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Safety, budget among concerns
SCRANTON – City Council began 2011 with continued criticism of city officials for not communicating with council or upholding their adopted legislation.
Council President Janet Evans said that city administration and its authorities have not been responding to their letters or citizens’ requests, a problem council faced throughout 2010.
“The administration is not communicating with city council or its office. The lines of communication have been cut,” Evans said, adding that this “will not dissuade us from our work.”
“I am deeply concerned that this lack of cooperation displayed by the mayor and his administration is very harmful to you, the people of the city,” she continued.
Public safety concerns
Council expressed concern over the closing of Engine Co. 9 on North Main Avenue on January 1 and the “brownout” of Engine No. 4, which John Judge IV, secretary of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 60, estimated would be closed 70 percent of the time.
Chief Tom Davis told Go Lackawanna on Monday that he had concerns about the closure of Engine No. 9, but doesn’t foresee problems with browning out firehouses based on available personnel, comparing Scranton’s system to Philadelphia’s, which also uses the brownout method.
“There’s been no rhyme or reason to how they’re closing the companies. There’s no special statistics that they’ve looked at. If you look at Philadelphia, and I called up one of my friends that work there today, there’s a big difference in the way that we operate,” Judge told council on Tuesday.
Council restored 27 firefighters and 10 police positions through their amended budget, which was adopted last week. Evans said that if the firefighters were not put back, four engine companies could have been closed. Council also passed two ordinances that set staffing requirements for the city’s police and fire departments last week, which she believes the mayor will not uphold.
The ordinances require that staffs of 137 firefighters and 150 police officers must be maintained at all times, and all vacancies must be filled within 30 days of a created vacancy.
Mayor Chris Doherty told Go Lackawanna on Monday that he will not “backfill spots so people could leave” to fit the manning clause. He said that 13 fire fighters and seven police officers left in the last year, and those vacancies have not been filled.
“His actions may cause additional closings citywide so that no neighborhood is guaranteed its firehouse in the future,” Evans said.
“It’s obvious that this administration has no regard for anybody’s public safety…As a resident of West Side and West Mountain, if anything happens to my family or any of my friends, somebody’s going to be held responsible,” Councilman John Loscombe said.
Unrest over budgets
Evans said that the mayor is already causing a budget shortfall by rehiring four foremen in the Departments of Public Works and Parks and Recreation who had been removed in council’s budget.
Doherty said the restoration of jobs was paid for by $240,000 set aside for casual employees at the city’s pools. Two pools at Novembrino and one at Penn Ridge will be closed in 2011 for repairs, allowing for the savings.
“Are DPW foreman worth more than keeping fire engines operating and putting police officers on the street?” Evans questioned.
Council’s Scranton Parking Authority budget is also purportedly not being upheld. Loscombe said that the SPA Executive Director Robert Scopelliti has violated the authority’s 2011 budget by keeping the director of finance position written out of the budget by council and eliminating the sole citation processor.
“This is a union position, and I understand there is and will be a grievance filed against the city of Scranton’s Parking Authority. This is exactly what we have been fighting for (citizens) for. We are trying to eliminate the unnecessary administrative fat…and then they go and maintain one of these positions in what I can only surmise as an attempt to sabotage our parking plan and remove a key position from the staff, the one and only citation processor,” Loscombe said.
The director of finance position is currently held by Liz Renda, wife of Stu Renda, outgoing business administer. Council took control of the authority’s 2011 budget and made several amendments to it after Council solicitor Boyd Hughes learned that the SPA budget must be approved by council, a practice which had not been done in the past.
Scopelliti did not return a request for comment.
New meter system
Bearing the alleged budget violation in mind, council questioned whether or not the administration and the SPA would implement another item important to council’s 2011 budget – the new parking meter system by StreetSmart Technology, LLC.
StreetSmart has offered the city a free 100-meter trial of its system, which StreetSmart Account Manager John Miskell said is “risk free,” adding that if meter revenue is not increased for the city, the company does not get paid. Council projected $300,000 of revenue from the system in the 2011 budget, which they felt was a “conservative” estimate based on other cities’ success with the system.
The mayor has called this projection into question, and Councilman Pat Rogan challenged the mayor on Tuesday to implement StreetSmart and see its success.
Council also requested the appearance of Doherty, Stu Renda, new business administrator Ryan McGowan, and Scopelliti at a public caucus in council chambers on January 11 at 5:30 p.m. with Miskell, who will explain the system in depth and address any questions or concerns they may have. It will be council’s second public caucus with Miskell following an original presentation on December 7.
Other business
In other council business, council entered into a contract for professional services with Pennsylvania Claims Services, Inc. for the third party administration of the city’s workers’ compensation claims. Council unanimously hired Jamie Marciano as their confidential secretary and Kathy Carrera as their executive assistant.