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Vaughn Koter, announces his candidacy for Wilkes-Barre City Council Thursday night. Koter said he is running for council to clean up the city’s neighborhoods.
S. John Wilkin/The Times Leader
WILKES-BARRE – Sales representative Vaughn Koter announced Thursday that he will run for city council in District B as a Democrat.
Koter, 39, said he has never held political office before, but characterized that as a strength rather than a weakness.
“We cannot keep putting people in power that have held office before,” Koter said. “It’s time for a new generation to take power.”
Koter was born in the city’s Iron Triangle district and graduated from GAR High School and Wilkes University with a bachelor’s in English. After six years of working outside the area, he returned seven years ago, purchasing a home on Irving Place. He works from Wilkes-Barre as a pharmaceutical sales representative for Sanofi-Aventis.
Koter said he has seen his hometown change for the worse through the years, and is running for council to clean up the city’s neighborhoods.
“The problem is not lack of police presence,” Koter said. “It’s lack of enforcement of the laws that are on the books. … People are falling asleep at the wheel and they need to be held accountable.”
Koter said the current city administration has made some progress, citing renovations to Coal Street Park and the downtown street-lighting project, but said “we need to pay attention to our neighborhoods, to our streets, to the people that pay for our city government. … It’s time to get a return on our investment.”
Koter made his announcement from 264-266 S. Main St., a former bank and magisterial judge’s office that Sam Johnson is converting to a bar/restaurant and a 16-unit apartment complex.
Koter said he chose the property, which he called the cornerstone of District B, to make his announcement to draw attention to Johnson’s efforts, calling it the sort of project city government should be encouraging.
Koter is also a volunteer fundraiser coordinator for Toys for Tots and a member of the Knights of Lebanon social club in Wilkes-Barre.
He is the third Democrat to announce his candidacy for the District B council seat. Also running are community activist Darlene Duggins and former city police chief Tony George. No Republican has yet sought to run. Incumbent Tony Thomas Jr. announced on Feb. 3 that he will not seek re-election.