Wilkes-Barre City Hall employee says he lobbied for mayor’s budget on own time

WILKES-BARRE — For almost two weeks David Yonki remained the unidentified City Hall employee accused of organizing a lobbying effort during working hours to support the mayor’s proposed 2021 budget.

On Tuesday, Yonki disputed the accusation made by councilwoman Beth Gilbert McBride.

“As a city resident and taxpayer I have an opinion on the city budget and I was asked to share it. I did so on my own time,” Yonki said.

Just who asked him, Yonki, a health educator and member of the union representing City Hall workers, declined to say. “Other city employees and other residents feel the same way,” he said.

Yonki and the unnamed others supported Mayor George Brown’s plan to balance his $53.2 million general fund budget by doubling the annual sewer and recycling fees to $100 to generate an additional $2 million in revenues. Along with the mayor they preferred the higher fees to the other alternatives of a property tax hike or layoffs.

But at council’s Nov. 12 public hearing on the budget, McBride pointed out at least one employee felt differently than Yonki and the other supporters. Her comments begin at the 1:39:55 mark of YouTube video of public hearing.

McBride said she was contacted by an employee about Yonki’s alleged ghost writer role to create email “templates while at work at City Hall for relatives and friends of city employees to read off of at our meeting and to give them an idea of what to say or what to write in.”

McBride provided copies of emails and had the employee who contacted her speak to the Times Leader. The employee spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

“He did it at work. That’s where he approached me,” the employee said of Yonki.

The employee said he did not know who took the emails that were to be sent in for the Nov. 5 city council meeting.

“They were all different,” the employee said of the six emails complete with scripts and instructions.

“Hi there. I don’t know why this is even being argued about by Council. After the year our new Mayor had, why is Council making him the bad guy? If there is no yard waste, garbage piling up and no roads cleared this winter, I’m blaming a gutless city Council. Don’t tie our Mayor’s hands,” read one script.

However, none of the seven emails read at the Nov. 5 council meeting followed the scripts. Five of the writers opposed the fee increases, while two others were in favor of them.

But on Nov. 19 the budget ordinance failed to secure the three votes necessary to advance it to a second and final reading, raising the possibility of layoffs and cuts in services. McBride joined council Vice Chairman Tony Brooks and councilman John Marconi to oppose the fee increases. She maintained her opposition made known on Oct. 15 when Brown presented his budget and again at the public hearing for it.

While not identifying Yonki in her statement at the budget hearing, McBride blasted the attempt by city employees to sway council. “This is totally and completely unethical and it’s a slap in the face to the taxpayers,” she said.

Yonki reacted, saying it was “unethical” for a majority of council who “supported the mayor tooth and nail” when he took office 10 months ago to act as obstructionists and block his budget. In February Brown received the unanimous support of council to pass an amended budget. Council’s rejection of outgoing Mayor Tony George’s proposed 2020 budget set the stage for Brown to submit his own spending plan.

The employee who contacted McBride about Yonki said the issue shouldn’t be dropped. “I think there should be repercussions,” the employee said.

But Wilkes-Barre City Administrator Charlie McCormick said if there was a problem between employees, they should contact human resources.

The employee who contacted McBride said human resources was not contacted. “That’s not an HR issue. That’s an issue for the administration to handle,” the employee said.