WILK (The Morning News with Nancy and Kevin) -- When the WILK Talkers got together a few months ago to discuss our appearances on WVIA TV’s State of Pa. we knew what we wanted the focus of the show to be about. It was not just the Judicial scandal in Luzerne County, but the constant barrage of connected people getting jobs, getting breaks, getting perks and doing things that average everyday hard working people don’t get in Northeast Pa.
How do you package all of that in one show? Corbett and I went over to meet WVIA President Bill Kelly to talk about it. Bill brought in a number of staff members to help us brainstorm the concept. During our explanations a catch-phrase was born, “culture of corruption”. Corbett has this gift of taking an issue and giving it a headline. Sue Henry does too. She brought us “Nepa-tism”. It’s the newspaper journalist in them. When Corbett said ‘culture of corruption’ we knew that that hit the nail on the head.
It’s not just the relatives who get the breaks in this region. It’s the friends, the donors, the family member of a friend who got your family member a job. Sometimes two people have never met and they still manage to reach a deal.
While progress is being made in uncovering a lot of corruption in these parts, there’s still so much to be done. The audacity of some officials is astounding, even with the probes going on and the scrutiny being given to those in public office, nonsense continues.
The Wilkes Barre Area School Board just hired the wife of board member James Fisher. This is the Board where 2 people have been indicted on corruption charges. This board member didn’t even have the stones to show up for the vote to defend the hiring. How many qualified people were overlooked to make room for this family member? The least Mr. Fisher could have done was show up and face the people and defend the hiring. Of course he didn’t. It’s cowardly to duck the bad press you’re expecting.
In recent weeks we also discovered that county managers don’t ever have to show up for work. That’s right, they are salaried and there aren’t a set amount of hours they have to work, or days they need to clock in. What a joke. Then, if you’re a County Commissioner and you criticize a department for said nonsense, you just very well might be suspected of planting drugs and trying to frame them. You can’t make this stuff up.
This week, the news broke that Senator Bob Mellow was renting his office from himself and his wife, with taxpayer money. It’s outrageous! The monthly rent was exorbitant and the selling price our buddy Bob got for it was totally out of the realm of the real world. Are you people in Mellow’s District going to keep voting this arrogant clown in? I really try to refrain from name-calling, but Senator Mellow shows nothing but disdain for his constituents. He’s told you to ‘get a life’ and you gave him another term. He is so hungry at the trough that he couldn’t even allow a citizen of his district make money by renting to him…he had to make that money for himself. Oink Oink. A senate job, two paying board positions, AND rental money to top it off. Enough. Please, someone, run against this guy and give him the heave-ho. If I see one more building, park, bridge, childrens center, even a restroom named after Bob Mellow, I’m going to heave.
It’s easy to see headline after headline and get desensitized. They’re hoping you will. You may just throw up your hands and think it’s just another instance of Nepa-tism and there’s nothing you can do. Please don’t give up. This isn’t an easy fight. It’s a long drawn out battle and endurance is required. Every time something happens, there’s a danger that the voice yelling out will get quieter and quieter. If we work together, with our voices in unison, we can let the whole region know that we’re not going to take it anymore.
Corbett
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