offering that the only name I need to know is Walter. He then made a point about row officers actually showing up for work asking how we can elect a controller who is working at PNC Bank all day then maybe showing up for a few hours.

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Court of Common Pleas nominee Dick Hughes said that before he started campaigning for office the only thing he knew about Walter was what I read in the papers. Since then he become a partner seeking to reform county government.

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Everybody sung Carolee's praises and she said she looks forward to another term in the Courthouse to continue to clean up the mess.

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Wilkes-Barre Area School Board candidate Harry Haas was called on next. We need to take the county back and one party rule doesn't work. He reminded us that the public schools are the foundation of the community and loss of the faith in the system is one of the reasons that people move away from the area.

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Walter finished up and decried the arrogant in your face attitude of elected officials with a sense of entitlement. Make them accountable! He was the good soldier and endorsed the rest of the GOP ticket and thanked everyone for their support.

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A few things that I have learned about Walter over the last few years. He doesn't get caught up in personalities but digs for the facts. He is tenacious. He is incorruptible.

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Walter Griffith is a pain in the ass and that is a good thing.

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The other Controller candidates are Democrat Bob Morgan (no website) and Independent Wilfred Toole.

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(L to R) W-B Area School Board candidate Harry Haas, Prothontary candidate Carolee Medico Olenginski, Walter, Commissioner Steve Urban, Judge candidate Dick Hughes, retired State Senator Charles Lemmond.

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Photo courtesy of Kathy Dobash who regulary posts at NewsTalkPA which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the ever growing GrassrootsPA internet empire. You can aslo find more pictures by Kathy on her Facebook page and Fotolog.

Looking to the fall

Luzerne County Judge

I think it's safe to say that Bill Amesbury will be the top vote getter for 1 of the 2 seats up for grabs by virtue of his nomination on both sides of the ballot. So the race is between Republican nominee Dick Hughes and Democrat Tina Gartley. Hughes has rock solid support on the GOP side and has broad appeal throughout the county. Even a trendy lefty like Carl Romanelli backs him. It still will be hard for him to overcome Gartley's advantages such as snagging the Democratic nomination in a county that has almost a 2 to 1 edge in Democratic registration and the feeling that there should be a woman on the Court of Common Pleas. About the only thing that can sink her is if she or a member of her family is tied to the Juvie Brothers.


Register of Wills


Two woman are vieing for this row office in the year of the woman. Dottie Stankovic has always been independent of the the local Democratic Party but the disgust with the local Dems just might make this a close race. The Republican nominee is Gina Nevenglosky

Prothonotary

This is another match up of 2 female candidates. Former GOP Prothonotary Carolee Medico-Olenginski romped to victory in the primary and will probably cruise to an easy win over first time candidate Democrat Nancy Bellas. Carolee back in the Courthouse, this will be fun.

Controller

Long time pain in the ass Walter Griffith won the Repubublican nomination and will face off with Bob Morgan in the fall. I think that Walter has been a "pain" in a good way like Steve Flood was when he was Controller. Let's just hope that he ignores nasty blog posts about him and stays out of the fray.

Wilkes-Barre Area School Director

Christine Katsock was the top vote getter on both sides of the ballot and should finally get elected to something. I haven't checked but people tell me she changed her registration to "D". Either way I'm voting for her. The only incumbent to hold on was Lynn Evans which is not surprising in this enviroment of investigations and indictments. Harry Haas won a spot on the GOP side and it looks like he will competing with former W-B Councilman Phil Latinski.

My view


Vote Repubublican in Luzerne County

Enough is enough. Throw the rascals out.

Luzerne County Controller

So far we have 2 Democrats say they will run for the post.


Dallas School Board member Russ Bigus said “We need some competency in the courthouse. I think I might be able to bring some order"...“I would like to build up the public trust and get a real grasp of the financial crisis in the county.” Though he stressed that there’s a need for “teambuilding within the dome.” Last year Bigus lost the race for 117th District State Rep to Karen Boback and in 2006 he came in 4th in the 20th Senate District Republican primary.


The other declared candidate is former Pittston Area School Board member and Yatesville councilman Anthony Rostock. He pledges to be a full time Controller and takes a few shots at previous Controller and present Luzerne County Commissioner Maryanne Petrilla "There are certain things that have happened when the previous controller was there, things that should have been seen,” Rostock said, referring to Petrilla. “Even shortcomings in the county budget – that should have been seen years in advance.” Rostock said he’s not criticizing employees in the controller’s office.“I blame the people running the show,” he said.

Pittston litigation specialist Wil Toole has had cards printed up put has not formally declared his candidacy. He made sure that the public was informed about Rostock's $30,000 no-bid contract to provide landscape consulting services at Luzerne County Community College.

Bob Morgan, a financial adviser from Mountain Top said it’s “very likely” that he will run.


On the Republican side Attorney Nanda Palissery has been mentioned. He ran for Judge a few years ago and I voted for him. If we can have a President with a weird name we can put up with a Controller with one.

Two names are not mentioned in the press have been kicked around on this site and I have asked them for a comment.


Wilkes-Barre resident and unsuccessful city council candidate Walter Griffith does a great job of keeping an eye on things. Some people consider him to be a pain in the ass. My opinion is that the Controller should be a person who is willing to ask the tough questions like Steve Flood did.


Bob Sypniewski was the chairman of James May's 117th State Rep primary campaign is a local mortgage broker. Some of the back mountain big money people may be willing to back him.

Luzerne County Controller debate

I'm going to tell everybody here a dirty little secret if you really want to know the inside of politics in Luzerne County. The salary of elected officials have been kept low to keep good people out of government-Wil Toole

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I thought that was the best line of the night at the LuLac Political Letter Controller's Forum . Moderator David Yonki did a great job of asking tough questions and allowing the candidates to mix it up. He read every question from the audience and they were good ones and no one asked about UFO's or other such nonsense.

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The three candidates websites are here:

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Walter Griffith (R)

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Bob Morgan (D)

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Wil Toole (I)

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I'm going to do a short recap but you can see the whole thing because it was filmed by PittstonPolitics.com.

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The 3 candidates opened by reviewing their resumes. Morgan mixed a few sports metaphors and Griffith took a shot a Morgan for saying he will work at PNC Bank if he is elected. Griffith promised to be a full time Controller and later Morgan and Toole also pledge to work full time.

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The questions started with the Times-Leader endorsement of Griffith. The TL says he is combative. When they asked about being combative and Gort is here, one of the local blog editors, has noted that I'm a pain in the ass. I'm always watching government and try to hold them accountable.

Morgan disagreed with the TL knock on his financial savvy and Toole addressed questions about his disability pension which was converted to regular retirement when he turned 60.

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All 3 answered some technical questions about the office and they all agreed that there should be better handling of cash payments with Morgan and Griffith wanting a central location to take all cash payments but Toole argued that would be unworkable.

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Griffith will work full time wants to eliminate comp time and ensure that all sick/vacation time should be tracked. Toole noted that he is retired so he nothing else to do and said the job can't be done part-time and said he will keep track of when employees sign in and out. Managers have to manage and that seems to be an alien thought in Luzerne County. He also doesn't favor buying a fingerprint/time clock machine and neither does Morgan. Morgan favors keeping flex time instead of paying overtime. He then pointed out that Griffith has run for 4 offices this year, Controller, Government Study Commission, Constable and Judge of Elections and asked what job he will he be doing on election day. Griffith responded that he will be a Judge of Elections because he hasn't been elected Constable or Controller yet.

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Toole said he couldn't give a schedule of audits because things are so far behind and Morgan agreed that the backlog has to be cleared. They both said that the top priority is to deal with the Sheriff's office. Griffith then took some shots at former Controller and County Commissioner Maryanne Petrilla, who is a Morgan supporter, saying she left the office in shambles, she didn't manage the office and defended the job Acting Controller AJ Martinelli is doing because he is doing double duty.

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They all agreed that the debit card scandal was a nightmare. Walter recounted that the Commissioners approved the debit card policy and it wasn't followed by the Chief Clerk, Sam Guesto. The people who didn't follow the policy, there was no reprimand...for those people who stole our money... They should have been fired. Toole offered some suggestions to control travel costs then blasted the Commissioners at the time. Skrepenak, Vonderheid, Urban...They made a major blunder and it's about time that they stood up and say we made a mistake and stop blaming their employees.

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At this point David joked that according to some of his readers all 3 have promised him a job.

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Morgan said that the pay structure has to be revamped. How can the Chief Clerk make $80K but his bosses are paid $40K. Griffith wants to stop management raises and playing games with eliminating and creating jobs. He said that the deputy's in the row offices are paid more than there bosses because they are expected to run the operation while the elected official often doesn't show up for work. Then Toole said elected officials salary's have been kept low on purpose to keep good people out of government. He recalled that years ago their was a salary increase for elected officials but the Commissioners at the time, Frank Trinisewski and Jim Phillips rolled it back. Why? Because they were terrified that good people were going to run for office and they would be out. He also decried the pay of entry level pay for qualified auditors. Walter took issue with the contention that good people won't run for the job because of the relatively low pay noting that many people live on a lot less. Morgan said he is Okay with the pay. Toole also said that Businesses want to come to Luzerne County because we have slave labor. He also gave the play by play of his pursuit of the endorsement of the AFSCME local that covers county employees saying he was a founder of the local union. They didn't endorse him. He said he wanted it then lobbed this bomb on why he didn't get it. Then I found out that Maryanne Petrilla had hired the President's daughter two months previous.

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Toole's pension controversy came up again and he said Judge Michael Conahan threw the case out despite the fact that he backed Joe Musto in the previous election. He blamed it on the administration that followed his tenure as Pittston City Clerk and was proud of the job he did. The administration that replaced me dragged me through a living hell. Morgan said that he doesn't have a conflict being an employee of PNC Bank that does a lot of business with the county and has an independent counsel opinion supporting that but would recuse himself from any pension board votes involving his employer.

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It ended with Toole and Morgan beating up Griffith saying he accused Controller office employees of falsifying an audit asking why he didn't ask for an investigation. He responded that he did contact the Auditor General and another agency. Morgan said You make accusations without facts. He then hit Griffith about running for 4 offices asking if he would serve 4 years if elected as Controller. Griffith said he would serve a full term.

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Post game: I was disappointed that the rest of Bentley's was closed as I was hoping to check out the place and catch some of the Eagle's game. Me and Forrest hit Mark's on the way home. Some elbows got thrown but then we all know that politics is a contact sport and afterward all 3 candidates were talking and joking with each other and the crowd. I can honestly say that this one of the best political debates I have ever attended. Things got tough but it remained civil.

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Michael Buffer has a write-up in the CV.

Vondy out

CV: Luzerne County Commissioner Todd Vonderheid confirmed at a Friday morning news conference he will not seek a second term in office. He did promise to serve out the remaining 13 months of his current term.

The Yonk has his farewell letter. He notes some accomplishments but I give him and Skrep many incompletes plus some downright blunders such as the life transition plan, adding to the long term debt and still playing games with jobs.

But let's look to the future.

The heir apparent is Controller Maryanne Petrilla who took on and replaced Steve Flood when he started asking too many inconvenient questions. The Democratic Party owes her for getting rid of a loudmouth, dedicated and honest man. From what I hear she even shows up at the office once in while since Laura Bidwell was fired and can't sign Petrilla's name to official documents. Wilkes-Barre city councilwoman Kathy Kane is also looking to move up because of the uncertainty of surrounding the new districts but if she stays on council she is looking at positions with the Pennsylvania and National League of Cities. Such a tough choice when you want to be somebody. Other possible Democratic candidates are Pittston Township Supervisor Tony Attardo, Wilkes-Barre attorney Ray Hassey, and former Bear Creek Township Supervisor Ed Benkoski.

On the Republican side Steve Urban is being coy but will probably run again. Other Republicans considering a run are: Crestwood School Board member Bill Jones, Hanover Area School Board member David Shipula, Dallas chiropractor Dave Madeira, former West Hazleton Mayor Carl Puschauver and everybody's favorite Bill James. Out of this bunch Madeira is the most interesting candidate. He ran a surprising 2nd to Lisa Baker in the primary to replace retiring Charlie Lemmond in the 20th Senate District. I don't agree with him about many social issues but county commissioners aren't involved in arguments about God, guns and gays. He impressed me as a fiscal conservative who isn't afraid to speak his mind. Sounds like a good running mate for Urban.

To me the potential candidate that stands head and shoulders above the rest is former Controller Steve Flood. And I know my fellow Democrats out there will object because he is not a "team player." For four years the guy was a pain in the ass to the powers that be and we need that. Although things have improved somewhat the county government is still not run properly.
Not only the job situation but the sweetheart deals for the well connected such as the juvi jail lease. Steve Flood wants to do things not just be somebody. Flood, who lost the controller seat to Petrilla in 2005, said he is 60-40 in favor of running because “too many people” contacted him about concerns about the county’s long-term debt, management salaries and costly county real estate leases. I just hope he runs a better campaign than last time when he just sat back and let his opponents smear him.

Tom Pizano to retire

Luzerne County interim Election Director and Clerk of Courts Tom Pizano will retire on Monday.

This is a big surprise especially since the election is just over 6 weeks away and he was picked to run the Elections Bureau after Leonard Piazza got canned in April. Pizano is a former controller and county commissioner who was brought back into the county government by convicted criminal Bob Reilly.


I don't want to jump to conclusions like some of the people that comment on the TL and CV websites. I don't have a formal comment policy but I would delete many of those comments if they appeared on this blog because they are accusing him of crimes without any evidence. His friends say he is dealing with health issues.


This may have nothing to do with his decision to go back to his farm to grow pumpkins and azaleas but the Voice filed an open-records request asking for copies of his emails. The county is stonewalling saying he is a judicial employee and "Mr. Pizano email can contain DNA and RNA records" and a "Pizano email can contain a record identifying the location of an archeological site or an endangered or threatened plant or animal species if not already known to the general public."


I'm not sure what to make of that last sentence.


The county had no problem providing the CV with former elections chief Leonard Piazza's emails . They document the pissing contest he had with Controller Walter Griffith over time clocks and a turf battle with new county manager Robert Lawton which led to Lawton giving him the boot. I like this reference to Griffith "He can be a real pain!" I've been calling Walter a pain in the ass for years. shttp://gort42.blogspot.com/search?q=pain+in+the+ass


A nationwide search has been underway for the next director of elections but only received 6 responses.

Predictions-Controller

The Luzerne County Controllers race has been the hot topic on this blog over the last few months with 2 of the 3 candidates even mixing it up in the comments. I've taken some guff from a radio talk show and others for allowing you to vent your spleens with sometimes unfair comments but as I have said before this a free speech zone but if you think that something is out of bounds send me an email and I will consider deleting it. No one has objected to any comments although I did delete a few that were tasteless.

In the Controller's race I stick by my original analysis. This is the first time in a very long time that having an (R) after your name is an asset in a county race. That is why there was a crowded Republican primary and oddly only one Democrat sought the nomination. I thought that Walter Griffith (R)would win a head to head matchup with Bob Morgan (D) and a long time Democrat from Pittston, Wil Toole, being on the ballot even if he is running as an Independent probably sealed the deal.

If the Republicans don't win this one they may as well shut the doors to their campaign HQ in downtown Wilkes-Barre and go back to all their backstabbing and begging for crumbs that fall off the Dems plate that has gone on for years.

Griffith wins big with 50%+ of the vote with Morgan 2nd and Toole finishing a close 3rd.

On a personal note I like all 3 gentleman. Walter has been a "pain in the ass" for a long time and is tenanacious when he thinks something is wrong. Bob Morgan is very qualified but has the unfortunate luck of running in a Republican year. When I first heard that Wil Toole wanted to be the fiscal watchdog of the county I laughed it off because of his Pittston overtime controversy and numerous lawsuits over health insurance and other things. After seeing Toole in action at the LuLac Debate debate and talking with him afterward I changed my mind. He has a world of knowledge about the way local government works and has many good ideas to improve county government. Despite his past baggage I think he is in this race for the right reasons.


Whoever wins this race I think it would be great if all 3 candidates got together after election day and brainstormed their ideas on how to improve things

Gene Stilp for Congress

Our friend McGruff was the first to pick up this story from the wires.

Gene Stilp To Seek Democratic Nomination in the 11th

I like Gene Stilp who has been a pain in the ass of the state legislature over the 2005 pay raise and Luzerne County politicians. I met him at the reassesment rally in 2008 when he brought his big pig. He has run for office before losing a bid for Lt. Governor and State Represenative.

In a typical appeal for more participation he called for more candidates "We have a lot of talent in the 11th congressional district,” he said, “so I’m encouraging other people, Democrats, Republicans and even Independents, to go out an apply for this job. Have confidence in yourself and if you need a job and you’re very talented, apply for this job. Apply to the people of the 11th district.”

Barletta campaign manager Lance Strange can barely contain his glee: "Anyone who meets both the ballot access requirements and the minimum qualifications spelled out in the United States Constitution is able to seek the office of representative." Take that Bill Vinsko.

Walter wants the records

Luzerne County Controller Walter Griffith continues his quest to bring order out of the chaos that passes for government in Luzerne County. Today's TL story says he has instructed the 70 plus departments to provide his office with all contracts, deeds, vehicle and equipment titles, bills of sale and any other records of property owned by the county government as required by law.

The Controller’s Office did not have copies of several contracts that have come under scrutiny in recent months, including ones for a River Common video, the Wyoming Valley Airport management company and a county records improvement consultant, he said.

Griffith has recently been in the news a lot lately and some people have accused him of grandstanding. I'm reminded of the old adage "Sunlight is the best disinfectant." I say every time he finds a problem he should make it public.

He wants the Sheriff's Department to account for all the firearms that are in their possession after it came to light that they were selling machine guns and other weapons without approval. Acting Sheriff Charles Guarnieri has been stonewalling.


Former Sheriff Michael Savokinas agreed to the Tommy gun sale in August 2009, and the transaction was completed after Savokinas resigned and Guarnieri became acting sheriff in September. Solicitor Vito DeLuca has said only county commissioners can approve sales of property, including firearms issued to the sheriff's office.

Records submitted by Guarnieri show the sheriff's office sold 42 handguns to sheriff's deputies in May and January. Those sales totaled $5,150.

He has also stopped outrageous bonus payments to a select few Sheriff's Deputies.

Other items under scrutiny are cell phones and driver's licenses.

I always said Walter was a pain in the ass and that is a good thing.

Walter on the job

I've been busy with the horse race aspects of the upcoming elections for state and federal offices and have neglected the happenings of Luzerne County government so it's time to catch up.

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Republican Walter Griffith was elected as Luzerne County Controller by a wide margin on a promise of being a "pain in the ass" and so far he is living up to that. The way to be a pain is to simply ask that county government follow the law. I know that that is a novel idea around here. He has exposed various expenditures that were were not authorized by the Commissioners, Salary Board or Union contracts such as the Chief Public Defender collecting on-call pay or employees trying to cash in unused sick days far in excess of what the union contract allows. He has refused to pay invoices from companies that may not have valid contracts with the county because the Commissioners never approved them.

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Then there is the out of control Sheriff's department. They have been selling guns to a select few and Griffith wanted an accounting of all firearms in the office and was forced to subpoena acting Sheriff Charlie Guanieri who refused to cooperate. Some select deputies were getting bonus payments that exceeded their annual salaries for driving their own cars on county business that even the the union objected because it wasn't offered to all employees. When county employees use their own cars they should get 50 cents a mile not some sort of vehicle lease. The PA Attorney General is supposedly investigating this arrangement but he he is busy running for Governor so I don't expect much.

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The Luzerne County theme song.

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2013 Luzerne County elections

5 seats on the Luzerne County Council and the Controller's spot are up for reelection next year. Democrats Elaine Madden Curry and Linda McClosky Houck and Republicans Harry Haas and Eugene Kelleher along with Independent Rick Williams were the bottom 5 of 11 elected in 2009 so their seats are up this time. The other 6 seats will be decided in 2015. I haven't heard that any of them are planning to run again or bow out but it's early and I'm sure there will plenty of candidates in the primary on both sides. I can think of a few people that came up short last time that will give it another try and a few others are making some noise.

Controller Walter Griffith told me he is definitely running for reelection and I don't see anyone taking him on in the Republican primary but anything can happen. Walter has taken some criticism over audits but I would argue that he is still the most popular politician in the county because he continues to be a pain in the ass. His 2009 Democratic opponent Bob Morgan said he is not looking for a rematch but I've seen him at all sorts of political gatherings the last few months. People change their minds. The other candidate in 2009 was Wil Toole of Pittston who can't be counted out. Former Commissioner Steve Urban is also threatening to run.

2017 Election results-Luzerne County Controller

The top  race in Luzerne County was for the Controller position between incumbent  Michelle Bednar (D) and former Controller Walter Griffith (R). I was surprised that no other Republican ran in the primary considering Walter's baggage about the wiretap thing and his aggressive style.

In an interview with the Citizens Voice he promised to be a kinder, gentler Walter. Yeah right, the Walter I know is at his at his best when he is being a pain in the ass. I mean that in a good way. The message from his campaign was that he would be a watchdog, not a lapdog. So much for the kinder thing.

Michelle ran the campaign on her accomplishments without running to the press every time she found a problem but worked for a solution.  She refused to criticize her opponent when given the chance. From the CV:  Bednar declined to offer an opinion on Griffith, who resigned as controller in 2013 as part of a plea agreement in a wiretapping case.
“I would leave that to the voters,” she said. “That’s their choice.”

The Result:

Bednar       24,458  54%
Griffith       20,609  46% 

Football and politics

The Yonk's Controller gaggle is scheduled for next Monday and the Eagle's play the Redskins on MNF. Since the event will be at Bentley's and they have a bar with TV's it is perfect setting for a meeting of the Saturday OT Committee and Operatic Society. After the debate we can watch the Eagle's snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory . How did they lose to the Raiders? So come out and join us to address the financial crises by infusing cash into the malt beverage industry to ensure it's liquidity. I will send out an email to anoy,er, remind you in the next few days.

The program:

The debate/forum format will be:
1. Opening statements.
2. 3 Lead off questions.
3. Questions on the job itself and how the candidate’s perceive their role in it.
4. Audience questions submitted on index cards.

It’s free and open to the public. Monday night, October 26th, 7 to 9PM, Bentley’s.


The candidates are pain in the ass Walter Griffith (R), longtime Pittston Democratic Politico Wil Toole who is running as an independent and the invisible man Bob Morgan (D).

A note to a local radio loudmouth who is trashing bloggers this is called snark. It's what we do and I hope it offends you just like just about everything else does. Here's a quarter, go buy a sense of humor.

Who's buying your Congressman?

It has been pointed out that that our 10th District Congressman Don Sherwood has had a problem raising money from people but not from PACs. Let's take a look at who is giving to him.

The latest FEC filings tell us what special interest he is in bed with.

In this latest round he got got $4000 from EXELON CORPORATION PAC. On top of at least $18,000 he recieved from Exxon-Mobile who just reported record profits of over $40 billion while you and me pay the most for gasoline we have ever had to in our lives.

Big Pharma and Insurance companies gave him almost $10, 000 in this cycle alone. Is it any wonder that the new Medicare Drug Plan is off to such a rocky start. I'm willing to bet that he didn't even read the bill before he voted on it.

He recieved $2500 from a company in North Dakota called Agri-MArk. I don't know of any connecton locally to this outfit.

The American Bankers Association gave him at least $2000. A payoff for his vote on the bankruptcy bill.

Then I look at the list of companies that are fattening up his war chest but don't do business in our area.

BAE Systems of North America
Burlinton Northern
Caterpillar
Eli Lilly
Northrup Grummen
Dupont
General Dynamics
Genesis Healthcare
General Motors
General Electric
Lockheed Martin
Siemans

To be fair he took money from some local businesses and labor unions. Commonwelth Telephone gave him a nice chunk of cash which I will bring up at the next stockholders meeting. They hate me anyway, I love being a pain in the ass.

Walter is still a pain in the ass

Former Luzerne County Controller Walter Griffirh will not go away He had to resign in a plea deal with the AG over the recording thing. He made a big mistake in that one.


So now that he is back to being an ordinary citizen he is asking questions. Some people don't like that. The story by Jennifer in the the TL today has Walter  blasting the Retirement  Board with a worry about his !st amendment right to free speech.

The fall foliage is so beautiful

I think it is a pain in the ass.


I spent the afternoon raking leaves which is one of my least favorite yard jobs, second only to cleaning out the gutters. After doing the initial poop patrol I kept discovering more output from our Golden Retriever shit machine as I raked.


When I was a hotel manager in Boston, October was always our best month because of the leaf peepers. Some people should get a life.


After gathering the leaves in a pile I brought out my trusty Toro mulching mower and chopped them up.




There are more leaves on the way.

120th District

The hands down choice is Phyllis Mundy. I'll forgive her vote for the pay raise because the west side of the Wyoming Valley has been well represented since 1990. Like every incumbent she has brought home the bacon but her claim to fame is her knowledge of health care issues. She doesn't buy into the simplistic "blame the lawyers" BS but offers real solutions such as working to reduce medical errors. The people I know at Blue Cross consider her a total pain in the ass because of her attention to business practices of the insurance industry, I like that. Yes, Blue Cross is a "non-profit" but running up big surpluses, paying the executives enormous bonuses and treating their workers like shit deserves some scrutiny. Her opponent John Cordora can't be taken seriously. Yes he has a point about the pay raise but that can't be all your about. His other issues are gay marriage and yelling liberal. Phyllis will win big, 65%+.