Bob Lesh 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 / 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 / 07.12.2018

Who needs cable when Scrantonians can attend Scranton School Board meetings?  This week your favorite cast returned for the premiere of their new season.  They never fail to deliver the high drama, laughs, and controversy avid viewers have come to expect. The directors, minus Greg Popil (more on that later), met Monday night for their annual re-organization meeting.  Almost immediately, chaos ensued.  Directors shouted over one another as five different members - Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, Barbara Dixon, Katie Gilmartin, and Tom Schuster - were nominated for President.  Gilmartin was defeated in a 5-4 vote, with Robert Casey, Dixon, Paul Duffy, Bob Lesh (BL!), and Popil voting...

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Politics / 03.12.2018

It was a close vote, but Scranton Schools Director Barbara Dixon has been chosen by her colleagues for another year as President of the Scranton School Board.  In a meeting Monday night that was at times difficult to follow, Dixon won a 5-4 vote following the board's 5-4 decision not to elect Katie Gilmartin to the position.  The directors then voted to retain Robert Casey (no relation to the U.S. Senator) for another year as Vice President. Dixon and Casey received support from Paul Duffy, Bob Lesh, and Greg Popil, who voted by telephone....

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City Confidential / 03.11.2018

There was no want of talent Thursday as the Scranton School Board selected from a pool of twelve (TWELVE!) candidates vying to fill the seat left vacant by the passing of Carol Oleski.  We're too lazy to type all of the names but the school directors had their work cut out when it came to conducting interviews.  In terms of standards, we know from his comments two weeks ago that Bob Lesh was not looking for another Einstein like Harvard grad Page Gebhardt Cognetti.  In the end, both Paige and BL agreed on Greg Popil for the spot.  Popil previously...

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City Confidential / 19.10.2018

Will the Scranton School District ever get its act together?  Last week saw the leak of superintendent Alexis Kirijan's June letter alleging harassment and discrimination at the hands of an unnamed School Board member.  The dust is still settling, but Kirijan is rightly angry at whomever leaked it.  Observers are also wondering what procedure - if any - was followed by the district's leaders.  Paige Gebhart Cognetti wants to know whether school directors violated the Sunshine Law when they retained the services of attorney Jarrett Ferentino to investigate the allegations.  Also, this week's Lack of Self-Awareness Award goes to our friend...

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City Confidential / 05.10.2018

Monday was the Case of Alexis and the No Good, Horrible, Very Bad Day.  Poor Alexis Kirijan.  Even though School Board President Barbara Dixon called a last minute cancellation of the regular meeting (no, BL, we mean Bob Lesh's basement did not flood again), that did not stop Directors Paul Duffy, Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, Mark McAndrew, and Tom Schuster from continuing with their Labor Relations Committee meeting.  The four want Jeff Brazil's head on a platter.  Who can blame them?  Word around town is Brazil was asleep at the wheel while Daniel Sansky funnelled fraudulent bills to Gregg Sunday.  Kirijan took the brunt...

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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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