Posted: Wednesday, 02 July 2008 11:36AM
Show Me The Money
Steve Corbett Reporting
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
As of today, I haven’t yet cracked the case of the art theft at the Everhart Museum.
I haven’t even figured out who gave $10,000 to Electric City Television, Scranton’s new public access TV provider.
I don’t expect to find the famous artwork – at least not any time soon.
But I do expect to track down the money trail to ECTV.
The mystery needs an explanation especially since city Councilwoman Janet Evans is quoted in today’s Times-Tribune as saying that the 10 grand “gift” from the East Scranton Business Association could be a form of “money laundering.”
Holy take-the-taxpayers-to-the-cleaners, Batman.
This looks like a job for Corbett.
The mess started last week when ECTV executive director Mark Migliore said in an interview on “Corbett” that the Hill Section association handed over the money which civic-minded types ostensibly considered to be a gesture of goodwill and community service.
I asked Migliore who made up the business association.
He said he didn’t know.
That struck me as strange.
Here’s a new public access operation that will depend on community goodwill and funding for its survival and one of a handful of bosses doesn’t have the slightest idea who’s behind the first lump sum of funding.
I’ve been in the news business too long for that one to have slipped by me.
It didn’t get by supporters of Scranton Today, either.
Scranton Today lost the public access operation to ECTV. Scranton Today supporters claim that pure politics is behind the change in providers and are now protesting the turnover to a new outfit staffed by people who have not proven themselves first.
Chris Balton, one of two ECTV founders, quit ECTV before yesterday’s debut.
With his star-studded resume citing work with everybody from Yoko Ono toGeraldo, Balton was the main man.
Now he’s gone.
The other co-founder, John Darcy, now finds himself in charge. But Darcy has tax lien problems and a lack of public relations skills that make him a poor choice for the job. Darcy also seems to believe that he’s not accountable to public scrutiny and complained when we spoke the other day that he wanted to keep a “low profile.”
That’s rich.
So is the accusation that Councilwoman Evans claimed at yesterday’s council meeting that ECTV televised – not live, as promised, but taped because of some kind of mix-up. Evans said she understood that ECTV received the public funds after the city’s Office of Economic and Community Development gave the association the money for another purpose.
We need to find out if that is true.
Council President Bob McGoff said in an off-the-air interview yesterday that he wants answers to this serious charge. He said that all such money transfers through OECD are approved by council and he has no recollection of approving such funding.
Councilman Bill Courtright also called “Corbett” yesterday to add his voice to the demand for a rapid response to this serious matter. Even if OECD legally provided the money, Courtright wants to know if it was ethical.
I just want to know where the money came from.
And I want to know how ECTV bosses and backers expect to win the public trust with such a shoddy start to their new and supposedly improved product.
I left a detailed message yesterday for OECD executive director Linda Aebli. Let’s hope she calls back and agrees to explain on the air this afternoon the role her office played, if any.
I’ll invite Evans as well.
And, of course, Migliore owes me a return call. His phone broke up yesterday when we spoke as I was in the middle of asking about this most recent controversy.
Let’s not forget the East Scranton Business Association, either.
I hope to reach its director this afternoon as well.
Then maybe we can really get on with the show.
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