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Wednesday, March 05, 2003 Page: 7A
gretchen h. kennedy On Thursday, Feb. 20, I was in your lovely city and
attended the Wilkes-Barre City Council meeting with my friend. I came away
feeling so sorry for the people of Wilkes-Barre that I had to write.
The mayor had a laundry list a mile long to go over. Mr. McGroarty was late
coming into the meeting, so council allowed for public comment until he got
there. That portion went pretty well, even with Mr. Leighton arguing with one
of the participants over one of the issues brought up.
Then finally the mayor showed up, just as one of the speakers was
discussing something the mayor was supposed to take care of, and Mr. McGroarty
jumped right in and began to defend himself.
When one of the people, offering public input questioned why there wasn’t
something done about an abandoned car on his street that had been there for a
long time, Mr. McGroarty ran out of the room. He returned shortly to tell the
speaker that it would be taken care of right away, and if the car wasn’t gone
in 72 hours, he should call the police.
After the public comment time was finished, Mr. McGroarty proceeded with
his agenda. There were 15 items on the agenda, and he came so unprepared, I
couldn’t believe he was even up there. He was unable to give a straight answer
to any questions asked of him; he produced a pile of books regarding the
police department, which was totally unnecessary, and had to explain why no
one in the general public should not see them; got mad when questioned about
it, and then never did produce anything viable to council.
When he got to the pension fund portion, he stated that there was money
from the state, but wanted the council to OK his taking a matching loan out
with the bank. He was unable to answer satisfactorily any questions about how
much money was coming, where it was coming from, or really if or when it was
coming.
Where did you get this guy, anyway? He had to admit that there wasn’t
enough money to pay the pension fund for next month. So, where is it? Thank
God City Council President McGinley didn’t fall for the “take a loan out” line
and made McGroarty come up with the correct information before council would
act on anything.
This city has got to get rid of this bandy rooster! He wants to accomplish
so much and is so little prepared. I noticed that he was so totally unprepared
and couldn’t answer any questions without digressing, and appears totally
inept to do the job before him. He should be prepared to answer any questions
put before him. I understand his office is up for re-election this year. Well,
folks had better get cracking and find a more reliable candidate for mayor for
2004!
I’m glad I never decided to move here. Lovely people, nutty politics!
Gretchen H. Kennedy
Danville