Posted: Monday, 26 October 2009 10:55AM
Doherty's Ego Runs Amok
Steve Corbett Reporting
Monday, October 26, 2009
While Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty wants to get re-elected on Nov. 3, he also wants to win the Democratic nomination for the governor’s job.
Doherty wants it all while all Scranton residents want is a mayor who is truly in command of the most fundamental issues of public service.
Campaign finance records show that Doherty is already on the campaign trail for governor, transferring $53,000 from his mayoral re-election campaign to his gubernatorial campaign.
But while the mayor is good at spending other people’s money, he really ought to spend more time standing up for the unalienable rights of the residents of his city.
Issues of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, basic tenets of democracies large and small, now threaten to unhinge Doherty’s reputation even among some supporters. His inability to lead conflicts with his campaign promises that ring empty amid the chaos of a distressed city the mayor claims is progressive and on the move.
Even Doherty’s loyalty to his own political party is in question.
Although Doherty won both the Democratic and Republican nominations in the mayoral primary election, he is a longtime, die-hard Democrat who has always been available to march in parades, appear at fundraisers and profess his undying faithfulness to the party.
But novice Republican Scranton city council candidate Doug Miller recently claimed on “Corbett” that Doherty is supporting him in his bid to get elected amid a field of three Democrats who are running as a team and who pose a threat to Doherty’s strong mayor and strong-arm office.
Doherty has failed to return three recent phone calls to talk about the job he’s doing as a public servant and his aspirations both above and below the political radar. As smart as Doherty and his inner circle are convinced he is politically, his reluctance to face most pressing issues of his political career is simply not smart politics.
But Doherty’s foggy egotism might explain some other serious blunders that might one day sink his political career for good and send him packing back into the family business.
Members of a mayoral task force have remained silent since Doherty appointed them to analyze policy in the aftermath of last May’s fatal shooting of Brenda Williams, a mentally ill, 52-year-old black Air Force veteran whom Scranton police officers shot and killed.
Doherty surfaced only a few times to address the police panic that left a sick black woman dead at the hands of white male cops.
Even then, Doherty stumbled when I asked on “Corbett” if he appointed an African-American to his mayoral task force.
No, Doherty said, he had not appointed a black person to look into the volatile controversy that should bring a discussion of race into the discussion.
Race is rarely discussed in the Doherty administration.
Apparently neither is gender.
Two women Scranton police officers have filed a federal lawsuit against Doherty and members of his administration after police chief Dave Elliott called the women “overtime whores.” The women officers allege that discrimination against them continued after the incident and that they were denied overtime and job-training opportunities.
The suit alleges that Doherty’s police, led by Doherty’s personal choice as chief, have engaged in a pattern of discrimination, harassment against female officers (who are in limited supply) and that the department has not responded adequately to complaints of harassment and discrimination.
The lawsuit does not bode well for Doherty or his political future.
If the case goes to trial, Doherty will no doubt find himself on the witness stand testifying under oath about what he has done to advance gender equity and fairness in his police department. If that happens, expect lawyers for the women officers to grill Doherty about his membership in and leadership of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick.
Segregationist and proud of it, Doherty will have serious trouble explaining his involvement with an organization that bars women unless they are serving the ham and cabbage dinner to the politically well-connected men in the room.
Do not expect Doherty to laugh out loud at lawyers’ questions in federal court the way he chuckled when I quizzed him on the air about his support for a sexist society that discriminates against women.
And now, with the election closing in, comes word that another public servant in the Doherty administration has distinguished himself by losing control of his vehicle, hitting a curb and flipping his car. Police say Scranton building inspector Carl R. Graziano Jr., the 22-year-old son of a Scranton police supervisor, smelled of alcohol and might face charges of driving under the influence.
Graziano’s breath isn’t all that smells in the Doherty administration.
Losing control seems to be the hallmark of Doherty’s tenure in a once-proud city that truly deserves better.
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