Little is known about the FBI raids on City Hall and Mayor Bill Courtright's West Mountain residence. No charges have been leveled in the investigation but the city's Home Rule Charter provides answers on what happens if Courtright decides to resign....
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...
How would the city's political landscape been altered if Chris Doherty had won the 2010 race for Pennsylvania Governor? Here's our "what if" version of the story....
While most of Scranton's political class remained silent following news of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raid on City Hall and Mayor Bill Courtright's West Mountain residence, Democratic Council President Pat Rogan urged his colleagues not to jump to conclusions at the first City Council meeting following the raids....
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...
Political insiders were abuzz this week as calculations were made and some bets taken on the future viability of Mayor William L. Courtright. There were frantic phone calls last weekend that the Old Man was going to throw in the towel. "He'll do the honorable thing," said one Lackawanna County Democrat. Courtright was going to resign. By Sunday night, the Mayor made clear through the press and his intermediaries: he is innocent and he is not going anywhere. Here is what we know: FBI agents executed search warrants and conducted a raid of City Hall and the Mayor's West Mountain home on Wednesday,...
A well placed source inside the Lackawanna Democratic Party has told The Scranton Citizen that Mayor Bill Courtright's resignation is only a matter of time....
Before City Confidential went on our holiday sabbatical we joked that no one should get raided or arrested in our absence. Seriously, we were not joking. This week's column was going to examine whether U.S. Senator Bob Casey makes a formidable candidate for President or Vice President. That was before Mayor Bill Courtright went and got himself raided. All kidding aside. The last thing we want to do is put out bad information. We have received plenty of calls since Wednesday and many of the assertions have already proven to be untrue. Here is what we know: On Wednesday, FBI agents were seen raiding City Hall. The...
Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Wednesday raided both City Hall and the private home of Mayor Bill Courtright....
Just months after a controversial decision to grant a lease to a city employee, the Scranton City Council introduced a revised ethics code Monday with tougher restrictions on conduct for local officials and employees....