1
1 SCRANTON CITY COUNCIL MEETING
2
3
4
5 Held:
6 Thursday, March 1, 2007
7
8
9 Time:
10 6:30 p.m.
11
12
13 Location:
14 Council Chambers
15 Scranton City Hall
16 340 North Washington Avenue
17 Scranton, Pennsylvania
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20
21
22
23 Lisa M. Graff, RMR
24 Court Reporter
25
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1 CITY OF SCRANTON COUNCIL:
2
3 MS. JUDY GATELLI, COUNCIL PRESIDENT
4
5 MR. WILLIAM COURTRIGHT, VICE-PRESIDENT
6
7 MS. SHERRY NEALON FANUCCI
8
9 MR. ROBERT MCGOFF
10
11 MR. AMIL MINORA, ESQUIRE, SOLICITOR
12
13 MS. KAY GARVEY, CITY CLERK
14
15 MR. NEIL COOLICAN, ASSISTANT CITY CLERK
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25
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1 MS. GATELLI: Okay. Please stand
2 for the Pledge Of Allegiance. Please remain
3 standing for a moment of reflection. Roll
4 call.
5 MR. COOLICAN: Mrs. Evans. Mrs.
6 Fanucci.
7 MS. FANUCCI: Here.
8 MR. COOLICAN: Mr. McGoff.
9 MR. MCGOFF: Here.
10 MR. COOLICAN: Mr. Courtright.
11 MR. COURTRIGHT: Here.
12 MR. COOLICAN: Mrs. Gatelli.
13 MS. GATELLI: Here. Mrs. Garvey.
14 MS. GARVEY: Third order. 3-A,
15 CONTROLLER'S REPORT FOR THE MONTH ENDING
16 JANUARY 31, 2007.
17 MS. GATELLI: Are there any
18 comments? If not, received and filed.
19 MS. GARVEY: 3-B, AGENDA FOR THE
20 ZONING HEARING BOARD MEETING HELD ON
21 FEBRUARY 28, 2007.
22 MS. GATELLI: Are there any
23 comments? If not, received and filed.
24 MS. GARVEY: 3-C, MINUTES OF THE
25 COMPOSITE PENSION BOARD MEETING HELD ON
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4
1 JANUARY 24, 2007.
2 MS. GATELLI: Are there any
3 comments? If not, received and filed.
4 MS. GARVEY: 3-D, AGENDA FOR THE
5 ZONING HEARING BOARD MEETING TO BE HELD ON
6 MARCH 14, 2007.
7 MS. GATELLI: Are there any
8 comments? If not, received and filed.
9 MS. GARVEY: 3-E, MINUTES OF THE
10 NON-UNIFORM PENSION BOARD MEETING HELD ON
11 JANUARY 24, 2007.
12 MS. GATELLI: Are there any
13 comments? If not, received and filed.
14 MS. GARVEY: 3-F, MINUTES OF THE
15 NON-UNIFORM PENSION BOARD SPECIAL MEETING
16 HELD ON JANUARY 29, 2007.
17 MS. GATELLI: Are there any
18 comments? If not, received and filed.
19 MS. GARVEY: 3-G, AGENDA FOR THE
20 NON-UNIFORM PENSION BOARD MEETING HELD ON
21 FEBRUARY 28, 2007.
22 MS. GATELLI: Are there any
23 comments? If not, received and filed.
24 MS. GARVEY: Fourth order, Citizens
25 Participation I, agenda items.
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5
1 MR. COURTRIGHT: Could I say
2 something first?
3 MS. GATELLI: Yes. Before we start,
4 I just have a few announcements, and so does
5 Mr. Courtright.
6 Sunday at three o'clock at
7 Lackawanna Junior College and the Mellow
8 Theater will be the Tony Kenney's Ireland
9 Show.
10 This weekend The Cultural Center is
11 Sesame Street Live, tomorrow 3:30 and seven,
12 Saturday 10:30, two and 5:30, and Sunday at
13 one o'clock and 4:30.
14 Saturday at the Steamtown Mall from
15 noon to five will be Sponge Bob Square
16 Pants. So, any of you that have little
17 children will certainly be interested in
18 that.
19 On Monday evening, March 19 at
20 seven' o'clock there will be a cable TV
21 advisory meeting in these chambers,
22 March 19th at seven, cable TV.
23 Every Friday at St. Michael's
24 Ukrainian Church at 540 North Main Avenue
25 they are selling homemade pierogies.
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6
1 There's a clam chowder sale every
2 Friday during Lent at the Dente Club from
3 eleven to 12:30 on Friday, and you can call
4 342-1770 to order.
5 There was a meeting, I don't know if
6 anyone noticed, at the Dunmore City Council
7 on Monday evening, and what was under
8 consideration there was a group home for
9 Keystone Community Resources. If you read
10 the article in the paper, Council in Dunmore
11 rejected that proposal.
12 Now, in the City of Scranton for
13 years we have been told that we cannot
14 object to group homes in residential
15 neighborhoods, and we have done so, even as
16 a neighborhood leader, I can speak to that
17 effect, that we never fought group homes
18 because we were told that we couldn't.
19 So, I called Donny King today
20 concerning this article, because I said, if
21 they're doing it in Dunmore, why aren't we
22 doing it in Scranton? Why are we just
23 accepting it in our neighborhoods?
24 And he said that he would check into
25 it with the ordinance up in Dunmore, but he
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7
1 claims that if it is challenged by anyone,
2 they will lose in court, because they do
3 have the Disabilities Act on their side.
4 So, I will keep you informed of the
5 results I get from Mr. King. But I mention
6 this, because there are some neighborhood
7 people that are very unhappy about a group
8 home in their particular neighborhood and
9 wondering why City Council isn't fighting
10 it, and I hope to get them the answer,
11 because I think Donny is right, that we
12 really can't, and Dunmore, if they are
13 challenged in court, would probably lose the
14 case. But I will keep you posted on that
15 fact.
16 And I just have one request, Kay, if
17 you'd call Jeff Mackey again and tell him
18 that there's a van parked in front of 106
19 North Cameron Avenue for the last three
20 months.
21 I have the license number. I will
22 give it to you later. And that's all I
23 have. Mr. Courtright.
24 MR. COURTRIGHT: Two things.
25 Evidently Mrs. Evans is sick, I just got
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8
1 word that she tried to call me. I did not
2 answer my phone, I was teaching, I don't
3 answer the phone when I'm teaching. So, for
4 the rest of Council, that's why she's not
5 here, she's sick.
6 I can count on one hand the number
7 of times since I've been on Council I
8 responded to anything in the paper. I don't
9 make a practice of doing that, but last week
10 there was an editorial, I guess, in there
11 about Mr. Parker being here with the snow
12 removal, and there was also an article in
13 Sunday's paper about it.
14 And in the editorial it said that I
15 said the roads were impeccable in past
16 administrations. I never said the roads
17 were impeccable, I never said anything
18 remotely like that.
19 What I said was I thought past
20 administrations had done a better job in
21 storms as bad, if not worse, than that.
22 It also said that I offered -- in
23 both articles I offered no insight into
24 better street cleaning.
25 I don't know what meeting they were
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1 watching, if they were watching any, and I
2 would offer to give them a tape of the
3 meeting, I would offer to get them the
4 minutes of the meeting.
5 I made no less than five or six
6 suggestions to Mr. Parker, and Mr. Parker
7 responded to each and every one of them. As
8 a matter of fact, I believe Mr. Parker was
9 agreeable to three of my suggestions.
10 They also went on to say, you know,
11 it was for political gain. I can't help the
12 fact that we had this storm in a year that
13 I'm running for office. I didn't do it for
14 political gain.
15 I think the politics is on The Times
16 that they know I'm running for office and
17 obviously don't want me to win, so I guess
18 I'm going to get pounded each and every week
19 between now and May.
20 But I thank God for Channel 16. I
21 didn't see it, but evidently at ten o'clock
22 news, Channel 16 actually said that I had
23 five -- a five step plan to try to help with
24 snow removal.
25 So, I would just ask the owners of
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1 The Times if they could order their
2 employees to print a retraction and print
3 the truth about what I did say.
4 And I would be happy to supply them
5 with minutes of the meeting or a tape of the
6 meeting. And that's all I have. Thank you
7 for letting me speak.
8 MS. GATELLI: You're welcome.
9 Anyone else? And excuse me, but I just
10 forgot two items. Last week I mentioned to
11 a speaker that came here about students
12 being cited for smoking outside of a store,
13 and I said that the store requested that the
14 students be cited.
15 The students told me that, and I
16 spoke to the store owner, and the store
17 owner did not request that the students be
18 cited. The police officer did that,
19 according to the ordinance, and seven
20 students were cited. So, I just wanted to
21 apologize to the store for misrepresenting
22 what was told to me.
23 And, also, a speaker last week said
24 that the city cleaned the CYC for the boxing
25 event, and I received a phone call the next
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1 morning from the contractor that was paid by
2 Lackawanna Junior College to clean at
3 Lackawanna -- at the old CYC for the boxing
4 event.
5 So, I want to clarify that the City
6 of Scranton did not pay for snow removal at
7 the CYC. I just want the public to be aware
8 of that, because sometimes things are said
9 here, and then we find out later that, you
10 know, it's not true.
11 So, I apologize for that
12 misunderstanding, and Lackawanna Junior
13 College paid a private contractor.
14 And that's all I have. And the
15 first speaker is Andy Sbaraglia.
16 MR. SBARAGLIA: We're not going to
17 go through the list?
18 MS. GATELLI: What list?
19 MR. SBARAGLIA: All the things like
20 were -- like the reports to the city and so
21 forth and so on? We're already into -- we
22 skipped everything else, huh?
23 MS. GATELLI: No, we did the
24 reports.
25 MR. SBARAGLIA: You did the reports?
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12
1 MS. GATELLI: Yeah, Kay read them.
2 MR. SBARAGLIA: You did? That's
3 odd. I didn't hear it. I'm sorry. I'm
4 sorry if I didn't hear them reports. Okay.
5 Of course they were short, but okay.
6 MS. GATELLI: There was at least 12
7 of them.
8 MR. SBARAGLIA: Yeah. That's odd.
9 I was standing back there.
10 MS. GATELLI: Seven, of them, I'm
11 sorry.
12 MR. SBARAGLIA: Okay. Okay. Let's
13 go on with the 408. We might as well get it
14 through. You know how much the building is
15 appraised at right now?
16 MS. NEALON FANUCCI: Yes.
17 MR. SBARAGLIA: What's it appraised
18 at?
19 MS. NEALON FANUCCI: $170,000.
20 MR. SBARAGLIA: Who appraised it?
21 MS. NEALON FANUCCI: They did not
22 give me the contractor's name who did the
23 appraisal, but it was appraised for
24 $170,000. That did include the business
25 itself.
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1 MR. SBARAGLIA: By a licensed
2 appraiser, I assume.
3 MS. NEALON FANUCCI: Oh, yes,
4 absolutely.
5 MR. SBARAGLIA: Okay. And the
6 equipment that he plans to buy?
7 MS. NEALON FANUCCI: The equipment
8 he plans to purchase are bottling equipment,
9 so he's expanding the business to do wine
10 bottling, which they did not do before.
11 There's also going to be a truck for
12 sales and distribution, and computers,
13 printers and office equipment, also.
14 MR. SBARAGLIA: Okay. So, you don't
15 have any -- that's already zoned commercial,
16 I presume?
17 MS. NEALON FANUCCI: Right.
18 MR. SBARAGLIA: And he's going to be
19 doing warehousing, right?
20 MS. NEALON FANUCCI: Right, and
21 bottling, also.
22 MR. SBARAGLIA: Yeah. So he has to
23 warehouse it. Okay. That's all I wanted to
24 know.
25 MS. NEALON FANUCCI: Okay.
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1 MR. SBARAGLIA: And we ain't going
2 to blow up in a fire with the alcohol,
3 right? The building is going to be
4 protected for that, right?
5 MS. NEALON FANUCCI: Yes.
6 MS. GATELLI: Mrs. Garvey. Mrs.
7 Fanucci.
8 MS. GARVEY: 5-A, motions.
9 MS. NEALON FANUCCI: Yes. We're
10 going to be discussing tonight the first
11 thing that we discussed on the agenda was
12 the purchase of this loan and the giving of
13 this loan to this new company who is
14 expanding in the City of Scranton.
15 It is a good deal. We figured out
16 that everything is in check. We are very
17 happy with the way it's going. We want to
18 welcome the new business, because they are
19 expanding, so we're going to call it a new
20 business to the City of Scranton, and
21 especially around this time of year where
22 the holy wine will be used quite often, I
23 believe.
24 And I just want to say that that, as
25 far as I'm concerned, has been a good asset
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1 to our city. You know, we want new
2 businesses, and I just want to say thank you
3 for your patience in letting us go through
4 all of the motions to make sure that
5 everything was in check. And that is all I
6 have. Thank you.
7 MS. GATELLI: Mr. McGoff.
8 MR. MCGOFF: Thank you. I would
9 first like to start by making mention of the
10 passing of Mr. Luke Murrin. Luke was a
11 figure in South Scranton for many, many
12 years.
13 His involvement in Connell Park
14 athletics and athletics in general in South
15 Side influence the lives of many children,
16 many adults since he has been an active
17 participant in South Side for at least my
18 lifetime.
19 I would just like to have you keep
20 him in your prayers. He is being waked this
21 evening, and I believe the funeral is
22 tomorrow. Thank you.
23 The second thing I would like to
24 make mention of or the mayor sort of
25 preempted us in our creation of a committee
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1 to study and perhaps review and formulate a
2 snow removal plan.
3 In, I believe, in his state of the
4 city address he talked about the creation of
5 a committee that would include Public Safety
6 Director Ray Hayes, Mr. George Parker, as
7 well, and myself representing Council and
8 the Department of Public Works or the public
9 works committee, and also to add two members
10 at Council's discretion or Council appoint
11 two members.
12 With that, I would at least -- I
13 would like to suggest that the two members
14 to be appointed be Mr. Courtright, who has
15 expressed an interest in this snow removal
16 plan, and also the second member to be Mr.
17 Thomas Gallagher, who is the Director of
18 Transportation for the Scranton School
19 District and also former chairman of the
20 board of directors at Colts, someone who is
21 knowledgeable of the roadways of the city
22 and the transportation problems within the
23 city.
24 So, at this point I would like to
25 make a motion to appoint Mr. Bill Courtright
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1 and Mr. Thomas Gallagher to the committee on
2 snow removal.
3 MS. GATELLI: I'll second that
4 motion. On the question? All in favor.
5 MS. NEALON FANUCCI: Aye.
6 MR. MCGOFF: Aye.
7 MR. COURTRIGHT: Aye.
8 MS. GATELLI: Aye. Opposed? The
9 ayes have it and so moved.
10 MR. MCGOFF: And that is all I have.
11 Thank you.
12 MS. GATELLI: Thank you. Mr.
13 Courtright.
14 MR. COURTRIGHT: Yes. I just would
15 like to ask everyone to keep in their
16 prayers the family of Lee DePietro, a young
17 boy 21 years old that passed away, and he's
18 also being viewed this evening. So, it's a
19 really, really tough time for them. So, if
20 you can remember them, it would be greatly
21 appreciated.
22 Just one more thing on loans from
23 OECD so that people coming to podium would
24 know for the future, they have to create --
25 when they create a job, for every $35,000
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1 that they borrow, they have to create one
2 job. So, at any time when something comes
3 before us, OECD and the people applying are
4 well aware of the fact that they need to
5 create one job for every $35,000. And it's
6 been that for as long as I've been here, and
7 I don't anticipate that changing any time in
8 the near future.
9 So, I don't even think they would
10 accept -- I would hope they wouldn't accept
11 an application that is not jobs for $35,000
12 per job.
13 I received a letter from Mr. Parker
14 about -- I asked about the crossing on Davis
15 Street in Minooka, and Mr. Parker said
16 firstly, Davis Street is a state highway.
17 As I recall, however, this is
18 probably one of the most delineated crossing
19 areas in the city, since it has flashing
20 signals to warn motorists of crossing.
21 There should be no excuse for motorists not
22 stopping in this crosswalk.
23 So, it doesn't appear we'll be
24 getting those little signs in the road that
25 I asked for.
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1 And on a better note, I asked about
2 a traffic signal on Mulberry Street when
3 you're trying to take a left on Wyoming
4 Avenue, and if I may, I'll just read what he
5 had written to me, Traffic Planning and
6 Design of Philadelphia who is designing the
7 Scranton Central City Signalization Plan has
8 already submitted their plans to
9 Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
10 for review.
11 I looked at the particular sheet for
12 that intersection at Mulberry and Wyoming
13 Avenue, there is a five-head signal proposed
14 to control the movement of traffic traveling
15 in a southerly direction on Mulberry Street
16 toward Bishop Hannon.
17 One signal head is dedicated left
18 turn and green arrow. So, I think the
19 people traveling there will have a hard time
20 making a left on Mulberry -- off of Mulberry
21 onto Wyoming will be happy when that gets
22 done and we'll have a left-hand turn there.
23 I sent early this morning down to
24 the Sewer Authority and to DPW asking them
25 if they can go down in the area of lower
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1 Green Ridge in the area of the farmer's
2 market. An area of the farmer's market,
3 they dumped quite a bit of snow, and in
4 lower Green Ridge, I think we all know they
5 get flooded down there, and there's reports
6 of a lot of the catch basins being blocked.
7 And the fear is if we get the rain
8 that we were going to get, if we get it
9 tonight that we were supposed to get, there
10 would be flooding.
11 So, I don't know the results of that
12 yet. Hopefully they went down and did
13 something with that.
14 And one last thing, I ran into a
15 gentleman, Joe who used to work for the DPW
16 at Burger King yesterday, and one of the
17 suggestions that The Times didn't hear me
18 say was about putting down 100 percent salt
19 before the storm.
20 And this gentleman Joe said that the
21 -- you know, Mr. Parker was more in favor of
22 a liquid, and he suggested that we use the
23 spray truck that they have down at the DPW,
24 they have a water truck that sprays
25 everything out, and he said if Mr. Parker
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1 wanted to use liquid, that would possibly
2 that would be a piece of equipment we
3 wouldn't have to buy and used.
4 So, Kay, maybe we can send a letter
5 to Mr. Parker asking if that's feasible or I
6 don't know if there's any kind of
7 restrictions where they wouldn't be able to
8 use that truck.
9 MS. GATELLI: Why don't you wait and
10 discuss it when you meet with him?
11 MR. COURTRIGHT: All right. Yeah.
12 Okay. So, I'll --
13 MS. GATELLI: It's better than a
14 letter.
15 MR. COURTRIGHT: I'll ask Mr. Parker
16 -- I'll do it in person. I will ask him if
17 that's feasible to use that truck. And
18 that's all I have. Thank you.
19 MS. GATELLI: Thanks, Mr.
20 Courtright. Mrs. Garvey.
21 MS. GARVEY: 5-B, FOR INTRODUCTION -
22 A RESOLUTION - APPOINTING ROBERT SHUMAKER,
23 702 STAFFORD AVE., SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA,
24 18505, AS A MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF ZONING
25 APPEALS FOR THE CITY OF SCRANTON. MR.
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22
1 SHUMAKER WILL FILL THE UNEXPIRED TERM OF
2 MARY DUNLEAVY, WHOSE TERM EXPIRES ON JULY 1,
3 2007.
4 MS. GATELLI: At this time I'll
5 entertain a motion that Item 5-B be
6 introduced.
7 MR. COURTRIGHT: So moved.
8 MS. NEALON FANUCCI: Second.
9 MS. GATELLI: On the question? All
10 in favor.
11 MS. NEALON FANUCCI: Aye.
12 MR. MCGOFF: Aye.
13 MR. COURTRIGHT: Aye.
14 MS. GATELLI: Aye. Opposed? The
15 ayes have it and so moved.
16 MS. GARVEY: Sixth order, no
17 business at this time. Seventh order. 7-A,
18 FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE COMMITTEE ON
19 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT - FOR ADOPTION -
20 RESOLUTION NO. 129, 2007 - AUTHORIZING THE
21 MAYOR AND OTHER APPROPRIATE CITY OFFICIALS
22 TO EXECUTE AND ENTER INTO A LOAN AGREEMENT,
23 AND TO EXECUTE A PROMISSORY NOTE, IN THE
24 AMOUNT OF $250,000 BY AND BETWEEN THE CITY
25 OF SCRANTON AND 408 CEDAR AVE, LLC FOR
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1 ENTERPRISE ZONE COMPETITIVE GRANT FUNDS.
2 MS. GATELLI: The recommendation of
3 the committee on community development?
4 MS. NEALON FANUCCI: As chairperson
5 on the committee of community development, I
6 recommend final passage of Item 7-A.
7 MR. COURTRIGHT: So moved.
8 MS. GATELLI: On the question? All
9 those in favor.
10 MS. NEALON FANUCCI: Aye.
11 MR. MCGOFF: Aye.
12 MR. COURTRIGHT: Aye.
13 MS. GATELLI: Aye. Opposed? The
14 ayes have it and so moved.
15 MS. GARVEY: No, second, roll call.
16 MR. MINORA: Bill, you second it?
17 MS. GATELLI: Roll call.
18 MR. COOLICAN: Mrs. Evans. Mrs.
19 Fanucci.
20 MS. NEALON FANUCCI: Yes.
21 MR. COOLICAN: Mr. McGoff.
22 MR. MCGOFF: Yes.
23 MR. COOLICAN: Mr. Courtright.
24 MR. COURTRIGHT: Yes.
25 MR. COOLICAN: Mrs. Gatelli.
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24
1 MS. GATELLI: Yes. I hereby declare
2 Item 7-A legally and lawfully adopted.
3 MS. GATELLI: Citizens
4 participation. Douglas Miller.
5 MR. MILLER: Good evening, Council.
6 Doug Miller. I'd like to start off by
7 reminding everyone that the Scranton Junior
8 City Council is raising funds to purchase a
9 children's handicapped accessible swingset
10 for Nay Aug Park.
11 We want the handicapped children of
12 our city to have something to look forward
13 to this summer, so tonight I'm asking all
14 citizens and businesses of Scranton to
15 support this project by sending a donation
16 to 340 North Washington Avenue, Scranton, PA
17 18503. With your support, you will help
18 make this project a big success.
19 I read today in The Scranton Times
20 that Mercy Hospital has sent memos to all of
21 their employees regarding the support of our
22 citywide smoking ban. It's wonderful to see
23 all the support across our city.
24 The other night I was out at a
25 restaurant with a friend, and it was just
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1 nice to be able to sit and enjoy a meal in
2 clean air. I thought I was dreaming.
3 You know, to walk out of a
4 restaurant feeling refreshed is a good
5 feeling.
6 The smoking ban in Scranton is only
7 going to expand from here. I believe other
8 communities will follow our lead and enact a
9 smoking ban, and I see a statewide ban down
10 the road.
11 Mr. Courtright, I would again ask
12 you to support the smoking ban as you did
13 when it was first proposed. I think you
14 need to stick with your decision.
15 As I said last week, those who
16 disobey the law will be fined. The adults
17 need to set the example here. The law is
18 the law and we all need to follow it. Thank
19 you.
20 MS. GATELLI: Thank you. Les
21 Spindler.
22 MR. SPINDLER: Good evening,
23 Council. Les Spindler, city resident. Last
24 week there was a speaker speaking, Mrs.
25 Gatelli, and you be interrupted because you
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26
1 didn't like what they were saying.
2 I was standing in the back and I
3 said -- a couple times I said that's their
4 opinion. Meanwhile, the DPW director, a DPW
5 worker, looked at me and said, Shut up or
6 I'll slap you in the head.
7 Meanwhile, Dan Hubbard, who was
8 standing next to me was motioning to the
9 policeman to do something, which he didn't.
10 He reprimanded Dan Hubbard for sticking up
11 for me, never said a word to the person that
12 threatened me.
13 So, I don't know what could be done
14 about this, but I don't think that was
15 right.
16 MR. COURTRIGHT: We'll ask Mr.
17 Elliott if he can talk to the police
18 officer.
19 MR. SPINDLER: Okay. Thank you.
20 Next thing, one more time about the
21 snowstorm. George Parker said the intensity
22 and makeup of the storm was the reason they
23 couldn't get it cleaned up good.
24 Well, that's an excuse for the first
25 day maybe, but it's no excuse why it took
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27
1 six days to clean up downtown, when Mayor
2 Connors said the downtown cleaned up in less
3 than 24 hours in the blizzard of '93.
4 Another thing, Governor Rendell took
5 responsibility for the state problems, Mayor
6 Leighton took responsibility for all the
7 problems in Wilkes-Barre. Chris Doherty did
8 nothing. He took no responsibility. He's
9 not man enough to take responsibility for it
10 and admit he screwed up.
11 Okay. Moving on. Mrs. Fanucci, you
12 thought it was funny last week when you said
13 someone was going to ask you to resign
14 again. You're so proud of that you said you
15 deserve an award for being asked to resign
16 the most times.
17 Well, if you think that's something
18 to be proud of, I think you have a real
19 problem, and you definitely do not deserve
20 to be sitting up there. The only award you
21 do deserve is a pink slip. And by the way,
22 Mrs. Fanucci, they're my words, no one
23 else's.
24 Okay. Mrs. Gatelli, last week you
25 said PEL sent a response back for that
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28
1 letter?
2 MS. GATELLI: What letter, Les?
3 MR. SPINDLER: The letter about why
4 this mayor can hire a public safety director
5 and not Mayor Connors.
6 MS. GATELLI: Yes.
7 MR. SPINDLER: When was that letter
8 received? I never heard it.
9 MS. GATELLI: That was at least two
10 meetings ago.
11 MR. SPINDLER: Okay. I think I was
12 late coming --
13 MS. GATELLI: Yeah. Mrs. Garvey can
14 find it for you. I don't have it with me,
15 Les, but she can find it for you, if you'd
16 like, and you can get a copy of it.
17 MR. SPINDLER: Okay. Because --
18 MS. GATELLI: I think they said it
19 was in the Recovery Plan that was voted on
20 by the voters. I forget what year that was,
21 2002 maybe.
22 MR. SPINDLER: I know that's what
23 they say, but I think it does say somewhere
24 else in the recovery plan where there's
25 certain hires that the mayor can make. So,
.
29
1 I don't know if PEL is really telling the
2 truth.
3 MR. MINORA: Time.
4 MS. GATELLI: Thank you, Mr.
5 Spindler.
6 MR. MINORA: Time's up.
7 MR. SPINDLER: I don't have any more
8 to say, but if I did, I think I should be
9 able to go on longer, because last week you
10 let Sam Vitras talk for five minutes.
11 MR. MINORA: Time's up, Mr.
12 Spindler.
13 MS. GATELLI: Your time is up. Mr.
14 Talamini.
15 MR. SPINDLER: Okay. Well, if you
16 let someone else talk for five minutes, Mrs.
17 Gatelli, I think everyone should be able to
18 talk for that long.
19 MS. GATELLI: That's the discretion
20 of the president, Mr. Spindler.
21 MR. SPINDLER: That's
22 discrimination.
23 MS. GATELLI: Thank you very much.
24 MR. SPINDLER: You're welcome.
25 MR. TALERICO: Joe Talamini,
.
30
1 Scranton resident. I don't want to belabor
2 the incident with the snowstorm, et cetera,
3 but, again, I've been inundated, and today
4 another senior citizen got stuck in a
5 handicapped crosswalk, and he called city
6 hall, he called the Council chambers, he
7 called the mayor's office, and he was told
8 very politely that we don't do sidewalks.
9 MS. GATELLI: Where was this, Mr.
10 Talamini?
11 MR. TALERICO: Someplace on North
12 Washington. I guess it was North Washington
13 and Mulberry. He got stuck out there, and
14 that's what he was told. And he was very
15 incensed. I mean, I'd like to repeat what
16 he said, but there are children present.
17 MS. GATELLI: That would be right
18 out here?
19 MR. TALERICO: Absolutely, in a
20 handicap crosswalk.
21 MR. GATELLI: Because some of that
22 is the responsibility of PennDOT, that's
23 only why I'm asking.
24 MR. TALAMINI: Yeah, well, you know,
25 I mean, it's hard to explain to these
.
31
1 people, because they don't have access to
2 City Council, they can't come down here.
3 And when I invited some of the members of
4 the Council to come up there, they were told
5 they couldn't come up without permission
6 from the Housing Authority. So, you know,
7 it's a catch 22 situation.
8 MS. GATELLI: Well, they can always
9 call Pete Williams at the Center for
10 Independent Living, because he stays right
11 on top of that.
12 MR. TALAMINI: Okay.
13 MS. GATELLI: If you'd like his
14 number, we have it in the office, and you
15 can give it to them.
16 MR. TALERICO: Because a lot of
17 these people watch Channel 61, I mean, they
18 depend on 61.
19 MS. GATELLI: Sure.
20 MR. TALAMINI: They can't get down
21 here --
22 MS. GATELLI: We'll report that,
23 absolutely.
24 MR. TALAMINI: Because I live there,
25 they get to me.
.
32
1 MS. GATELLI: Okay.
2 MR. TALAMINI: Secondly, I'd like to
3 know what's been going on with the
4 subpoenas, if anything, because it's been
5 two weeks since we were told that they were
6 going to be in the process, and nothing has
7 happened to date that we know of.
8 And we will be monitoring the fact
9 that the subpoenas are supposed to be
10 issued, and we'd like to know what the
11 status is, Mr. Minora. You know, we don't
12 want to belabor that issue either, but --
13 MS. GATELLI: Well, all of Council
14 has not discussed that with Mrs. Evans, you
15 know, exactly what we want in the
16 resolution, so that's what the hold up is.
17 MR. TALAMINI: We would like to be
18 kept abreast of what's going on with that.
19 And the third item I have, and I
20 don't know why I'm -- you know, I hate to
21 refer to this, I lived in the south for a
22 long time, but it seems like this city
23 suffers from inbreeding in politics.
24 Every time there's a committee
25 appointed or anything comes up, it always
.
33
1 seems to be the same people from the same
2 group that's appointed to these committees.
3 I have no objection to Mr. McGoff
4 requesting that Mr. Courtright and somebody
5 else be appointed, but you never seem to go
6 to the people who vote in the city, and
7 that's the people what are in, you know, the
8 minority, you say, but they are in the
9 majority.
10 I think a lot of the working people
11 in this city would like to welcome an
12 opportunity to serve on a committee and to
13 give input as to what's going on in this
14 town, but we don't ever seem to get that
15 right.
16 Every time there's a committee
17 appointed, it's always somebody who seems to
18 be in the in-section.
19 And I notice that even in politics,
20 everything in this town goes -- it seems to
21 go through OECD, the next step and the next
22 step and the next step, and it just seems to
23 be prevalent, that every time something goes
24 on in this city, it's the same group of
25 people.
.
34
1 So, you know, we'd like some input.
2 I'm sure there's a lot of people out here
3 would love to volunteer.
4 MR. MINORA: Time. Mr. Talamini,
5 that's three minutes.
6 MS. GATELLI: Thank you.
7 MR. TALAMINI: I figured as much.
8 MS. GATELLI: And we certainly will
9 take your input. Anything you have to
10 offer, submit to Council and we will forward
11 it to the committee, absolutely.
12 MR. TALAMINI: Well, we are going to
13 form our own citizens advisory committee and
14 present things.
15 MS. GATELLI: Yeah, you can do that,
16 absolutely.
17 MR. TALAMINI: We're going to ask
18 people, anybody who wants to know, just
19 contact us, we'll be glad to set up our own
20 group.
21 MS. GATELLI: Yes.
22 MR. TALAMINI: Thank you very much.
23 MS. GATELLI: Gary DiBileo. How
24 about John Litwinsky and we can come back?
25 MR. LITWINSKY: Good evening,
.
35
1 Council. John Litwinsky, city resident.
2 I'm here tonight to raise awareness and to
3 seek help on an issue. It has to do with a
4 place, a property, The Scranton Rescue
5 Mission.
6 On November 11, 2005, The Scranton
7 Rescue Mission applied for a variance.
8 They're located at 8 and 12 Olive Street,
9 which everyone knows that's only a block
10 from the Scranton High School, half a block
11 from The Ice Box.
12 Their request was to -- the
13 applicant desires to establish a facility to
14 offer shelter to homeless individuals
15 seeking help to revitalize their lives.
16 In this application it's very
17 misleading. It does not state anything
18 whatsoever about it being a drug and alcohol
19 rehabilitation center.
20 Some excerpts from The Scranton
21 Times, The zoning board, 2005 November,
22 unanimously denied a variance for the
23 building. An appeal to Lackawanna County
24 Court was shot down in July 2006 by Judge
25 Carmen Minora.
.
36
1 Some other wording in here, For now
2 the rescue mission only opens on the
3 weekends offering those who come by a hot
4 meal. Is it licensed? That's another
5 question I have, I'll get to later.
6 Some other quotes, The Reverend Phil
7 Schultz of Clarks Summit, who wants to open
8 a mission in Scranton said, The center would
9 be a transitional living facility for up to
10 20 homeless men, people with drug and
11 alcohol problems.
12 They've already moved the beds into
13 this facility. He's quoted as, It's not my
14 intent to bully my way into a neighborhood,
15 said the Reverend Schultz, a Philadelphia
16 area native who moved here recently from
17 Lexington, Kentucky. Again, he was denied
18 it twice locally.
19 Here's what really bothers me. The
20 reverend's admission that the mission could
21 experience a 70 to 75 percent dropout rate
22 concerned Mr. Wechsler, who was on the
23 zoning board.
24 So, a 70, 75 percent of 20 beds is
25 between 14 and 15 people that don't follow
.
37
1 the program.
2 And, again, I question, like, where
3 do these people go? You know, even at the
4 zoning board we questioned -- you know, the
5 thing that really bothers me, it was never
6 -- the original intention was never on the
7 application. It was a very misleading.
8 I mean, everyone here knows the
9 amount of students that travel Olive Street
10 every day.
11 MS. GATELLI: Mr. Litwinsky, you
12 know that the zoning board denied that.
13 MR. LITWINSKY: Yes, but right now
14 it's at a state appeal in Philadelphia,
15 which I was told March 7, the state appeal,
16 that it's already going to go through.
17 So, several other questions, I mean,
18 zoning requirements, parking, there's no
19 off-street parking. We broke our backs this
20 snowstorm. We go out with the kids, we come
21 home on the weekends, all the parking spots
22 are taken by them.
23 The parcel -- you know, the parcel
24 that's next to the white house there, that's
25 owned by the railroad, it's not owned by
.
38
1 them.
2 I mean, the Scranton Police, they do
3 a great job, they don't need any more
4 headaches, but I believe our number one
5 concern should be the children's safety.
6 This is obviously -- I mean, it's
7 been denied twice here. It's obviously --
8 MR. MINORA: Time.
9 MR. LITWINSKY: It's a commendable
10 feat -- one minute?
11 MS. GATELLI: No, I can't, but I'll
12 talk to you after. You can call me at the
13 house.
14 MR. LITWINSKY: I'm seeking help
15 from anybody, Scranton school board,
16 teachers, Council.
17 MS. GATELLI: I'll call the zoning
18 officer and tell him what you said.
19 MR. LITWINSKY: They already have it
20 in Philadelphia.
21 MS. GATELLI: Thank you. Mike
22 Dudek.
23 MR. DUDEK: I'm Mike Dudek, 608
24 Depot Street here in Scranton. I live in
25 The Plot. There are three things I want to
.
39
1 convey to Council.
2 First of all, the newspaper, The
3 Union News, keeps track of the data supplied
4 by the Department of Labor in what they call
5 metropolitan statistical areas, okay?
6 They use their MSAs for a number of
7 different things, among other things would
8 be to determine the number of people
9 working, unemployed and so forth. It also
10 helps to track census and population.
11 And according to the Department of
12 Labor, the City of Scranton has fallen to
13 the point where Bethlehem is now larger than
14 Scranton is, and Bethlehem is larger by
15 about 3,000 people. I thought we should
16 know that.
17 To give you an idea about how fast
18 this has happened, in the last census, we
19 were larger than Bethlehem, not now. I
20 thought you should know that.
21 I don't know what kind of spin the
22 mayor was putting on the speech he had
23 today, I didn't get a chance to go or to
24 really read it or to get all of his
25 comments, but a population fall of this
.
40
1 magnitude does not look good for this city,
2 and this includes the incoming immigration
3 of people from Latin America. So, this is
4 not good for the city.
5 The second thing that I want to
6 bring up is, Mrs. Gatelli, what I -- I'd
7 like to ask Mr. McGoff a question, would
8 that be okay?
9 MS. GATELLI: Sure.
10 MR. DUDEK: Okay. Mr. McGoff, this
11 committee that's being formed, I'm wondering
12 if we could add one other person to it or at
13 least get the input for it, you know, for
14 the snow removal, would it be possible to
15 add a meteorologist from Channel 16 to that
16 group of people?
17 And what I'm saying would be any
18 meterologist who would be working at the
19 time in order to get an idea of what kind of
20 storms are coming.
21 You know, let's face it, this storm
22 that hit us was unusual. It started as an
23 ice storm, then we got a lot of snow, then
24 we got ice. So, the composition of it was
25 kind of difficult.
.
41
1 I think that adding a meteorologist
2 to the mix would give the people you are
3 putting together a better opportunity to
4 plan how to fight the storm. Would it be
5 possible to consider using the meteorologist
6 from 16?
7 The reason why I say Channel 16, is
8 because that's the only TV station of the
9 corporate limits of the city that does
10 weather tracking.
11 MR. MCGOFF: I think what we're
12 planning on doing or the intent of the
13 committee is to meet first to determine what
14 other ancillary needs we may have. There is
15 always the possibility of adding other
16 members to the committee, also the
17 possibility of bringing in others to offer
18 information advice, to the committee.
19 So, I would wait on -- I'm going to
20 say I would wait on that until the committee
21 itself meets, and then we can decide what
22 might be needed at that time.
23 MR. DUDEK: Fine, but I think you do
24 want to --
25 MR. MINORA: Three minutes.
.
42
1 MR. DUDEK: -- you don't want to fly
2 blind in the storm.
3 MS. GATELLI: Thank you, Mr. Dudek.
4 MR. DUDEK: Thank you.
5 MS. GATELLI: Mr. DiBileo.
6 MR. DIBILEO: Good evening, City
7 Council members, and Kay, Amil, Neil, Lisa,
8 Junior Council.
9 I'm here to talk just a little bit
10 about the proposed medical school in
11 Scranton which is possibly slated for the
12 City of Scranton, but it seems that the
13 consortium that's looking for a place, for
14 the location for the school, seems to be
15 having a little bit of a difficult time.
16 It was written in The Scranton Times
17 February 12, that the school -- that the
18 committee behind the proposed medical
19 college of Northeastern Pennsylvania has
20 decided to start over in a search for a
21 location and consider all options, even some
22 outside the city. I'm hearing that possibly
23 the Glenmaura Industrial Park is a possible
24 location for the school.
25 And this school will provide just a
.
43
1 huge economic development boom for the City
2 of Scranton, and it's also been written that
3 this could be the biggest economic boom
4 since the demise of the coal mining industry
5 in our city. So, it's just going to do very
6 good for the whole city in so many ways.
7 So, we have to do everything in our
8 power to try to keep the medical school here
9 in the City of Scranton.
10 I don't think that we could let this
11 opportunity slip by our fingers, being that
12 we're this close.
13 City Council hasn't spent very much
14 time discussing this issue. Now, I do know
15 that decisions like this are generated from
16 Harrisburg by governors and senators,
17 however, I think it would be appropriate and
18 proper and important for the City Council as
19 a legislative body to pass a motion letting
20 Governor Rendell and Senator Mellow know
21 that you support the project and want it to
22 stay in the City of Scranton.
23 I realize that this would possibly
24 be just a symbolic symbol, but I think it's
25 an important one, and I would greatly
.
44
1 appreciate it for the sake of the City of
2 Scranton if you could entertain a motion and
3 let the governor and senator know that you
4 feel it's important as a legislative body to
5 have the medical school here in Scranton.
6 And thank you very much.
7 MS. GATELLI: Thank you. Gary,
8 although we haven't done it as a body, I
9 speak frequently to Senator Mellow, I
10 haven't spoken to the governor, and of
11 course the mayor, and I said that this
12 Council wants this in the City of Scranton.
13 So, I mean, although we didn't do it
14 as a formal motion, the feelings have been
15 expressed, and I expressed them on behalf of
16 Council, because it's very important for it
17 to be downtown.
18 MR. DIBILEO: I understand that on
19 an individual basis people may be letting
20 the individuals know how they feel, but I
21 just feel that it's pretty important as a
22 body itself to let the people in charge know
23 how you feel as a whole.
24 MS. GATELLI: Okay. Thank you.
25 MR. DIBILEO: I'd greatly appreciate
.
45
1 your consideration for that. Thank you very
2 much.
3 MS. GATELLI: Thank you. Mr.
4 Piccolino.
5 MR. PICCOLINO: Good evening, City
6 Council. Giovanni Piccolino, partner in
7 Buona Pizza. Jim and Joanne Salite are
8 refusing to sell their home they've lived in
9 for 38 years. They live in a quiet
10 neighborhood of single family houses in
11 Lakewood, Ohio just outside Cleveland.
12 The City of Lakewood is trying to
13 use eminent domain to force the Salites out
14 to make way for more expensive condominiums,
15 but the Salites are telling the town, hell
16 no, they won't go.
17 But Lakewood's mayor, Madeline Kane,
18 has other plans. She wants to tear down the
19 Salites home, plus four apartment buildings
20 to make room for more than a dozen
21 businesses.
22 In short, the Salites fought and
23 won, because in separate votes, the Lakewood
24 residents rejected the proposed development,
25 removed the blight label from the Salites'
.
46
1 neighborhood and voted Mayor Kane out of
2 office.
3 I'm here to ask City Council to
4 grant a motion or an addendum that the
5 residents of the City of Scranton could have
6 a vote on removing the blight label from our
7 pizza shop.
8 If they can do it in Lakewood, Ohio
9 on a separate vote that the residents could
10 remove a blight label from these people's
11 neighborhood and their home, why can't we do
12 it here?
13 MS. GATELLI: Attorney Minora, I'll
14 let you answer that question.
15 MR. MINORA: Well, we're in the
16 middle of litigation with the city, right?
17 You have litigation with the city?
18 MR. PICCOLINO: Right. Obviously
19 these people also have litigation with the
20 city. If they have a blight label on their
21 home and then the residents in the city got
22 to --
23 MR. MINORA: My point simply is that
24 while you're in litigation with the city,
25 I'm not sure that the city ought to be
.
47
1 giving you legal advice. You've got a
2 lawyer to do that for you, so you've got a
3 position you'd like to take, and that's
4 fine, but --
5 MR. PICCOLINO: I'm not asking for
6 legal advice, I'm asking the Council if they
7 could support a motion that would allow the
8 public to vote on the blight of our
9 building.
10 If they can do it in Ohio, why can't
11 -- if they can have their people vote on
12 something there, why can't our people vote
13 on a business here?
14 MR. MINORA: Our charter provides
15 for putting things on the ballot. I suggest
16 you have your lawyer read it.
17 MS. GATELLI: Thank you.
18 MR. PICCOLINO: Okay. Thank you.
19 MS. GATELLI: Jim Stucker.
20 MR. STUCKER: We have a little
21 problem on Providence Square. We had a big
22 machine come down yesterday with the, I
23 don't know what you call it, a big machine
24 with the snow.
25 They went down the street. What
.
48
1 they did, they plowed everything up on top
2 of the sidewalk where they went down.
3 And the little Bobcat we had there
4 for two days. He did some of the work in
5 front of the drugstore. The big machine
6 came down. They pushed everything up on the
7 sidewalks, big chunks of snow, and there was
8 no way for people to get up on the sidewalk
9 to get -- step there in front of the
10 drugstore and in front of the restaurant.
11 MS. GATELLI: We'll take care of
12 that, Jim.
13 MR. STUCKER: And we just had -- a
14 guy was talking to me last night was in the
15 bar, well, he was talking to me last night,
16 he wants me to bring this up with the fire
17 plugs outside and the handicaps places. We
18 got to get the snow cleaned, every corner
19 where people can't get wheelchairs up on the
20 sidewalk, the gas -- electric wheelchairs.
21 MS. GATELLI: Okay.
22 MR. STUCKER: They're having
23 problems getting up on the sidewalk with the
24 snow.
25 MS. GATELLI: Okay. Okay. We'll
.
49
1 report that, Jim.
2 MR. STUCKER: Let me see what else.
3 Right off of Providence, right -- where do
4 you call that buildings up at Providence
5 Square up the road, up Luzerne Street, the
6 buildings up there? Heights, Oppenheim's?
7 MS. GATELLI: Bangor Heights.
8 MR. STUCKER: Bangor Heights.
9 There's nobody can get up and down those
10 streets. There's only one way, through the
11 middle.
12 There's no snow up there supposed to
13 be moved, and they didn't remove it. They
14 didn't remove no snow at all. And there's
15 people parking out in the middle --
16 alongside the curb, there's no way people
17 can -- the bus can't get up there.
18 MS. GATELLI: Okay.
19 MR. STUCKER: And over in town over
20 by the Oppenheim, remember last year,
21 remember last year I complained about the
22 cars? They're still parking there. They're
23 still parking there where the bus is at.
24 MS. GATELLI: Okay. We'll send a
25 letter on that, Jim. Thank you very much.
.
50
1 MR. STUCKER: All right. Okay.
2 MS. GATELLI: Robert Matchieski
3 (phonetic).
4 MR. MATCHIESKI: Robert Matchieski,
5 resident. It's apparent that this
6 three-minute time limit, as I said in the
7 past, isn't too -- doesn't seem to be in
8 favor of the people up here speaking.
9 They're taking their time to come up
10 here and offer suggestions or criticisms of
11 this city, and the Council's job, they
12 should at least have the time to express
13 their ideas fully without being cut off in
14 mid sentence.
15 I mean, there's -- I in citizens
16 participation one, there's not usually an
17 overwhelming amount of people who need more
18 than three minutes.
19 So, maybe even if you amend it to
20 the citizens participation two to be five
21 minutes, that would be better than nothing
22 as it is now.
23 I mean, I personally think that five
24 minutes for both would be, you know, I mean,
25 at the least will be conducive to what
.
51
1 people need to speak on.
2 On the smoking ban, this week I was
3 out at a couple local businesses
4 interviewing them for an article, and this
5 ban's really hurting them as it is.
6 And, I mean, if -- even if the state
7 ban comes three months, six months, no one
8 knows how long, it's still too long for
9 these people who -- livelihoods depend on
10 their business.
11 I mean, it's easy for someone to
12 drive to Moosic or Dunmore to have a beer
13 and a cigarette than to have to go stand
14 outside in February or March when it's still
15 cold out.
16 The least you can do to show your
17 respect for the local businesses to at least
18 amend the ordinance to something or hold it
19 off until the state is in effect.
20 And Mr. Courtright seems to be going
21 on the right path talking to local
22 businesses about possible amendments or
23 modifications.
24 I mean, everyone keeps saying stick
25 with it who's for the ban, but how long can
.
52
1 you stick with something before you realize
2 that it's a bad idea?
3 You know, if it's hurting
4 businesses, then it's not worth it. You
5 know, people know if a certain bar or
6 restaurant is smoking, they don't have to go
7 in there if they don't want to be around
8 cigarette smoke.
9 I mean, I hope that something can be
10 done to prevent any businesses from closing
11 over this. Thank you.
12 MS. GATELLI: Thank you. Andy
13 Sbaraglia.
14 MR. SBARAGLIA: Andy Sbaraglia,
15 citizen of Scranton. Fellow Scrantonians,
16 just a few words on what Gary mentioned.
17 Was the mayor's interference with this
18 project that posed a problem to this?
19 As you know, the majority of them
20 people wanted that school to be built up by
21 the hospital or very close to a hospital,
22 and not in the middle of Central City.
23 It was the assistance of the mayor
24 that project was sort of going there. I
25 suggest if you want to get some action on
.
53
1 it, you contact Mr. Karam, because he's now
2 the ball player on this project for the
3 school, and also contact the Moses Taylor,
4 because I believe their back of the hospital
5 can be used for a school.
6 There's enough room there to rip
7 down some of them buildings and put a school
8 at Moses Taylor, and it may push the project
9 a little more into the forefront and not see
10 it lost out of the city.
11 Okay. The second subject is, it's
12 March, what are we going to do about free
13 swimming for the kids? Do we have any
14 intention now of setting the motions,
15 anything to do that? Are we just going to
16 let them go?
17 Now, you raised the EMS tax, pushed
18 a huge burden on the people, you put
19 25 percent onto the house tax. What reason
20 have you got not to have free swimming at
21 the pools, being your budget coming from the
22 controller said they only earn $30,000 at
23 the pool?
24 I don't see any reason of all the
25 millions you pushed back on the people that
.
54
1 you can't have the kids swim free. There's
2 no reason now. You can't even bring up
3 money, unless you actually think the kids
4 are roughians, and that's the reason why you
5 don't want them to swim free, because you're
6 going to bring a lot of people in there
7 because they want to swim, it's hot and they
8 want to go some place to swim.
9 We tried this last year, we got shot
10 down. You pushed the tax on us way, way up,
11 and still the kids ain't swimming for free.
12 I'd like to see you make motion on it and
13 get movement on it and let's get it straight
14 up. Let's get it done now so they can swim
15 in June instead of waiting for August. I
16 thank you.
17 MS. GATELLI: Reverend Simmons.
18 MS. SIMMONS: Good evening, Reverend
19 Cathryn Simmons representing Florence
20 Midtown Crime Watch.
21 I came here tonight to talk about
22 two issues, but I'm going to change over one
23 of them. Let me begin by going back 14
24 years, when we had a very bad storm in
25 Scranton and I was called by the mayor and
.
55
1 asked to come to City Hall. He had just
2 come in from going through the streets.
3 Scranton was shut down, you couldn't move
4 anywhere.
5 And the police had been going around
6 the streets and they had found seven men
7 standing on the heating grates downtown with
8 nowhere to go. That was the beginning of
9 Bethel AME Shelter. So, we've been shut
10 down before.
11 So, this tale that this is the worse
12 storm we've ever had and this is the worst
13 predicament we've ever been in is -- this is
14 not true.
15 We've had -- you can't -- you can't
16 go against mother nature. When she -- we
17 should have learned that from Katrina when
18 she levels you with whatever she pounds you
19 with, you just learn to come along and
20 abide.
21 But through this storm, I want you
22 to know that the police department and the
23 fire department and the DPW workers did
24 excellent job.
25 I was at the shelter for the days of
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1 this storm, and these men and women did
2 excellent work. The EMS workers, everyone,
3 there was no one who should be embarrassed
4 or called up on the carpet about any of
5 their work. They were out there on their
6 job and they did exactly what they should be
7 doing.
8 So, instead of admonishing them or
9 making them feel like they should be hanging
10 their heads, we should be glorifying them
11 and praising them, because they were out
12 there, when we were sitting home complaining
13 about how we were going to get our car out
14 of the driveway.
15 This is a wonderful city to live in,
16 it truly is.
17 MR. MINORA: Three minutes.
18 MS. SIMMONS: I've lived here
19 54 years. Yes we have problems like all
20 other cities do, but we need to come
21 together in times like these.
22 MS. GATELLI: Thank you, Reverend
23 Simmons.
24 MS. SIMMONS: I hope we do. Thank
25 you.
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1 MS. GATELLI: Amen. Ron Elman.
2 MR. ELMAN: Miss Judy, do you read
3 Garfield?
4 MS. GATELLI: Are we at Hatchy
5 Milatchy or what?
6 MR. ELMAN: You know, Garfield last
7 week was standing on a fence and people were
8 throwing tomatoes and clocks and everything
9 at him. That must be how you guys feel up
10 there.
11 You know, last year I told you how
12 my mortgage got to be $694 or something
13 because I got behind in the taxes because of
14 my mortgage company, and they said they
15 caught up.
16 Then I kept -- I got a letter from
17 Mr. Harrison. I went down, and he gave me a
18 year, and during the year, the mortgage
19 company said they were caught up. Mr.
20 Harrison said they weren't. I gave him
21 $1,800 that he told me I needed, you know,
22 to go on that year. And he said there's
23 still some owed.
24 And they kept passing the buck up
25 and back, up and back. My taxes doubled, my
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1 house note doubled. They turned it over to
2 this NCC place out there, and those lousy
3 crooks, they charged me, right here, $2300
4 and something dollars. There's nothing in
5 writing where the figure comes from. I'll
6 show you. This is awful. This is
7 absolutely deplorable. This is the --
8 MS. GATELLI: Are these copies for
9 us?
10 MR. ELMAN: The city will not give
11 me nothing. This is three years or four
12 years ago. The city won't give me nothing,
13 Mr. Harrison's office, but he sits there and
14 protects Cordaro and Pettinato and these
15 other people that owe $200,000 and $40,000,
16 say he needs time to sell the house.
17 I was trying to live in my house, I
18 wasn't trying to sell it. That man should
19 be fired immediately. He has -- the people
20 have lost confidence in this administration
21 because of people like him. He has no
22 business being a representative of it
23 anymore.
24 He's showing gross favoritism and
25 there's no way in the world you'll make me
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1 believe that he's just being out of the
2 kindness of his heart giving everybody two,
3 three years to catch up on their taxes. He
4 didn't give me ten minutes. You can see
5 right there.
6 I got $2,300 floating around and
7 nobody will tell me where it is. They won't
8 issue me nothing from the city, and NCC said
9 they get a figure from the city to collect.
10 They said they don't have any paperwork.
11 You know, you can't say collect
12 $2,200 and add your fee on it, but that's
13 what happened. And like I said, my mortgage
14 company said -- this is a big national
15 company. They said my taxes are paid.
16 They're not trying to cheat me.
17 MS. GATELLI: We will check on it
18 for you, Ron.
19 MR. ELMAN: Well, again, I say they
20 need to fire this Tom Harrison and hire
21 somebody with some credibility, because he
22 doesn't belong in office showing favoritism
23 like he does.
24 MR. MINORA: Three minutes.
25 MR. ELMAN: This is a disgrace for
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1 anybody to go through.
2 MS. GATELLI: Yes, it is. Mr.
3 Jackowitz.
4 MR. JACKOWITZ: Oh, please don't
5 leave, Mrs. Gatelli.
6 MS. GATELLI: I shall return.
7 MR. JACKOWITZ: Bill Jackowitz,
8 South Scranton resident, retired United
9 States Air Force. There will be no
10 questions tonight, only fact, history and my
11 opinions. Please, no interruptions.
12 When the U.S. Constitution was
13 signed on September the 17, 1787, it did not
14 contain the essential freedoms now outlined
15 in the Bill of Rights, because many of the
16 framers viewed their inclusion as
17 unnecessary.
18 However, after vigorous debate, The
19 Bill of Rights was adopted. The first
20 freedoms guaranteed in this historic
21 document were articulated in the 45 words
22 run written by James Madison that will have
23 come to know as the First Amendments. This
24 was 219 years ago.
25 The Bill of Rights, the first ten
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1 amendments to the Constitution, went into
2 effect on December the 15th, 1791, when the
3 State of Virginia ratified it giving the
4 bill the majority of ratifying states
5 required to protect citizens from the power
6 of the federal government. That was
7 216 years ago.
8 The First Amendment insures that if
9 there's any star in our Constitutional
10 constellation, it is that no official high
11 or petty can prescribe what shall be
12 orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion
13 or for citizens to confess by word or act or
14 faith therein, as Justice Robert Jackson
15 wrote in the 1943 case, West Virginia versus
16 Barnetti.
17 And as Justice William Brennan wrote
18 in the case New York Times versus Sullivan
19 in 1964. The First Amendment provides that
20 debate, I repeat, debate on public issues
21 should be uninhibited, robust and wide open.
22 Free speech at City Council meetings
23 from the Thomas Jefferson Center from the
24 Thomas Jefferson Center for the protection
25 of free expression.
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1 If a local government authority
2 chooses to allow the public to speak at its
3 meeting, it must do so in a manner
4 consistent with the principles of the First
5 Amendment. It cannot arbitrarily decide
6 which words may or may not be used.
7 Public comments session contain just
8 that, comments from the public. And
9 government officials do not have the
10 authority -- government officials do not
11 have the authority to control the lexicon
12 employed by the public.
13 While the usefulness of such
14 comments may vary from speaker to speaker,
15 all speakers, I repeat, all speakers have an
16 equal First Amendment right to express their
17 views.
18 What I'd like to focus on is this,
19 all speakers have a First Amendment right to
20 express their views.
21 The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals
22 explained in its 1990 decision, White Versus
23 City of Norwalk, Citizens have an enormous
24 First Amendment interest in directing speech
25 about public issues to those who govern the
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1 city. That includes City Council members
2 and the mayor, they govern this city.
3 Government officials may not
4 silence, I repeat, government officials may
5 not silence speech because it criticizes
6 them. They may not open a public comment
7 period --
8 MR. MINORA: Three minutes.
9 MR. JACKOWITZ: -- of other topics
10 and then carefully pick and chose which
11 topics they want to hear. They may not even
12 silence someone because they consider him a
13 gadfly or a troublemaker.
14 At this time, I would like to
15 commend Mayor Doherty for --
16 MR. MINORA: That's three minutes,
17 Mr. Jackowitz.
18 MS. GATELLI: Is his time up?
19 MR. MINORA: Three minutes.
20 MS. GATELLI: Mr. Jackowitz --
21 MR. JACKOWITZ: Mr. Courtright has
22 the right to --
23 MS. GATELLI: Mr. Jackowitz, you're
24 out of order.
25 MR. JACKOWITZ: -- the right to map
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64
1 out three goals. Thank you very much. I
2 hope you were paying attention, Mrs.
3 Gatelli. You had conveniently left the room
4 while you were getting a very important
5 history lesson.
6 MS. GATELLI: Well, everyone is
7 important, Mr. Jackowitz, not just you. So,
8 I don't pick and chose when I have to go to
9 the bathroom.
10 MR. JACKOWITZ: I did not say I was
11 important, I said the message that I was
12 saying was very important.
13 MS. GATELLI: Thank you very much.
14 You know, it's nice to be important, but
15 it's more important to be nice. Mr. Dodson
16 (phonetic). I can't even go the bathroom
17 that they don't criticize you.
18 MR. DODSON: Dave Dodson, resident
19 of Scranton. I'd like to talk on the snow
20 removal. I have a few recommendations.
21 I seen the first bus that runs up
22 Crown Avenue today. The first bus, the
23 Wintermantle bus, ran past -- up Crown
24 Avenue and Stafford today.
25 We've had numerous senior citizens
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65
1 that have been homebound because they can't
2 walk the streets and pick things up and they
3 have nobody to take them or whatever.
4 For instance, a lady next door to me
5 would hop the bus and go up to Gerrity's,
6 and then hop the bus back down for her
7 groceries.
8 So, I feel it's very important that
9 being on a snow removal committee, that you
10 consider at least clearing snow removal --
11 snow routes for busses and get the busses
12 running much earlier. A day or two is one
13 thing, but you can't have two weeks worth of
14 milk and eggs and bread in your
15 refrigerator.
16 And on Mr. Courtright's
17 recommendation on the garbage trucks, if
18 those have dual axles in the rear and
19 they're not so good for hills, we do have a
20 lot of valley that could be cleared by
21 garbage trucks, and then the more qualified
22 vehicles on the hill.
23 And I'd like to commend Mr.
24 Courtright for his proposed amendments to
25 the smoking ban, and one suggestion that I
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66
1 have is that they lift the smoking ban for
2 taverns to have entertainment after ten
3 o'clock, provided, say, they stop serving
4 food at the 9:30 or something like that,
5 some type of flexibility there so we don't
6 have people unable to make full use of their
7 facilities and their businesses to make
8 money.
9 That's what it's all about. There's
10 no sense in being in business if you're
11 standing there with an empty -- an empty
12 establishment.
13 And also, when approaching our state
14 officials, for instance, in casinos in New
15 Jersey are losing business big time because
16 they enacted a smoking ban.
17 So, we want to maybe offer some of
18 these same considerations if we do get a
19 statewide ban, which I do feel is coming,
20 but it should be slightly flexible. I mean,
21 it doesn't have to be --
22 MR. MINORA: Three minutes.
23 MR. DODSON: All right. Thank you.
24 And if I have something -- also one short
25 thing, the people from lower Green Ridge and
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67
1 Buona Pizza, I think the city could try to
2 work a little more with those people to help
3 them out and diffuse the situation. They at
4 least deserve an alarm system or --
5 MS. GATELLI: Thank you.
6 MR. DODSON: -- and all the help you
7 can give them. Thank you.
8 MS. GATELLI: Randy Young.
9 MR. YOUNG: Good evening. First and
10 foremost, I'd like to apologize to Council,
11 and in particular, Mr. Minora and Mrs.
12 Gatelli for the way I represented myself
13 last week.
14 MR. MINORA: That was my brother.
15 MR. YOUNG: I was at the very least
16 inconsiderate and out of line. Secondly,
17 getting back to the smoking ban, which I
18 created that situation myself by the way I
19 acted. I was unable to get my point across.
20 I do not have a problem with the
21 indoor