Not in My Back Yard!!!

As we all know crime is on the RISE in the City of Wilkes Barre, and now it’s hitting home for our illustrious Mayor, and the Barney Farm Elites.

The biggest crime spree to hit our city will hereafter be referred to as “Sewer Gate” Yes that’s right the theft of Sewer Grates is the lead story!

Let’s not worry about Drug Dealers, Vagrants, Home Invasions, or even the occasional Muggings that keep the good citizens of our city safely locked in their homes after dark.

As stated the City Police are Aggressively Investigating this massive injustice happing in the Barney Farm section.

Questions:

• Who is doing this?
• Why are they targeting the Barney Farms Section? Could it be that folks truly believe the streets down there are paved with GOLD?
• Why would anyone choose a section of the city we all know is protected by taxpayer purchased home Security Systems, with Security Cameras?
• Did the Cameras see anything?

The Mayor stated on the news that he believes this crime is related to drug users cashing in the Sewer Grates for cash to fuel their drug addiction. I wonder if the City allowed our Police Department to Aggressively work with our Crime Watch and/or Guardian Angels and actually targeted the drug problem like the leaders of those two Citizen Patrol Groups suggested would we now be Aggressively Investigating Sewer Gate?

Our Mayor: Never On TV about issues like

• Home Invasions:
• Muggings
• Stabbings
• Rapes
• Drug Deals
• Elderly Abuse
• Child Abuse
• Burglary

But let someone steel a Sewer Grate from Barney Farms, and we jump into action.

Thank you King Tommy I can sleep easy knowing this that our Police Department is Aggressively Investigating this Grave Injustice.

While our Mayor was on the Ten O’clock News bloviating about “Sewer Gate” Click here Wilkes-Barre Crime Watch  to see what was truly happening in our City. Thank you Crime Watch.

Wake Up Wilkes Barre

Fallout from Mayoral Fire Sale!!!

There has been so much controversy over the sale of the Parsons Number 9 Firehouse:

• Let’s start with the MONEY: 
• There is a major difference in the actual Sale Price of $42,000 from the Assessed Value of $140,000 a Difference of $98,000. 
• Let me just play devil's advocate for Tommy on this one, and say that what I have personally learned as a Realtor is that there is always a difference from the sale price VS. Our County Assessment and I believe it is because our assessors were either DAFT, or drugged. It’s the only explanation that fits, but come on folks seriously we didn’t call it a fire sale for nothing. 

• Can we please have our memorial to American veterans back?  

The mayor was quoted in the 05/15/10 edition of the Times Leader saying “Most likely the city will take control of the memorial,” Leighton said. “We will probably make it part of the park.”

• Well Mr. Mayor it’s been well over a year, and no control of the Memorial, What Gives? 
• The Memorial is now on private property. 
• So it is on behalf of The Citizens of Wilkes Barre City, Parsons Section this blogger asks Richard Lombardo the above questions: “Can we please have our memorial to American veterans back?”
• Can anyone name any other City or Mayor who sold any memorial yet alone a Memorial to American Veterans, that was bought by the citizens of that city? 

Now onto The Little League, who lost the use of their storage building / concession stand, when Our Realtor-Mayor sold it! 

• Tommy you really need to attend continuing education. Specifically Deed Reading 101: I recommend Pennsylvania Real Estate Academy

In the 03/31/11 edition of the Times Leader Mayor Tom Leighton on Wednesday said city officials did not know the building in question was utilized by the league when the property was sold in November to Rick Lombardo for $42,000.

• Really you’re the mayor, and a Realtor: 
• It was listed on the Deed! So how could you a Realtor not know? 
• Or could it be that you simply didn’t CARE?
• How much will the new building cost the taxpayers?

“Once it became aware, the city offered to provide material for the new clubhouse, which will be built with volunteer labor. The cost of the material, which was not immediately available, will be paid out of a special recreation fund, not the general fund, Leighton said.”

• If you want to make it right Tommy have The C.A. Leighton Co. donate the building, and GET our M
  emorial to American veterans back!!!

Wake Up Wilkes Barre

Click on links below for source information:

Little League problem resolved 

Old Parsons firehouse goes on block

Did LAG pay or not Part 2

In a previous post (Did LAG Pay or Not?) I stated that it appeared that LAG had made payments in 2011, but new information with regard to the City General Fund Financial Statement has shed new light on the alleged 2011 payment. 


Please look at the attached  (General Fund Financial Statement) what you want to look at is Page 10 OTHER TAXES. The budgeted $50,050.00 VS. The year to date collected $0….. 


I have also highlighted this for you in the attached photo.

So you see my problem is if the City budgeted for an expected payment, and according to the answer I got in my RTK that I previously posted The City did in fact get the 2011 payment on:

• 2011: City receipt #36511, 05/02/11 $50,000.00 check #2794369, appears to be deposited on 05/02/11 in a deposit of $50,000.00
• 2011: City receipt #38082, 08/23/11 $150.00 check # UNKNOWN, appears to be deposited on 08/23/11 in a deposit of $150.00

New Questions:

• How could the year to date payment field still be reading $0?
• Did the city get the check, and not include it in the deposit? If so what was in the 05/02/11 or 08/23/11 deposits?
• Did someone at the City deposit it, and not notify anyone in finance that they got the payment?
• Who is doing what at City Hall?
• Do they even know?

More answers to come when I receive the Original Bank Deposits form PNC. Hopefully then we will finally get the answers we are looking for.

Wake Up Wilkes Barre 

2 Leighton’s Appointed Teachers?????

As we all know this is a Pay to Play City, and it would seem the Wilkes Barre Area School Board although as the Times Leader puts it "a separate entity then that of the city" Yet the school board still seems to be operating by the same nepotism Playbook as the City.

The BIG news was the fact the Young Tommy was hired as a Fulltime Teacher, but what nobody seems concerned about is the fact that Christopher Gray was also hired as a teacher.

Who is Christopher Gray, and why should we care you may be asking yourself. Well let me spell it out for you. 

Christopher Gray is the Son of Carol “Leighton” Gray! Yup you guessed it BIG Tommy’s cousin! They also reside in the elite Barney Farms.

My only questions are:

• How many other good teachers were passed over for these to silver spoon types?
• How many other Leighton’s do we as taxpayers need to support? 

Click to read Times Leader "Mayor’s son now full-time teacher"

New Teacher Thomas Leighton

Wake Up Wilkes Barre:

Did LAG Pay or Not?

It has been argued by many in the past that the LAG Towing Contract has not been fully upheld, and that’s putting it mildly. Many have questioned whether or not LAG has made all the required payments to the City as required by the contract

.

So I went looking, and this is what I found so far.

• Contact Inception: 2005
• 2005: City receipt #4156, 5/3/05 $50,050.00 check #68624 dated 04/07/05 appears to be deposited on 5/4/05 in a deposit of $57,375.53
• 2006: ?????
• 2007: City receipt #16298, 05/14/07 $50,000.00 check #2480 dated 05/11/07 appears to be deposited on 05/15/07 in a deposit of $86,215.03
• 2008: City receipt #17953, 05/1/08 $50,050.00 check # UNKNOWN, appears to be deposited on 05/05/08 in a deposit of $127,231.58
• 2009: City receipt #26300, 05/05/09 $50,050.00 check #2688278 appears to be deposited on 05/06/09 in a deposit of $216,291.57
• 2010: City receipt #30581, 05/03/10 $50,000.00 check # UNKNOWN, appears to be deposited on 05/04/10 in a deposit of $132,974.86
• 2011: City receipt #36511, 05/02/11 $50,000.00 check #2794369, appears to be deposited on 05/02/11 in a deposit of $50,000.00
• 2011: City receipt #38082, 08/23/11 $150.00 check # UNKNOWN, appears to be deposited on 08/23/11 in a deposit of $150.00

Ok so based on the above which is fully supported by the documents provided in my RTK request. 

Click to see My Full RTK start to Finish

• I ask did LAG uphold the contract? 

2006 appears not to have been paid, and per the city the contract was executed in 2005 with payment on 05/03/05 consummating the contract. Now moving forward LAG gets to pay the year fallowing the contract billing period. 

So that means is they “LAG” gets to pay a year late without penalty or interest. NICE but legal!!!!! So I wonder if we need a year deferment on our taxes will they "The City" be so nice, and grant it without penalty or interest? NO probably not!

I would say LAG did on 3 separate occasions violated the contract by not paying in full, but hey it was only $50 bucks a year, and we all know that if we need to shave $50 of our taxes the city would let us RIGHT? Don't worry they "LAG" made it up to us "The Taxpayers" in 2011 without penalty or interest. 

Also I am wondering where the checks are for 2008, 2010, and the makeup check of $150.00 in 2011.

Not to worry folks Part 2 will be coming: On 10/11/11 I had filed a RTK for,

An official bank copy of the deposits with all offsets and/or, all items included in the deposits. Front & Back of all items are requested. For the transaction dates and amounts listed below. 

PNC bank account # **-****-3458.

05/04/2005      57,375.53

05/15/2007      86,215.03

05/05/2008      127,231.58

05/06/2009      216,291.57

05/04/2010      132,974.86

05/02/2011      50,000.00

08/23/2011      150.00

We will find out if those missing checks are in-fact inside the alleged deposits, and you know I will keep you posted.

Wake Up Wilkes Barre

Calling on our DO NOTHING, City Hall, Yet again!

Monday May 30, 2011 a fire destroys a vacant home that had been an ongoing hangout for vagrants, and drug users, for years. According to the Times Leader: “It is the second fire at a vacant building on Sullivan Street since 2007.”

I along with my neighbors on Sullivan St had repeatedly called on city hall for action to this ongoing problem, but like many others our pleas fell on deaf ears. Now that 7 families were displaced, and the abandoned house burned to the ground, life on Sullivan St has only gotten worse.

Speaking as the only responsible homeowner involved in the fire, I once again call on City Hall to act. I know FAT chance, right? I, together with my insurance carrier Nationwide have re-invested over $100,000.00 to rebuild my home on Sullivan St. I could have done what others had chosen to do, and that is grab the insurance check, and flee, but instead I did what I should do, and that is hired a contractor to rebuild my house.

Now my tenants are sitting next to a Rotten, Stinking, Dilapidated, Burned out mess that is once again a home for the godforsaken riffraff that troll our city in search of these abandominiums as they call them.

Once again I only ask for our City to do what it should, and that is protect is residents. News flash for the folks at City Hall: "Government’s first job is Protection of its Citizens."

• Wake Up City Hall!!

• You failed to protect us from the dump that caused this fire.
• You slashed the fire department so much so that on the morning of May 30, 2011 the department was so overworked, and understaffed that those poor guys couldn’t stop the fire from spreading to 3 other buildings, mine included. It wasn’t that they didn’t try I was there that night, but watching them nearly pass out, running out of O2, and then the Fire Chief telling them “I hate to do this to you but I have to send you back in.” MY GOD!! I cannot thank these firemen enough for their efforts, and they did all they could, but with limited resources.
• NOW once again you are failing to protect the residents of Sullivan St again by allowing this mess to remain.
• GET the lead out!!!! Enforce the LAW, or for the love of god RIP that MESS DOWN!!!

Wake Up Wilkes Barre…. You could be NEXT!!!!!

Links:

Fire wrecks vacant W-B house

CODE CITATIONS

The Sheeple have spoken

Now that the Sheeple of Sheepville aka “City of Wilkes Barre” have spoken, I have been called on by several citizens, and city employees to halt my attacks on the Mayor of Sheepville aka “King Tommy”.

I am now faced with several questions with regard to my alleged attacks.

• Why would they care what I do, when the Sheeple didn’t seem to care?
• Am I that popular or dangerous that I need to stand down?
• Why won’t the city answer my questions?

FYI folks the more you ask me to stand down the more I wonder why. What are you hiding that you don’t want me to know about? 

Wake Up Sheeple it is not only our right but in-fact it is the duty of every citizens to question their government. Just as it is the duty of any government to answer to its citizens. Although I do realize that we all live in Sheepville, and the Sheeple are still a bit backward. 

I assure you folks we do have our freedoms. You shouldn’t just take my word for it. I urge all the Sheeple of Sheepville to contact the ACLU at (215) 592-1513, and ask them if The United States Constitution is still binding on the City of Wilkes Barre, or Sheepville for that matter. 

I already know the answer do you?

Wake Up Sheepville 

Why would City hide Credit Card Statements?

Looking at these 2 statements it’s hard to argue that something is missing. A statement likely, but what do I know? I only worked for Bank of America "the cities bank" for 8 years!

I have to wonder why the City would not want us to see these statements. I can only imagine something is wrong, but what? What are they hiding, and why? If the bank provided any of us with a statement showing our credit card ended with balance of $158.21, and the next month they told us it began with a balance of $1,491.62 wouldn’t we demand to know WHY? Well WAKE UP WILKES BARRE that’s exactly what City Hall is doing. They told us that in July 2006 we owed $158.21, and when they got the next statement September 2006 the city owed $1,491.62 REALLY no one asked why! Where is August 2006? WTF is going on at city hall? 

Who with all that experience who is blindly paying these bills?

Another billing error? I THINK NOT!!!

Sounds to me like we either need a new Credit Card Provider or a New Administration. I know what I will VOTE for! How about you?

Wake Up Wilkes Barre, City Hall is robbing you BLIND, and for some ungodly reason you LIKE it!!!

Missing August 2006:

• Billing period 06/05/06 - 07/04/06 ended with a new balance of $158.21 the next statement provide from the city was for billing period 08/04/06 – 09/04/06 which began with a balance of $1,491.62

Proof of missing Statement:

• Missing Charges:
• If the July statement ended with a lower balance then that of September, we can assume 2 things.

1.      A payment was made on the August statement sometime between 07/05/06 – 08/03/06.

2.      Additional charges were assessed to the account sometime between 07/05/06 – 08/03/06 as the September beginning balance is greater than that of the July ending balance. 

• 3 Right To Know appeals have been won in Harrisburg. The City was ordered to cough up the statements but for some reason they won’t. Shame of them!!

The above is just 1 sample. All on this list are similar so again WHY? I urge everyone to call Bank of America 1-800-673-1044 and ask them if the above example would hold true. Would they be able to explain why no statement would be available? The answer will SHOCK you, or will it? BOA will tell you they can explain the charges. Why: The statement is available, and the city has it…

Other interesting FACTS:

7 years

Interest Rates –18 to 22 percent

Annual fee- 25 .00

Finance Charges

Leighton- $74.96

Mc Cormick - $ 82.85

JJ Murphy - $183.29

Ryan-   $314.69

Total -   $655.52

Late Payments

Leighton- $145.00

Mc Cormick - $49.00

JJ Murphy - $233.00

Ryan-   $302.00

Total -  $729.00

Total of late payments and finance charges = $ 1,384. 52

After compiling all of the information obtained on the credit card statements (excluding  the 70 missing statements ) on spreadsheet here are some totals: 

• FOOD, GAS OR AIRFARE NOT INCLUDED:

Leighton- Hotel / Conferences - $ 16,574.79

Mc Cormick Hotels/- City Employees-   $ 16,964.53    

City Council Hotels/Conference fees/  Ryan - $ 68,110.33

Murphy’s Hotels/ $ 11,239.69

Total- Hotels/ Conferences total  $112,887.00

AIR FARE –   VERY LITTLE AIR FARE INCLUDE ON STATEMENTS

Leighton- None

Mc Cormick - $ 3,693.20

JJ Murphy - $ 1, 218.20

Ryan-   $ 2,270.84

Total- $  5,964.00

 Hotels/ conferences            $112,887.00

Air fare                                + $ 5,964.00 

                                                $118,851.00  total 

JJ Murphy

Working lunches ?   $ 2,018.02