BL Archives - Scranton Citizen
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City Confidential / 09.02.2019

Does money buy love or votes?  This week, Democratic County Commissioner Jerry Notarianni officially kicked off his campaign for re-election.  He's bringing former Lackawanna County Director of Economic Development George Kelly along for the ride.  The two will face Notarianni's nemesis Patrick O'Malley and an as of yet unnamed running mate in this May's primary election.  There are more than a few Democratic up and comers angry at O'Malley's decision to switch sides and play ball with Republican Laureen Cummings. Some speculate that this will be an epic fight to the political death.  We disagree.  O'Malley saw this coming and has...

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City Confidential / 25.01.2019

It has been weeks since the FBI raided City Hall and the West Mountain residence of Mayor Bill Courtright.  On the surface, there doesn't seem to be much doing.  A recap of what we know: FBI agents executed search warrants and conducted a raid of City Hall and the Mayor’s West Mountain home on Wednesday, January 9th The agents removed documents and computer devices The Mayor has engaged attorney Paul Walker to represent him both legally and, apparently, to the public Walker’s fees will be paid by the Mayor and not city taxpayers Walker issued a press release denying any wrongdoing on the part...

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City Confidential / 21.12.2018

For those following the antics of the Scranton School Board, this week they did not disappoint. Wednesday's meeting saw the majority directors slam through a 3.6% tax increase and a rushed appointment to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Paige Gebhardt Cognetti.  The increase comes from a $5 million revenue shortfall that needed to be made up if the district was going to balance its $166 million in expenses.  Directors divided along expected lines and the motion won passage in a 5-3 vote with Robert Casey, Barbara Dixon, Bob Lesh (BL!), Greg Popil, and Paul Duffy in favor and Kate Gilmartin, Mark...

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City Confidential / 28.09.2018

The Scranton School District is embroiled in a web of scandal and dysfunction rarely seen in the annals of Lackawanna County politics.  The arrest of one time fleet manager  Daniel Sansky on charges that he defrauded taxpayers by overbilling for work performed at Danny's Auto Body comes as little surprise to those familiar with the findings of Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale in the 2017 performance audit report of district operations.  A teacher phoned yesterday to remind us that this is all the tip of the iceberg. Bob Lesh disputes that he is the "BL" listed in the indictment.  It's a hard case to make...

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