Bill O'Boyle sounds in on councils attitude

A good amount of articles by the Times Leader have been VERY pro Leighton, but at least Bill O'Boyle has his eyes open. He openly critisized Council for its lack of Professionalism.

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Florida has plenty of golf carts
Friday October 14, 2011
Posted by Bill O'Boyle boboyle@timesleader.com

At Thursday night's council meeting, politics was the flavor of the month, but coming in second was inappropriateness.

After Linda Urban finished addressing council - with several valid points, I might add - Kathy Kane, the chairwoman of council AND the chairwoman of the Luzerne County Democratic Party - decided to inject a personal attack on Urban, wife of Luzerne County Commissioner Steve Urban.

Kane asked Urban how much time she spends at her Florida residence, causing Urban to remind Kane that she and her husband, District Magistrate Martin Kane, recently purchased a home in the Sunshine State themselves.

Kane said Urban has a car with a Florida license plate. So what? After all, it is cheaper to register a car in Florida.

Seems good advice for council and the mayor to stop trying to belittle critics and start answering the criticisms. To her credit, Urban revealed the purchase in 2004 of two security systems - one for Mayor Tom Leighton's home and the other for then-administrator J.J. Murphy's house. Each cost $4,000 and the city picked up the tab. Leighton and Murphy have paid the monthly fees, but taxpayers paid for the system and installation.

As valid as the reasoning was for the systems - there were real threats to both Leighton and Murphy - city taxpayers shouldn't bear the burden of paying for those systems.

Urban had a valid point and she deserved answers that addressed her concerns. She didn't deserve a personal attack. This logic that people who criticize council and the mayor are out of order simply because they are political adversaries and should be silenced flies in the face of what the democratic process is all about.

Not to mention the disinterested looks on the faces of council and mayor as critics voice their opinions within the council-mandated five minute limit.

Enough has come out over the last several months that shows that there is great concern for the way city government operates and how decisions are made. How that will affect the voters remains to be seen on Nov. 8th.

But the attitudes of some of the city's elected officials has raised suspicions of their abilities to govern and increased the chances of their opponents.

And how can we forget Bob Kadluboski's theatrical-like performance at the same meeting. Using a southern belle accent, Kadluboski drew chuckles and smiles from those in attendance as he again tried to convince council to look at the towing contract with LAG Towing.

Kadluboski, like Urban, has some legitimate points that should be looked into. Instead, he is often gaveled silent and called names - the most famous being "Cupcake" - which Kane and Leighton each has used in the past, only to infuriate Kadluboski more.

Kadluboski has threatned a lawsuit. He has asked for all of the council and the mayor to resign. He said he has contacted the FBI in Philadelphia and Washington to investigate the city.

The city would like Kadluboski and Urban to go away. This coming election may change some faces, but not the way the city operates.

Urban asked about the city's rental of golf carts at Hollenback Golf Course. Kane had the figures, but Urban never saw them. Urban said the golf carts are often see at the Turkey Hill across North Washington Street from the course.

"We need golf carts," Councilman Bill Barrett, Urban's opponent, said after the meeting. "It would be a concern if we had helicopters there."

Flippant? Perhaps, but getting the requested info to Urban would have been a much better approach.

Finally, if anybody truly believes this election will make all of the suspicions, accusations and investigations go away, well, they are mistaken.
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I posted this online with the papers,
"I would love it if the city would live broadcast all the council meetings. I was there and it was disgusting. The papers don’t tell you the way council acts like they are royalty and we are the surfs."

Dan Emplit WBFD
AKA Don Quixote