COUNCIL

1 1 COUNCIL FOR THE CITY OF SCRANTON 2 3 4 HELD: 5 6 7 Tuesday, June 10th, 2025 8 9 10 LOCATION: 11 12 COUNCIL CHAMBERS 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Maria McCool, RPR Official Court Reporter 25  2 1 C O U N C I L M E M B E R S: 2 GERALD SMURL - PRESIDENT 3 MARK MCANDREW, VICE PRESIDENT 4 JESSICA ROTHCHILD 5 THOMAS SCHUSTER 6 WILLIAM KING 7 8 FRANK VOLDENBERG, CITY CLERK 9 KATHY CARRERA, ASSISTANT CITY CLERK 10 THOMAS GILBRIDE, ESQ., COUNCIL SOLICITOR 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  3 1 (Pledge of Allegiance.) 2 3 MR. SMURL: Please remain standing 4 for a moment of silent reflection for our 5 service men and women throughout the world and 6 for those who have passed away in our 7 community, especially Edward Sandy, Ann Marie 8 Nancy Finnerty. Thank you. Roll call, please. 9 MS. CARRERA: Mr. King. 10 MR. KING: Here. 11 MS. CARRERA: Mr. Schuster. 12 MR. SCHUSTER: Present. 13 MS. CARRERA: Dr. Rothchild. 14 DR. ROTHCHILD: Here. 15 MS. CARRERA: Mr. McAndrew. 16 MR. MCANDREW: Present. 17 MS. CARRERA: Mr. Smurl. 18 MR. SMURL: Here. Before we begin 19 tonight's meeting I would like to make a 20 statement in reference to last week's Council 21 meeting. I understand a lot of hateful 22 statements were made and some were directed 23 towards speakers and some towards Council 24 members. 25 It is my job as Council President to  4 1 not allow hateful and derogatory remarks to be 2 directed at any one individual. As Council 3 President, I take full responsibility for not 4 doing my job to maintain order at last week's 5 meeting. I apologize for not performing my job 6 properly. 7 It is the responsibility of 8 Council -- it is not the responsibility of 9 other Council members to maintain order. It is 10 mine. This is not an excuse for my behavior or 11 to deflect blame to anyone else. Going 12 forward, I will fulfill my duties that I 13 promised to uphold when I was sworn in as 14 Council President. 15 The hate we see on television every 16 day from our federal government all the way 17 down has become a normal everyday occurrence. 18 The constant barrage of negative news and 19 political dysfunction can lead us to inaction 20 believing that our actions don't matter and 21 change is impossible. 22 At times, I have allowed myself to 23 accept those beliefs. After much thought and 24 conversation with family and friends, I fully 25 understand the need for respectful dialogue and  5 1 listening to different perspectives is 2 essential to working together for positive 3 change. 4 In the future, I will do my best to 5 enforce Council rules. I respectfully request 6 that all Council members and Council Solicitor 7 immediately intervene when Council rules are 8 being broken. Respectfully, Jerry Smurl. 9 MR. VOLDENBERG: THIRD ORDER. 10 3-A. SINGLE TAX OFFICE CITY FUNDS 11 DISTRIBUTED COMPARISON REPORT FOR YEAR-TO-DATE 12 JUNE 6, 2025 AND YEAR-TO-YEAR COMPARISON REPORT 13 FOR JUNE 6, 2024 THROUGH JUNE 6, 2025. 14 MR. SMURL: Are there any comments 15 on any of the Third Order items? If not, 16 received and filed. Do any Council members 17 have any announcements at this time? 18 MR. MCANDREW: I have a quick one. 19 I was asked to read this two weeks in a row. 20 So Holy Rosary Center's Mary Mother of God 21 Parish block party is Friday and Saturday. 22 Friday there will be a veteran's ceremony at 6. 23 Saturday, Jim Cerminaro will be at 5 24 p.m., which is the Chatter band. As always, 25 they have great food, beer tent, games,  6 1 raffles, live music. And it's from 7 to 10 on 2 Friday and 6 to 10 on Friday -- on Saturday, 3 I'm sorry. That's all I have. 4 MR. SMURL: Anyone else? 5 MR. KING: Mr. President -- go 6 ahead. 7 DR. ROTHCHILD: Thank you. First, I 8 just wanted to mention going on right now up 9 until Saturday, so the 10th to the 14th is the 10 Scranton Greek Food Festival. And it's one of 11 my favorite times of the year and you could get 12 really amazing Greek food. 13 That's at the Greek Orthodox Church 14 over on Washington Avenue, 505 North Washington 15 Ave, across from the library. 16 So you could order in person or 17 online at Greekfoodscranton.com. And the phone 18 number if you were to call is 570-342-0566. 19 And there a couple other notes that I wanted to 20 mention prior to the start of public comment 21 and our meeting tonight. 22 First off, it's -- it's great seeing 23 this room filled. It's beautiful. I think 24 it's what community means to Scranton, 25 community coming together. And I hope that  7 1 many of you who are here tonight will continue 2 to show up in the future or just become active 3 in local government and educated on what's 4 happening within our city. 5 I think it's a -- it's a great thing 6 to have more of that. And I understand your 7 outrage. And I stand with our LGBTQ community. 8 I stand against hatred, discrimination, 9 bullying. And I will always speak out against 10 it. 11 I ask of everyone to be respectful 12 if you choose to speak tonight. And I also 13 want to take this time to thank President 14 Gerald Smurl for his statement and for his 15 apology. I know he's worked incredibly hard in 16 this role and on Council and I've been able to 17 witness that firsthand. 18 And I have a lot of respect for him. 19 We've worked well together over the years. And 20 he's always been I feel like an ally for LGBTQ 21 people. And like you, I also want the Rules of 22 Council to be enforced equally. And I 23 appreciate his statement of his commitment to 24 do so. 25 So thank you for allowing me to take  8 1 that time and if anyone else has any 2 announcements. 3 MR. SMURL: Thank you. Anyone else? 4 MR. KING: President Smurl, I 5 realize I was the first one last week that was 6 critical of the fact that you didn't use the 7 gavel. I was not as upset with you as I was 8 with the hate speech, the bigotry, the 9 harassment, the personal attacks, the 10 discrimination, the bullying. 11 While I was critical of you for not 12 gavelling that out, I was more upset that 13 people would come into these chambers and 14 attack people personally. That's upsetting to 15 me. We're here to conduct city business. 16 We're not here to attack people. 17 This is supposed to be a welcoming 18 environment to everyone, to all people 19 regardless of what our views are. We all have 20 different political views. We all have 21 different thoughts. But at no time should 22 there be attacks on other human beings. 23 And at no time should anyone feel 24 disrespected, harassed or uncomfortable or 25 intimidated to come into these chambers or to  9 1 walk our streets and be part of this great City 2 of Scranton. 3 So I appreciate the fact that you, 4 as a true leader, took some responsibility 5 where you felt you were wrong. I truly 6 appreciate that. And I will say that Jerry 7 Smurl probably works as hard, if not harder 8 than anyone on this Council. 9 The things that he does for this 10 city are unbelievable. And I know that he 11 truly believes that, you know, this needs to be 12 an open city, a welcoming city to everyone. So 13 I appreciate that. Thank you. 14 MR. SMURL: Thank you. 15 MR. VOLDENBERG: FOURTH ORDER. 16 CITIZENS PARTICIPATION. 17 MR. SMURL: First on the list, 18 Angela Ramone. 19 MS. RAMONE: Good evening, 20 everybody. I would like to start by thanking 21 Council President Smurl for his apology for his 22 action last week regarding all of the 23 disgusting, hateful speech and abuse and 24 harassment that was directed towards me. 25 I would also like to state more  10 1 explicitly because I didn't comment on it last 2 week that I was very disappointed in the 3 inaction, not just for myself because I do as 4 an individual have a right and really an 5 obligation to be here and to participate in our 6 local government as a resident, as a citizen 7 here. 8 And I do have a right to be 9 protected from those types of attacks and from 10 that type of hate. And more so than just 11 myself, I was afraid that attack -- the attacks 12 on me last week if left unanswered would lead 13 to many other people in our city like myself 14 feeling too afraid to speak out and feeling too 15 afraid to have their voices heard by their own 16 representatives. 17 Not everyone has the time or courage 18 or ability to come up here and speak, of 19 course. But everyone should have the 20 opportunity to have their voice heard and feel 21 listened to by their representatives, 22 especially regarding city business. 23 And in that regard, I would like to 24 submit Chapter 296 for -- do I hand this to 25 you, I believe? And that is our city's  11 1 antidiscrimination ordinance which was passed 2 many years ago. 3 While it is quite extensive in its 4 protections for the LGBTQ community, there are 5 many areas in which it falls short, namely, in 6 failing to more explicitly protect healthcare 7 for transindividuals and all LGBTQ individuals 8 in our city. 9 It also does not do enough to define 10 certain types of attacks against LGBTQ 11 individuals as hate crimes, which the City of 12 Scranton should have a vested interest in 13 doing. So I do believe that it is in the best 14 interest of our city moving forward to 15 strengthen the protections that we currently 16 have. 17 There are many cities in our 18 Commonwealth who have been doing the same 19 lately, Allentown is an example that comes to 20 mind with their -- with their R34 Resolution to 21 make Allentown a safe haven for all LGBTQ plus 22 individuals. 23 In addition as far as more short 24 term goals and requests for the City of 25 Scranton, I would request that the City Council  12 1 does take more so seriously violations of the 2 rules for speakers here because while we do 3 have a right to our freedom of speech, we do 4 not have a right to harass people inside these 5 chambers. 6 And if someone really does have more 7 offensive things that they want to get off 8 their chest and communicate with City Council, 9 there are more direct ways to do that, not at 10 this podium. You could write. You can call. 11 You can e-mail. 12 There are other ways to make sure 13 that your right to be heard is still respected 14 while still protecting everyone else who 15 comes -- who comes into our city. 16 I would also like to take a moment 17 to thank William King and Dr. Jessica Rothchild 18 for speaking out as well as several of the 19 audience members last week who had spoken out 20 immediately about the hatred that was directed 21 towards me. 22 And just to quickly recap some of 23 the things that were done and some points of 24 failure, one of the speakers who had come here 25 last week was not a resident of Scranton, did  13 1 not put an address down on the sign-in sheet 2 and was not asked about his address when he 3 come up to speak. 4 I do have some documents here with 5 his most recent known address down in -- just 6 double-check -- I believe it was down in 7 Kingston. That's the discipline -- the Supreme 8 Court disciplinary record for Anthony Moses who 9 had spoke here last week. 10 It is stapled in two parts. That's 11 just because the -- there was not a stapler 12 available to me powerful enough to put 40 -- 13 about 45 pages together at once. Yeah, that's 14 all I have for today. Thank you very much. 15 MR. SMURL: Thank you. Ethan Emker. 16 MR. EMKER: Hello, firstly, I wanted 17 to say I was disappointed on how the previous 18 City Council meeting was handled. I would like 19 to thank Council for their remarks about it and 20 their apologies for how it was handled, so 21 thank you. 22 Sorry, I'm not very good with public 23 speaking. And since it feels relevant, I would 24 also like to recognize that we do have some 25 decent protections for LGBTQ residents in  14 1 Scranton already as long as we enforce it. 2 For example, it is currently illegal 3 to discriminate against members of a protected 4 class, which does include both gender identity 5 and sexual orientation in regards to housing, 6 employment, and public services. 7 And I know it was already mentioned 8 how Allentown City Council recently passed 9 Resolution R48 in order to protect LGBTQ 10 residents and people fleeing states with 11 antiLGBTQ laws as well. 12 And this resolution specifically 13 protects gender affirming healthcare. And I 14 just wanted to say I would really like it if 15 Scranton could pass a similar resolution. And 16 I know I personally weighed the pros and cons 17 of staying in Scranton. 18 But Scranton is my home. I have 19 lots of friends and community who are here. 20 And I know not everyone has, like, the 21 resources to just up and move to continue 22 receiving the care that they need. So I would 23 just like to ask you to protect gender 24 affirming healthcare in Scranton and, of 25 course, strictly enforce Council rules in  15 1 regards to harassment in these chambers, which 2 I know you guys have already committed to 3 doing. So I wanted to thank you for that. I 4 don't have much to say, so thank you. 5 MR. SMURL: Thank you. Excuse me. 6 I have to uphold up all of the rules and 7 applause is out of order. Thank you. Joan 8 Hodowanitz. 9 MS. HODOWANITZ: Joan Hodowanitz, 10 Scranton. I cannot believe not one you have 11 mentioned the significance of Saturday, June 12 14th, Flag Day. And on top of that, it's the 13 250th anniversary of the founding of the United 14 States Army. Shame on you all. Don't clap. 15 Okay. 16 I do want to thank also DPW workers. 17 They did a really fine job in front of the -- 18 at the storm drain in front of the Cathedral 19 because we had a lot of rain in the past weeks 20 and it has not pooled. It has not flooded the 21 sidewalk. 22 So people going to mass are able to 23 get up the steps without getting splashed by 24 passing cars. So thank you, DPW. And we're 25 still working on their union contract.  16 1 MR. SMURL: They are. 2 MS. HODOWANITZ: Okay. That's good. 3 Now, with regard to last week's public 4 comments, I was the first speaker so I didn't 5 get to comment on what happened afterwards. 6 Bob Bolus is driving me crazy. 7 You have to admire him for all the 8 good things he does, his Christmas dinners for 9 the past 30 years, his efforts to bring back 10 the remains of fallen World War II soldiers 11 from Okinawa and so much more. 12 But when someone pulls his chain, he 13 has a tendency to go off the deep end. During 14 his public comments last week Bob mentioned 15 that he was a Catholic and a veteran and so am 16 I. However, as a Catholic, I must agree with 17 the late Pope Francis. 18 When asked for his opinion on gay 19 priests, Pope Francis gave a very Christ-like 20 answer, who am I to judge. And as for gays 21 serving in the military, things have changed 22 since I enlisted 50 years ago -- yes, 50 years. 23 When I was in the Army, gays had to 24 stay in the closet or risk being 25 administratively discharged or worse. When I  17 1 was in uniform, there were a lot. And, I mean, 2 a lot of heterosexual soldiers that I wouldn't 3 trust as far as I could throw them. 4 And as for the kind of people I want 5 living in Scranton, I want people who are 6 willing to work for a living, who pay their 7 fair share of taxes, who obey the law and who 8 if they disagree with the law, work within the 9 system to change it. 10 In short, Bob and I have a lot in 11 common. And I respect him for his 12 contributions to Scranton and America. But I 13 totally disagree with his comments last week, 14 both at this podium and at his seat. He was 15 rude, crude, and socially unacceptable. 16 And, Mr. Smurl, I appreciate the 17 statement you provided in Third Order. It 18 takes a big man to admit a mistake. Having 19 said that, I want to commend City Council for 20 renaming Cliff Street in honor for of John M. 21 Hart, Jr., and proclaiming June 17th as John M. 22 Hart, Jr. Day. 23 I'm sure there are many other 24 Scrantonians who deserve a like honor. 25 Finally, I saw on the city's website and on the  18 1 entranceway coming into the City Hall a notice 2 of public funding for Hilltop Heights, a 3 project to build 36 apartments on the corner, I 4 guess, of South Webster and Saginaw Street. 5 It was a first hurt for me. My 6 parent's home is about two blocks from that 7 area. But as you should know, Hilltop Manor 8 which is in the same area has attracted a lot 9 of police incidents and many drug related. 10 Can you give us some information on 11 this project so that the people can comment on 12 it in the future? Thank you. 13 MR. SMURL: Thank you, Joan. I 14 will. The first I heard of that, I thought it 15 was supposed to be an elderly housing project, 16 but that's news to me. Next, Bob Bolus. 17 MR. BOLUS: I'd like to have these 18 presented to Council, please. First off, I'd 19 like -- Bob Bolus, Scranton. First off, I 20 would like to set the Scranton Times straight 21 in the negative articles that they printed on 22 me over the weekend. 23 First off, the statement was made by 24 the Times that I failed to respond to an issue 25 with a neighborhood Oakes and Slotterback.  19 1 What I have before me was due on the 14th. And 2 I have it in front of me which I was hoping 3 Chris Kelly was here. 4 It was received on 5/12/25 at 3:15, 5 well within the time that I filed the appeal. 6 So the incompetence and stupidity of the people 7 that write the Scranton Times articles that go 8 disparaging me, they could all go to hell. 9 There's the facts. I make no excuse for last 10 week. 11 I'm a part of this country. I've 12 been all over the world. I've contributed much 13 more than anybody that came up and spoke about 14 who I am and what I'm about. I'm going to read 15 what I gave you, June 10th, City Council 16 meeting. 17 I would like to ask Council a 18 rhetoric question. What's the difference 19 between a public forum for the opening exchange 20 of ideas and liberal echo chamber where you're 21 threatened with censorship and removal if most 22 of Council doesn't like your viewpoint and 23 doesn't agree with it? 24 This version of Council seems to be 25 running later -- last week during the first  20 1 part of the meeting where city business is 2 discussed and during the time Council was 3 conducting business and voting on resolutions, 4 Councilwoman Rothchild spoke which she has the 5 right to do just as I have the right to 6 disagree with her views and values. 7 During a discussion of city business 8 she spent just from about the 5 minute mark to 9 the 7 minute mark discussing the raising and 10 display of the queer flag at City Hall and 11 queer month. She noted that the Mayor and 12 Council President were present at the flag 13 raising ceremony on June 1. 14 She announced two organizations 15 calling themselves queer NEPA, the Rainbow 16 Alliance, which had an itinerary or various 17 festivities to celebrate queer month. She 18 announced -- described for queer -- pride -- 19 queer race. She announced that and the Fringe 20 Festival was conducting a queer event. 21 To any reasonable person, that 22 sounds a lot like city business and it 23 certainly is city business unless, of course, 24 Council doesn't like your viewpoint on that 25 city business. Then they could say you're out  21 1 of line in discussing city business. 2 This is truly being and armor. Life 3 doesn't get easier as we go. We get stronger. 4 This is a forum for the open exchange of ideas. 5 It isn't a Brownie Scout meeting. No 6 reasonable and sound mind should have felt 7 threatened last week. 8 Law enforcement is present and this 9 is a safe environment for anybody here. As 10 important as that to the point of the day and 11 age to tell the truth, I doubt if anybody 12 really felt unsafe. I think saying this is 13 supposed to be a safe place is often posturing 14 and more intellectual cowardice to avoid an 15 intelligent debate and censor any viewpoints 16 that don't mirror the ones Council established. 17 And Chris Kelly's far left 18 propaganda, the hit piece that he tried to pass 19 off as an editorial. He wondered why Council 20 President didn't gavel me and have me removed. 21 Well, Chris, maybe Mr. Smurl believes in free 22 speech. 23 And he's educated and aware that our 24 federal courts are especially harsh on 25 viewpoint discrimination. He might understand  22 1 that a public forum is a place to openly 2 discuss ideas, even ideas that members of 3 Council or the audience don't like hearing 4 because they disagree. 5 For people who preach inclusion and 6 tolerance, the left show shocking hypocrisy. 7 They only included and tolerate those who 8 blindly repeat their aggressive platform and 9 they're in denial that over half the country 10 can't stand their policy. 11 You folks got kicked out of 12 Washington this past November. So maybe, just 13 maybe there are other views besides yours. I 14 don't believe queer month should be city 15 business. But if Council injects it into the 16 city business, I'm going to address it. 17 And you could claim you're offended 18 and outraged. You could be appalled and you 19 criticize me all you want. That's 20 intelligently dishonest and it's bullying and 21 manipulative. I filed a lawsuit and a petition 22 for mandamus to have the queer flag removed 23 from City Hall. Why their -- 24 MR. SMURL: Stop. Go ahead. 25 MR. BOLUS: May I continue? For  23 1 one, there is no legitimate -- my time is going 2 because I got stopped here. 3 MR. SMURL: Go ahead. I'll give you 4 another 15 seconds. That's what you had. 5 MR. BOLUS: Okay. I filed a lawsuit 6 and petition for mandamus to have the queer 7 flag removed from City Hall. Why, for one 8 there is no legal authorization to display it, 9 16 PA CS 161 Section 16127 states it shall be 10 unlawful to display the flag of any -- it will 11 be lawful -- it shall be lawful to display the 12 flag of any country, city, borough -- 13 MR. SMURL: Okay, thank you, Mr. 14 Bolus. 15 MR. BOLUS: -- other municipality in 16 the Commonwealth or official -- 17 MR. SMURL: Thank you, Mr. Bolus. 18 Your time has expired. 19 MR. BOLUS: -- on a public building 20 or any grounds -- the queer flag is not 21 authorized -- 22 MR. SMURL: Officer -- that's all. 23 MR. BOLUS: I am. I'm done. 24 MR. SMURL: If you have another 25 outburst, I'll clear the entire gallery.  24 1 MR. BOLUS: Mr. Smurl. 2 MR. SMURL: Please, you're finished. 3 You are finished. Thank you. 4 MR. BOLUS: All right. But as far 5 as this group goes -- 6 MR. SMURL: Conor McGuigan. 7 MR. MCGUIGAN: Hi. My name is Conor 8 McGuigan, 933 Clay Avenue. I feel like Jackie 9 Mason following the Beatles on Ed Sullivan 10 right now. Hi, yes, I'm actually -- yeah, we 11 know -- we know what he says. We know he's up 12 here every week. We know he just memorizes the 13 stuff he hears on the TV and web page. 14 I'm -- he's going to say that. And 15 I really do appreciate your apology, Mr. King 16 and Mr. Smurl doing that. I really, really, 17 really do. I think when you have comments like 18 this and other feelings like that and 19 everything you just saw and I think we know 20 this. 21 It's fear based. They're very 22 scared. This all comes from fear which turns 23 into anger which turns into lashing out. And, 24 you know, that just -- that's going to happen. 25 I know we can't change that. But again, I  25 1 thank you for your comments in the beginning. 2 I really do. 3 I think that's the first step though 4 because I have something in common with four of 5 you of there. I'm a straight white middle-aged 6 man, right? And I think that -- it's easy for 7 us. 8 It's easy in a lot of situations 9 that a lot of this crowd doesn't have. And I 10 know I have been in situations where I take 11 that second to be, like, should I do something? 12 And it's tough because it's like, what are the 13 other straight white guys doing? Not that 14 you're -- looking at it. It's just something 15 in our psyche. We do this. 16 We take a moment instead of leading 17 by -- I mean, that's not right. That's not 18 right. And I think what we need to do as 19 straight people in the city because this city 20 is great and it does care about its queer 21 community. 22 It's not all the loud people. And I 23 know you guys agree with me, and I just think 24 we have to do better as straight people in this 25 city when we see something like that happen.  26 1 There are a lot of transpeople I know that have 2 terrible things said to them. And that's just 3 not Scranton. 4 That's the world unfortunately. But 5 Scranton can rise up from that. We've got some 6 great community here. We got great events and 7 I know the Mayor and the flag, it's tremendous. 8 We just have to make sure when this happens, we 9 don't wait a week for the apology, right? 10 And I know you spoke up. But maybe, 11 you know, just getting in there. I know 12 there's decorum, but that is just something, 13 right, and you guys know it. It just can't 14 happen. I know you're with me. You just got 15 to do better. All right? Thanks a lot. 16 MR. SMURL: Jessica McGuigan. 17 MS. MCGUIGAN: Hi, everyone. My 18 name is Jessica McGuigan, also 933 Clay Avenue. 19 President Smurl, I also want to thank you for 20 your thoughtful remarks at the beginning. When 21 we make mistakes, when we don't do what we're 22 supposed to, it takes a big person to think 23 critically about their role in that. 24 I really heard you thinking 25 critically. I appreciate that. I have chosen  27 1 Scranton as my home for yearly 20 years. I'm 2 here tonight not just as a citizen but as 3 someone who deeply believes in the city's 4 capacity to be better than what we witnessed at 5 the last Council meeting. 6 Speaking here tonight is not easy 7 for me. Sometimes it feels safer to stay 8 quiet. But I have learned that we have the 9 ability to speak up and to not -- and to choose 10 not to. We are just making space for the harm 11 to continue when we make that second choice. 12 So I'm here. 13 Despite my discomfort because what 14 happened at the last Council meeting deserves 15 more than silence. When someone stands at this 16 podium and spews dehumanizing rhetoric and it's 17 met with a thank you or no response at all, it 18 sends a message, a message that hate has a 19 place here. 20 Silence is not neutrality. It comes 21 off as complicity. We are living in a moment 22 where lines are being drawn across the country, 23 in our own backyards and the fear, the rhetoric 24 of fear, division, and dehumanization is not 25 abstract.  28 1 It's being written into laws, spoken 2 from pulpits and shouted at school board 3 meetings. And some people in power are 4 targeting the most vulnerable among us using 5 fear as a political tool. 6 And every time a local body and 7 subsequently a community like this one shrugs 8 it off or stays quiet, it echos louder. The 9 truth is, some opinions are dangerous. They 10 cost people their dignity. And sometimes that 11 leads to costing people their lives. 12 We've seen this before. History 13 shows us that what happens when communities 14 choose silence is rarely good. During the 15 Civil Rights movement, the holocaust, the Aids 16 crisis, there are always people who said 17 nothing while other people suffered. 18 And there were others who chose 19 courage over comfort who stood up. Moments 20 like this aren't new, but they are defining. 21 During Civil Rights movement, people had the 22 choice to march with Dr. King or to stay on the 23 sidewalk and say it wasn't their fight. 24 During the holocaust, there were 25 people would turned on their neighbors and  29 1 people who hid them. In every era, there's a 2 moment when communities must decide whether 3 they will stand against hate or be swallowed by 4 it. 5 This is ours. I don't come here 6 only with grief and criticism, I come with hope 7 because I know Scranton can choose differently. 8 We've seen it before. This is the same city 9 that has uplifted immigrants and created spaces 10 for interfaith communities, racial justice, and 11 LGBTQIA plus visibility. 12 It's the same city that boosts a 13 rich labor history borne from solidarity and 14 collective action. That's who we really are. 15 So I am pleading with you tonight, not just as 16 a constituent but as a fellow human being. Do 17 not let this moment pass in silence. 18 Continue to condemn the hate that 19 was spoken here and more importantly, counter 20 it with action, with love, and with policies 21 that make this city safe for everyone. 22 Let this be a city that shows up and 23 refuses to pretend that bigotry is just a 24 difference of opinion. Let's not be remembered 25 for what we tolerated. Let's be remembered for  30 1 what we refuse to accept. Thank you. 2 MR. SMURL: Thank you. Miss 3 McGuigan, I want to explain something. From 4 day one when I began Council, when I thank 5 someone it's almost like that is my way of 6 interrupting them and stopping them to let them 7 know their time is up. I have done that from 8 day one and it's become a habit. 9 So I think everybody's become 10 accustom to that. And maybe I should just say 11 your time is up. 12 MS. MCGUIGAN: Thank you. 13 MR. SMURL: Thank you. Ron Ellman. 14 MR. ELLMAN: Yes, good evening, 15 Council. I think you threw out the wrong 16 person personally. It's outrageous what was 17 said back there by that man. And he's -- he 18 wasn't asked to leave. 19 Anyway, it's just a great sadness to 20 see what's happening all over the country, not 21 just in Los Angeles. As you know, I -- I spent 22 a quarter of my young life out there. I see 23 all of these things that are familiar, these 24 neighborhoods and so forth. 25 It's very sad for America. You  31 1 know, Joe Biden's army of illegal disease, 2 filth is just destroyed America, being allowed 3 to destroy America. Right here in this very 4 city, one of his staunchest -- just his 5 strongest supporter of him and his policies is 6 our Mayor. 7 If anything, that ought to be a 8 reason to think before you vote. You know, the 9 trouble is you got people coming up here and in 10 the paper that don't know what they're talking 11 about. 12 You got people that's never suffered 13 the indignities of waiting in a food line like 14 I have when our house burned down years ago, of 15 not being able to make your rent or your 16 mortgage, taxes. There's thousands of people 17 out there right now, low income. Nobody in 18 this city -- there's no help. 19 I told you a couple weeks ago 20 there's no place for people to turn to in this 21 city when you have all of these problems. A 22 microwave can mess up somebody's finances. We 23 had to buy a refrigerator about a month ago. I 24 wasn't expecting it. It was ice cold one day 25 and quit the next.  32 1 It's -- it's just so hard and you 2 people sitting here have never suffered any of 3 these indignities. You can't imagine what it's 4 like. I wasn't in the line when Sister Adrian 5 gave away the food. But I saw it. It must 6 have been a mile long going past the stadium. 7 And I talked to people who lost 8 everything, their business, their jobs, where 9 they lived. And here Courtright is giving 10 10 million dollars to the eight colleges while 11 people -- those very people that paid taxes 12 were suffering. 13 You know, it's an unfair world we 14 live in, I guess. You know, my car got towed 15 on the very day I drove it because my neighbor 16 said it was abandoned, my Cadillac. Every day 17 I pass a car on the 1400 block North Main that 18 got the street -- the sidewalk completely 19 blocked where people are walking in the street. 20 Nobody seems to care about that car. 21 I got tickets for not cutting my grass from the 22 city. It was wet. You know, everybody's grass 23 looked like mine. But I got -- well, they have 24 gotten off my back, I'll say that. The code 25 enforcement hasn't given me any tickets or  33 1 nothing for a year or more. 2 But this -- the future of this city 3 is so important, and people coming out of the 4 woodwork that never had nothing to do with the 5 whole city or anything, library, nothing want 6 your vote. They're not qualified. 7 And the Mayor has a war chest that 8 nobody can compete with. When you take all of 9 these contributions, you're obligated. That's 10 why Basalyga and WNEP pay a fraction of their 11 taxes. 12 MR. SMURL: Thank you, Mr. Ellman. 13 Thank you. 14 MR. ELLMAN: Thank you. 15 MR. SMURL: Conor O'Brien. 16 MR. O'BRIEN: Good evening, Council. 17 My name is Conor Kelly O'Brien. I live at 816 18 Wheeler Avenue. I had some remarks written to 19 deliver tonight. And I'm going to get to as 20 much of them as I possibly can. But the 21 different comments this evening has resonated 22 with me in a way that I want to shift my 23 remarks to Council briefly and adjust them ever 24 so slightly. 25 I come from -- I was born and raised  34 1 here in Scranton, Pennsylvania in the Hill 2 Section. I've lived here my whole life with 3 the exception of a few years when I moved to 4 New York or have travelled for work. I 5 attended Scranton High School. 6 I went right into the working force, 7 nonprofit arts world right out of high school. 8 I'm not a college graduate. That's not 9 speaking ill against college. It just wasn't 10 in my cards, in my family's financial situation 11 at that time. 12 I understand and I am not going to 13 begin to compare my situation to the gentleman 14 before me or anyone that has spoken here 15 tonight because I can't because you don't know 16 the complexity of every single person's life. 17 You don't understand what it's like 18 to walk a mile in their shoes even if you grew 19 up with them in the same neighborhood of 20 Scranton in the 90s or the 2000s. 21 It's just not possible. It's the 22 complexity of humanity. It's the core thing 23 that every person tonight that I agree with or 24 fundamentally disagree with here has been 25 expressing, which is that somehow individuals  35 1 that want to promote hateful rhetoric, put down 2 those that have had a different life experience 3 than them, somehow feel that they are the one 4 that is unheard that they are the one that is 5 not being listened to or appreciated or 6 respected. 7 And there's an individual here 8 tonight that I don't need to mention by name 9 that it was cited has done tons of work for 10 charity. That's fantastic. I applaud that 11 individual's charitable efforts. It does not 12 negate, you know, who we are. On our 13 day-to-day is what we will be remembered by and 14 honored by or taken into account depending on 15 your belief in the divine afterlife. 16 It does not matter, Democrat, 17 Republican, it does not matter what cult of 18 personality you choose to follow Biden, Trump. 19 We are for the most part all members of a 20 working class rust belt while reviving a 21 beautiful city community. 22 It does not mean -- if you are not 23 queer and we had the conversation -- there's 24 been conversations related to this moment in 25 last week's Council remarks of straight  36 1 privilege and what it means to be queer and 2 opposed. 3 Saying for the record that it's been 4 said by others far smarter than me a hundred 5 million times over, it does not mean if you are 6 straight, white, cisgendered individual, it 7 does not mean that you have not gone against 8 oppression. 9 It does not mean that you have not 10 faced hardship and struggles and worked hard. 11 It simply means that your gender and/or sexual 12 identity has never been one of them. I'm going 13 to revert back to my far better written remarks 14 than my improvisation here. 15 I didn't even want to cite last 16 week's incident. What I wanted to do what I 17 think would speak louder volumes than simply me 18 conveying any frustration I could, is leave you 19 with statistics and the reason that -- not 20 personally but as a human being as a member of 21 Scranton, I'm the Director of Scranton Fringe 22 Festival that was -- got a wonderful shout-out 23 earlier, very grateful for that. 24 But that, you know, I work with a 25 lot of youth in the region as a teaching  37 1 artist, etc. I have all my credentials. I 2 have all my backgrounds. Suicide is the second 3 leading cause of death among youth ages 10 to 4 14. And this is in this country, not 5 worldwide. 6 And the third amongst those is 15 7 to 24. LGBTQ youth are at a significantly 8 higher risk. In fact, youth who identify 9 straight attempt suicide at a rate of 6 10 percent. Those gay or lesbian who identify as 11 such at a rate 19 percent. 12 It is estimated that more than 1.8 13 million LGBTQ young people seriously consider 14 suicide each year in this country. That's one 15 every 45 seconds. That's five since I began 16 speaking at this platform. 17 What we say matters. What we say 18 echos out and has significance even in 19 Scranton, Pennsylvania. I didn't get to get to 20 half of what I wanted to comment. I'll leave 21 this with I would like to thank. President 22 Smurl, for your remarks in the beginning. 23 There is no amount of money that 24 would ever want me to have any of your jobs up 25 there. So I'm incredibly grateful for your  38 1 kindness, your compassion and your 2 transparency. I would not want to be judged by 3 a bad day myself. Thank you very much. 4 MR. SMURL: Thank you. Les 5 Spindler. 6 MR. SPINDLER: Good evening, 7 Council, Les Spindler, city resident. I, for 8 one, I'm going to defend Bob a little bit. I 9 read that article that Chris Kelly put in the 10 paper on Sunday. He said Bob was wrong all the 11 time and this and that. 12 He cited that Bob went against 13 Council rules. Well, I stated here before the 14 United States Constitution does not -- does 15 supersede Council rules. And we tried -- Judy 16 Gatelli tried to stifle us here years ago. The 17 ACLU came in and they said Council rules do not 18 supersede the Constitution. It's the other way 19 around. 20 So anyway, Bob said, you know, he 21 didn't like the pride flag being raised because 22 he gave the Ukrainian flag and the Israeli 23 flag to our Mayor. And our Mayor refused to 24 raise them. And I had said that a long time 25 ago, this Mayor, she'll raise any flag, doesn't  39 1 matter what kind it is. 2 But when she was given the Ukrainian 3 flag and Israeli flag to raise, she wouldn't do 4 it. And she told me -- I asked her -- oh, it 5 might cause a problem. Well, you know what, 6 that's a slap in the face to Ukraine. It's a 7 slap in the face to Israel. 8 And I'm a Jewish person and I told 9 our Rabbi and our Cantor that she wouldn't 10 raise the flag of Israel. And they were pretty 11 upset about it. So Chris Kelly, he's wrong 12 most of the time because years ago when Chris 13 Doherty was Mayor I was part of a group that 14 came here every Tuesday. 15 And we defended the police union and 16 the firemen union that Chris Doherty tried to 17 break. And Chris Kelly would never say a bad 18 word about Chris Doherty. And he called us 19 that name, the Legion of Doom. Well, all we 20 did was support our firefighters and police 21 officers. 22 We came here week after week. And 23 he said we were wrong. But we ended up being 24 right. Chris Doherty cost the city 40 million 25 dollars on the court case -- actually it was 80  40 1 million. But our unions were nice enough to 2 take half of that what they were agreeing the 3 city should pay them. 4 So Chris Kelly doesn't know what 5 he's talking about. All he does is follow what 6 the Times tells him to print. And we were 7 right. He was wrong. The Legion of Doom was 8 right every week we came here and talked. 9 And I wish I still had my shirt. I 10 wanted to wear it tonight but I couldn't find 11 it because we stuck up for our first 12 responders. 13 Next thing, on the news last Friday 14 representative Kyle Mullins spoke. His dad 15 died of ALS which is also Lou Gehrig's 16 Disease. But the idiot in the White House cut 17 funding for -- funds the neurodegenerative 18 diseases which ALS is with one of along 19 Alzheimer's and others. 20 Representative Mullins sponsored a 21 bill for state funding for research on the 22 terrible diseases. This hits home for me 23 because I lost my grandmother, my mother to 24 Alzheimer's. And I have a brother is who right 25 now in a nursing home with the beginning of it.  41 1 So Donald Trump only cares about 2 himself. He doesn't care about poor people or 3 people that are sick or whatever. And he's 4 cutting everything. To cut funding to try to 5 get a cure for terrible diseases like this, 6 that is unconscionable. How anybody could 7 support this man, it just blows my mind. 8 Another thing, last week I spoke 9 about Mack Signs putting up signs and selling 10 them -- 11 MR. MCANDREW: I got a response in 12 Fifth Order for that. 13 MR. SPINDLER: Oh, okay, good. 14 Yeah, I was wondering if anybody up there 15 thought that was right. First of all, we're 16 paying them and then they're selling the signs 17 for more money and they're taking work away 18 from our DPW. 19 I'm surprised our DPW doesn't file a 20 grievance on that. I can't believe they're not 21 doing that because they're losing work. And 22 we're paying Mack Signs. And they're also 23 selling the signs. That shouldn't be legal. 24 Lastly, I spoke about this last 25 week. When -- I live in Tripp Park. It's  42 1 unbelievable the heavy equipment going by my 2 house every day that are killing our streets. 3 And like I said, I hope the gas company is 4 going to pave all of these roads that they are 5 digging up. 6 They may have to put these lines in, 7 but I hope they fix up the streets because 8 they're making a mess. Thank you. 9 MR. SMURL: Thank you, Mr. Spindler. 10 I believe it's Levi Larouche. If you could 11 state your name if I didn't get it correct. 12 MS. LAROUCHE: No worries. You did 13 great. Good evening. My name is Levi 14 Larouche. I am a resident of Scranton. And 15 I'm really here today to tell you how proud I 16 am to be a resident of Scranton. I worked 17 incredibly hard to get here. 18 I come from a town of 143 people. 19 And I knew when it was time for me to choose a 20 place to set down roots and build a life and a 21 family that it needed to be a place that 22 enshrined protections for myself and my 23 community into law. 24 Not only that, but Scranton has such 25 a beautiful history of diversity, inclusion and  43 1 citizen action that I really admired in a city. 2 I spent two and a half years house hunting here 3 before choosing to rent because I couldn't 4 spend another day not living in a city that I 5 absolutely love. 6 That said, I do think that all 7 residents deserve to feel safe and supported 8 while making public comments on things that 9 affect our city. And I do appreciate the 10 apology that was given and the commitment to 11 ensuring that that happens in the future. 12 However, I will say that an apology 13 without action behind it is just words. So I'm 14 here today to join the other members of the 15 LGBTQ community to ask you continue to pushing 16 for advanced protections for the LGBTQ 17 community in Scranton. 18 That includes explicit protections 19 for the transgender community who have been 20 inappropriately and unfairly called out on a 21 national stage this year and are currently 22 feeling unsafe regardless of where they live. 23 I will also say that some other 24 cities in our region, Allentown and Easton most 25 recently have pushed for safe city ordinances  44 1 and resolutions that will continue to protect 2 our community. 3 I think that would be a wonderful 4 point of action to back up your promises. I 5 also wanted to mention that despite our 6 community's attempt to reclaim it, the term 7 queer is still being used as a slur as 8 evidenced by previous comments tonight and last 9 week. 10 I understand as many of you are not 11 part of the community, perhaps your ears are 12 not attuned to hearing it in that way. 13 However, when a resident goes on to call the 14 LGBTQ community the scum of the city, that 15 should maybe be an indicator there. 16 As a resident of Scranton who chose 17 to be here and loves to be here and has also 18 had insults and slurs thrown at me in the 19 streets, has been threatened to be hit by cars 20 by other residents just for being -- daring to 21 walk out in the daylight with my partner. 22 It is imperative that the city 23 continues to protect its LGBTQ residents and 24 continue to stand behind those ordinances that 25 are already on here. Thank you.  45 1 MR. SMURL: Thank you. Franke 2 Malacaria. 3 MR. MALACARIA: Good evening, 4 Council. I want to start off with thanking 5 Jerry for his introspection that he was able to 6 show. I think that having leaders that show 7 that sort introspection after they've been 8 confronted is something that we sorely lack in 9 a lot of leaders. 10 So I want to commend you for, you 11 know, speaking with your friends, family and 12 coming to a realization. Too often we close 13 back into our own shells when people confront 14 us. And, you know, as was previously 15 mentioned, I'm also a cis straight guy. 16 You know, I don't have to worry 17 about, like, many people in this Council being 18 harassed or attacked on the basis of my gender, 19 my sexuality, whether or not I'm trans. This 20 is something that we take as, you know, we take 21 for granted and to be able to, you know, I just 22 want to commend that. 23 I appreciate Bill King's comments as 24 well. I think that we need folks to, you know, 25 stand not only for their convictions but for  46 1 folks in their communities, you know, first and 2 foremost you're representatives. You represent 3 your constituents. And you have to keep -- 4 make sure that every one of us are safe, you 5 know, whether we're trans, whether we're gay or 6 whether we're an immigrant. 7 I think this also ties back into 8 just the explosion of hate that I think Jerry 9 opened the meeting with that comes down from 10 the national politics. Something else that's 11 been happening recently in our neighborhood and 12 city is that ICE are going and picking up 13 folks. 14 Recently just the other day they -- 15 as much as they don't want to say it's ICE, 16 it's not ICE it's Homeland Security 17 investigations, it's two peas in a pod. HSI 18 had done a raid just the other day in Exeter 19 where they had detained an undocumented 20 immigrant from our community. 21 There's been a lot of reporting 22 basically the same information from the local 23 press, but it's really funny to see their 24 biases come out when readings these articles. 25 Some folks will refer to them as illegals,  47 1 which no human is illegal, especially you can't 2 be illegal on stolen land. 3 Pennsylvania ever since Isaac Tripp, 4 the first settler came to the region, we have 5 basically eradicated the native population. 6 There is not a single reservation in the state 7 of Pennsylvania. 8 So I want to echo Angela and I 9 really believe that we need to do more to show 10 that we are a welcoming city, an ordinance 11 similar to Easton, Allentown, Lancaster, State 12 College, all within about the last year or so 13 have passed these types of ordinances. 14 I think we also need to go further 15 and declare Scranton a sanctuary city. A lot 16 of people are afraid by that term. But what it 17 allows is that for folks that are undocumented 18 to be able to reach out to law enforcement that 19 if they are -- are issues that they don't have 20 to be afraid that they are going to be turned 21 over to immigration and customs enforcement. 22 So by allowing folks that don't have 23 documented status to be able to call and, you 24 know, report a crime or report that there's 25 been a crime against them is of utmost  48 1 importance to maintaining public safety. 2 Otherwise you're going have a 3 section of our community that is not going to 4 be able to call and interact with law 5 enforcement. This is the biggest reason why 6 sanctuary cities work and why it's so important 7 for them. 8 Again, so along with access to 9 better medical resources for transfolks, I 10 believe we're a welcoming city, should also go 11 and clearly delineate Scranton as a sanctuary 12 city. Thank you for your time. 13 MR. SMURL: Thank you. Holly Ord. 14 MS. ORD: Hello, and good evening. 15 My name is Holly Ord. I am a Scranton resident 16 and local organizer for NEPA Stands Up. Like 17 most of the folks here tonight, I was extremely 18 disappointed in what took place last week 19 seeing my friend, a strong and courageous 20 leader in this community harassed and 21 intimidated on a public forum. 22 I would like to thank Council for 23 their earlier comments and commitment to 24 equally enforcing the Council rules going 25 forward. It is Council's responsibility to  49 1 protect everybody in this city. And to create 2 a welcoming and safe atmosphere that all people 3 can share in without fear of harassment or 4 intimidation. 5 I would also like to echo Angela's 6 urging to strengthen the protections of our 7 city's nondiscrimination ordinance. Scranton 8 is a place where everybody belongs. I love 9 this city. I was born here and raised here and 10 have made the decision to make my life here. 11 When I am asked why I love 12 Scranton -- and I am a lot, I always say the 13 same thing. Scranton is a hopeful place. The 14 Electric City sign, I love it. I don't know 15 about you, I love that sign. It is a beacon of 16 hope. And I am a deeply hopeful person. And 17 this room today gives me much hope. 18 What is deeply heartening about this 19 situation that we find ourselves in here today 20 is the fact that so many members of our great 21 community are here today. When someone is 22 attacked, our community shows up. You show up. 23 MR. SMURL: Can you please address 24 Council? Thank you. 25 MS. ORD: They show up. And it's  50 1 amazing. And it's beautiful. And it really 2 shows why everybody here belongs. We belong 3 here. We are a community. And I am really 4 hopeful for the future of City Council for the 5 equal enforcement of the rules for where 6 everybody feels that they have -- the right and 7 the opportunity to voice their opinion here. 8 Thank you. 9 MR. SMURL: Thank you. Anthony -- 10 MR. BACHMAN: Hi. My name is 11 Anthony Bachman from Scranton. I had some 12 prepared remarks but there's a lot more smart 13 people in here than I am that can speak more 14 succinctly on these issues. 15 But I'm just going to get here and 16 talk a -- just give a personal testimony. I'm 17 from Scranton. I was raised in Scranton. 18 Whether I like to admit it or not, Scranton is 19 my home. And I feel as the city being my home 20 that we should be inviting and welcoming other 21 people into our home. 22 This home shouldn't be closed off. 23 The doors shouldn't be locked. The windows 24 shouldn't be boarded. We should be inviting 25 everyone. The LGBTQ community should feel  51 1 welcomed here. We need to let that be known. 2 We need to invite everyone into our home. 3 Now, I want to thank you, Council, 4 for actually apologizing for the miscarriage of 5 justice that I saw last week actually. And I 6 do appreciate the words but I do want to stress 7 that those are words and we do expect action. 8 And I just want to echo what 9 everyone else here has said. And we should be 10 a safe city. We should be a safe haven. We 11 should be a sanctuary. We shouldn't have ICE 12 coming in here taking our people off the 13 streets. It shouldn't be happening. We should 14 all be protecting each other. That's all I got 15 to say. 16 MR. SMURL: Thank you. Joe McGurl. 17 Joe, yours says 326 North Apple Street, sir. 18 MR. MCGURL: Yes. 19 MR. SMURL: Is that Dunmore? 20 MR. MCGURL: Yes. 21 MR. SMURL: I'm sorry. You're not 22 allowed to speak. I'm sorry? 23 MR. MCGURL: I moved from North Main 24 Avenue. 25 MR. SMURL: Yeah, but you're not a  52 1 resident of the City of Scranton today, are 2 you? 3 MR. MCGURL: I pay taxes here. 4 MR. SMURL: Are you a resident, sir? 5 MR. MCGURL: No. 6 MR. SMURL: Okay. I'm sorry. 7 Anthony Finch? 8 MR. FARAH: Anthony Farah. 9 MR. SMURL: Can you spell it for me? 10 MR. FARAH: F-A-R-A-H, sorry. 11 MR. SMURL: That's fine. Thank you. 12 MR. FARAH: Thank you for not 13 throwing me out earlier. I was just disturbed 14 by the comments that Bolus had made last week 15 and felt an overwhelming feeling to voice of 16 the injustices that he was speaking. 17 I moved into this area in 2010. I 18 found it to be welcoming. And I find it 19 disturbing that people have grown up here since 20 they were younger that they don't feel the same 21 security and welcoming presence in this 22 community. 23 My friends and comrades here have 24 spoken a lot more succinctly and clearly. But 25 I just feel that if there's a lot of  53 1 performative actions the Scranton City Council 2 has done as far as raising flags up, putting 3 all gender bathrooms in City Council. But 4 there needs to be action. 5 There needs to be material change 6 that directly supports our transcommunity so 7 that they feel safe. The whole point of 8 Bolus's comments is to scare our 9 transcommunity. You know, this is not just one 10 person's action. 11 He's reflective of what this 12 government is doing that's in the White House. 13 They want people scared. They want people 14 afraid. They want people to hide in their 15 homes. I have friends that are just walking 16 down the street being verbally assaulted as a 17 car drives by. 18 They don't feel comfortable in our 19 streets. We need to stand up. We need to pass 20 ordinances that protect our friends and our 21 community members. Thank you. 22 MR. SMURL: Thank you. Rik Little. 23 MR. LITTLE: Hello, Rik Little, 24 Scranton. A couple weeks ago I talked about 25 this headline, police homeless man attacks  54 1 hospital staff. 2 It really hit me because the guy was 3 put in jail by the same judge, the same 4 magistrate that evicted me twice, which I 5 appealed twice. Anyway, I'm homeless. I'm 6 old. And I could think I'm a victim just 7 walking down the street. 8 I have to walk in the street. I 9 can't walk on the sidewalk. There's too many 10 cracks. One fall and I'm out of the game. I'm 11 nonambulatory. And I have broken my wrist six 12 times since I have been in Scranton. Now, the 13 thing I handed out to you, there's a lot of 14 talk about LGBTQ and this is a big issue. 15 I love that community. During AIDS, 16 the people that worked at Act Up were my 17 brothers. I mean, they gave me fake police 18 passes. They allowed me to do my journalistic 19 stuff, you know, Jackie Curtis, Jim 20 Forott{phonetic}, people that were at 21 Stonewall. 22 And there's a nostalgia about all of 23 that stuff. But here's the thing, it starts 24 with the education in schools where people are 25 being not taught the right stuff. They're not  55 1 not taught their civics. But they are taught 2 that, you know, they have equality. 3 And that comes from 1871, equality 4 and equal and that's a long time ago. And we 5 have been going under maritime law. And the 6 biggest problem here is the media and the 7 judiciary. And that goes right up to the top 8 because the America has been under attack for a 9 long time by literal Nazis since after the war, 10 Operation Paperclip. We let Nazis take over 11 our government. 12 That's who ran NASA. That's who are 13 still running a lot of things. I believe my 14 country would be gone if President Trump did 15 not get elected because I've been educated 16 about this all my life about the rule of law. 17 And the problem is, we don't know 18 the chain of command. So when something's 19 wrong, you don't know where to go. I come 20 here, you know, I wanted to speak to one of the 21 Commissioners, now there's only two 22 Commissioners. Where do you go? 23 You know, I lived at Scranton 24 Housing Authority. They confiscated my stuff 25 for two and a half years before they called the  56 1 sheriff and kicked me out. I lost almost all 2 of my worldly possessions, my library. That's 3 a big thing, you know, but I make do with it. 4 That's -- that's what you have to do. 5 And so on a positive note, the thing 6 I handed out to you -- this is a legislative 7 body. And I want to get into like making 8 legislation, and, you know, there's all of this 9 talk about the LGBTQ flag on the flagpole. 10 I've seen BLM flags there. I've seen United 11 Nations flags there, which I consider a 12 communist flag. 13 When I first heard BLM, I'm thinking 14 Bureau of Land Management where Hillary Clinton 15 sold 20 percent of our uranium to a Canadian 16 corporation who sold it to Russia. There's a 17 lot of stuff going on. And we look at Los 18 Angeles now, that's one of the media things. 19 You know, we look at the history of, 20 you know, the felon versus the prosecutor of 21 them, you know, criminalizing people. They 22 have criminalized old people here. And they've 23 criminalized disability people. And Corey 24 McNulty from that headline that I started out 25 with, you know, he's going through the system.  57 1 There's no reason he should -- 2 should have been in jail for two months. They 3 tied the guy up and he got mad. He spit at 4 them. And now he's facing felonies and is 5 going through the court. If anybody knows 6 Corey McNulty, please have them get in touch 7 with me. 8 MR. SMURL: Thank you, Mr. Little. 9 Thank you. 10 MR. LITTLE: What? 11 MR. SMURL: Thank you. Your time 12 has expired. That's all for our sign-in sheet. 13 Does anyone else wish to address Council? 14 MR. MARQUIS: I'm going to try to 15 take it easy this time because I know you guys 16 know, you know, how I used to be and all of 17 that. Ant Marquis, activist, musician, 18 whatever you want to call me. 19 I really just came up here to say if 20 you guys -- I'm trying not to address the 21 Council -- the people back here and talk to you 22 guys. But if anyone wants to, you know, if 23 anyone cares about the City of Scranton or 24 Lackawanna County, then I think it would be 25 wiser if we stop attacking one another and we  58 1 come together and we unite and we organize for 2 this county because, you know, all the back and 3 forth and coming at each other's necks and all 4 of that stuff, this is embarrassing. 5 Like, imagine if you were from 6 another county and you're watching this on 7 television, what would you think about 8 Lackawanna County if you see this all day? 9 There is no unity within our county. It's just 10 division, division, division. 11 And, you know, I'm sick of it but I 12 don't want to make it about me because this is 13 about the solution, the bottom line. The 14 bottom line is that we come together. We unite 15 and we organize. 16 MR. SMURL: Anthony -- 17 MR. MARQUIS: Yes, sir. 18 MR. SMURL: You're so loud, yeah, 19 that it's blurry now. It's hard to understand. 20 Thank you. 21 MR. MARQUIS: I'm getting 22 passionate. I'm sorry, sir. I'm got 3:45 23 left. I got 3 minutes, 44 seconds left. 24 MR. SMURL: But lower it so it 25 doesn't echo so I could hear you.  59 1 MR. MARQUIS: I just got a strong 2 voice. I can't help it. So all I'm saying is 3 that we need to come together and organize, 4 unify and organize, not dis one another, not 5 disrespect each other and all of that because 6 we're all under the same umbrella which is 7 Lackawanna County. 8 And, you know, outside of that, 9 we're all under the same umbrella which is the 10 United States of America, no matter if you're 11 Republican, if you're Democrat. It doesn't 12 matter what party you are. 13 So we have to learn how to start 14 being a little bit more diplomatic and talking 15 to one another instead of attacking one another 16 because it's all for the common good, excuse 17 me, it's all for the common good of our 18 counties, of our cities, and of this nation 19 essentially. 20 And that's all I want to say. Ant 21 Marquis. Oh, yeah, and I just became 22 Republican last night. The interview is 23 dropping soon with -- what is it -- Citizens 24 Voice. So I'm going to leave it there. Thank 25 you guys.  60 1 MR. SMURL: Thank you. 2 MR. COYNE: Tom Coyne, Minooka. 3 First of all, you had mentioned that no one 4 should be intimidated in this chamber. I guess 5 maybe then you should be talking to the city 6 Law Department about serving me here in this 7 body in this very chambers five minutes before 8 the session started. 9 Maybe it should have been done 10 outside the chambers as this -- if this chamber 11 is not a place for intimidation. Now, as the 12 Times-Tribune did a story on the data breach, 13 the headlines stated a generic nondescription, 14 a Scranton based nonprofit addiction treatment 15 organization. 16 You had to read the article where it 17 identified the body as the Drug and Alcohol 18 Treatment Service of 441 Wyoming Avenue. Most 19 of the news sources immediately had the 20 headline that the Drug and Alcohol Treatment 21 Services had a data breach, noting the name in 22 the headline and not a generic Scranton based 23 nonprofit. 24 After learning of it in October, 25 there was an internal investigation that took  61 1 six months. After it was done they reported it 2 six months after the fact to governmental 3 agency, still had not notified anyone affected 4 for almost seven months. 5 How could an agency be so reckless? 6 I mean, it's like leaving employee files in an 7 alleyway and then six months later saying 8 nothing had happened, no one was exposed, and 9 whitewashing it while the people exposed were 10 not informed, a truly shocking thing. 11 Moving on, flooding in the Fawnwood 12 area, the Mayor's response was the city has 13 been working on several flood mitigation 14 projects for the past two years and should be 15 able to break ground soon. 16 It was said we're down here on 17 Merrifield right now where DPW is almost done 18 clearing out the ponds here at the pump 19 station. We've got activity in our usual 20 hotspots. If you had supposedly been working 21 on it for two years but not broke ground, you 22 haven't been working on it. 23 I know preventive action is often 24 more beneficial than reactive. Why are we 25 clearing the pump stations after the fact? Are  62 1 they failing? Are they inadequate? And why 2 haven't we put stop guards in place until the 3 rest of the issue is resolved? 4 That being said, moving onto 5 Lackawanna Avenue, there's a lot of talk about 6 it. I remember the walkability study at 7 Central High School. It was stated that the 8 Lackawanna Street was not funded, not part of 9 the ARPA project and they hope to get more 10 funds and grants to include Lackawanna Avenue 11 in the project. 12 So unless we received a mystery 13 grant from unknown sources and something has 14 changed to make City Hall and the Courthouse 15 beautiful, ARPA projects have zero funding for 16 Lackawanna Avenue. 17 Moving on, years ago we were told 18 under Bill Gaughan that Aztec Decking, a part 19 of the Aztec Company that was in Minooka would 20 be supplying plastic wood materials to fix the 21 rotting wood structures in Nay Aug Park. 22 Did we do nothing for so long that 23 we got and missed the opportunity for those 24 donations because I haven't seen any of those 25 wonderful donated plastic decking anywhere up  63 1 at Nay Aug Park. 2 Last, I asked what legislation last 3 week has this body brought forth, not just 4 waited for the administration to present it. I 5 remember the fiasco of giving the crossing 6 guards $10 a day split between the city and the 7 school board $5 each, a 50 percent reduction 8 from the $20 that was asked. 9 What legislation have any of you in 10 this body sponsored and introduced yourself? 11 MR. SMURL: If anybody wants to 12 answer, they could do it in Fifth Order. 13 MR. COYNE: Okay. I will wait here 14 for my entire time for your answer. 15 MR. SMURL: Okay. 16 MR. COYNE: Because in Fifth Order 17 you dodge it. And in truth, I understand you 18 don't have to answer and you won't. That's why 19 dodging it to Fifth Order. The Sunshine Act 20 allows me to ask and you don't have to respond. 21 But they say you should respond because it's a 22 responsibility in clarity. But I understand 23 you don't want clarity when you do nothing. 24 Good night. 25 MR. SMURL: Thank you.  64 1 MR. ARGENTA: Good evening, Council, 2 Virgil Argenta, Scranton. Mr. Smurl, thank you 3 for your leadership. I am profoundly concerned 4 about the derogatory remarks made last week 5 towards a resident addressing Council as well 6 as members of the LGBTQ plus community and the 7 celebration of Pride Month. 8 It is essential to uphold respect 9 and support for these individuals, many whom 10 are family, friends and loved ones rather than 11 exhibiting hostility and discrimination. The 12 remarks made by this individual do not 13 represent the values, beliefs, or sentiments of 14 many residents in our community. 15 Diversity is important to our 16 community. And it is essential to avoid 17 divisive speech. Such rhetoric can only divide 18 people and affect the principles of equality 19 that are important to all of us. 20 As a community leader -- as 21 community leaders, I urge you to take a firm 22 stance against hateful speech and reaffirm our 23 city's commitment to supporting the LGBTQ plus 24 community. Hatred has no place in our city. 25 And I hope Council will lead by  65 1 example as elected officials and fostering a 2 welcoming environment for all. Mr. Council 3 President, you may want to have a button 4 installed so that you may cut off and silence 5 microphones from anybody that you don't want 6 speaking out of line. 7 On June 4th, I attended a zoning 8 hearing where a local business owner requested 9 permission to use a private parking lot. He 10 had been denied permission to shut down the 11 street in front of his business for a music 12 festival from June 12th to June 15th because he 13 did not provide a one year notice to the City 14 of Scranton. 15 On June 6th, the 100 block of 16 Wyoming Avenue was closed to traffic from 17 Spruce Street to Lackawanna Avenue. The 18 previous weekend, Vine Street in front of the 19 Scranton Public Library was also closed for 20 Swingin on Vine event. 21 Throughout the year there are 22 numerous races and festivals. Additionally, 23 St. Peter's Cathedral holds funerals throughout 24 the year where the street is shut down. Are 25 all of these events planned a year in advance?  66 1 The Council may wish to review and investigate 2 this rule to ensure that it's practical. 3 We should encourage and support any 4 business wanting to come to town and contribute 5 to our local economy. Do you recall the 6 Capouse Street pool splash pad project? The 7 old saying, the third time is a charm seems to 8 be applicable here as once again, the winning 9 bidder was the highest bidder. This time it 10 was just for site preparation. 11 For public awareness, over 1 million 12 dollars of taxpayer's money has been wasted by 13 circumventing the business process between the 14 Nay Aug pool Project, the Novembrino Splash Pad 15 Project and the Capouse Avenue Splash Pad 16 Project, sold to award the contract to the 17 highest bidder, needs to be investigated. 18 This matter has been brought to your 19 attention several times over the last year. 20 Before -- and you may want to further 21 investigate by Council. Last week I presented 22 a list of issues. Will you be preparing any 23 answers in Fifth Order? 24 And if I may, coming in tonight the 25 five of Lackawanna and the Scranton Electric  67 1 building, there is a huge piece of copper 2 flashing that's ready to blow off. It may be 3 pretty dangerous if you could address that. 4 Thank you, Council. 5 MR. SMURL: Thank you. 6 MS. JEFFRIES: Good evening, 7 Council, Norma Jeffries, Scranton resident. 8 And, you know, after I left Council last week 9 it was a very disturbing week to go over what 10 was said here in Council last week. 11 And it is concerning because I've 12 become afraid. I'm concerned about my own 13 safety. As a black female, I'm concerned. So 14 with the talk of everything against the LGBTQ 15 community, am I next? Doris and I talked. Is 16 Doris next? 17 Who's next with all the rhetoric and 18 hatred and all. So I have to thank President 19 Smurl for the letter and for reading the 20 announcement because it concerned me last week 21 after I got home that, you know, that you 22 didn't say anything. 23 And then I thought about it. We had 24 conversations about our First Amendment Rights. 25 And I did look up the First Amendment Rights  68 1 and to see exactly what does the First 2 Amendment Rights really say and how does it 3 apply to me as a citizen of Scranton. 4 And I could not come up with any 5 definite answer. But I do know that I feel 6 insecure at times. I feel afraid. As 7 Mr. Bolus said up here, he doesn't think anyone 8 is afraid. Oh, yes, they are. I am. And I 9 know that others of my ethnicity are afraid as 10 well. 11 When you drive down a street -- this 12 is 2025. And I could have someone yell out the 13 window the N-word. This is 2025. So I could 14 just imagine the words that are spewed out of 15 car windows because I always think that person 16 is very insecure because they wouldn't say that 17 to my face. 18 But as they're driving down the 19 street or to give me the finger for no reason. 20 They don't even know me. And if they took the 21 time to know me, then they would realize that 22 they -- we would have a lot in common with each 23 other. So I thank the community for showing up 24 tonight. 25 It's been a long time since we had  69 1 so many members at Council here and voicing 2 their opinions and all. And I appreciate that. 3 But I just wanted to know it's not just the 4 community that's here tonight. It's also any 5 other community that's different than what you 6 are becomes a target, which is not right. 7 So for Mr. Bolus who says I'm not -- 8 no one's afraid, yes, they are. You know, I 9 have to be afraid sometimes. I've got two 10 sons. They're black. They're tall. They're 11 big. And they have to always be mindful. My 12 husband, their father, always told them you 13 can't do this. You can't do that because 14 they're black because they will be pulled over. 15 One is a businessman. He has his 16 own business. My second son has a good job as 17 well. They are both very successful. But they 18 always are mindful of the color of their skin 19 and just how big they are. 20 So I say all that because there's a 21 lot of hatred, a lot of ill-things that are 22 being said and done. And we all have to look 23 at ourselves. Look at yourself as to what 24 you're saying, what you're thinking and try to 25 make it a better place.  70 1 Try to do all that you could do to 2 make it a better place here in Scranton as well 3 as across the country. Thank you. Oh, let me 4 say one more thing. You know, I almost forgot 5 the Flower Show is coming, you know, June 21st. 6 The Flower Show will be up Nay Aug Park and 7 we're busy getting ready for everything. 8 So, you know, we could plan, we 9 could plan, we could plan. But we can't do 10 anything about the weather. So all of this 11 rain that we've been having, you know, we're 12 saying our prayers that we will have a good 13 day. Thank you. 14 MR. SMURL: Thank you. 15 MS. COOLBAUGH: Good evening, 16 Council. My name is Annie Coolbaugh and I am a 17 resident of Scranton. I just wanted to read 18 some words from a friend. Last week a speaker 19 stood at this podium and used their time not to 20 uplift this community, not to advance the 21 public good but to demean the entire queer 22 community and directly harass a member of the 23 audience. 24 They violated your own rules. I 25 would refer you to Article 5, Section 1,  71 1 paragraph two of the Rules of Council, which 2 prohibits personal attacks on individuals 3 during the public comment including those based 4 on gender identity or sexuality. 5 After that the speaker then launched 6 into a tirade about how the pride flag hanging 7 outside of this chamber disgusts them. Let me 8 be very clear, that was not free speech. This 9 was targeted hate speech, the kind designed to 10 intimidate, humiliate, and isolate. 11 And it was allowed to unfold 12 uninterrupted in what is supposed to be a 13 protected civic space. And to make matters 14 worse, it was done by someone with public 15 influence, wealth, and power who used their 16 time here to punch down at someone and claim 17 that queer people do not deserve respect, nor 18 have a legacy worth celebrating. 19 When someone claims that queer 20 people don't deserve representation or respect, 21 that's not just bigoted ignorance. It's an 22 attempt to erase us from public life. And when 23 this kind of hatred is permitted to be spewed 24 forth unchallenged, it sends the message that 25 this kind of dehumanization is tolerated that  72 1 this chamber is not, in fact, for all of us. 2 When I hear that queer people 3 haven't bled for this country, I think about 4 the countless LGBTQIA plus service members who 5 fought and died for our military in silence, 6 shame and fear. I think about the queer people 7 who march for Civil Rights, who protested, who 8 were beaten or killed so that one day we might 9 simply live more free. 10 Queer people have taught in schools. 11 They have given you and your loved ones medical 12 care, built your arts program, volunteered in 13 your parks and helped run your elections. We 14 have done all of that while being told that we 15 don't belong, yet, we still persist. 16 We have always been part of the 17 fabric of this country of the City of Scranton 18 of this very room. And to deny that is not 19 only historically and categorically false, it 20 is morally shameful. 21 Council members, your rules prohibit 22 personal attacks from this podium and let -- 23 and yet, you let one happen anyway. Make no 24 mistake. This was not just an attack on one 25 person, but an attack on the queer community at  73 1 large. 2 I commend Dr. Rothchild for 3 addressing the matter afterwards and 4 acknowledging that he was understandably 5 stunned by the display. And I commend the 6 other members as well. But the silence from -- 7 at the time it was -- it spoke volumes. 8 It was a sign that people like us, 9 people like the person who was humiliated 10 should simply sit there and endure it that we 11 are not worth defending or speaking up for. So 12 I'm here to ask Council, all of you to do 13 better to uphold your own rules, make is 14 absolutely clear that public comment is not a 15 license to abuse people. 16 The First Amendment is not a license 17 to abuse people. Queer residents deserve 18 safety and dignity in their own City Hall. I 19 would like to remind everyone that the pride 20 flag is not in competition with the American 21 flag. It is meant to compliment it. 22 The more we shame people for flying 23 the pride flag, the more we shame and tarnish 24 the values of the American flag itself is 25 supposed to represent. Scranton deserves  74 1 better from our Council. Thank you. Happy 2 Pride Month. 3 MR. SMURL: Thank you. Anyone else? 4 MR. DANILOSKI: Good evening, 5 Council. I hadn't planned on speaking -- 6 MR. SMURL: State your name. 7 MR. DANILOSKI: Oh, I'm sorry, my 8 name is David Daniloski. I'm a life-long 9 resident of Scranton. I live in South Side, 10 grew up in South Side. Hearing about what 11 transpired last week was to say the least 12 shocking and appalling. 13 I appreciate your comments, 14 Mr. Smurl, Mr. King, I really appreciate your 15 apology and your -- I look forward as I know 16 everyone else looks forward to your action to 17 show that those words will be met with action. 18 As someone who has friends and 19 family in this community, it is so important 20 that not only just in City Council meetings but 21 walking down the street on a day-to-day basis 22 feel like they do not have to look over their 23 shoulder. 24 That is just something that we as 25 American citizens all deserve regardless of any  75 1 sexual orientation, gender identity, race, 2 religion. And while some people come up here 3 into this podium this evening and will state 4 that they have the right to free speech, as 5 long as your free speech doesn't incite hateful 6 behavior, then 100 percent you have that right. 7 But when that crosses that line, I 8 feel like that's where we as a community need 9 to stand up and make sure that people like that 10 understand the difference between First 11 Amendment Right and simple hatred. And I 12 appreciate that so many people in the community 13 have showed up. 14 I think that in this time our 15 government locally, on a national level is 16 very, very on a thin, thin line, very thin ice 17 and I think that when we do show up like this 18 and when we do have people who will take 19 accountability on every level, not just in the 20 community but also our elected officials. 21 I think that's the type of change 22 that we need going forward and that's the type 23 of things that need to continue to happen in 24 order for things to not just stay the same and 25 get better. Thank you very much.  76 1 MR. SMURL: Thank you. Anyone else? 2 MR. VOLDENBERG: FIFTH ORDER. 5-A. 3 MOTIONS. 4 MR. SMURL: Mr. King, do you have 5 any motions or comments? 6 MR. KING: Just a few comments, 7 first of all, I want to thank everyone for 8 coming here this evening. I think it's 9 fantastic. As I said last week this place 10 should be open to everyone and everyone's here. 11 There's a lot of people here. There's a lot of 12 diversity in this room. And diversity's what 13 makes not only our city great, but our country 14 great. 15 I do have to apologize. I did 16 defend -- or last week I defended all of you in 17 your community. But I should have done it 18 sooner. One of the reasons why I didn't jump 19 in in the middle of hate speech is that I was 20 the former President of Council and I was 21 trying to respect the position of our 22 president. 23 So I sat there and was tortured 24 listening to all of that like many of you had 25 to listen to it, whether you were here or  77 1 whether you were watching on YouTube. I do 2 apologize for not jumping in earlier. That's 3 simply unacceptable. I was an educator, 4 retired educator, not an agitator, an educator. 5 Several of you were some of my 6 former students who spoke tonight and I was 7 very proud of the way you spoke. This -- these 8 chambers, this city, this -- I'm so proud of 9 our city and brag about it all the time 10 everywhere I go. 11 The diversity is what makes it 12 great. And when you think about how this -- 13 back in the 80s when I was after college I came 14 back here, there wasn't a lot to do in this 15 city. And actually there wasn't a lot of 16 diversity in the city. 17 In my many years in classrooms when 18 I was a teacher and as a principal then later 19 as a superintendent, I had the opportunity to 20 see children of all -- every gender of every 21 ethnic background and always try to create an 22 environment where everyone felt welcome. 23 Everyone was honored. 24 All someone has to do is give 25 somebody a chance, you know, take the  78 1 opportunity to meet someone, learn about them a 2 little bit. And why hate someone because of 3 their sexuality or their religion or their 4 color. 5 I like to base my understanding of 6 people based on how I get to know them and talk 7 to them. And typically when I get to know 8 people, I learn a lot more and it broadens 9 my -- it broadens my perspective and 10 understanding of life in general. 11 So I applaud all of you for being 12 here this evening. I'm hoping to work with 13 this body to continue to make sure that we do 14 the right things to ensure that everyone, 15 everyone is welcome in this city, in these 16 chambers and we will work to do better. Thank 17 you. 18 MR. SMURL: Thank you, Mr. King. 19 Mr. Schuster, do you have any motions or 20 comments? 21 MR. SCHUSTER: Yes, I have few 22 comments and try to get into city business. 23 Thank you all for coming tonight. I think all 24 the opinions that we heard puts things into 25 perspective. What's been -- sometimes things  79 1 have to come to a head before they change. 2 And I think what's been going on in 3 these Council chambers has been building up and 4 hopefully it's come to this head right now so 5 we could see some change here. You know, 6 someone recently at the podium said it's not a 7 license to attack. 8 And I think maybe if you've been 9 watching over the last year we started -- the 10 attacks started with attacks on Council 11 members. So what may have started with 12 concerns in the city, went from concerns to 13 attacks on Council members and has built from 14 there to we get to the point where we're at 15 tonight. So I'm glad everybody came out. 16 I hope it comes to this head so we 17 can change what's going on in these chambers, 18 so thank you. Over the weekend we had a storm 19 and we had some water issues in several 20 different parts of the city, East Mountain, 21 West Mountain. 22 So as we're approaching the spring 23 and the rainy season, can we get an update on 24 the Merrifield pump house? I know, you know, 25 if that pump house gets overwhelmed, the fire  80 1 department comes out and we do use the fire 2 department pumps. 3 But what are the city plans that we 4 have when heavy rains coming and can we get 5 updates on the water projects that are 6 occurring in Keyser Valley, East Mountain, 7 North Scranton and Tripp Park and the water 8 project also in Minooka so we know where we're 9 at timelinewise on all of these projects. 10 MR. VOLDENBERG: I'll do that, sir. 11 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you. I did 12 have some questions on some other addresses. 13 But as the course of the week went, I did get 14 some answers. 1405 Cherry Street is an Airbnb. 15 It came before the zoning board recently. 16 It was denied. But it appears that 17 they may be operating again as an Airbnb. So 18 can we please send that over to the city 19 administration if they could take a look at 20 that property as well? 21 MR. VOLDENBERG: We did that today, 22 sir. 23 MR. SCHUSTER: Okay. Thank you very 24 much. I had some questions about the Scranton 25 Redevelopment Authority Director, how is this  81 1 position being funded, are we still using ARPA 2 funds to fund the position, and have they been 3 earmarked and are they being reimbursed? 4 We got some of the numbers back that 5 is seeded with ARPA money. We are being 6 reimbursed. And the answer that I got back 7 from last week was the SRA has an ARPA 8 subrecipient agreement through 2026. So that 9 position is going to be funded until December 10 of 2026. 11 And administration is an eligible 12 expense though that agreement to be refunded. 13 If it is possible, can we ask the 14 administration if we could have the SRA 15 Director in to give us an update on what's 16 going on with the Redevelopment Authority? 17 MR. VOLDENBERG: I'll reach out for 18 a caucus. 19 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you very much. 20 Also, there was some water problems on Yesu 21 Drive on East Mountain. I had asked some 22 questions about runoff that was occurring there 23 and also water testing at Mountain Lake. They 24 did not ask -- they did not answer about water 25 testing at Mountain Lake.  82 1 But the answer I got was city 2 officials had been in communication with and 3 have visited the resident on Yesu Drive. 4 That's the only communication we got on that. 5 But can we ask again about water testing at 6 Mountain Lake? 7 MR. VOLDENBERG: I'll ask that 8 again, sir. 9 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you very much. 10 As more people are going to be using that lake, 11 it would be nice to know that we had testing 12 done there. That's all for tonight, Mr. Smurl. 13 MR. SMURL: Thank you, Mr. Schuster. 14 Dr. Rothchild, do you have any motions or 15 comments? 16 DR. ROTHCHILD: I do, thank you. 17 First before I address all the speakers 18 tonight, there was one person who had brought 19 up some questions about legislation that has 20 come from this body forward. He did ask about 21 if we have sponsored legislation. 22 We don't really go -- we don't go 23 through that process as they might in some 24 other bodies. So we don't have, like, a 25 sponsoring. And then when something is  83 1 introduced in Fifth Order, it is automatically 2 introduced by the President of Council, not by 3 an individual Council member but then someone 4 can second it and then we have various phases 5 that that legislation will go through. 6 One of the biggest standout 7 legislations that did certainly come from this 8 body came from me was a conversion therapy ban 9 ordinance a few years ago that we had passed 10 unanimously as a Council. 11 And I'm very proud that I was able 12 to help bring that to this Council and to our 13 city and that we have that piece of legislation 14 that is protecting LGBTQ youth from the harmful 15 practice of conversion therapy. 16 There's also been a number of 17 ordinances that we have worked closely with the 18 administration on. And we do that because 19 especially when we have ordinances that need -- 20 need to be enforced, we need to have the 21 administration, the Mayor on board with that 22 legislation so that we can ensure that it's 23 effective and that it's -- that it's then taken 24 because we could pass laws and then it's up to 25 her and the administration to enforce them.  84 1 So a couple of those ones that come 2 to mind that, you know, came from working 3 together with them was the rental registration 4 ordinance that was really big that I was happy 5 to be a part of as well as pave cut legislation 6 that was passed just over the past year. 7 So those are a few of the ones that 8 come to mind. And then there was one that I 9 was working on with Solicitor Hayes when he was 10 our Council Solicitor and that was a mural arts 11 ordinance. That didn't end up coming to 12 fruition because we were waiting on the city's 13 Art Committee to be developed and haven't 14 revisited that. 15 But there certainly is the power 16 from this body to create that legislation and 17 to pass it. So I did just want to respond to 18 that and clarify that. 19 Next, I just want to remark that 20 over the six years that I've been a part of 21 this Council, there's been few moments that 22 have been as powerful as this one has been for 23 me tonight. So I appreciate all of you. I 24 appreciate you being here. 25 One of the things that comes to mind  85 1 is when you attack one of us, you attack all of 2 us. And that really shows in how the community 3 has stood up tonight for a member of our 4 community. And so I wanted to thank you to 5 those who spoke out tonight or showed up. 6 I wanted to thank you for your 7 bravery, for your honesty. Thank you for 8 showing that we will not be intimidated in 9 these chambers. And I'm -- I'm proud of 10 Scranton. I'm proud to be a part of the LGBTQ 11 community. I'm proud of my family. And I'm 12 proud to be an LGBTQ elected official. 13 And I want you to be -- to all be 14 just as proud to be who you are as well. So 15 happy Pride Month. With that, we will continue 16 raising that pride flag and thank you again. 17 MR. SMURL: Thank you, Dr. 18 Rothchild. Mr. McAndrew, do you have any 19 motions or comments? 20 MR. MCANDREW: Yes, I'd also like to 21 thank all of you for coming this evening and 22 sharing your story with us and how you really 23 feel because it's important. Last week, I -- 24 after the events that happened in Fifth Order 25 I, you know, stated my position and the problem  86 1 I had with -- I'm a big proponent of freedom of 2 speech. 3 I speak my mind, not afraid to do 4 it; but as I stated last week, not as a tool of 5 intimidation. To put it in perspective, I 6 stand in front of students every day. And them 7 students are every gender, ethnic background 8 and sexual orientation. But my job as an 9 educator and I teach culinary arts is to foster 10 an environment that is safe, nuturing and 11 conducive for learning. 12 And my students all put the same 13 uniform on. They put their culinary uniform on 14 and we're all the same. And I have zero 15 tolerance in my world in my classroom for 16 hatred or bullying and so zero tolerance for 17 that. 18 And should that trans in here, yeah. 19 And last week I was leaning towards the same 20 way as Mr. King said. Out of respect for, you 21 know, Roberts Rules and parliamentary procedure 22 we follow, we follow and respect the President 23 is the one to gavel. 24 I mean, should I have jumped in, 25 yeah, I -- after reflection, I should have.  87 1 And but moving forward, I mean, we all come to 2 agreement that, you know, we don't have to wait 3 for the direction of the President to do so. 4 And so with that said again, thanks for coming. 5 Know that, you know, we do care. 6 People come here and like 7 Mr. Schuster said attack us. We're pretty 8 thick skinned. We don't always like it. But 9 we do care about every resident in this city or 10 we wouldn't be here. And we care about 11 everyone equally just so, you know. 12 All right, onto other stuff. So 13 last week Mr. Spindler talked about the Mack 14 Sign thing. So I brought that to the attention 15 of administration that they are replacing signs 16 in the city. And, you know, I was concerned 17 about taking union work away from union 18 workers. 19 So the answer I received is so the 20 reason they're doing is the city was awarded a 21 multimodal grant to replace street signs and 22 stop signs. All right. So I think along with 23 that grant, they had to utilize a vendor. So 24 fair enough. 25 So Mack Signs was the vendor for the  88 1 project. So once the signs are replaced, the 2 old signs are picked up by DPW and that 3 material can potentially be reused if it's in 4 good condition. So the union will continue to 5 have that type of work. So we're not taking -- 6 I'm glad to hear we're not replacing that type 7 of work. 8 Also, it's no secret that there's 9 potholes everywhere and everybody has an issue 10 with them. I know our administration said, you 11 know, they have a new system in place. And 12 they're tracking more of the utility work and, 13 you know, time limits as to when they are 14 supposed to replace and pave curb to curb. 15 But these potholes still exist. So 16 people have come to me almost daily. And you 17 know what, sometimes you just can't avoid them. 18 If you avoid a pothole you're going to hit a 19 truck or something. So a person reached out 20 to me and asked what recourse do they have if 21 your vehicle is damaged hitting a pothole in 22 the city? 23 And you know what, I'm old enough to 24 remember -- and this is years ago that the city 25 did provide some type of -- I don't want to  89 1 call it compensation, but there was some 2 research -- I remember people getting their 3 muffler paid for. This might be 30 years ago 4 but -- so I inquired are we still doing 5 anything like that or you probably should. 6 So the answer I received was -- and 7 this -- I want the public to know this because 8 it's ongoing that policy, procedure for 9 motorist in the city to file a claim for damage 10 of tires, etc., is citizens may pursue the 11 utility company directly with the utility. All 12 right. I don't know how that process takes 13 place. But at least it's a start. I got an 14 answer. 15 Maybe we could circle around and go 16 back to administration and say what does that 17 look like, what does the resident actually have 18 to do? Because the resident doesn't know the 19 color coding of the utilities working on the 20 road. We just found out what the color codes 21 are a month. 22 So how does a poor resident know 23 what utilities is -- that, you know, that 24 pothole has come from or who's responsibile for 25 it? So I think we need a little more  90 1 information for the residents. 2 MR. VOLDENBERG: I'll get that 3 information, sir. 4 MR. MCANDREW: And also, to 5 differentiate between the city-owned street 6 that the utility companies are working on 7 state-owned roads because, Mr. Smurl, last week 8 you give me a resource I'm going to pass along 9 too that another option too is to reach out to 10 PennDOT because they do the majority of the 11 work outside of utilities except for our small 12 paving projects that we do every year. 13 So I think the resident -- I think I 14 need more information. And we need to be, you 15 know, educated and informed as to in detail the 16 resources available to the people that are 17 incurring these damages on their vehicles. 18 MR. VOLDENBERG: We'll get that for 19 you. 20 MR. MCANDREW: And then once we get 21 it, let's put it in bullet form and put it on 22 the website and so people could access it 23 themselves. All right? That will be great if 24 that happens. All right. So I would love to 25 thank the Scranton Municipal Recreation  91 1 Authority for, you know, their ribbon cutting 2 the other day for the Butterfly Playground in 3 Nay Aug Park. 4 Right, I want to commend them for 5 the amount of work and effort they went into 6 securing grants and community donations that 7 supported that project, so kudos to them. I 8 can't wait to check it out and I have been at a 9 couple parks outside the city where there's 10 butterflies and they're contained and it's 11 pretty cool. So we'll have to check that out. 12 Also, I got a concern brought to 13 me -- I hope I didn't lose it here. All right. 14 So there is an abandoned vehicle -- that's 15 another vehicle, that's another situation we 16 constantly is brought to our attention. 17 There's a black Dodge Ram that has 18 been parked on the street in front of 125 South 19 Everett in West Scranton that has not been 20 moved in approximately three years. All right. 21 It has a temporary paper license. And I'm sure 22 the registration is out of date. 23 So in addition to that, these 24 neighbors are, you know, with the amount of 25 rain we've had, first of all, this vehicle  92 1 obstructs their views when they're backing out 2 of their driveway. And the turned wheel 3 directs the rain runoff toward their house 4 which floods their basement during heavy rain. 5 So it must be happening a lot the 6 past 90 days. So could you please alert code 7 enforcement and the police to check this out 8 and make sure, you know, we start the process 9 with the abandoned vehicle? 10 MR. VOLDENBERG: I'll do that 11 tomorrow. 12 MR. MCANDREW: All right. And I 13 believe that's all I have. Thank you -- oh, 14 no, no, let me report out to my friend who has 15 been coming forward to me with issues up on 16 East Mountain, one was Route 307, you know, 17 with the amount of debris and the sidewalks 18 that were covered with gravel or cinder or 19 whatever. 20 So I would like to report out 21 because I know she's watching because she 22 watches these meetings that on Route 307, 23 sidewalks under the I81 North and I81 South 24 bridges on Moosic Street will be cleared in the 25 next few days per Mike Hoffman of PennDOT.  93 1 All right. So we're glad to hear 2 that. And then also, the sidewalk she 3 mentioned is going to be taken care of within a 4 week or so. So I'm happy to report that out to 5 the neighbor and resident. But in addition to 6 that, part of that inquiry when I first gave it 7 to you was the large construction vehicle that 8 is parked off Moosic Street for six months or 9 better. Did we get an update on that or any 10 response? 11 MR. VOLDENBERG: That's still there. 12 I'll follow up. 13 MR. MCANDREW: All right. Well, 14 that's all I have. Thank you. 15 MR. SMURL: Thank you, Mr. McAndrew. 16 First, I want to thank everyone for coming out. 17 I understand the circumstances you're here 18 weren't the greatest. But I believe I know I 19 will do better and I believe all of Council 20 will do better. 21 I remember going to that podium the 22 first time and standing in front of these 23 Council members and I was petrified. I was 24 soaking wet. And I was afraid to speak. So 25 for you to come here and do that and stand  94 1 before us and speak concerns that, you know, 2 that speaks volumes. 3 But I do appreciate everybody coming 4 here. And I hope that everybody continues to 5 come and keep us in line. Thank you all. A 6 few things, the street signs that were on sale 7 I believe they were on Marketplace. They 8 were -- I looked at them. If you look at the 9 names on them you will see -- I didn't write 10 them down. 11 When we had cleaned out Ross Avenue 12 or Ross Street, the DPW had a building down 13 there and that was all cleaned out. All of the 14 old street signs and stuff that were down there 15 were all thrown in recycle dumpsters and then 16 they were just all removed. Whatever happened 17 with them we don't know. 18 But that could possibly be where all 19 of those signs that were on Facebook 20 Marketplace and stuff are. I did look at a 21 couple of them and they were -- they were very 22 old. But that may be what happened to them. 23 Also, there was -- regards to the 24 fireworks, the city and county officials are in 25 touch from Scrantastic to work on the permit.  95 1 So I know that is going to happen. And the 2 county has been keeping us updated on the their 3 application. So I believe that is all going to 4 be done before the fireworks. 5 Also, the large boxes everybody is 6 concerned about that you drop off clothes and 7 stuff, I remember them saying Good Will on 8 them. I know there's a bunch of them now. The 9 ones that -- the only ones that we could do 10 anything about is if they are not on private 11 property, then the city can do something about 12 it. 13 But if they are on private property, 14 they will have to go to the owner of the 15 property if they're actually dumping trash 16 there. Also, the city monitoring the Housing 17 Authority on the water bills. I believe Park 18 Gardens got notices -- tenants got notices that 19 their water bills were not paid. 20 So I did ask the Mayor what happened 21 and the Mayor said she spoke to the Scranton 22 Housing Director Lynott and the water notices 23 were posted. The notices were a surprise to 24 Scranton Housing Authority and residents do not 25 pay bills individually.  96 1 Mr. Lynott said that there is no 2 delinquency for that particular utility 3 service. So that's what happened to the water. 4 I'm not sure why they would have gotten them. 5 But they are not responsibile for the water 6 bills, the Housing Authority themselves. 7 Also, for the -- just a quick update 8 on all of our stormwater projects, East 9 Mountain contract number one is under contract 10 with RLE. Estimates were obtained and they 11 were hired. Tripp Park legislation and 12 contract are being drafted for Rutledge 13 Excavation. No easements are required there, 14 so that can start. 15 Third, the East Mountain contract 16 number two, the engineer design is completed. 17 We are awaiting 18 easements. They were sent 18 out and we have gotten one back. Keyser Valley 19 engineering permitting is underway. The city 20 declared a taking of property in Newton 21 Township. 22 It is if you go up to the top of -- 23 anywhere the turnpike crosses over the bridge, 24 there's a large area there that the city is 25 going to take -- well, trying to take and  97 1 install a retention pond to catch the water 2 coming up from Newton Township before it 3 actually inundates our citizens on the lower 4 part of the mountain. 5 So that is still in the works. I 6 believe either ended today or it ends tomorrow 7 where they could either fight back or just take 8 the money that we offered them and let us build 9 that retention pond. 10 And we still have seven easements 11 for that one. And North Scranton, engineering 12 is nearing completion. There are six easement 13 letters out and zero have come back. Minooka, 14 engineering is nearing completion. And we are 15 awaiting easements. 16 Meadow Brook Project, 45 easements 17 are needed, a total of six have been obtained. 18 I know I went through this before and I'm not 19 whining but if somebody was going to fix a pipe 20 that catches water from destroying my property, 21 I think I would work a little closer. 22 I understand there were some 23 questions about the amount of money the city 24 was going to pay people to have that easement. 25 Some are permanent easements, some are just  98 1 temporary. But there was once instance up on 2 West Mountain or in one of the developments 3 where the engineer came back with the design 4 but didn't realize that we had 20 feet of 5 easement built in that we didn't have to ask to 6 use that property. 7 So some of people were offered say 8 $20,000 so we could go into their property and 9 do work and, you know, put the stormwater 10 piping in. It turned out after we realized 11 that we still had 20 feet that we didn't have 12 to ask for, we may only need 5 feet. 13 So some of those people might have 14 gotten letters saying, look, we are going to 15 give you $4,000 to let us go on the property to 16 fix this situation. And I believe a lot of 17 people are not happy with that. 18 So I have heard there are attorneys 19 involved with that right now. But all I could 20 do is urge everyone we have the money now. We 21 are not going to have it forever. If we don't 22 get on stormwater projects, the ones that have 23 agreed to them -- I'm not saying just take what 24 they offer you. 25 But I'm saying do something before  99 1 you get to the end of the road and there's not 2 enough money to complete everything. Because 3 if you get to that point, the crying is all 4 over. Do what you can to help and get this 5 stuff fixed. It only benefits you. 6 And I'm still surprised there's 7 still 45 in the Meadow Brook Project. This has 8 been going on -- I couldn't even tell you how 9 many years Meadow Brook has been going on. But 10 it's a very long time. 11 I'll go over this quickly, but the 12 financial update report meeting I was at on May 13 28th, I will not read every one off; but every 14 department is right around where they should be 15 in expenditures. Everyone is -- the average is 16 about 33 to 43 percent of their spending. So 17 everyone is under. 18 And the interest on our tax dollars 19 to date not counting ARPA is $197,265.35. 20 That's the money that the city has made on your 21 tax dollars, our tax dollars. As far as 22 legislation this Council has put forth, on the 23 agenda tonight Councilman King has a street 24 dedicated going through there. That's one. 25 We have created a couple positions  100 1 for our parks. I think we call them blight 2 positions. There was also the crossing guard 3 legislation. There are many things. I can't 4 remember them all because once I deal with 5 something and I think it's finished I put it to 6 bed and then we move forward. 7 But I'm sure if I have to, I could 8 go back and maybe dig up -- we do have a say in 9 a lot of this also. And we do give our 10 opinions on a lot of legislation comes down. 11 We do change a lot of stuff and take it back to 12 the administration. 13 It doesn't all come down and just 14 get passed and you all know that because you 15 hear that arguing all the time going back and 16 forth which is great for you because we should 17 argue back and forth. 18 We should all have to negotiate with 19 everything. We shouldn't just all -- 20 everything comes down here should just be 21 passed like everyone believes it is, but it 22 really isn't. So but we are working all of the 23 legislations. We just don't push it through. 24 That is all I have, Mr. Voldenberg. 25 MR. VOLDENBERG: 5-B. FOR  101 1 INTRODUCTION - AN ORDINANCE - ESTABLISHING A 2 "NO PARKING ZONE" ALONG THE EASTERLY CURB LINE 3 OF SR3025 KNOWN AS WYOMING AVENUE FROM SEGMENT 4 0020 OFFSET 850 TO ITS INTERSECTION WITH OLIVE 5 STREET FOR A DISTANCE OF 370 FEET TO ITS 6 INTERSECTION WITH OLIVE STREET TO ALLOW FOR 7 SAFE SIGHT DISTANCES FOR A PROPOSED DRIVEWAY. 8 MR. SMURL: At this time I'll 9 entertain a motion that Item 5-B be introduced 10 into its proper committee. 11 MR. KING: So moved. 12 DR. ROTHCHILD: Second. 13 MR. SMURL: On the question? All 14 those in favor of introduction signify by 15 saying aye. 16 MR. KING: Aye. 17 MR. SCHUSTER: Aye. 18 DR. ROTHCHILD: Aye. 19 MR. MCANDREW: Aye. 20 MR. SMURL: Aye. Opposed? The ayes 21 have it and so moved. 22 MR. VOLDENBERG: 5-C. FOR 23 INTRODUCTION - A RESOLUTION - AMENDING 24 RESOLUTION 27 OF 2020 "AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR 25 AND OTHER APPROPRIATE CITY OFFICIALS TO EXECUTE  102 1 AND ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH THOMAS J. MCLANE 2 & ASSOCIATES AS CITY OF SCRANTON PROJECT 3 CONSULTANT RECREATION NEEDS ASSESSMENT AND 4 PROJECT ACTIVITIES FOR THE PERIOD DECEMBER 1, 5 2019 THROUGH NOVEMBER 30, 2024" TO AMEND THE 6 PROJECT ENGINEER TO COLWELL-NAEGELE ASSOCIATES, 7 INC. 8 MR. SMURL: At this time I'll 9 entertain a motion that Item 5-C be introduced 10 into its proper committee. 11 MR. MCANDREW: So moved. 12 DR. ROTHCHILD: Second. 13 MR. SMURL: On the question. 14 DR. ROTHCHILD: On the question, I 15 just wanted to thank Mr. McLane for all the 16 work that he's done with the city over the 17 years in engineering. And it's my 18 understanding from Mr. Smurl that -- that he's 19 looking to get some projects off his plate so 20 that he could retire and wind his business 21 down. 22 So this is just merely passing on 23 this project to another company that's, you 24 know, already doing the work. And so I just 25 wanted to thank him for his work.  103 1 MR. SMURL: Yes. And there will be 2 no difference in the cost or the price. The 3 job will not change. Everything will stay the 4 same, except there will be a different name on 5 the end of the job. All those in favor of 6 introduction signify by saying aye. 7 MR. KING: Aye. 8 MR. SCHUSTER: Aye. 9 DR. ROTHCHILD: Aye. 10 MR. MCANDREW: Aye. 11 MR. SMURL: Aye. Opposed? The ayes 12 have it and so moved. 13 MR. VOLDENBERG: 5-D. FOR 14 INTRODUCTION - A RESOLUTION - CEREMONIOUSLY 15 DEDICATING CLIFF STREET ADJACENT TO THE 16 STEAMTOWN NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE IN HONOR OF 17 JOHN M. HART, JR. 18 MR. SMURL: At this time I'll 19 entertain a motion that Item 5-D be introduced 20 into its proper committee. 21 MR. KING: So moved. 22 DR. ROTHCHILD: Second. 23 MR. SMURL: On the question? 24 MR. KING: On the question, I'm the 25 one that pushed this legislation. Anyone that  104 1 knew John Hart, he was a character. He passed 2 away about two years ago, what a piece of work. 3 This guy, his wife was a guidance counselor 4 down at South Intermediate. 5 His children went to Scranton High 6 School. I spent a lot of time with John, went 7 on some golf trips with him. He was incredibly 8 knowledgeable about a lot of different things. 9 He is probably the main reason that Steamtown 10 National Historic Park exists in the city. 11 So he wanted me to name the street 12 for him before he passed away. I said, John, I 13 just got on Council, can you give me a little 14 time to get my feet wet here. Unfortunately, 15 he passed away over time -- over the last few 16 years. But he was a great guy and a great 17 friend. And I'm proud to be able do this for 18 his family and for John. That's all I have. 19 Thanks. 20 MR. SMURL: Thank you, Mr. King. 21 DR. ROTHCHILD: I just wanted to 22 thank Councilman King for brining this to 23 Council. I think it's a great way to honor 24 Mr. Hart and the perfect spot to do it too on 25 that street over near Steamtown National  105 1 Historic Park which he was really dedicated to 2 and passionate about as well as Scranton as a 3 city in bringing people to our city. So I 4 appreciate this way to honor him. 5 MR. SMURL: Thank you. All those in 6 favor of introduction signify by saying aye. 7 MR. KING: Aye. 8 MR. SCHUSTER: Aye. 9 DR. ROTHCHILD: Aye. 10 MR. MCANDREW: Aye. 11 MR. SMURL: Aye. Opposed? The ayes 12 have it and so moved. 13 MR. VOLDENBERG: 5-E. FOR 14 INTRODUCTION - A RESOLUTION - RATIFYING AND 15 APPROVING THE EXECUTION AND SUBMISSION OF THE 16 GRANT APPLICATION BY THE OFFICE OF ECONOMIC AND 17 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT OF THE CITY OF SCRANTON 18 TO THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC 19 DEVELOPMENT'S GREENWAYS, TRAILS, AND RECREATION 20 PROGRAM FOR UP TO $250,000.00 TO BE USED 21 TOWARDS THE LACE VILLAGE - DOG PARK PROJECT. 22 MR. SMURL: At this time I'll 23 entertain a motion that Item 5-E be introduced 24 into its proper committee. 25 MR. KING: So moved.  106 1 DR. ROTHCHILD: Second. 2 MR. SMURL: On the question? 3 DR. ROTHCHILD: On the question, I 4 hope they are successful in obtaining this 5 grant. I would love to see hour city have more 6 dog parks as someone who owns dogs and, you 7 know, knows that there are a lot of other 8 people who are looking for that type of space 9 and from what we discussed in caucus, this 10 wouldn't just be for the residents of the Lace 11 Village. 12 But it would be nearby there so 13 obviously used by a lot of those people who -- 14 have dogs but would be open to anyone. So I 15 think this will be great. And I'm hoping it 16 comes to fruition. 17 MR. SMURL: Thank you. All those in 18 favor of introduction signify by saying aye. 19 MR. KING: Aye. 20 MR. SCHUSTER: Aye. 21 DR. ROTHCHILD: Aye. 22 MR. MCANDREW: Aye. 23 MR. SMURL: Aye. Opposed? The ayes 24 have it and so moved. 25 MR. VOLDENBERG: 5-F. FOR  107 1 INTRODUCTION - A RESOLUTION - RATIFYING AND 2 APPROVING THE EXECUTION AND SUBMISSION OF THE 3 GRANT APPLICATION BY THE OFFICE OF ECONOMIC AND 4 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT OF THE CITY OF SCRANTON 5 TO THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC 6 DEVELOPMENT'S GREENWAYS, TRAILS, AND RECREATION 7 PROGRAM FOR UP TO $200,000.00 TO BE USED 8 TOWARDS THE GERRITY PARK RENOVATIONS PROJECT. 9 MR. SMURL: At this time I'll 10 entertain a motion that Item 5-F be introduced 11 into its proper committee. 12 MR. MCANDREW: So moved. 13 MR. KING: Second. 14 DR. ROTHCHILD: Second. 15 MR. SMURL: On the question? All 16 those in favor of introduction signify by 17 saying aye. 18 MR. KING: Aye. 19 MR. SCHUSTER: Aye. 20 DR. ROTHCHILD: Aye. 21 MR. MCANDREW: Aye. 22 MR. SMURL: Aye. Opposed? The ayes 23 have it and so moved. 24 MR. VOLDENBERG: SIXTH ORDER. 25 6-A. READING BY TITLE - FILE OF THE  108 1 COUNCIL NO. 78, 2025 - AN ORDINANCE - AMENDING 2 THE RESPONSIBLE CONTRACTOR ORDINANCE (RCO) 3 (CHAPTER 113 OF CITY CODE) TO IMPROVE 4 IMPLEMENTATION. 5 MR. SMURL: You've heard reading by 6 title of Item 6-A. What is your pleasure? 7 MR. MCANDREW: Mr. Chairman, I move 8 that Item 6-A pass reading by title. 9 DR. ROTHCHILD: Second. 10 MR. SMURL: On the question? All 11 those in favor signify by saying aye. 12 MR. KING: Aye. 13 MR. SCHUSTER: Aye. 14 DR. ROTHCHILD: Aye. 15 MR. MCANDREW: Aye. 16 MR. SMURL: Aye. Opposed? The ayes 17 have it and so moved. 18 MR. VOLDENBERG: SEVENTH ORDER. 19 7-A. FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE 20 COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC WORKS - FOR ADOPTION - FILE 21 OF THE COUNCIL NO. 77, 2025 - APPROVING AND 22 AUTHORIZING THE ACQUISITION BY EASEMENT 23 AGREEMENTS, DEED IN LIEU OF CONDEMNATION, OR 24 OTHERWISE OF THE NECESSARY RIGHTS, FRANCHISES, 25 LICENSES, EASEMENTS OR TITLES OF LAND REQUIRED  109 1 FOR TEMPORARY AND PERMANENT EASEMENTS IN ORDER 2 TO COMPLETE THE KEYSER VALLEY FLOOD PROTECTION 3 PROJECT (THE PROJECT) (GROUP 4 OF EASEMENTS) 4 AND AUTHORIZING THE FILING OF A DECLARATION OF 5 TAKING PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE EMINENT 6 DOMAIN CODE, IF REQUIRED. 7 MR. SMURL: What is the 8 recommendation of the Chairperson for the 9 Committee on Public Works? 10 MR. SCHUSTER: As Chairperson for 11 the Committee on Public Works, I recommend 12 final passage of Item 7-A. 13 MR. KING: Second. 14 MR. SMURL: On the question? Roll 15 call, please. 16 MS. CARRERA: Mr. King. 17 MR. KING: Yes. 18 MS. CARRERA: Mr. Schuster. 19 MR. SCHUSTER: Yes. 20 MS. CARRERA: Dr. Rothchild. 21 DR. ROTHCHILD: Yes. 22 MS. CARRERA: Mr. McAndrew. 23 MR. MCANDREW: Yes. 24 MS. CARRERA: Mr. Smurl. 25 MR. SMURL: Yes. I hereby declare  110 1 Item 7-A legally and lawfully adopted. 2 MR. VOLDENBERG: 7-B. FOR 3 CONSIDERATION BY THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC 4 SAFETY - FOR ADOPTION - RESOLUTION NO. 225, 5 2025 - RATIFYING AND APPROVING THE EXECUTION 6 AND SUBMISSION OF A GRANT APPLICATION BY THE 7 CITY OF SCRANTON TO FEMA FY 2024 FIRE 8 PREVENTION AND SAFETY GRANT FOR UP TO $300,000 9 FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION AND RISK MITIGATION 10 PROJECTS. 11 MR. SMURL: What is the 12 recommendation of the Chairperson for the 13 Committee on Public Works? 14 MR. MCANDREW: As Chairperson for 15 the Committee on Public Safety, I recommend 16 final passage of Item 7-B. 17 MR. SCHUSTER: Second. 18 MR. KING: Second. 19 MR. SMURL: On the question? Roll 20 call, please. 21 MS. CARRERA: Mr. King. 22 MR. KING: Yes. 23 MS. CARRERA: Mr. Schuster. 24 MR. SCHUSTER: Yes. 25 MS. CARRERA: Dr. Rothchild.  111 1 DR. ROTHCHILD: Yes. 2 MS. CARRERA: Mr. McAndrew. 3 MR. MCANDREW: Yes. 4 MS. CARRERA: Mr. Smurl. 5 MR. SMURL: Yes. I hereby declare 6 Item 7-B legally and lawfully adopted. 7 MR. VOLDENBERG: EIGHTH ORDER. No 8 business at this time. 9 MR. SMURL: If there is no further 10 business at this time, I'll entertain a motion 11 to adjourn. 12 MR. MCANDREW: Motion to adjourn. 13 MR. SMURL: Thank you all for 14 coming. This meeting is adjourned. 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  112 1 C E R T I F I C A T E 2 3 I hereby certify that the proceedings and 4 evidence are contained fully and accurately in the 5 notes taken by me of the above-cause and that this copy 6 is a correct transcript of the same to the best of my 7 ability. 8 9 10 Maria McCool, RPR 11 Official Court Reporter 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 (The foregoing certificate of this transcript does not 23 apply to any reproduction of the same by any means 24 unless under the direct control and/or supervision of 25 the certifying reporter.)