LAG Gets the Boot!!!

It’s not at all what you’re thinking, or hoping for Wilkes Barre.

It appears King’s College sent a mass email to its student body, warning that L.A.G. Towing will begin booting cars at the rate of $175.00 per boot.

• Ouch are they UGG’s???

This is a copy of the letter sent to Wake Up Wilkes Barre by a student who stated, they received it in their King’s College Email Account from Campus Security, Enjoy:

King’s College

Department, Campus Safety and Security

King's College Campus

Wilkes-Bare Parking Authority – Parking Violation Enforcement

KC SA 2013-04

January 25, 2013

Students, Staff and Faculty,

Please be advised that beginning on 01/28/13, the Wilkes-Barre Parking Enforcement officers, will increase their parking enforcement hours to 6:30 p.m. due to the fact that they are now at full complement. They will also start using vehicle boots on violators. The boots are being used by L.A.G. Towing and the cost will be $175.00 dollars when they tow your car along with the fines imposed by Wilkes-Barre Parking Authority and storage fees.

Thank You

Investigator

Mark E. Naylor

CAMPUS SAFETY AND SECURITY

Email: marknaylor@kings.edu

King’s recalls email:

Attempting to confirm this email we contacted Mr. Naylor at King’s Campus Security. Mr. Naylor stated he first learned of the Booting Program from a City Parking Enforcement Officer, but when he got to work last night he had a message to contact City Police, Chief Gerard Dessoye. Mr. Naylor said he recalled the Email because the police chief told him it was a miscommunication.

Drew Mc-Laugh-Lin City Administrative Coordinator stated he had no knowledge of the booting program.

So for now it would appear that this warning is nothing more than a BIG misunderstanding, and we truly hope so. Wilkes Barre isn’t Chicago.

In other L.A.G. News:

It appears another Victim of Crime has stepped up, and claimed that L.A.G. Towing has charged them $275 in cash to get their car back, after it was stolen from their business in Berwick, and recovered just a few blocks from L.A.G.

Randall Panetta, owner of Panetta Car Mart in Berwick, provided a receipt to The Citizens' Voice, showing he paid $175 for the tow and $100 for storage on Nov. 12. The receipt indicated "stolen" as the reason for towing.

Leo’s response:

Leo refused to discuss the transaction on the advice of his attorney.

"All I can say is what you sent to me is false," Glodzik said.

• Oh ya they are all false aren’t they Leo? Every time you’re caught you claim their false, how about a lie detector test?

Glodzik said Leighton called him Friday asking about the incident.

"I said, 'Mayor, I don't remember the name,'" Glodzik said.

• Hum with a name like Panetta Car Mart you should!

After repeatedly denying earlier this week that he charged people to tow their stolen cars, Glodzik now admits it's possible he did.

"Absolutely," Glodzik said. "We make mistakes too."

• WOW you call charging Victims of Crime MISTAKES?

Hypotheses:

Now this whole Booting number makes me wonder, was the Boot Program about to really kick off on Monday, but then council moved to terminate L.A.G. and it was quickly yanked because The Chief, Leo and his Dog The King can’t afford anymore bad press???

Well good luck with that. You have EIGHT YEARS of Victims of Crime yet to come forward

Think about your car getting booted for a parking violation. 

You see the boot, you call the police, they say call L.A.G., you do, and they send a tow truck to remove the boot. L.A.G. says $175.00 Plus ticket, and whatever else they tack on. You say I can’t afford that. They say OK off to city impound and start adding $50 per day storage. Now you've been notified in person, and if you fail to pick up your car within 48 hours, it’s abandoned. 

Bye-Bye Auto!!! 

Wake Up Wilkes Barre

Source:

• Personal Email from Student
• LAG generates new complaints
• Crime victim comes forward about towing

Council votes to Fire LAG

City Council, in a surprising move last night, voted unanimously to begin actions of terminating the contract between The City of Wilkes Barre, and LAG Towing.

One resident at the meeting, even made the comment, “the bobbleheads, weren't bobbleheads tonight!!”

• Not so fast says The King!

Don’t get your hopes up, that LAG will be going anywhere, as The King isn’t likely to fire his Boy Toy!

Leo Glodzik owner of LAG Towing offered testimony on his behalf, saying either he didn't charge victims of crime, or he had a darn good reason why he did.

Leo also stated that in the case of the 83 year old woman whose car was stolen, he told the woman it would cost approximately $2,000 to fix the 1993 Oldsmobile Cutlass that was damaged and had a blown engine. Even though that contradicts statements he made to the press earlier this week when he said he answered her hypothetical question about how much storage fees might be, Leo reportedly said “Ma’am, it would be like $2,000,”,

• But now the story changes, I wonder why???

“She didn't have any complaints,” Leo said.

• So that’s why she complained to her neighbor that she wasn't allowed to get her Bingo Bag out of her car, and in turn he reported it to Charlotte Raup President of the Crime Watch, who then emailed City Council.

WOW, is it me or does Leo really need to hire a spokes person? His story changers faster than The King can spend money…

Wake Up Wilkes Barre

Source:

• Council wants mayor to pull plug on LAG
• Council recommends ending LAG contract
• Something at LAG was done wrong, Hypothetically

Of course we charge Victims of Crime

LAG Towing's contract mandates that it must "tow, free of charge, any vehicles owned by any victim of any crime." But The Citizens Voice found 10 instances in which customers paid to recover cars that were documented by the company as being stolen.

LAG Towing owner Leo Glodzik III said Wednesday that he could explain every case, but he was short on specifics.

• Of course he was, he makes it up as he goes along.

"I'm telling you how it is, there is not a person that has a stolen car that was a victim of a crime who was charged by me," Glodzik said.

• Except that 83 year old women who LAG extorted the title from, Oh ya and the 10 or so the papers caught them with.

Nancy Hooker, a 29-year-old Wilkes-Barre resident, said she had to pay $500 to retrieve her stolen car last April. Her car was recovered in Wilkes-Barre Township. LAG told her the rule preventing victims from being billed didn't apply if the car was found outside the city.

But per the Time Leader reported, Charlotte and Bryan Schmidt, of Wilkes-Barre said Glodzik required them to pay $245 to reclaim their 2006 Chrysler minivan that was stolen on Sept. 25, 2010 from the parking lot of the City Heights apartment complex on North Sherman Street. The car was recovered on Park Avenue about four hours after they reported it stolen, said Bryan Schmidt. They immediately went to LAG’s lot on Carey Avenue in Wilkes-Barre to reclaim it and were told they owed $145 for the tow and $100 for storage, he said.

• Hum stolen in Wilkes Barre, Recovered in Wilkes Barre, Yet charged as a Victim of Crime???

"The only way I found out the towing company had my car (was) because the day after they recovered my car, it was on the front page of the newspaper," Hooker said.

• Oh no the police and Leo didn’t call them either???

"I can't assume or speculate," Leighton said. "I have the police department pulling those files."

• What you mean to say Your Lordship is, you’re not going to do a darn thing so suck it up!

Leighton also said Glodzik told him customers must provide a copy of a police report to prove the car was stolen.

However, Paul Falzone, owner of Falzone Towing, said he doesn't require that paperwork. Falzone tows cars for Hanover Township and also does not charge victims of a crime. "The victim just has to show up with proof of ownership," Falzone said. "Once the vehicle is released pending processing, the vehicle is returned to the rightful owner."

• It should also be noted that Wilkes Barre Police Department WILL NOT provide anyone with a report on an OPEN investigation. 

City Spokesmen Drew Mc-Laugh-Lin said city officials were unable to immediately confirm the Schmidts’ claims because police reports in 2010 were not computerized.

• WAIT, What are you talking about Drew: Back in 2008 the city applied for and received TWO grants to buy a NEW RECORDS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM called Total Enforcement. 
• Are you telling me that after all the reports the Police Chief sent in, stating this records management systems works great, it’s not working at all????

"I don't defend any of our vendors, but I have to live by what the contract says," Leighton said.

• Um what? If that were even remotely true, you would have terminated this one, back when Leo LIED to Judge Gelb…

"You can't just terminate the guy's contract unless you have a legitimate reason," Leighton said. "It's gotta be something we feel has hampered the city." Leighton said simply failing to keep receipts was not enough to fire the company. "Him not having receipts isn't affecting the way I'm running the city or the way the police department operates," Leighton said. "I'm concerned with the service he provides, how he treats people and if his charges are in line with other companies."

Council chairman Bill Barrett said he believes failing to keep receipts would be sufficient grounds for termination. However, Barrett said he'd like to see hard evidence of any wrongdoing before he would second a motion to recommend LAG Towing's firing. "You'd need to tell me what was violated and how it was violated," Barrett said.

Bill pull you head out of the King’s backside long enough to get this:

• LAG didn’t file the proper paperwork with the state

• LAG charged storage fees without notifying the owners

• LAG violated his contract when he charged victims of crime

Under the state motor vehicle code, any tower or salvager who takes possession of an abandoned vehicle must file the required form with PennDOT within 48 hours. Anyone who violates the law could be charged with a summary offense.

• Wake Up Billy, if you wanted to fire LAG, you have more than enough reason, but the TRUTH is you do what The King tells you to do, and always have.

LAG Towing also did not submit any of the necessary forms to tow and possess abandoned vehicles to the state in 2012, according Jan McKnight, spokeswoman with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. She said the company submitted the forms in 2011 but would not say how many without a Right-to-Know request.

• So Ms. McKnight when Mark Robbins requested this same information, your office responded with “we have 998 abandoned vehicle applications, and you will need to send $5.00 per copy.” ARE YOU NUTZ? Asking a private citizen to pay $4,990 to investigate an Auto Theft Ring!!!

"Instead of filling out all the paperwork, I contact people and make a deal myself," Glodzik said.

• I think what Leo means here is, He contacts the people and extorts the title, like the 83 year old woman, that’s the deal he makes himself.

The state Motor Vehicle Code requires towing companies to file a report with PennDOT within 48 hours of taking an abandoned vehicle into their possession. LAG Towing's contract requires it to "comply, at all times," with that code, along with all federal, state, and local laws.

McKnight said PennDOT has NOT sanctioned LAG Towing and declined to say if any sanctions were being considered.

• Wake Up McKnight you know as well as I do, PennDot will do NOTHING, as they have already been told not to.

Wake Up Wilkes Barre

Source:

• Records show violation of W-B towing contract
• No forms may be problem for tower
• LAG Towing investigation criticized
• More claim they were hooked
• Total Un-Enforcement

Happy victim = No crime?

Seriously if a victim is happy in the end, did a crime take place?

Consider you are being raped, but it is the best sex you’ve ever experienced, or a burglar breaks in at 3:00 AM and steals all that crap in your basement, that you were planning on paying a hauler to dispose of.

• Are you still a victim of crime?

• Were you still violated?

Now consider you were lied to about the condition of your car, and facts relating to fees that you should never have been charged, EVER, but the lying, cheating, extorting, car thief, was SO NICE, and you are a bit naive, as to his shady business practices.

• Did a crime take place?

We have agencies to protect people who don’t quite understand that they are in fact a victim of crime.

• Where is the bureau of the aging on this case?  

Why is it OK for LAG to take advantage of an 83 year old woman, by inflating fees, lying at the very least about said fees, and possibly the condition of her car, and yet the Dolts in this town still flock to protect him.

• What gives???

Wake Up Wilkes Barre

Source:

• LAG Towing bills woman $2K for hauling, storing stolen car
• Something at LAG was done wrong, Hypothetically
• Stolen car case grabs official’s attention

Something at LAG was done wrong, Hypothetically

When 80 year old Natalie Aleo's 1993 Oldsmobile Cutlass was stolen from in front of her Wilkes Barre City home on December 10, it was quickly recovered by Plymouth Police on December 11, who in turn contacted City Police, to inform them, that they had captured their stolen vehicle.

The car was then picked up by LAG Towing, but Mrs. Aleo was not notified by either City Police or LAG for weeks.

Glodzik said he came across Aleo’s car while moving cars around on his lot. Then questioned his lot manage as to where the car came from, and was told it’s been here awhile. After finding identification papers in the car, he called and she came to the lot, he said.

My question:

• Doesn’t LAG maintain towing records, NOW?

• I know they haven’t in the past, but one would think with all the controversy over his poor record keeping, he would have some documentation as to how a 1993 Oldsmobile Cutlass mysteriously showed up on his lot.

Tony George, council vice chairman, acknowledged Saturday other people might raise the issue before he does.

• “I believe something was done wrong,” he said.

I believe your on to something here Tony, I mean the City Police didn’t call the victim of a crime to let her know her car had been recovered, and then LAG had to rifle through her car, after stumbling upon it on his extremely huge lot, for identification papers, because he apparently is still not maintain records.

• Ya I would say more than a few something(s) was done wrong!!

Charlotte Raup, president of the Wilkes-Barre Crime Watch Coalition got involved when Mrs. Aleo’s neighbor informed Raup, that LAG kept her car because she couldn’t pay the $2,000 storage fee. Mrs. Aleo wasn’t allowed to even see her car, nor retrieve her Bingo chips, said her neighbor.

The neighbor’s story was confirmed by Mrs. Aleo when she spoke with Raup.

• Leo, did you let Mrs. Aleo see her car, or get her personal belongings?

Glodzik said Aleo asked him a hypothetical question: what it would cost to get her car out of storage. “Ma’am, it would be like $2,000,”

• Leo, why in the world would it ever be like $2,000 if, your words: Glodzik disputed Raup’s account of his dealing with Aleo. “We don’t charge the victim of a crime,” he said. “She didn’t pay anything.”

Aleo gave Glodzik the title of the car, which he said had a blown engine and was not worth repairing.

• So you see Leo, she did pay something, she gave you the title to her car, that still had at least scrap value.

It was not known how the engine might have become damaged, stated the Times Leader.

• Good point since it was apprehended in Plymouth just the next day.

“This lady had no idea why the mayor was calling her,” Leighton said. Aleo told him she was “perfectly happy” with LAG, he said, and did not know why it was an issue.

Well Your Lordship, let's break it down for you: Mrs. Aleo who is 80, was faced with either paying LAG $2,000 for storage, and then a towing fee, to take the vehicle that she believed to have a blown engine to a mechanic of her choice. 

So she was “perfectly happy” surrendering her title to LAG, and having the whole thing dropped.

• So your right Mayor Lie-A-Ton she was “perfectly happy” being a trusting, sweet, elderly woman, who didn't know who, or what, she was really dealing with.

Wake Up Wilkes Barre

Source:

• Stolen car case grabs official’s attention

Something stinks in the DA’s office

Luzerne County Controller Walter Griffith is being investigated for allegedly illegally recorded multiple conversations and supplying them to a grand jury investigating the Hotel Sterling’s nonprofit owner, CityVest.

"Salavantis said she became aware of alleged violations after federal agents supplied her copies of tape recordings Griffith, in replying to a subpoena, had allegedly made of conversations with multiple people connected to the Hotel Sterling project."

Questions:

If this happened in March 2011, and The Luzerne County District Attorney's office began investigating Griffith in July 2012 after he provided the recordings to a federal grand jury investigating the Sterling organization, CityVest.

Why did CityVest board member Y. Judd Shoval wait until yesterday to file a civil suit against Walter Griffith?

WHY would the FEDS give this information to the DA and not the Attorney General’s Office themselves???????  

• Is it at all possible they are attempting to take out yet another taxpayer advocate?

“I’m baffled. It’s kind of confusing to me,” Griffith said. “I never illegally recorded anybody in my life in a face-to-face conversation or otherwise.”

• We believe you Walter, but unfortunately you’re toying with friends of The King, and we hear they slid cash to his Alma Mater, and then that College gave Prince Tommy, A FREE ride.

District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis said she forwarded the investigation to the state Attorney General’s Office because it involves another elected official.

• But her office is up to handling The Gas Gate investigation, even though it involves another elected official, and possibly relatives of her staff???

Now I know, we refer to Mayor Lie-A-Ton, as The King, and perhaps The Young DA is a bit confused, being a loyal reader and all, but let me clear this up for you. The anointed, all powerful, King of mean, is in fact elected. 

I know it’s hard to tell the difference sometimes, with the voting Dolts in this town, but it’s true. 

• ELECTED KING!!! GOT IT???

I guess we can forget about the Angela Stevens investigation??

Salavantis should also come clean about the Hit and Run on Route 11, and why she is where she is. 

Salavantis worked for Attorney Robert Panowicz whose daughter has or had a pending case being prosecuted by the district attorney's office for a fatal hit-and-run crash in 2008 in Kingston.

• Jackie wouldn’t back off that case, and look at what happened to her!!!

Wake Up Wilkes Barre

Source(s):

• Wiretap suit stuns controller
• Intent won’t save Griffith, attorneys say
• Controller oversteps bounds?
• Controller facing criminal investigation for illegal recordings

• County DA candidate returns campaign contribution from boss
• Judge denies request to reduce charges in hit-and-run case
• Ruling in hit-and-run death due soon
• Affidavits reveal hit-and-run details
• Regional Briefs 7/20/2012: Woman will face felony charge
• Stefanie Salavantis said the case involving Megan Panowicz had to be transferred because Salavantis had worked for the law firm of Panowicz’s father, Robert

It is a Committee Your Lordship

During last night’s council meeting several citizens raised issues about the LAG Committee. 

Some thought that having the Mayor, and his administration on a committee that would eventually advise the administration as to what steps they might take, is a clear conflict of interest, and their RIGHT!

How can you advise yourself?

Leighton interjected during the conversation, claiming that the committee was not a committee at all.

• "There's no committee," Leighton said. "It's just we're going to meet.

I guess The King didn’t read Council resolution No. R0091-12

• Whereas, Council recommends the formation of a sub-committee to review the aforementioned information along with the City Attorney.

So you see, Your Lordship, per Council Resolution this review is clearly a committee.

In September, the city said an "internal review" would be conducted that would not be open to the public.

Per PENNSYLVANIA SUNSHINE ACT:

§ 703. Definitions: "Agency." The body, and all committees thereof authorized by the body to take official action or render advice on matters of agency business,

Meetings:

The Sunshine Act defines a “meeting” as any prearranged gathering of an agency attended by a quorum of members held for the purpose of deliberating agency business or taking official action.

Section 704. Open meetings:

Official action and deliberations by a quorum of the members of an agency shall take place at a meeting open to the public

So it would seem that as this is most definitely a committee per a council resolution, and its sole purpose is to render advise on the matters of agency business,  per the Sunshine Act, any such meeting would need to be Open to the Public.

• See you there Your Lordship 

Wake Up Wilkes Barre

Source:

• Council resolution on Page 70, 71, & 72
• Insurance expert offers savings solution to W-B council
• Pennsylvania SUNSHINE ACT

The Emperor's New Clothes or Hawkeye?

While it may be hard to tell the difference between the Hawkeye scandal and the story of The Emperor’s New Clothes, there are many in the news business attempting to help.

The Emperor’s New Clothes: As you know was about a pair of shysters (let’s call them J.J. & Bill) who duped their ruler into buying, and wearing nothing. Under the pretense of, if you can’t see it, then you’re too stupid.

Hawkeye: "They did exactly what we intended them to do," said Greg Barrouk of the Hawkeye board.

Unless you wanted the camera system to do what their original RFP: Request for Proposal called for in section B,

• “Video cameras may be mixture of high resolution, high sensitivity integral color, capable of identifying personnel, vehicle license plates”

It wasn’t until one honest boy said “the emperor is naked” that folks all woke up, and said “the boy is right, the emperor is naked”.

Now many Wilkes Barre Citizens are questioning whether Hawkeye did what we the taxpayers were told it would, could, or should do, when we were duped into paying for Hawkeye.

So like in The Emperor’s New Clothes, perhaps Hawkeye has been working under the same theory, if you can’t see the vehicle license plates, your simply too stupid.

Looking at Joe Holden's investigation into Hawkeye we see Alan Wohlstetter, of Fox Rothschild LLP in Philadelphia is the Hawkeye board solicitor. 

You may remember Alan when he, and J.J. hatched a plan that cost our Parking Authority a couple of Hundred Thousand Dollars, in legal, and consulting fees, when attempting to lease or sell the authority down the river, for a Fast, Cool $20 Million Dollars.

Alan even had the nerve to backdate and submit bills for what he said was a billing oversight, after the Parking Authority saw this scheme for what it was, and pulled the plug.

Wake Up Wilkes Barre

Source:

• Integrity in doubt: Critics slam reliability of W-B camera network
• Hawkeye Request for Proposal
• The Emperor's New Clothes
• Parking, Leasing, or Fleecing?

Hawkeye’s blind but don’t criticize

For years now citizens of Wilkes Barre have questioned the effectiveness of Hawkeye Security Solutions, V.S. the overall cost of implementation, and annual operating costs. 

Charlotte Raup president of The Wilkes Barre City Crime Watch, said she often hears police on the scanner as they ask to check Hawkeye for photos of whatever is happening at the time, and in most cases the police are told “we got noting” from Hawkeye.

Charlotte’s not the first person to raise questions regarding Hawkeye. Patrick Sweet of The Citizens Voice newspaper began an investigation of Hawkeye in 2011, but then Patrick Sweet left The Citizens Voice, and his investigation was somehow swept under the rug.

Also our Parking Authority who pays Hawkeye faithfully for their service (or lack thereof) has been waiting for well over a year for repairs to a nonworking camera in the central garage.

Raup said a police source told her that the city camera did not capture images, of several crimes, including the drive-by shooting on Hazle Street.

Told of Raup’s comment on the Hazle Street incident, City spokesman Mc-Laugh-Lin said the city will not respond to allegations made by anonymous sources.

• Good thinking Drew, I wouldn’t comment on anything, I couldn’t verify either.

City spokesman Drew Mc-Laugh-Lin said the camera above the North Street scene had captured video of a car hitting Miller.

District Attorney Salavantis denied the footage existed and, hours later, Mc-Laugh-Lin reversed himself, saying police had provided him incorrect information.

• Wait, what police officer gave you wrong information Drew? I was under the impression “the city will not respond to allegations made by anonymous sources.”

So let me get this straight Drew Mc-liar-paints can make up stories, and blame the police, but if our crime watch president tells the truth about what she and everyone with a scanner hears, with their own ears, then he has no comment.

Wake Up Wilkes Barre

Source:

Anthony Antonello's follow up

• Raup: Cameras’ status dubious
• DA criticizes media's focus on W-B surveillance camera system
• PATRICK SWEET AND THE CITIZENS’ VOICE V. HAWKEYE SECURITY SOLUTIONS

Boards & Authorities

Ever wonder who’s gets appointed to the City Boards and Authorities and why. 

• What are their functions? 

Well we did, and what we found is that most boards are comprised of The King’s minions, Not much of a surprise, unless the members were appointed prior to the King’s rise to power that is, much like most of the members of our financially responsible, and only profitable division, The Wilkes Barre City Parking Authority.

• Click here for list of City Boards & Authorities, and their members

If you’re interested in attending any of the meetings for City Boards & Authorities, you can find most of their meeting times posted on the Taxpayers Calendar linked below.

• Wilkes Barre City Taxpayers Calendar of Events

As we have been reporting, one of the City Boards, Hawkeye Security Solutions doesn't work properly, or as expected.

Hawkeye Board:

• Frank Majikes – Chair
• Greg Barrouk – Vice Chair / Treasurer (City Economic Development)
• Lou Lau (City IT Director)
• Joe Coyne (Retired City of Wilkes-Barre Police)
• Gus Genetti
• Tom Kupetz (City Police)
• Mike Merritt (City Councilman)

From a distance Hawkeye looks to have launched a vast network of 360 degree cameras throughout the city, in order to monitor public activity, and be a watchful eye in the event of a crime. This tool has the potential to serve as an eye witness for police,

• If it worked that is: Hawkeye or Blindeye

The City Taxpayers Association has requested several videos from Hawkeye in an attempt to prove the existence of such monitoring ability. With every request, Haykeye responded with “That the security camera video footage is no longer in existence and didn’t exist at the time of request.”

• No Hawkeye Videos 

Other than looting millions of dollars from various other city departments, boards, or authorities, and spending it on No-Bid Contracts for Campaign Contributors, can anyone tell me what exactly Hawkeyes function is?

It should also be noted that our City Parking Authority has been waiting over a year for repairs, to a broken Hawkeye camera in a city garage, located near Movies 14. The board has requested, repair, replacement, of said camera to, The Hawkeye Board, City IT Director Lou Lau, and The King Directly when he attended their November 2012 meeting.  

To date NO repairs have commenced, yet the Parking Authority has NOT missed ONE payment to Hawkeye.

Wake Up Wilkes Barre

Source:

November 2012 Parking Authority Clip

• City Boards & Authorities
• Wilkes Barre City Taxpayers Calendar of Events
• Hawkeye Security Solutions