Sam Stretton endorses Griffith

Most endorsements are only good for a press release unless it's a group that can deliver boots on the ground or bundle money or both. That's why Labor Unions are important for Democrats and outfits like the Club for Growth matter for Republicans.

This one matters.



Oct. 20, 2009


Luzerne County Republican Controller Candidate Walter L. Griffith Jr. has received the endorsement of attorney Samuel C. Stretton, solicitor to former county Controller Steve Flood.
In a letter to the “electors” of the county, Stretton said he “strongly” endorses Griffith as the county’s next “financial watchdog.”


“I have had the opportunity to talk to Mr Griffith on several occasions regarding the Sunshine Law and other issues and firmly believe that Walter Griffith Jr. has a firm grasp on the function and operation of Luzerne County Government,” Stretton said in the letter.


Stretton said he feels confident that Griffith would follow in Flood’s footsteps and “pick up his torch and make significant changes for the better for Luzerne County.”


Griffith called the endorsement an “honor” and said Flood is the type of public servant that all candidates, regardless of party affiliation, should emulate.


“I am humbled by Mr. Stretton’s confidence and consider it an honor that he would endorse me,” Griffith said. “I think it just goes to show that my reputation as a government watchdog is appealing to people of all political parties who want someone in the courthouse whom they can trust.”


County Republican Chairman Terry Casey said Stretton’s endorsement indicates that the message being conveyed by the rejuvenated GOP crosses party lines.


“Steve Flood is a Democrat who defeated the powerful Democratic political machine,” Casey said. “When he got into office, he proved he was a true public servant and worked for the people, not for the party. We now know that Steve Flood knew when something was amiss, long before the rest of us knew. That’s what we can expect when Walter Griffith is our controller.”

Rumors

I just heard that the Grand Jury has indicted a high ranking Luzerne County elected official. I'm working the phones to confirm it.

Luzerne County Controller

Democratic Controller Bob Morgan candidate got his turn with the Times-Leader editorial board.

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Some choice quotes:

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He hasn't been at Commissioner's meetings but assures us that “If something inappropriate is going on, you have to be the one to blow the whistle. That’s your responsibility.” ...“I don’t think that the controller in the end has a lot of political friends. I think the controller in the end does the right thing for taxpayers.”..."I think there’s a sense that county finances are a black box and that nobody’s sure that we have a problem until we have a problem, and whenever we have a problem it’s a big problem.”

Morgan said he would be a full-time controller but would continue to work for PNC Investments as a financial adviser on a “limited basis,” primarily nights and on weekends.
He does not expect PNC Investments to get involved in managing the county pension fund but said he would stay out of any such negotiations. Morgan said PNC is “very aware” of potential conflicts of interest.

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No mention of the potential conflict with PNC Bank being the county's bond underwriter.

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Morgan has a website up and takes a swipe at his 2 opponents on the front page. I have not worked in City or County government and I haven't run for multiple offices, multiple times.

GOP hopeful Walter Griffith was also interviewed by the TL.

He emphasized again that he will shut down his business and be a full time Controller. He is tenacious and said "I just won’t let go if it’s not right.”

“My big issue with county government is the lack of consistency. There never seems to be anybody that will put their hand in the air and be accountable or consistent with their policies. I think that’s crucial in government.” ...“I’ve sacrificed a lot since 2003 for the people, not that I want any accolades for that. I do it because I care. That’s the whole purpose of my running the campaign, it’s because I have a heart to serve. It’s because I want to be there to fix things if I can.”...I’ve run a business for 20 years. I think a business background and common sense is what makes it work.”

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Here is a link to his website.

Independent candidate Wil Toole was also interviewed by the TL that I covered in a previous post.

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You can read about him on his site http://www.bestcontrollercandidate.com/

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Morgan's campaign has been low key until the last couple of weeks but now he has billboards and is running radio ads that I haven't heard.

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From the Yonk: Morgan is also taking a swipe at his two rivals Republican Walter Griffith Junior and Independent Wil Toole. Morgan makes reference to the watchdog term readily applied to Griffith saying it takes more than some sort of mutt to oversee the finances of the county. He also refers to Toole’s previous administrative tenure as a way for the old boy network to continue to thrive.

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You can meet all three candidates this coming Monday night at the LuLac Political Letter candidate’s forum, Oct. 26th from 7 to 9 PM at Bentley’s in Ashley. Afterward we can watch football.

High Hopes

That is the song that Harry Kallas always sang. I miss Harry. I always loved to sit in the back yard after cutting the grass on Saturday then tuning in the Phillies game with Harry doing the play by play.

It's on YouTube. I was trying to post it but I got a bunch of errors.

I can hear his voice calling the 9th inning of this game tonight.


The Phillies win!

In the bottom of the 9th Jimmy Rollins hit a triple that drove in 2 runs and the Phil's win a 5-4 game. They are up 3-1. The Angels beat the Evil Empire in extra innings. That series is 2-1 Go halo's.

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.

Phillies win the phirst game of the World Series

Chase Utley puts 2 out of the park and Cliff Lee goes the distance scattering 6 hits and striking out 10 giving up only 1 unearned run plus he made some nifty plays in the field. I thought that CC got pulled too early but I liked the result because the Yankees bullpen got tagged for 4 more runs. Whoever invented the pitch count should be shot.

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Yankee fan favorite Pedro Martinez is going for us tomorrow.

PA State Supreme Court race

I don't pay much attention to the statewide Judge races because the candidates run on their bio's and promise to be tough on crime with an emphasis on locking up all the drug dealers. But then every politician promises to lock up all the druggies and we all know that policy has worked out well over the past 50 years. Their campaigns are financed by the lawyers that will appear before them but they assure us that that will not influence their rulings. What a bunch of hooey.



Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts make a good case for scrapping the present system and going with merit selection of Judges. Their blog JudgesOnMerit.org documents the problems with electing appellate Judges.



The Democratic nominee for the one open seat is Jack Panella
from Northampton County who presently serves on the Superior Court and was on the Court of Judicial Discipline that dropped the ball over the allegations about Luzerne County criminals Conahan and Ciavarella . They were busy with the Lokuta witchhunt orchestrated by Conahan.




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His opponent is Joan Orie Melvin from Pittsburgh who also serves on the Superior Court. Her website tells us that she has been a lifelong Republican. Her faith is the cornerstone of her life. She comes from a family of nine children raised with the principles of God and Country. Her sister is State Senator Jane Orie who helped her get the endorsement of the Pennsylvania Teamsters that didn't turn out so well. The Pennsylvania Progressive has the details.
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Melvin was in town last month and said of the Juvie Brothers scandal "This is surreal. It is right out of a Charles Dickens’ novel."
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In her previous visit to Wilkes-Barre in May she gave a long rambling speech to the local GOP faithful. In that speech she listed as one of her selling points was the upcoming redistricting after the 2010 Census telling the partisan crowd that they needed a Republican on the court to rule in favor of Republicans in any challenges to whatever plan emerges.

So much for Judges being above politics.
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Now Capitol Ideas points out that the state GOP is running a banner ad on GrassrootsPA on her behalf.

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"Tired of Barack Obama, Ed Rendell, Arlen Specter and big government Democrats ruining our nation?" the advertisement asks in yellow block capitals set against a bright-red background. And in case the message wasn't subtle enough, there's a Soviet-era hammer-and-sickle inside the "O" in Obama's last name. That oughta rally the base, eh?

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My friend Danny gave me the heads up and says


She's using a hammer and sickle for the "O" in Obama in her new web ad. Disgusting. And the best part is that it's paid for by the PA GOP.

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Comparisons to Communists or Nazi's used to be out of bounds in American politics but the Tea Bagger crowd does it all the time and now it is somehow Okay. It's one thing for a bunch of people who are ignorant of history and political philosophy to engage in this kind of nonsense but a State Supreme Court candidate should know better.
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The thing that we want in our Judges is to be impartial and not take political sides no matter what party they belong to. She flunks that test.
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I will vote for Panella.

YouTube weekend

Juvie Brother's song

Pat Benatar - Hell is for Children

The Gort42 comment policy

I don't have one.

If you think that something is out of bounds send an email and I will consider deleting it. I don't moderate comments or require that you sign in because this a free speech zone and the last thing I want to do is make it harder to comment. I do ask that you keep it clean and avoid accusing people of crimes. Other than that lets go back to mixing it up.

YouTube weekend

This is both funny and sad.

Simply Left Behind found it.





Waking Up Now has the details and documents all the crazy things that they say.

When you're right you argue the facts, when you're wrong you argue the law

That's what my lawyers tell me.


Luzerne County Democratic Jury Commissioner and Housing Authority Chairman Jerry Bonner has asked that his statements to FBI be thrown out because he was not advised of his Miranda rights before being interviewed by the feds. He may have a point if the FBI didn't follow the rules. At the same time anybody who has watched any cop show over the last 40 years knows that you that you can ask for a lawyer at anytime and refuse to answer questions that might incriminate yourself.

It looks like Jerry is going to fight the charges that he passed on a bribe just like Frank Pizzella is doing.

I hope they both get a trial so all the dirty laundry can be aired.

This week in Luzerne County corruption

Wilkes-Barre Area School Board President Frankie "Kneecaps" Pizzella pleas not guilty to being part of a job selling scheme in 2004 before he became a school director.

17 Down and Hundreds? To Go

Finally, one of the people who has been paying bribes is charged.

CV: Richard Emanski, owner of King Glass and Paint Co., has agreed to plead guilty to one count of bribery, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court. Prosecutors say he installed carpeting in the home of an unnamed school board member between November and December 2004 in return for the board member's support of his efforts to secure a district carpeting contract.

The School Director is not named in the indictment but it's either James Height or Brian Dunn.

Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority Director Allen Bellas and president of the Wyoming Valley West School Board admitted that he took a $2,000 bribe from a contractor who secured a government loan through the authority for one of those great job creation schemes called Tax Increment Financing which is similar to the Keystone Opportunity Zones. They keep telling us that the benefit of these programs is that they will bring "good paying jobs to area because of our great work ethic." I think it's corporate welfare and you and me pay more property taxes because of it.


CV reporter Dave Janoski get's out his crayon and connects the dots. The bribe was paid by Anthony Trombetta who owns Insignia Point Courtyard and Intellacom Inc. Intellacom had contracts with the Wyoming Valley West and Pittston Area school districts and Luzerne County Community College. The firm has been paid about $1.6 million by the three institutions for work on computer and security systems since 2003. 2 grand for a security camera that can be bought for a few hundred bucks elsewhere should be looked at. Two Pittston Area officials have also pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from unnamed school district contractors. Trommetta also owned a restaurant that went belly up.

I'm actually rooting for Frank Pizzella in this mess. He want's a trial and so do I so names can be named. All these people that are pleading to just one crime leaves us wondering what else they did.

Did I mention that Allan Bellas' wife, Nancy Bellas, is the Democratic candidate for Prothonotary.

Will Toole responds

In my last post I invited Wil Toole to respond to the TL story rehashing his overtime controversy when he was Pittston's city clerk/administrator. He responded with an email and left a comment on the post. Being a fair and balanced blogger I decided to put both on the front page.

From the inbox:


I was surprised to read it. When I appeared before the Editorial Board, it was discussed in detail and I thought they understood the situation.

The hours I worked were all documented and NEVER questioned by the administration I worked for. The dispute was brought to a resolve and the payback was a result of a settlement reached in a law suit I had with the city's new administration. It is a complicated two year story but basically, the judge held a conference with my attorney and me at which time he proposed a retirement figure which I accepted. I had been two years without income and with living expenses and legal expenses I had depleted all of my financial resources. I had to resolve my pension issue as quickly as possible. Therefore, I accepted the proposed settlement.

The city has a defined pension plan which is locked into the employee's final pay. For the settled upon figure to be obtained, my final payout had to be adjusted so that the pension amount conformed with the formula. I did not repay $19,000 in cash. The City's auditing firm did the calculations and after all possible deductions and credits, I was left with a total cash payback of $4,600. The payback number never had anything to do with the hours I worked, it was a settlement.

It is worth noting that before I worked at the city, there was absolutely no administrative record of employee time off. Each office or department had a record controlled and kept by that supervisor who was a member of that particular union. The first thing I did was to create time sheets that were submitted with each payroll period and was signed by the employee and his immediate supervisor and then kept in the City's payroll department. I also required myself to have a time sheet and it was approved by the council member who served as the Director of Accounts and Finance.

I would be happy to invite you to lunch at which time we can discuss this entire situation in detail. As I mentioned, it was complicated and it was political and I suffered terrible character assassination during the Walsh Administration's final election. Beginning with my military service, I spent my entire life working for and in my community. While in the Coast Guard, I was stationed aboard a ship that did patrols in the North Atlantic. When we were in port in Staten Island, I attended boy scout meetings and taught knot tying to the scouts. From that point right up to my retirement, I served my community in many ways. You can read my community efforts on my campaign web site, I am not a single issue community activist. All of my life, I did what I thought was the right thing.

Thanks for asking without first jumping on the bandwagon of character assassination.

Thanks,
Wil Toole


His comment on my last post:


Gort,

I have no problem stating who the judge was that dismissed the charges and I did discuss the entire situation during the TL interview.

The fact is that half of the charges were dismissed at the magistrate's level. Carmen Maffei was the magistrate and he said afterward that he had confusion on some of the charges but if he understood the entire situation at the time, he would have dismissed all of them. The original magistrate was Fred Pierantoni but he removed himself because of perceived conflict of interest by working in the same building with me.

The truth was that most of the judges excused themselves because they knew me personally. Judge Conahan did agree to take the case. The thing that Conahan knew and bothered me was that when he defeated Judge Musto in his election to the Bench, I was a strong supporter of Judge Musto and absolutely did not support Conahan. That's a fact! Now with that situation facing me, I thought I would be in real trouble with Conahan but there was nothing I could do about which judge was left to hear my case. He did dismiss the remainder of the charges and commented as to how could they have gotten that far? The charges were absurd.

As for the question of Conahan being a friend of mine when all this happened can be answered in the fact that it was Judge Conahan who worked out my pension law suit and the deciding factor in my accepting the proposed settlement was that my attorney and I thought that I was awarded health insurance for life. We thought it was designed the same as state pensions at the time. I mention this because it was also Judge Conahan who canceled my heath insurance coverage last year. Does that sound like he did me a favor?

Joe Valenti claims to be the only one questioning my background but the fact that I filed a defamation law suit against him may have something to do with his obsession to continue his character assassination of me.

The history of my work in my community is contained within my web site, www.BestControllerCandidate.com. At the age of 66, I wake every morning and I'm proud of the man in the mirror. I have made many efforts and spent countless hours doing what I could to improve the quality of life in my community. If voters take the time to read about my work history and my public works and then choose to base their opinion on character assassination and false charges over 10 years old then that's their right to do so. Apparently, it is the headlines that matter, not the ultimate disposition of those headlines.

This all boils down to comparing what I have done with my life, the work experience I have accumulated and the ability I have to be a good County Controller. By the way, my "Rodney King" point when interviewed was based on what I see as county officials spending more time looking to lay blame than working together to solve problems. If I'm wrong and working together is a bad objective then there are two other candidates to choose from. This is still America and as a veteran of 4 years of active duty, I will defend your right to choose. And, as a veteran I will exercise my right to defend myself when challenged.

Luzerne County Controller

The county Republicans are looking for a sweep of the 3 row offices up for election this year and many local political observers have told me if they don't win this time they never will. Next to the Commissioners the most important job under the dome is Controller. The candidates are Republican Walter Griffith , Democrat Bob Morgan and Independent Wil Toole.


Toole is a long time Democratic politico from Pittston who flirted with a run for the Democratic nomination in the spring and applied for the job in 2008 when Maryanne Petrilla became Commissioner. Rapid Edward never got around to filling the post. He is now running as an Independent.

Toole was the first Controller candidate interviewed by the Times Leader Editorial Board and sometimes sounds like Rodney King. “I don’t know why we have to be at war. I don’t know why we can’t say, ‘This is wrong. Let’s fix it,’ rather than, ‘Ha, ha, ha, I got you.’ I just don’t see that as being necessary.” He touts his achievements as Pittston's as city clerk/administrator "I ran the city of Pittston for 13 years,” Toole said the city had low tax rates, paved roads, pristine parks, adequate staff, an over-funded pension fund and manageable debt load when he left in 1997.

The article also notes that Toole made headlines in 1999 when he agreed to repay Pittston nearly $19,000 in overtime the city said he illegally obtained. Pittston officials said he obtained that money by inflating the hours of overtime he worked during his last year of employment as city clerk. Felony charges of theft and tampering with public records against Toole were dismissed by a county judge. Who was the Judge?

I find it amazing that the TL would include that information in the article but not ask him to comment about it. I have asked Toole for his side of the story and will publish his response if he answers.


The Blogfather has been researching the PNC Bank ethics policy because Democratic nominee Bob Morgan is employed by that bank. He points out many potential conflicts of interest because PNC has been involved financing Luzerne County bonds and some pension funds also wash through PNC. The company prohibits outside employment that interferes with the employee's job responsibilities or schedule. Morgan is on record as saying he will keep his job at the bank and will devote whatever time he feels is necessary to the Controller's position. I'm just guessing but I think he keeps banker's hours so how is he going to be available for all the meetings of the Salary Board, Retirement Board, Commissioner's meetings and just running the day to day operations of the office? Maybe he has a lot of vacation time saved up.


The Lu Lac Political Letter is hosting a debate between the candidates at Bentley’s, Route 309 in Ashley Tuesday October 27th from 7 to 9PM. All three candidates have accepted David's invitation.

This is neat. A venue that I can grab a drink then go to a political debate. I think that we can make this into a blogger/committee meetup.


Update: The date for the debate is MONDAY OCT. 26th. We changed the date because of WVIA TV's broadcast debate on the night of the 27th. We felt it wouldn't be fair to the candidates to compete with that. So the debate is Monday, Oct. 26th

Mike LaPolla for State Represenative

Freshman Democratic State Rep Kevin Murphy has an opponent.

From a press release.

LaPolla Announces Bid for 113th Legislative District Post

New Leadership Needed in 2010

North Scranton-Last evening, Mike LaPolla announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for State Representative of the 113th Legislative District to a crowd of 75 supporters, friends and family in North Scranton.

Mike LaPolla stated that he has spent the latter part of his career in service to the Boy Scouts of America and now seeks to take that philosophy of accountability, hard work and service to the community to the Pennsylvania General Assembly. LaPolla described himself as someone who carries no baggage and has no backs to scratch. He stated that he is a straightforward, honest, middle class citizen like the taxpayers of the 113th Legislative District.

“I have no political ties to special interest groups except one, the taxpayers of the 113th Legislative District” LaPolla said. “From Moosic and Taylor to Throop and South Abington with Scranton in the middle, property tax reform and the inability of the legislature to pass an acceptable budget in the time specified by law are the key issues the taxpayers face today. It took 101 days to get a mediocre budget passed that does not address the issue of a multi-billion dollar shortfall next year. Many citizens of the commonwealth were hurt by this inactivity and lack of accountability on the part of the legislature. If our representatives in the General Assembly are incapable of providing a solid, balanced and fair budget by July 1st as the law states, they should receive no pay, no per diems, and be sequestered in Harrisburg until such time as they come to an agreement on the budget. We elect our legislators to do the business of the Commonwealth in the best representation of the people they serve. This year, our legislature has failed miserably at great detriment to the people of the Commonwealth. This lack of accountability to the taxpayers must change and will change when I am elected to represent the people of the 113th Legislative District.

Mike LaPolla and his wife Jacqueline live in North Scranton. Mike has worked in service to the Boy Scouts of America for the past 11 years as Senior District Executive.

Christopher Paige for Congress

There is at least one Republican in Pennsylvania's 11th Congressional District that is willing to take on Paul Kanjorski that is not named Lou Barletta.

Coulter Jones broke the news in the Citizens Voice a few days ago that Christopher Howard Paige filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission this past week, clearing the way for the 37-year-old Skytop man to run for Congress. Paige, who runs a hedge fund with his wife in Monroe County, was a registered Democrat until 2008, but switched registration to the Republican Party after the Democratic-majority Congress passed the TARP - the Troubled Assets Relief Program, which was part of the bailout of the U.S. financial system.

My first reaction was Who is this guy? So I started asking around.

I contacted long time Kanjorski spokesman Ed Mitchell who replied "Never heard of him. Got balls running as a hedge fund manager these days!"

Our best local researcher McGruff did some digging and found out that Paige graduated from the University of Virginia, has a law degree from Yale University and a master's degree in political science from New York University. He was the Director of The Pace Poll and is now dealing in exotic financial instruments that most of us don't understand and may have contributed to the financial meltdown that happened last fall. He moved to the Poconos in 2006 was a registered Democrat until 2008.

Some choice quotes.

From the CV:

"I'm not some hardcore Republican. What the Democratic Party has been doing with the economy has been disastrous. We cannot let this continue."

He takes a shot at Barletta.

"We've tried that twice. We don't need to try that again. I don't share his approach on immigration at all. I think he would damage the Republican Party's reputation with that approach."

And he took a shot at Kanjo about his oversight of the financial industry and his vote for the TARP program.


"That's like bragging you were on the bridge of the Titanic and in charge of navigation," Paige said. "These bailouts were unbelievably expensive, and obviously ineffective if you look at what has happened to the economy. Just take it the common sense, how does it make sense to take our money to give it to banks so they can lend our money back to us?"

More choice quotes from the Pocono Record.

“I was outraged by the bailouts which I think are unconstitutional. You are throwing societal resources at inefficient companies.”

“The housing bubble was fueled by government policy subsidizing home ownership. We've got to stop trying to subsidize various industries.”

In an interview with pa2010.com he said “I think the public has decided to get rid of Kanjorski, they just saw Barletta as an unacceptable alternative,” Paige said. “Had it been someone else, we would have won last year.”

I had a brief conservation with Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta on Saturday who also had no idea who this guy is and declined to respond to Paige's criticisms. I asked him a few questions.

The last time I talked to you I got the impression you were running for Lt. Governor, what happened to that?

"I want to be in a position to affect change and that is not an office that would let me do that."

Are you going to run for Congress again?

"I haven't ruled it out and I'm very seriously looking at the race."

Has your Congressional campaign committee raised any money this quarter?

"Very little, just trying to retire the debt."

When I talked to you in your office last January it was obvious that you love being the Mayor of Hazelton.

"Staying Mayor is not out of the question."

Mayor Lou will be teaming with Mayor John DeStefano Jr. of New Haven, Conn. to discuss immigration at a forum at Wilkes University on Oct. 22.

One thing that I like about Barletta is that he has a thick skin. I disagree with him on many issues and have beat him up on this blog many times but he always talks to me.


Corey O'Brien didn't return a phone call asking for comment.

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Update: As noted Paige was a Democrat until 2008 and his campaign contributions reflect that. According the the HuffPo he gave $2300 to Hillary Clinton in 2008, $1800 to John Kerry in 2004 and $600 to Howard Dean in 2004. Watchdog.net lists contributions of
$250 to Actblue and $250 to Sestak For Congress in 2006.

Bellas fired

Or suspended, it amounts the same thing.

WEST PITTSTON - The Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority suspended Executive Director Allan Bellas without pay today after Bellas rescinded a promise he would resign amid "trouble" stemming from a federal corruption investigation.

His legal problems appears to be part of one the property tax give away programs to local businesses that promise to bring "good paying jobs to the area because of our work ethic." The rest of us make up the shortfall in tax revenue every year. The TL has more about Tax Incremental Financing. A source familiar with the investigation said Bellas has signed a plea agreement with federal prosecutors and is expected to be charged soon with accepting money in connection with some official action. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he did not know if the alleged wrongdoing was related to Bellas’ position on the authority, the Wyoming Valley West School Board or some other entity.

He also served on the LCCC Board of Trustees from 2003 to 2007.

So I will go out on a limb and predict that he will be charged with just one crime leaving us to wonder what else he did like many of the other people snared so far. I want trials for all these people detailing who paid them how much and when.

His wife, Nancy Bellas, is the Democratic nominee for Luzerne County Prothonotary and could probably now kiss that off.

I have been predicting for months that Republican Carolee Medico Olenginski would win the election and fair or not this probably made her case about corruption.

Baseball, Football, Painting, Politics and Religion

Pretty much a complete Sunday.

While watching the Eagles beat the worst team in the the NFL, the Red Sox getting eliminated from the playoffs and as of right now it looks like the Evil Empire will knock off the Twins we somehow got most of the living room painted. New carpeting and furniture is next.

My post yesterday about Gina Nevenglosky 's Day of Prayer at the courthouse resulted in a spirited discussion and I would thank everyone (especially Rene and Steve)for joining in the banter with some thoughtful comments. I will concede that I may have overstated that this was violation of the establishment clause of the 1st amendment as many of you pointed out but when I read the agenda for the event it came across to me as a church service on public property masquerading as a political rally.

Religion is a good thing that motivates many people to do good things such as making sure their neighbors have enough to eat but when it gets into the political realm it can be destructive. How many wars have been fought because one tribe thought that the one next to them worshiped the wrong god or didn't worship god in the right way? I think Jesus had it right, “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.”

I'm not religious but I have always tried to live my life according to the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." If only politicians could live up to that.

On a lighter note the best way to see me at church is to sit by the window and I will wave to you as I drive by.

This has floating around for a while and I don't know how true it is but it gave me a chuckle and is a good critique of religion:

Is Hell Exothermic or Endothermic (Boyle’s Law)

Bonus Question of the mid-term exam: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle’s Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.
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One student, however, wrote the following:
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“First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let’s look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle’s Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added. This gives two possibilities: 1. if Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, and then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose. 2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over. So which is it?


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If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my freshman year that “it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you,” and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number 2 must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is, therefore, extinct…leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being, which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting “Oh my God.”

Kanjo to the rescue

The Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre has hit a rough patch lately and some people are predicting it's demise because of the sour economy. I think it will survive but they have to book better acts than Johnny Mathis and Brian Wilson but that's just my opinion.

Anyway, Congressman Paul Kanjorski will announce on Tuesday that he got some money to fix the roof on the place.

The Kirby is a gem and is my favorite place to see a show and we have seen many of them. The upcoming lineup has something for everyone. I looking forward to the imitation Pink Floyd band in the winter.

Kanjorski has been on CNBC talking regulatory reform and working hard in committee meetings trying to figure out how to avoid another meltdown like what happened when Bush was occupying the White House. Note to my Republican friends: history didn't start on January 20th of this year. The government's finances were blown up by the last guy. I haven't blogged much about his work to reform the financial industry because it gets too wonky for me but if you are interested you can read about it here.

He even got a shout out from our Nobel Prize winning President.

Pray with Gina today

Republican candidate for Register of Wills Gina Nevenglosky will be praying at the Luzerne County Courthouse today at 1PM.

The program was sent along by Kathy Dobash.

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Opening Prayer by Pastor Tom Miller of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship

Selected Christian Songs by the Perspective Church Praise Band

Prayers for our County and the Elected Officials of Luzerne County By Pastor Sarah Washington

Why support Gina in this election? By Pastor Sam Washington

Commissioner Steve Urban - remarks and special introduction of our Republican candidate for Register of Wills/Clerk of Orphans Court Gina Nevenglosky

Selected Christian Songs by the Perspective Church Praise Band

Open to the public for prayer

Closing prayer by Pastor John Murray

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WTF? I think the 1st amendment regarding the separation of church and state even applies to Luzerne County. I have never met Gina despite going to countless Republican events over the last few months but she was always a no show. We will miss each other again because I will be watching the Penn State game on ESPN 360 at that time because Comcast removed ESPN Classic from my cable lineup last year.

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Update: A couple of wags on my Facebook page have suggested that the courthouse needs an exorcism instead of a prayer service. Another Monkey is worried that Facebook and Twiiter will kill blogging. I think that Facebook expands my audience but I haven't tried Twitter yet.

This guy has balls

I spotted this LTE in the CV written by an attorney that recently started practicing in Luzerne County. Under the previous regime of Conahan and Ciavarella he would never win another case in this county again. We will see if things change.


Judge Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. claims he saw nothing, heard nothing and knew nothing about the injustice occurring in the courts of Luzerne County. I don't believe him. I do believe that he would do anything to save his $157,000 a year job, as would his fellow judge, Tom Burke.
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Terrorists at Guantanimo Bay had more rights than children did in Luzerne County. How would you feel if it were your child who was lied to, tricked and unjustly sent to kiddie concentration camp?
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Olszewski and Burke claim they did nothing wrong. "It wasn't me, It was them. I didn't know. How could I know?" Just men had a duty to discover the truth. Olszewski said the hearings took place a half a mile away in another building. How could he hear? How did an advocacy group over 100 miles away in Philadelphia hear enough to file lawsuits on behalf of more than 500 children? How did the FBI know enough about it to raid juvenile probation? Olszewski says if he knew he would have told the FBI. If "ifs" and "buts" were candy and nuts, oh what a party we'd have.
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I was a judicial law clerk in Schuylkill County. In my experience, what went on in the courthouse and in many of the cases was common knowledge among the judges, staff members and law clerks. Even then, almost 10 years ago, stories were coming out of Luzerne County from lawyers and litigants alike, that the judges were crooked, that the cases were fixed. It was not until I started practicing in Luzerne County that I realized that most of the gossip was true.
Peter Paul Olszewski and Thomas Burke have failed us. They have failed to protect us. They have failed to protect our children.

Now it is election time and they want you to know them as "Peter Paul" and "Tom." After they win retention they're back to being "Your Honor," and we the people are back to being nobodies. In this lawyer's opinion, Judge Olszewski and Judge Burke do not deserve to be retained as judges.
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Attorney Joseph A. Woitko
Beaver Meadows

The question I keep asking is how does everybody know what was going on in Lokuta's courtroom but nobody knew what was going on in Ciavarella's? Zen want's to know why the District Attornerys David Lupas (now Judge) and Jackie Musto Carrol and their staffs did not notice a gross disparity between the offense and the punishment that was meted out?

And how about the Probation Department and the Public Defenders?

PPO-2 answered my question a week ago and the TL has Tom Burke's defense today.


"I can tell you categorically I did not have a single incident where a lawyer came to me and said, ‘By the way, there’s something you should look out for because there may be abuses,’ ” Burke said. “We can look back now and say if there were more checks and balances, maybe these abuses would have been discovered sooner.”

Cliff Lee goes the distance

Phil's up 1-0 in NLDS

This is why they got him from the long suffering Indians.

Cliff Lee threw a complete game against the Rockies scattering 6 hits with 5 strike outs giving up a meaningless run in the 9th inning with 2 outs leading Philadelphia to a 5-1 win over Colorado. After a shaky start he retired 16 in a row until a wind blown single in the 7th. He even got a hit and stole 2nd. My team MVP Jason Werth lead the offense going 2 for 3 with an RBI and 2 runs scored including a triple that I thought was going to be an inside the park HR.

The Dodgers beat the Cardinals 5-3 and the Evil Empire knocked of the Twinkees 7-2.

Get well Leonard

Luzerne County Director of Elections Leonard Piazza had a health scare a few days ago but it looks like he will be okay. He is a workaholic who puts up puts up with cranks like me bugging him at all hours with questions about election law issues and he always responds. He is one of the good guys in county government.

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If you are on Facebook go wish him well.

Gas and water

Relatives of Mrs G informed us the other day that they signed a 5 year lease with a company to drill for natural gas on their land in Wyoming County for the tidy sum of $125,000 and the promise of royalties down the line. They didn't want to hear my objections to that decision even when I pointed out that they live off well water that may become polluted. They just saw dollar signs.

To drill just one well requires 1 to 5 million gallons of fresh water that is treated with all sorts of chemicals and most of it remains in the ground that that may leech into the aquifer. The water that rises to the surface is held in man made ponds lined with plastic and containment barriers that have failed and spilled into local streams and rivers killing fish and polluting drinking water.

Now various companies are proposing to build treatment plants so the water from the extraction can be discharged into the Susquehanna River and other waterways. The first problem with that is that companies doing the drilling won't disclose what chemicals they are using claiming it's "propriety information."

Near Tunkhannock North Branch Processing LLC hopes to build a plant near Skyhaven Airport to clean the “frac” water and discharge it into the river. The locals aren't thrilled with the idea, “If they’re going to discharge it into the Susquehanna River, which people fish in, which people play in, it should be clean enough to drink,” said George Turner, a local geologist with experience handling contaminated water. “If they can’t clean it up that much, then reuse it as frac water.”

Another plant is in the works near Williamsport to be built by TerrAqua Resource Management. Kayak Dude spoke out at the DEP permit hearing. Don Williams of Harleysville said allowing the gas industry to gain a foothold in the state would set back environmental improvement efforts decades. Williams compared "the Marcellus Shale frenzy" to making a pact with the devil.
"We are once again striking a Faustian bargain at the expense of our natural resources, degrading the quality of our land and our waters in exchange for the false promises of jobs and the fleeting economic prosperity for a limited few," he said.
"I am fully opposed to the further degradation of the Susquehanna River ... and I am respectfully requesting this application be denied," Williams said.
Williams added that until the gas industry provides full disclosure of all chemicals used in the hydrofracturing process, action on all gas drilling wastewater treatment plant applications be suspended.

Don's complete testimony is here .

un-naturalgas.org is a New York state site about Marcellus Shale that has a great primer on all the issues involved, take a few minutes and read it.

This post about living next door to gas drilling activity documents the impact on your quality of life even if you don't allow drilling on your land but your neighbor does.

“It’s not just the drilling”: living with pipelines

Number 4 on Minnesota

This is killing my Green Bay friends.

Skrep wants to borrow more money

"I am alright with borrowing."- Luzerne County Commissioner Gregory Skrepenak

No matter how many jobs they eliminate or expenses that they cut in the end Majority Commissioners Democrat Maryanne Petrilla and Republican Steve Urban will have to vote to raise property taxes if they want to avoid borrowing even more money. Nobody wants to pay more taxes, I know I don't, and they just may pay for that decision in the next election.

The reason this is coming to a head now is because the last administration of the Bond Brothers, Skrep and Todd Vonderheid, put out unrealistic budgets full of fictitious revenues then scrambled the next year restructuring debt and borrowing even more money just to meet payroll.

Nobody has been as hard on Petrilla as I have been. I would like to interview her and ask some questions about the 2004 campaign but she has been upfront on the county's fiscals woes.

It's hard to follow the incompetence and fiscal recklessness of the previous administration. Just ask Barack Obama.


http://citizensvoice.com/news/budget_hearings_start_as_county_looks_to_make_cuts

First dustup in the 11th CD race

Ace political reporter Borys caught this in Corey O'Brien's announcement that he is running for the Pennsylvania 11th Congressional seat against Paul Kanjorski that was included in his prepared text.

"The old-style politics of greed and personal profit have no place in our government, and we must fight to replace them with new-style leadership. In our region, we deserve to receive our fair share of federal tax dollars. And we deserve a congressman who will put that money in your pockets, not his own pockets."...To those who think all politicians are corrupt, I say let’s change that.


Kanjo campaign spokesman Ed Mitchell, accused Mr. O'Brien of making a "wild statement" that was "almost libelous."

So it looks like the Cornerstone controversy that was investigated up and down and in and out by the Navy and the Karl Rove Justice Department but no charges were ever filed will be front and center of the O'Brien campaign. When I interviewed Corey last April he declined to take a shot at Kanjo's ethics but times change.

You mentioned Congressman Kanjorski and what’s going on in Luzerne County in the same breath, do you think he has any ethical problems?


I’m not going to talk about other potential candidates in 2010. I can just tell you that my record on ethics reform, openness and transparency are very, very clear. I have a strong record with respect to that. Other people can judge his record of ethical considerations and that kind of stuff. I think that there is a clear distinction there between myself and him with respect to that. But that’s for somebody else to talk about. If I get into this race I’m going to be running a campaign based on what I’ve been able to get done and what I want to do going forward and other people can make those comparisons. Some people may say our records differ with respect to openness and transparency.

Phargon Phillies Phinish in Phirst

The unsung hero of the team this year was Jason Werth. He came up just short of the century mark for RBI's (99) and runs scored (97). Jason got a hit when they needed one and finished with 36 HR's and 20 stolen bases. He also made the All-Star team for the first time in his career.

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I'm not too optimistic about the Phillies chances this post-season but anything can happen in baseball. The last 2 years they had to fight their way into the playoffs and were red hot in September but this year the Sept/Oct record is 19-16. Let's hope that this resting the starters strategy works. But if your closer gives you a heart attack every time he takes the mound the only thing you can do is put a towel on your head and hope for the best.

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In other sports news the Eagles were off this week and the Cowboys lost. Penn State took care of business clobbering Illinois 35-17 and will play cupcake U next week then they get into the meat of the Big Ten schedule with Minnesota coming to Beaver Stadium and a trip to the Big House after that to play Michigan.

Joe Sestak was in town yesterday

Congressman Joe Sestak (PA-07) was at Wilkes Unversity in Wilkes-Barre yesterday and the first I heard about it was a message on Facebook from a student the night before. I've been bitching about the poor advance work of the Sestak campaign for months. Maybe I'm getting a big head but I think they should let the the local bloggers know when Joe will be in the neighborhood especially since we want to support him. One wag made the observation that he wants to be the Senator from MSNBC instead of Pennsylvania.

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Sestak is taking on party switcher Arlen Specter in the 2010 Democratic primary for US Senator from Pennsylvania. The President , Governor and the other Senator are backing Arlen after he realized that he couldn't win a Republican primary election against right wing darling Pat Toomey who came close to knocking him off in the 2004 Republican primary. In that election his biggest boosters were White House occupant George W Bush and our junior Senator from Virginia Rick Santorum who is now looking at running for President. There are many Democrats like me that have never voted for Specter and never will. Scottish Law, Anita Hill, single bullet, Ira Eichhorn the list is endless.

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Anyway, we have a report from Wilkes student Tony Thomas about Sestak's visit:

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On October 2nd Congressman Joe Sestak visited Wilkes University for an intimate town hall meeting with college students. Sestak spoke for about and hour and a half on the job market, economy, and his ideas for helping college students. Joe stated he supports investing 85 billion in small businesses through the Small Business Administration which he argues would improve economic recovery and help stem job losses.

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While in Congress Joe voted to increase the maximum for Pell Grants, he voted to increase eligibility for Pell Grants, he voted to increase unsubsidized Stafford Loans by $2,000. He also voted to give parents more time to repay those loans.

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Students and faculty were given the opportunity to ask Sestak his opinions on a variety of issues. Healthcare and the Public Option were the first issues that were brought up in questioning. “I got in Congress for his healthcare bill”, he told the audience. Sestak supports the House bill that mandates all Americans get health insurance or risk a fine for not doing so.

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As for the Public Option, Sestak said that he strongly supported it. His response was met with applause from the audience. He clarified that the plan would not be subsidized by the public, but would be paid for by money the insurance companies receive from premiums paid by the insured. Sestak said that the plan would save money because the government would not have to pay advertising costs and would not be paying tens of millions of dollars for a CEO to run it. Instead Sestak said that the government would have an individual similar to a Cabinet official run the program for a salary of around $200,000 dollars.

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Other questions were on the war in Afghanistan, gay marriage and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, marijuana legalization, and Ron Paul’s Audit the Fed bill.

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War in Afghanistan:

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Sestak acknowledged that the war in Afghanistan is a very difficult issue and he said that if the goal is to eradicate al-Qaida in Afghanistan and along the Pakistan border, then he does support continued efforts. However, if the goal is national building, he stated that he does not support continued efforts. He does support a timetable for withdrawal, but stated that there should not be a mandatory date as of yet to withdraw.

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Gay Marriage and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell:

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Sestak stated that he believes all Americans are equal. He highlighted his support for repealing the Defense of Marriage Act. Joe clarified that he believes marriage is up to a church, but he said that if a church wants to perform same-sex marriage they should be allowed to do so. On DADT, Sestak highlighted his 31 year career in the Navy and told the audience that he strongly supports repealing DADT. Joe stated that he believes that the Obama Administration must do something for equality by the end of the year and he suggested either ending DADT or DOMA.

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Marijuana Legalization:

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Sestak stated that he does not support legalizing marijuana even for taxing the substance. He suggested that perhaps a generation difference contributed to his opinion being different from the student who questioned him. Sestak did point out that he supports medicinal marijuana.

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Audit the Fed:

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Joe was asked about Ron Paul’s Audit the Fed bill and stated that he supports the bill 50%. He believes in transparency of government and accountability, but pointed out that a truly independent investigation is needed and he wants to avoid a political investigation of the Fed.

Joe concluded the event by thanking all those in attendance and said that he in this race for Pennsylvanians and not for political interest. He criticized Arlen Specter’s conversion to the Democratic Party and said that Specter is a flight-risk if elected. Sestak slammed Specter for putting politics above governing by highlighting when Harry Reid recessed the Senate so Specter could attend a fundraiser and not be criticized for missing votes. Sestak said that he would never put politics above his elected duties.

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Thanks to Tony for covering this event. I can't make it to everything so I am asking my readers to help me out. Please cover and write-up anything to do with local or state politics and send it to me. Maybe I should offer a prize like a tee shirt for being a front page guest poster on Gort42. The Mean Old Man will probably just shoot the thing with a shotgun.

The Rodney Dangerfield of this race is State Rep Bill Kortz. He gets no respect.

Kanjo responds

Statement by Ed Mitchell on behalf of the Kanjorski campaign (PA-11) on O’Brien announcement:

“Congressman Kanjorski looks forward to a full and thorough debate of his record and the issues in the primary election.“He believes that in today’s tough economic times we need a Congressman who has a record of fighting for veterans’ benefits, protecting Social Security and Medicare for seniors and pushing for job creation and affordable health care for all working families.

“Congressman Kanjorski is the best person to do that.”

Kanjorski's campaign website is

Kanjorski Democrat Standing Up For Us

His government site is

Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski Proudly Serving the 11th District of Pennsylvania