Scranton Santa Parade Slated For Saturday

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lackawanna County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Floats, balloons, marching bands and even a horse-drawn carriage will lead Santa Claus into Scranton this weekend as the Santa Parade once again spreads holiday cheer throughout the city.

Organizers wanted to make the parade bigger and better this year, and it certainly has grown. Stepping off Saturday at 9 a.m., the 21st annual parade will boast at least 20 floats, double the number it typically has. More participants will make the parade more enjoyable, said Mike Gallacher, vice president of finance for Santa Parade Inc.

“The parade’s always great because there’s always great entertainment, but we’re going to have more variety this year,” he said.

This is the first year Santa Parade Inc. organized the parade rather than the Scranton Jaycees, the planner for many years, after members of the Jaycees decided to spin off the parade off into its own group. Jaycees members “age out” of the group when they turn 41, and a lot of people – Mr. Gallacher included – were nearing that milestone and did not want to see the parade dissipate, he said.

Read more: http://thetimes-tribune.com/lifestyles/santa-parade-slated-for-saturday-1.1588844

Scranton Apartment Building Partially Owned By State Rep At Center Of Controversy

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lackawanna County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

An apartment building owned in part by state Rep. Marty Flynn has been the center of controversy, neighbor complaints, multiple police calls and finger-pointing among city agencies.

An agreement to allow an inspection at the request of neighbors of 1401 Prospect Ave., Scranton, fell through when Mr. Flynn and his partner reversed positions and said they would not consent to the inspection, accusing the director of the city Department of Licensing Inspections and Permits, Mark Seitzinger, of playing politics and wanting to run against Mr. Flynn for the 113th Legislative District seat.

Mr. Seitzinger originally considered seeking a court order to inspect the property after continuous complaints from neighbors Ann and Mark Wadika, but backed down.  After consulting with an attorney, he said the department has no right to inspect the six-unit building.  He denied wanting to run against Mr. Flynn for office or of having any other political motivation.

Mr. Flynn and his partner, Greg Hunt of Moscow, registered the building under the city’s 2012 rental ordinance after being questioned by a Times-Tribune reporter.  The ordinance entitles the city inspector to conduct a limited “safety” inspection of the building.

Read more:  http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/apartment-building-partially-owned-by-state-rep-at-center-of-controversy-1.1520374

Pottstown Borough Manager’s Salary Comparison With Other Pennsylvania Cities

Please look long and hard at the list below and ask yourself WTF is going on with the Pottstown Borough Manager’s salary.  Why are Pottstown taxpayers on the hook for this gigantic salary!  The mayors of the cities listed below are the executives running these communities, not baby kisser like Pottstown’s illustrious Missy Mayor.  Their jobs are comparable to a borough manager only they are running MUCH larger communities with MUCH larger staffs making MUCH less money????????????????  These are also elected officials and more accountable for their actions as opposed to someone hired by their BFF’s and placed in power.

SavePottstown! has also been addressing this ridiculous imbalance and the head-scratching choice of the new Borough Manager – see  http://savepottstown.com/lang/es/2013/02/overpaid/

Here’s the promised comparison list:

– Philadelphia, $174,438 (population 1,526,006)

– Pottstown, $120,000 (population 22,377)

– Pittsburgh, $96,511 (population 305,704)

– Allentown, $95,000 (population 118,032)

– Bethlehem, $90,500 (population 74,982)

– Harrisburg, $80,000 (population 49,528)

– Easton, $80,000 (population 26,800)

– Wilkes-Barre, $79,911 (population 41,498)

– Erie, $65,000, going to $95,000 in 2014 (population 101,786)

– Scranton, $50,000, under review by City Council for an increase (population 76,089)

With the exception of the data on Pottstown and Pittsburgh, the salary figures came from the Scranton Times-Tribune.   Populations are 2010 United States Census results.  The Pittsburgh mayor’s salary is taken from an article in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.