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Tuesday, March 11, 2003 Page: 7A
NOW THAT Mayor Tom McGroarty has seen his shadow and threatened
Wilkes-Barre with four more years of leadership winter, people who really care
about the city need to brace for the storm.
On Monday, McGroarty announced he intends to seek the Democratic nomination
for mayor. If he succeeds in winning the nomination and then reelection, it
would give him a third term and Wilkes-Barre a nadir it hasn’t seen since
inundation with muddy river water or vanquish after the Battle of Wyoming.
McGroarty has made a mockery of the operation of the city and Wilkes-Barre
a laughing stock around the state. Residents might tolerate those things, but
they’re less happy with crumbling roads, homes that take longer to sell or
rent compared to neighboring communities and the threat of crime literally
everywhere.
The promise of progress hasn’t been delivered. The call center lease was
botched. The theater project is stalled, unless progress is measured with
several razed buildings, a gaping excavation and a lane of traffic blocked on
Washington Street.
There is no intermodal transportation center.
The street lights are still missing.
The mayor has alienated City Council, business owners and civic groups.
Downtown is largely vacant and many people feel it is unsafe there. While
the mayor may dismiss the downtown as just another neighborhood, it is the
most visible section of the city, a gateway for visitors, and it has
historically been the center of Wilkes-Barre and a place to go with pride.
Times are tough for many cities. Wilkes-Barre has the tough luck of a mayor
who has made a bad situation worse by meddling with, micro managing and
frustrating employees, investors, business owners, college students and
residents.
The mayor touts a 24-7 work ethic, but the public would prefer quality over
quantity, some efficiency, reliability and dignity.
And the hope for a reversal of fortunes – a clean slate at election time –
was blotted out Monday when McGroarty cast a shadow and continued darkness.
Now it is time for the citizens of Wilkes-Barre who mobilized and worked so
hard to get the referendum about council on the ballot and then passed should
work doubly hard for a good turnout in the coming elections. All the people of
Wilkes-Barre should have a say in who runs the city.
We think it shouldn’t be Tom McGroarty, a mayor who continued to ruin the
city after his welcome was worn out.