Posted: Wednesday, 14 January 2009 11:12AM
Raise The Roof At City Hall
Steve Corbett Reporting
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
In a clean victory for taxpayers who pay the bills, Scranton City Council members last night backed off their bad idea to propose pay raises for themselves and other government officials.
Without the outrage of the people, I have little doubt that the discussion would have taken place.
The proposal might have even passed.
While the American economy crumbles and 20 percent of Scranton residents live in poverty, part-time council members should never have brought up the idea of salary increases.
So when the official meeting agenda listed the formal discussion, the people responded.
Since good government is the social fabric that binds us, this foolhardy idea poked holes in any idea of fairness or public service.
Civic outrage remains a powerful tool in the arsenal of public opinion. And, last night, the people gave their elected officials as good a kick in the arsenal as I’ve ever seen.
The rumor about the raises had been circulating for some time
The city Home Rule Charter requires that any raise for council members, the mayor or the controller be approved by Feb. 1 in an election year.
Most people realize that 2009 is an election year.
Mayor Chris Doherty is running for re-election.
So are three of the five city council members.
Two of those three are as unpopular as any city council members I’ve ever seen, although they are both machine Democrats who endorse Doherty, who’s the machine mayor.
The other candidate, Janet Evans, is a populist whose opinion comprises the minority position.
Still, the people matter most in this equation.
Doherty could fall to an as yet unannounced challenger, but his losing is unlikely.
Sherry Nealon Fanucci has yet to announce, although her seemingly endless speech last night about her public service convinces me that she will, indeed, seek re-election and maybe a career in public theater as well.
Councilwoman Judy Gatelli is running for re-election.
Her tenure as a cheerleader for Doherty is under constant attack. She has failed dismally to behave as a political professional and treats audience members with a mixture of scorn and ridicule. Equally unacceptable is how she patronizes people.
I have never received a return phone call from Gatelli.
That shows she not only doesn’t know how to deal with the press but she doesn’t know how to deal with a constituent.
As a Scranton homeowner and taxpayer I take offense at her lack of sophistication.
Judging from public opinion, I’m not alone.
Last night’s protest against the raises drew about 120 people to the steps of City Hall.
Carrying signs and chanting, the protestors – including police and firefighters who are waiting for a raise for years – make it clear that they are as much a political force this year as the machine-sponsored campaigns.
If Democratic Party officials are smart, they’ll back somebody other than Gatelli, who has done more harm than good and needs to go.
Fanucci is another obstacle for a city that needs help to get out from beneath the “distressed city” status that is a weight around the neck of true progress.
Scranton deserves better.
I’m still supporting Doherty in his re-election bid, although he has made some serious mistakes that can’t happen again. His supporting Gatelli and Fanucci is embarrassing for him and for us.
City Council can use some new faces.
This campaign is on.
The people who came together to speak out in favor of fairness on a cold winter night in Scranton are already committed to a fight to the finish.
May the best men and women win.
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Corbett
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