COUNCIL

1 1 COUNCIL FOR THE CITY OF SCRANTON 2 3 4 HELD: 5 6 7 Tuesday, June 24th, 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 Father Patrick 8 McLaughlin, Nancy Hetman, our Moosic Council 9 President George Bieber and Joseph McCracken. 10 Thank you. Roll call, please. 11 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. King. 12 MR. KING: Present. 13 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. Schuster. 14 MR. SCHUSTER: Present. 15 MS. HERBSTER: Dr. Rothchild. 16 DR. ROTHCHILD: Here. 17 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. McAndrew. 18 MR. MCANDREW: Present. 19 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. Smurl. 20 MR. SMURL: Here. Dispense with the 21 reading of the minutes. 22 MR. VOLDENBERG: THIRD ORDER. 23 3.A. LACKAWANNA COUNTY PLANNING 24 COMMISSION SUBDIVISION AND LAND DEVELOPMENT 25 EVALUATION REPORTS REVIEWED MAY 16, 2025 AND  4 1 MAY 27, 2025. 2 3.B. MINUTES OF THE SCRANTON 3 FIREFIGHTERS PENSION COMMISSION MEETINGS HELD 4 APRIL 16, 2025 AND MAY 21, 2025. 5 3.C. AGENDA FOR THE NON-UNIFORM 6 MUNICIPAL PENSION BOARD MEETING HELD JUNE 18, 7 2025. 8 3.D. MINUTES OF THE NON-UNIFORM 9 MUNICIPAL PENSION BOARD MEETING HELD MAY 21, 10 2025. 11 3.E. MINUTES OF THE SCRANTON POLICE 12 PENSION COMMISSION MEETING HELD MAY 21, 2025. 13 3.F. MINUTES OF THE COMPOSITE 14 PENSION BOARD MEETING HELD MAY 21, 2025. 15 3.G. OVERTIME REPORT FOR ALL 16 DEPARTMENTS FOR JUNE 2025, AS PROVIDED BY CITY 17 CONTROLLER, RECEIVED JUNE 23, 2025. 18 MR. SMURL: Are there any comments 19 on any of the Third Order items? 20 MR. SCHUSTER: Just one comment. 21 When looking at the firefighter's pension 22 committee meetings in April and May, it was 23 great to see that Mr. Morgan has been appointed 24 and he's started work on that board. That's 25 all.  5 1 MR. KING: Agree. 2 MR. SMURL: All right. That's it. 3 MR. KING: Oh, just one thing -- 4 oh -- 5 MR. SMURL: All right. Received and 6 filed. Do any Council members have any 7 announcements at this time? 8 MR. KING: I have the -- I know it's 9 five weeks early, but the -- I guess it's the 10 20th year of the Scranton Jazz Festival. 11 That's going to happen August 1st, 2nd, and 12 3rd, 3 days, 20 venues, 80 musicians here in 13 Scranton. 14 So it's pretty exciting, look 15 forward to that. It's coming up in about five 16 weeks here in Scranton. That's all. Thank 17 you. 18 MR. SMURL: Thank you, Mr. King. 19 Anyone else? 20 DR. ROTHCHILD: I have a few 21 announcements just for some of the past events 22 that just happened over the weekend. It was a 23 really busy weekend in Scranton. And I wanted 24 to congratulate Miss Jeffries and the other 25 organizers of the Electric City Flower Show  6 1 which also went very well again this year. 2 It was a pretty hot day, so we did 3 take some refuge in the Everhart Museum that 4 day. And it was nice and cool in there and it 5 was I think free admission that day for the 6 Everhart. So it was a great opportunity to be 7 able to check that out in addition to the 8 Flower Show. 9 So that happened Saturday as well as 10 the Juneteenth celebrations, several of them 11 that they had that were another success this 12 year. And Jimmy Connors Day they were going to 13 have on Sunday, Susie was here last week to 14 announce that was happening. But because of 15 the storms and the weather, they did have to 16 reschedule that. 17 I don't know if they had a date on 18 it yet. But once we find that out, we could 19 announce that for anyone who is interested in 20 being able to go to that at Nay Aug Park. And 21 last night I had the honor of attending an 22 event that I've gone to in the past and that's 23 the Governor's Pride Reception that he has 24 every year. 25 And Governor Wolff had that in past  7 1 and now Governor Shapiro is doing that as well. 2 And typically he would have the event at the 3 residence which now because of the arson that 4 occurred there more recently, that is not being 5 used for events currently. 6 But it was at the State Library 7 which I never had the chance to go to before. 8 And it is just so impressive and beautiful 9 inside. So if anyone ever gets the chance when 10 you're in Harrisburg to go to the State 11 Library, I encourage you to do so. 12 And then I don't know if other 13 Council members were going to mention it too, 14 but I think we're all excited that the pools 15 are open in the City of Scranton. So you've 16 got Connell, Weston -- Weston Park and Weston 17 Field, all of those pools being open as well as 18 the splash pad as Novembrino Park. 19 So that came just in time for this 20 heat wave that we have for people to be able to 21 go into the pool and into the water. So that's 22 all that I have. Thank you. 23 MR. SMURL: Thank you. 24 MR. MCANDREW: I have a couple. I 25 too attended the Electric City Flower Show on  8 1 Saturday. And it was a great event. I want to 2 congratulate Miss Jeffries and her whole crew. 3 They did a great job. It was really nice. And 4 also, I want to congratulate and recognize the 5 Scranton Police Department and the Fire 6 Department. 7 So last Friday on June 20th, Officer 8 Dippre responded to a report of woman in labor 9 at her residence. She was first to arrive on 10 scene followed shortly by members of the 11 Scranton Fire Department. Officer Dippre and 12 the Scranton Fire Department personnel assisted 13 with the delivery of the newborn and cared for 14 the baby until Pennsylvania Ambulance arrived. 15 And also which was really nice, 16 Officer Dippre visited the hospital to check on 17 both the mother and child. They're both doing 18 well. I just want to congratulate them. This 19 is something that you see on TV or on a TV 20 show. I just think it's pretty cool. And I 21 wanted to make sure they were recognized. 22 And next, so this Thursday, June 23 26th over in West Side the Victor Alfieri, 24 they're in their monthly lunch from 11:30 a.m. 25 to 1. It's chicken parmesan, pasta and  9 1 meatballs or half and half. 2 For members it's 12 dollars. For 3 nonmembers it's 14. It's a great lunch. I 4 attend as much as I can and try to support 5 them. And, you know, for a lunch for, you 6 know, 12, 14 dollars, it's very hard to get a 7 hoagie and a bag of chips for that nowadays. 8 So it's really -- it's a really good deal. And 9 that is all I have. Thank you. 10 MR. SMURL: Thank you. 11 MR. VOLDENBERG: FOURTH ORDER. 12 CITIZENS PARTICIPATION. 13 MR. SMURL: First, Joan Hodowanitz. 14 MS. HODOWANTIZ: Joan Hodowanitz, 15 Scranton. You know what this city needs? We 16 need more people like Norma Jeffries. That 17 woman puts her heart and soul into supporting 18 this community. And one of these days I would 19 like to see a proclamation thanking her for all 20 of her wonderful work. But boy, too bad we 21 can't clone that woman. 22 Is it hot or what? It is so hot out 23 there. I see people walking their dogs and the 24 dogs are whimpering because the sidewalk is so 25 hot which brings to mind the fact that the kind  10 1 of heat we're experiencing now is basically 2 life-threatening for some people. 3 And I wish that everyone would check 4 on their neighbors, especially the elderly. 5 Many people have access to air conditioning. 6 But they won't use it because it's one of those 7 expenses that they, you know, can't afford or 8 they don't have air conditioning. 9 What about the homeless, you know, 10 so one thing I would like to remind people, 11 please check on those who may be in danger from 12 this kind of heat, number one. And number two, 13 if you are looking for a cooling center, I 14 would recommend the public library. 15 It's a two-for. You could cool 16 down, be there all day long and read or you 17 could use a public computer. They have all 18 kinds of things that you could do while you're 19 down there. 20 But we don't want to read stories 21 about people who, you know, suffer heatstroke 22 or heat exhaustion. Please, please make sure 23 that your family members, your friends, and 24 your neighbors are not suffering in this heat. 25 Word is that tomorrow we will be  11 1 back in the 90s and then it's going to go down 2 for the foreseeable future. So but if we have 3 90 degree heat waves this early in the summer, 4 I think we're going to have more than one. 5 I hope the city is working on 6 finding a new director for DPW. Has anything 7 been announced? 8 MR. SMURL: It's advertised, yes. 9 MS. HODOWANITZ: Oh, it is, who is 10 it? Oh, it's advertised. But we haven't 11 gotten a candidate yet. 12 MR. SMURL: Not that I know of. 13 MS. HODOWANITZ: Okay. That's good. 14 And hopefully the labor contract negotiations 15 are progressing because it's almost six months 16 now that the previous contract ended. And I 17 was thinking, you know, this morning, do you 18 know how long it took to negotiate the 19 contracts for the police and the firefighters? 20 About a year and a half or longer. 21 So since their contracts expire in December of 22 2026, they probably should start negotiating 23 right now. But we shall see. Anyway, 24 everybody take care until this week passes. 25 That's all I have tonight.  12 1 MR. SMURL: Thank you. Angela 2 Ramone. 3 MS. RAMONE: Hello. It's good to 4 see everybody again tonight. I'm sure we're 5 going to hear many, many comments tonight about 6 the heat wave that we've been experiencing, I, 7 myself have been experiencing. 8 But unlike many people in our 9 community during the day when I'm at work and 10 during the night when I'm at home, I have 11 access to air conditioning, to portable water. 12 I have access to things like ice packs, fans, 13 to keep myself cool. 14 But many, many in our community do 15 not. I am aware that the county operates code 16 red and code blue shelters. So the city does 17 not have the authority to unilaterally change 18 anything about that. However, I would like to 19 know if the city has any plans on either 20 independently making it easier for people 21 struggling with the heat to find shelter or 22 cooperating with our county, perhaps assisting 23 with funding for our code red shelters to make 24 them easier to run. 25 I know that currently the conditions  13 1 that are required for our code red shelters to 2 open in Lackawanna County is that it needs to 3 be 100 degrees Fahrenheit. It has not been 100 4 degrees here. 5 However, given that we have -- we've 6 had heat in the 90s with incredibly high 7 humidity, it's put many, many people at risk of 8 heatstroke and death. And I believe that our 9 county should update its rules to lower the 10 temperature requirement to open up our code red 11 shelters and also account for humidity when 12 determining whether or not to open the shelter. 13 But that does cost additional money. 14 And I believe that our city should look into 15 cooperating with the county and possibly 16 allocating funds to help lower that -- lower 17 that temperature threshold and add a humidity 18 threshold for when we open our shelters. 19 In addition, I'm sure that all of 20 you are aware and many of us in attendance are 21 aware that the Keystone Mission is going to be 22 closing its locations in Scranton and in 23 Wilkes-Barre. 24 They provided so many services and 25 have provided so many services to our homeless  14 1 and unhoused population for years. But because 2 their federal grants have been frozen, they are 3 no longer able to operate. And that leaves us 4 with a crossroads in our city where we have a 5 decision to make. 6 Are we going to step up and make 7 sure that the most vulnerable people in our 8 city, our homeless, our sick, our elderly, our 9 poor are able to get the assistance they need 10 to survive with dignity? 11 Or are we going to do nothing and 12 let people suffer and die of heatstroke, die of 13 hunger, die from a lack of access to healthcare 14 in our own city where we have the ability. We 15 have the means to help these people. I know 16 coordinating efforts like this is no easy task 17 and especially with these types of services. 18 It's not easy to find people that 19 are willing and capable and skilled in 20 providing the care and just services that are 21 needed to these vulnerable populations. 22 So I'd hope that the city is willing 23 to work with the people who have experience at 24 the Keystone Mission and better understand what 25 their needs are right now at this moment and  15 1 what we could do to best help them in their 2 mission to provide our homeless population with 3 food, with emergency shelter and help get them 4 connected with other important services so that 5 they can have their needs met. So thank you 6 and have a good night. 7 MR. SMURL: Thank you. Les 8 Spindler. 9 MR. SPINDLER: Good evening, 10 Council, Les Spindler, city resident and 11 homeowner. In the past, Mr. Smurl, when 12 somebody is talking in the back you reprimand 13 them. Yet this child is here tonight 14 disrupting the meeting. And you're letting 15 that go on. 16 This isn't a daycare center. They 17 shouldn't be allowed to stand here with a child 18 and disrupt this meeting or else you should let 19 people talk when they want to talk. In the 20 past you've stopped people. 21 Why are you letting that child stay 22 here and not ask them to leave? You don't 23 think that is disruptive to the meeting? 24 Crickets. Moving on, I'm going to talk about 25 these pave cuts until they're taken care of.  16 1 I've said it for years and years these cities 2 are -- these street -- the utilities are 3 killing our streets. 4 The one on the 1400 block of Bulwer 5 where I live, it's getting worse by the week, 6 just went by it today. You have to stop and 7 just go through it really, really slow. It's 8 getting worse and worse every week. I think it 9 was the gas company but I'm not sure. 10 There's another one on North Main 11 Avenue before Catalano's. It's in front of the 12 barber -- Dick's Barbershop. It's on that side 13 of the street. That's another one. One on 7th 14 Avenue going towards U-Haul, it's just past the 15 Outreach Center. It's something called the 16 Outreach Center. It's just past that. 17 They're all over the city. It's 18 ridiculous. The cities should hold these 19 utilities accountable. They are not holding 20 them accountable and cars are getting damaged. 21 It's ridiculous. We're letting these utilities 22 get away with murder. 23 Lastly, a friend of mine told me 24 yesterday that he saw in the paper that they 25 are changing the recycle schedule. I guess the  17 1 paper and cardboards will be picked up at the 2 same time? 3 MR. MCANDREW: I'm going to bring 4 that up in Fifth Order. I have the same 5 question as you. 6 MR. SPINDLER: Okay. Is that true? 7 MR. MCANDREW: Well, I'm going to 8 ask for clarification. I know it says it on 9 the new calendar, but there's -- we've had 10 calendars with errors so -- 11 MR. SPINDLER: My friend called DPW 12 and they said that's happening. 13 MR. MCANDREW: I reached out and 14 they weren't clear. 15 MR. SPINDLER: They said we don't 16 have a schedule. 17 MR. MCANDREW: Well, they didn't get 18 a director. So in Fifth Order I'm going to ask 19 for clarification. 20 MR. SPINDLER: Is the city going to 21 let people know when this is going to take 22 place? Like, I don't get the paper anymore. I 23 stopped it a year ago because it's a waste. So 24 are they going to let people know or are we 25 just going to have to guess?  18 1 MR. MCANDREW: I'll address that in 2 Fifth Order for you. I got it. 3 MR. SPINDLER: Well, I won't be here 4 for Fifth Order. They should let people know. 5 They should send a notice to everybody's house 6 and let them know ahead of time, whatever. 7 This administration is unbelievable. Thank you 8 for your time. 9 MR. SMURL: Thank you. Ron Ellman. 10 MR. ELLMAN: Good evening, Council. 11 Do you people really realize what another four 12 years of Cognetti means to the people of this 13 city? It means this, foreclosures. Some of 14 you are probably familiar with this. 15 Thousands of them have happened to 16 people. Some of them -- some of these people 17 we know and some you could care less about like 18 the city government. 19 You keep following her policies, 20 therefore, a nonprofit paradise for the 21 wealthy. It won't stop. You see in five 22 years, nothing for the people of this city, a 23 couple streets paved the last few months and 24 now grants for pools. 25 Grants were available for the last  19 1 five years. No one seemed to care that much 2 about the children. Two hundred forty thousand 3 dollars to learn how to walk around downtown. 4 I've been here ten times. You can't walk down 5 North Main. Cars are parked on it because of 6 illegal boarding houses. You people, nobody 7 cares. 8 Today there was a car against a 9 fence. And I saw some little -- I don't -- not 10 real little kids, walking in the street around 11 it. North Main Avenue is like a racetrack. 12 Like Birney Avenue, cars are going 70, 80 miles 13 an hour at night, especially the motorcycles. 14 There -- I think the worst thing in 15 this administration is the zoning board that 16 have just -- just allowed so much adversity 17 upon this city. There's a solar farm inside 18 our city limits. Cities and villages are 19 fighting the blight from solar farms all over 20 the country. 21 And we got one in our city because 22 of the Mayor because nobody read the paper. I 23 stood here and said it's in the paper for a 24 solar farm. Somebody should have protested it. 25 Who on that solar -- that zoning board told  20 1 them about that property? 2 Do you realize talking about graft 3 and corruption in this administration reeks 4 of -- the reassessment by some 20 year olds 5 from Ohio, they had the authority to raise our 6 prices. I told you a year ago my insurance 7 had -- they raised the price according to what 8 information they got and it was true. 9 You didn't believe me. A year ago I 10 had the same figure that most -- the 11 reassessment was. What happened, dozens and 12 dozens and dozens of properties were turning 13 from single family to two, three, four, six 14 units. They weren't reassessed. Why? 15 Why didn't somebody know about that? 16 Look at all the property -- what happened to 17 all the income from this property? Some of it 18 should have gone to the city. That's why we 19 need some -- a new voice. I certainly don't 20 believe in changing horses midterm. 21 But I don't believe in some 22 on-the-job training for some newcomers. If I 23 could get that seat up there in November, I 24 will be a voice for the people of this city 25 that they -- they won't be able to complain  21 1 about. You know, this is just a shame what 2 this city's come to. 3 Like I said, why doesn't somebody 4 try to find out where all of this 5 reassessment -- why these houses weren't 6 reassessed for crying out loud? You know, we 7 sure need some changes in government. In 8 November there's a time to give it. Thank you. 9 MR. SMURL: Thank you. Lee Morgan. 10 MR. MORGAN: Good evening, Council. 11 The first thing that I have here is as I always 12 say, I respect everybody's opinion. But 13 tonight I'm going to say that I'm fairly happy 14 that child showed up here today because I think 15 it's a good idea for residents to come here and 16 even if they're little children, we should 17 acknowledge that that's where our obligation is 18 in the future, not to ourselves. 19 I mean, you know, look at your own 20 age and realize that your time is here, 21 whatever time you have left. But you should 22 make a better city for the next generation 23 that's going to take it. And it's just not 24 happening here and you have to face that 25 reality.  22 1 And on a side note, I'd like to say 2 Donald Trump is becoming one of the greatest 3 Presidents we've ever had. Even the UN is 4 talking about giving him the Nobel Peace Prize. 5 He's a man that sees problems and solves them. 6 And he's not worried about polls and 7 how people feel but what reality is. But now, 8 onto another issue which is ECTV. I served 9 them with discovery. Your attorney knows what 10 that is. Well, they haven't -- they haven't 11 returned it yet. They're way over their time 12 limit. So they must not care much for my 13 questions. 14 But I think the community should 15 realize that that's a major problem that our 16 city has because the government is muzzled the 17 people by controlling the public access channel 18 and by giving the other channel away. 19 We just have a government that only 20 wants to hear its own thoughts and they are 21 almost all misguided because we've elected 22 people over the course of an extended period of 23 time that wanted to run for public office and 24 be elected. 25 But they never attended a public  23 1 meeting. And they have no real continuity or 2 understanding of their neighborhoods or the 3 pain and suffering that everyone in this city 4 is experiencing. 5 And the reassessment is only a very 6 small part of that because the reassessment is 7 isn't being driven to make the community 8 better. It's being driven to answer for debt. 9 The county is in massive debt. The 10 city is in massive debt. You know, the 11 craziest thing you'll ever see is when 12 Mr. Gervase used to come here and talk about 13 the city and his war with Mayor Doherty. 14 And then he allowed the city's 15 pension fund to be pillaged. And the poor rank 16 and file firemen, policemen, DPW workers, you 17 know, you're either ignorant or you're stupid. 18 But if you're ignorant, you educate yourself. 19 They've lost so much money in the mismanagement 20 of their pension funds. 21 It's almost beyond comprehension. 22 And, you know, the general condition of the 23 city, I don't know, we've wasted hundreds, 24 hundreds of millions of dollars. And then you 25 got people that are going to complain about the  24 1 flooding they've experience lately and why the 2 federal government didn't come in and rescue 3 them. 4 And my message to them is, you 5 should have rescued yourself decades ago when 6 you elected people and they didn't respond to 7 the problems you had with water runoff and 8 still haven't. The city is for lack of a 9 better term completely out of control. 10 And all of this mess you're going to 11 give to that child in the back there because 12 you're not going to respond to anybody -- any 13 of it and you're not going to fix it. The 14 Scranton School District is a complete fiasco. 15 Their educational product is beyond 16 stinks. You know, the greatest thing I did 17 for my children was take them out of the 18 Scranton School District. It really was. 19 One's a visionary for a multimillion dollar -- 20 billion dollar corporation guiding the whole 21 company. 22 My other children are all educated 23 and have great jobs. But I told them you have 24 to leave here. There's nothing here. We lack 25 leadership and vision. And the Mayor, she's  25 1 not capable of doing her job. And she hasn't 2 been capable. And instead of the Council 3 bringing up legislation and sending it down to 4 the Mayor, they don't do that. 5 And the one reason they don't is 6 because they don't know the problems the city 7 needs to solve. And we need to elect 8 independent candidates to give them a shot. 9 That's our future. The Democrat -- there is no 10 Republican party. 11 And it's not a personal thing 12 because outside of these meetings, you're fine 13 people. But as far as directing the city, it's 14 not happening. And you're not the only ones. 15 It's been going on for over 40 years that I've 16 come here and there needs to be some kind of 17 change and vision for the city. Thank you. 18 MR. SMURL: Dave Dobrzyn. 19 MR. DOBRZYN: Don't worry, I didn't 20 fall asleep tonight. Okay, last week -- I 21 don't know if it's on here tonight or if it was 22 passed, but Mr. Hart was known down at 23 Steamtown as the commodore. And he was 24 disabled so he had his jazzy. 25 Well, that was his ship. And he was  26 1 a pretty colorful character. He used to dress 2 up like an admiral in the revolutionary army. 3 And, you know, I haven't heard anything about 4 the FBI being around. 5 And you could disagree or agree with 6 the way money gets spent. But funny thing 7 about it is when every middle class is -- they 8 have their kids out of school and they're 9 reasonably successful or maybe not. But, you 10 know, they don't realize what they were given 11 over the years. 12 Once upon a time I sat with a member 13 of the taxpayers. We were talking and I 14 mentioned that Al Gore -- Al Gore -- Al 15 Sharpton was one of my most favorite Christians 16 because he's also a libertarian. And you got 17 to be into Catholic, you know, Mickey Mouse 18 degree, okay, well, you know, I still -- and 19 I'll get around to something else here that I 20 had in mind. 21 But I approve of what's going on 22 with the Mayor. And I plan to vote for her 23 this fall because anybody else I vote for, I 24 wouldn't be surprised if we had a Trump rally 25 in town if they weren't hooting and hollering  27 1 like a bunch of Johnny reds on the way to 2 Gettysburg. Pave cuts, let's have something to 3 say. We do have to hold the utilities 4 responsible. 5 And a little idea popped into my 6 mind. I get told that that's a state road. 7 Well, we have to get in touch with our State 8 Representative Kyle and try and get something 9 done with this before the state steps in and 10 tells these people, no, we can't have a big rut 11 in the middle of Moosic Street. 12 And tax exempts, we must form a 13 committee nongovernmental to seek compensation 14 for tax losses. And tax exempts should 15 participate. We have to accept them under the 16 PA Constitution and it's at 40 percent. It's 17 very, very, draining on our loss of taxes. 18 And a little tidbit on the tax 19 exempts, last week the Southeastern Baptist 20 Convention entered the federal court in a 21 lawsuit to outlaw once again gay marriage for a 22 Supreme Court decision. Do those type of 23 people really need a tax exempt? They are not 24 doing anything for anybody but marginalizing 25 people.  28 1 So, you know, I'm very confident, 49 2 years in an opposite sex marriage. I could 3 talk for anybody. And I don't like to see 4 people marginalizing, hate it. 5 Our -- yesterday or a few days ago I 6 watched the news and nonuniformed ICE agents, 7 no badges beat an immigrant with three sons in 8 the Marine Corps. And when his son finally 9 got to visit him, he had no food, no water, a 10 dislocated shoulder and no medication attention 11 in 24 hours. 12 Now, you call that honest 13 government? I don't. And once again, 14 unqualified people heading committees and 15 different organizations within the government, 16 anti-vaxxers. Here, 22-year-old election 17 worker just out of college is placed in 18 domestic terror committee to investigate 19 domestic terrorism. 20 Now, you know, excuse me, I don't 21 dislike the guy, but somebody asked me if I 22 could shoot somebody one day when I brought 23 pepper spray in pictures -- 24 MR. SMURL: Thank you, Mr. Dobrzyn. 25 MR. DOBRZYN: And --  29 1 MR. SMURL: Thank you. 2 MR. DOBRZYN: He sold 20 million. 3 MR. SMURL: Thank you, Mr. Dobrzyn. 4 You're time is expired. 5 MR. DOBRZYN: Thank you. Have a 6 good night. 7 MR. SMURL: Have a good night. Rik 8 Little. 9 MR. LITTLE: Hello, Council. I'm 10 Rik Little, Scranton, still running for Mayor. 11 I'd like to talk about the caretakers. It's 12 big business around here, especially when you 13 include the hospitals and homeless shelters. 14 And, you know, drug rehab and everything, 15 Treatment Court. 16 It's a lot of money and it sounds 17 good, you know, Friends of the Poor, collecting 18 food and giving it to -- but there's a problem 19 here. And nobody's thinking stuff through with 20 solving the problem. 21 And, I mean, I should be able to go 22 and watch -- court watch, watch judges in 23 court. But I'm told, oh, the judge has the 24 right to keep you out of the courtroom. And 25 although I did start watching court, all of it  30 1 was about ERAP fund, American Rescue Act Fund. 2 Every single case take I watched in Judge 3 Moyle's court was about that. And I got such 4 pushback from the sheriffs, from the court 5 administration and everything. 6 But that's the branch of the 7 government that's wrong here in the Home Rule 8 Charter of our government because it's all 9 about stuff that people don't understand. I 10 mean, the other thing is the media. 11 We're living a fishbowl, lost souls 12 living in a fishbowl year after year. I read 13 in the Times-Tribune, you know, that the editor 14 is from the St. Louis dispatch today. And days 15 ago it was the Baltimore Son. And all of 16 these news outlets that have been paid big 17 money by USAID, Associated Press, Reuters, New 18 York Times. 19 People have no idea what's going on 20 in this town. And, you know, and our public 21 access has been taken. I've been following 22 this story from March 20th, 2025, police -- 23 homeless man attacks hospital staff. And I'm 24 going there trying to go into the court trying 25 to just look at the papers.  31 1 They're supposed to be public 2 records in the courts. And I've made 3 applications to the President Judge Corbett 4 before. And they go, no, you can't talk to her 5 unless you buy an index number, you know, 6 because the courts are a business. 7 I also called Judge Gibbons's court 8 and the guy on the phone said, oh, it would be 9 unethical to talk to you. But the whole place 10 is run like that. You know, they're talking 11 about, you know, closing down the mission 12 shelter. And in combination with the media, 13 they're conflating what's happening in Luzerne 14 County and what's happening in this county. 15 The mission shelter was never a 16 night shelter here. You know, it was supposed 17 to be in Luzerne County. And the only thing it 18 did different from the CIC, the Catholic relief 19 which is, you know, the savior of the homeless, 20 which is the most pathetic thing I see here is 21 the way they're criminalizing the elderly. 22 They disabled the homeless. 23 It's just a HUD -- they're just 24 stealing HUD money, you know, and making it all 25 seem official. But we -- you know, I mean, I  32 1 lived at Adams Avenue High Rise. I'm not 2 getting my US mail. I'm fighting for my child 3 in the New York State Family Court thing. 4 If I can't get my mail, you know, 5 I'm a loser. And that's just one of the legal 6 tricks that they use. They don't -- they don't 7 give due process. They have all of these forms 8 that are like, you know, affidavits. That's 9 how you get into court. You make a sworn 10 affidavit. 11 They have these forms and they check 12 off the boxes and everybody gets in front of 13 it, including this homeless man Corey McNulty. 14 And now he's in the Treatment Court. 15 MR. SMURL: Thank you. 16 MR. LITTLE: Thank you. 17 MR. SMURL: That's all for the 18 sign-in sheet. Anyone else wish to address 19 Council? 20 MR. COYNE: Good evening, Council, 21 Tom Coyne, Minooka. First of all, I want to 22 address something I failed to address last 23 week. I was talking about whether or not 24 responses should be given in Fourth Order when 25 asked for and what the Sunshine Act and how  33 1 it's saying that that's really the way it 2 should be done to make communication clearer 3 back and forth. 4 I noticed last week, the week 5 beforehand when I had asked a question that Dr. 6 Rothchild leaned forward in Fourth Order as if 7 she had wanted to respond to it, held back and 8 then sat back. But she did respond to it in 9 Fifth Order, the question. I thank you for the 10 response. 11 Part of the issue involved in that 12 response is -- what I had asked was, what 13 legislation have you proposed, have you brought 14 forth before the body. And there seems to be 15 some confusion between talking to Mayor and the 16 Law Department and everyone else to bring 17 something before this body and something 18 originating in this body itself. 19 When citizens come before you and 20 they think they have an issue and you look at 21 it and you say, you know what, that's a valid 22 issue, that's the point when someone on City 23 Council should stand up and go, I need to 24 represent that person. I need to take it 25 forward. I need to make this change. And I'll  34 1 put my name on that. 2 And in most legislative bodies, you 3 have people who come forward and request it. 4 And then you have a Council member, a Senator, 5 a delegate who sponsors that before the 6 legislative branch. We have no sponsors. We 7 have communication in the back room. 8 And the problem with having no 9 sponsors is we have no intent behind the law. 10 We have no idea of why it was actually put 11 forward. We have a piece of paper saying it 12 will cost nothing. And it's for the good of 13 the whole, but really does not give any idea to 14 why that was important to bring forward. 15 And I would love to see this Council 16 as a legislative body actually bring something 17 forward and not have it be signed by OECD or by 18 the Law Department. But maybe Mr. McAndrew 19 signing it that he was the one sponsoring it or 20 Mr. Smurl or anyone up there of taking 21 ownership of that bill. 22 It doesn't matter if it fails or 23 goes forward. At least it shows that you took 24 some action in creating legislation for this 25 body in this city, what you're here for.  35 1 Moving on, it was mentioned that 2 the -- about the Keystone shelter. And 3 unfortunately we know where that's going from 4 the newspapers. It's going into nonexistence. 5 And I looked at the weather report today and it 6 was 98 degrees in some areas in Center City. 7 With the -- it was probably a little bit more. 8 With the heat index, it was up 9 around 106 degrees and in the shade around 100 10 degrees. Last time when Canada had the wild 11 fires, we asked about code red, what is the 12 city going to do, how is the city going to get 13 shelters. The wild fires may have ended. 14 But that hasn't stopped for the need 15 for a place where they can -- where people who 16 are outdoors and people who are seniors who may 17 not have the ability to come besides the 18 library because there is only so many that can 19 fit. 20 We need to take a look at not the 21 unsheltered task force, which I believe 22 Keystone was one of the major entries in who 23 are no longer there, but they are not 24 unsheltered. They're homeless. They're street 25 people. Let's not use kind words to say  36 1 something that's not a kind way to live. 2 Let's deal with the harsh realities 3 by making moves forward to actually better the 4 lives and put support systems in place. And 5 maybe for money, we charge people who work in 6 Scranton and who live elsewhere. Scranton gets 7 a tax for that. 8 Have we ever thought about 9 out-of-town landlords who collect rent in 10 Scranton and who make money in Scranton through 11 rents who live outside the city? Maybe there 12 should be an equivalent tax for landlords in 13 the City of Scranton that could go to the 14 coffers. It's just an idea. Maybe someone 15 will float it. Thank you. Good night. 16 MR. SMURL: Thank you. 17 MR. MANCINI: Good evening, Scranton 18 City Council, Mike Mancini, Scranton. Tonight 19 prepare to be dazzled. I did some homework. I 20 also have a big announcement. Mr. Smurl, is it 21 true that you plan on running as an Independent 22 Democratic candidate for City Council? 23 Those are your own words based upon 24 an e-mail circulated to friends. You also plan 25 to seek Council for Philadelphia. Is that  37 1 because one of your petitions was circulated 2 like a chain letter without proof of signature 3 just to have a family member sign it along with 4 yourself, notarized. How about another one 5 that was circulated after a group event 6 witnessed by someone just add signatures after 7 the fact. 8 Now, I'm not an attorney, but voter 9 fraud is a very serious felony. Based upon my 10 homework, that's fraud. The city deserves the 11 truth. For extra credit, I will be filing an 12 ethics violation against you and the other two 13 rubber stampers who approved Scott Gassenmeyer 14 to DPW Director after six months and one day in 15 violation of our approved requirements, both 16 Mr. Schuster and Mr. McAndrew voted against 17 this based upon the timeline. They were 18 correct. 19 Now the big announcement, I will be 20 suspending my campaign for Mayor for City of 21 Scranton effective immediately. My apologies 22 to those who I have not spoken to personally 23 about my decision. The time is not right for 24 me. I'd like to give it 100 percent plus 25 whatever I try to accomplish.  38 1 Personally I put my life on hold for 2 closure after my son's passing. The person 3 responsible for his death is another 4 continuance. September 12th it will be three 5 years since this guy was found guilty. I'm 6 looking for closure. 7 I chose to run for Mayor because of 8 the current climate and the abrupt change for 9 the worse in a short period of time. Now, we 10 witness blighted blocks, the worse road 11 conditions in my 56 years, Scranton Police 12 calls, unwanted opioid-related deaths without 13 justice, an extra set of doors because our 14 Mayor feel unsafe in her own city, four less 15 deep ends pools, closure of Nay Aug Park pool 16 complex after seven years, gang activity, 17 expansion team, the homeless. The words of the 18 Rolling Stones, give me shelter. 19 I also chose to run for Mayor 20 because of amazing people who reside here. But 21 I had so many great memories of our city. 22 Scranton abruptly changed over the last several 23 years. Many of us like to leave things better 24 for future generations. 25 Ask yourself is Paige Cognetti the  39 1 answer? Where will we be four years from now 2 with an expansion team? I hope that everyone 3 will get out and vote in this general election. 4 Your vote is critical to your future. Let's 5 get this one right. 6 This is not about national politics, 7 which the incumbent seems to have her attention 8 on currently. This is not about red or blue. 9 It's about you. This election is about 10 character and how you carry yourself. It's 11 about always choosing to do the right thing, 12 someone who embraces people, not parties. 13 Let's make history. This will be 14 the first election where two women will look to 15 become the next Mayor of Scranton. I will say 16 this once, so hear me twice. I will not vote 17 for Paige Cognetti. Trish Beynon has my full 18 support. Whatever experience I have will be 19 given to the Friends of Trish Beynon for Mayor. 20 Current stigma in our city is that 21 Scranton is supposed to be like this. Things 22 will not change. There's 44,000 registered 23 voters in Scranton who truly need to get this 24 one right or possible rain tax, privatize 25 garbage pickup, who knows what else she will  40 1 break along the way or get sued over. 2 Scranton deserves the best because I 3 see the best in people. Even with our 4 diversity, the city is about people. We 5 deserve better. Pay attention. Get out and 6 vote. Just like I shut down Mr. Smurl tonight, 7 each of you need to shut down Paige and her 8 expansion team. 9 Let me end this with humor and a 10 little joke. Knock knock, who's there? Paige. 11 Paige who? Exactly. With your vote, this 12 will be her past. Good evening, Council. 13 MR. SMURL: Thank you. Anyone else? 14 MS. SCHUMACHER: Good evening, Marie 15 Schumacher, resident of the city. I also went 16 to the Flower Show on Saturday. And it was 17 really quite enjoyable. So I hope everybody 18 had a chance to go. 19 Now two things that aren't as nice, 20 our roads. When you come down Spruce Street 21 after you cross Jefferson Avenue, the very 22 first alley has -- there's an opening all the 23 way across the street. It's quite deep. You 24 have to -- if you like your car, you have to 25 stop and go very slow across it.  41 1 And I don't know how do we do things 2 like that? I can't tell that there's been any 3 difference in the many, many weeks that that 4 has been the opening. And it seems to me that 5 they should be required to put something in 6 there if they are not going to do the actual 7 conclusion for weeks or maybe even months, who 8 knows. We'll know sometime. 9 And then, of course, there is the 10 one down too on Lackawanna Avenue across the 11 street from what was the door of the dry -- 12 Scranton Dry Goods. It's had a big metal thing 13 over whatever is underneath the thing. And 14 it's been a long time and nothing seems to 15 happen. 16 And now closer to home, there's 17 about five blocks on the corner where I live. 18 And on one side there is nothing said when you 19 come onto -- if you come up East Mountain Road 20 and you go onto Seymour Avenue, there is 21 nothing, just go and do it. 22 If you are on 307 and you want to 23 come into Seymour Avenue, there are conditions. 24 And I don't understand why it can't be the same 25 for both sides. What is a truck, you know, no  42 1 trucks, only trucks for delivery. And how do 2 you know that? So I think something needs to 3 be done there. 4 And then finally I think -- oh, this 5 weather that we've been having, I don't know if 6 any of you are familiar with Geoengineering, 7 but they're -- I personally feel that it is 8 being -- that our weather is being done by 9 something other than God. I think there are 10 people that are doing that. 11 And here is a thing Geoengineering 12 that has a lot about climate and what is 13 happening in our climate that I'd like to hear 14 some -- some things that they're saying could 15 be happening and are they really -- are they 16 really -- are we -- do you believe that we are, 17 our government possibly is doing the 18 engineering, our climate? 19 Do you think it's even possible? I 20 do. And I think that there -- that has to be 21 looked into. So thank you. 22 MR. SMURL: Thank you. 23 MR. KING: Frank, can you check on 24 that Biden Street just past Jefferson Avenue. 25 I know exactly what Marie is talking about  43 1 there. 2 MR. VOLDENBERG: That was reported. 3 I'll follow up, Mr. King. 4 MR. KING: Thank you very much, 5 right across the whole street. Thanks. 6 MR. VOLDENBERG: That's correct. 7 MR. SCHUSTER: Kressler Court. 8 MR. VOLDENBERG: Kressler Court, 9 yes. 10 MR. SCHUSTER: And if you could add 11 the 100 of Main Avenue. I did put that in for 12 the pothole. I may have sent an e-mail on that 13 one as well. But it's in front of the, like, 14 yeah, barbershop across from the post office 15 there by Catalano's and then the Bulwer Street 16 one as well. 17 MR. VOLDENBERG: I've added them 18 all. I'll take care of it. 19 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you. 20 MR. SMURL: No one else? 21 Mr. Voldenberg. 22 MR. VOLDENBERG: FIFTH ORDER. 5-A. 23 MOTIONS. 24 MR. SMURL: Mr. King, do you have 25 any motions or comments?  44 1 MR. KING: Just a few quick ones. I 2 often hear some individuals come up and 3 criticize the Scranton School District. I 4 wholeheartedly disagree. I don't know how a 5 person that lives in the city just picks up and 6 sends their kids to Abington unless they live 7 in Abington. 8 I don't know how that works unless, 9 you know, there's another parent or somebody 10 that's living up there; but which Abington is 11 also a very good school district. I have three 12 daughters who graduated from the Scranton 13 School District. 14 One went to Manhattan College and 15 received a medal for top student in history and 16 international studies. She got a foundation at 17 Scranton High School South Intermediate, 18 Whittier Elementary, had some great teachers. 19 She's doing fantastic. 20 I have another one that is an 21 architecture student at the University of 22 Hartford, going to studying in Florence Italy 23 this fall. Once again, Whittier, 24 South Scranton High School, great teachers, 25 great education, challenged in their  45 1 classrooms. 2 And my third daughter is at Thomas 3 Jefferson University studying health sciences. 4 And every one of them got minimum of half 5 academic scholarships. They were the products 6 of a great public school education that they 7 got right here in the City of Scranton. So I'm 8 sick of the criticism. 9 It's -- Scranton's one of the 10 largest public urban school districts in the 11 state, probably number seven or eight in the 12 state, lots of challenges, lots of kids that 13 speak probably 37 different languages I think 14 was the last count. 15 They have flags representing each 16 country down at Scranton High. We have a large 17 percentage of students that are English 18 language learners, a large percentage of 19 special ed students, a large percent of 20 students economically disadvantaged. 21 And guess what, our teachers embrace 22 each one of them and challenges them and teach 23 them and really help provide them with the type 24 of education where they could go on and be 25 successful in their lives and be great  46 1 citizens. So I get criticism of the Scranton 2 School District. Do they have issues, yes, 3 they do, no doubt like any other school 4 district. 5 But they also have a lot more 6 challenges than other more suburban or 7 wealthier school districts are. I just want to 8 stick up and praise our teachers in the 9 Scranton School District. I think they do a 10 great job. 11 And I have three beautiful 12 daughters, intelligent daughters to prove that. 13 And that's all I have to say. Thank you. 14 MR. SMURL: Thank you, Mr. King. 15 Mr. Schuster, do you have any motions or 16 comments? 17 MR. SCHUSTER: Yes, I have a few. 18 Mr. Voldenberg, I sent a few water issues in 19 via e-mail over the last few days, some were on 20 East Mountain, some are on West Mountain. I 21 don't believe we got any updates, but I'll 22 continue to follow up on those. 23 MR. VOLDENBERG: I will. Thank you. 24 MR. SCHUSTER: We asked last week or 25 the week before -- actually maybe two weeks in  47 1 row about recycling calendars. Is there any 2 update on -- did we receive any update on our 3 recycling calendars? 4 MR. VOLDENBERG: We haven't received 5 one for print as yet. I believe something is 6 on the website. 7 MR. SCHUSTER: Okay. So if we could 8 see when they are going out to print and just 9 get an update with the department on that. 10 MR. VOLDENBERG: I will. 11 MR. SCHUSTER: Thank you very much. 12 We talked about Dorothy Street. We talked 13 about Bulwer Street. We're going to get a date 14 in July for the Scranton Recreation Authority 15 Director to come in and meet with us in caucus. 16 So that will be coming up in July. 17 I would like to thank DPW. I did, 18 like I said, I sent in some water issues and 19 other issues with some of those issues or about 20 half of those issues they were very quick to 21 respond and got out to them. So I would like 22 to thank them for that. 23 Last week I did mention about 24 Roselynn and Colfax Ave., the basin there and a 25 basin on West Gibson. The water company did go  48 1 out. They are water company basins. I 2 announced it but I didn't get an opportunity to 3 thank them. So I thanked the water company for 4 doing that work in clearing those basins on 5 Colfax and West Gibson. 6 And then we also -- last week there 7 was some talk here about feral cats on Golden 8 Avenue. And we received an e-mail. It looked 9 like you had responded to that e-mail over on 10 Harrison Avenue. 11 MR. VOLDENBERG: That's correct. 12 MR. SCHUSTER: All right. That's 13 all. Thank you. 14 MR. SMURL: Thank you, Mr. Schuster. 15 Dr. Rothchild, do you have any motions or 16 comments? 17 DR. ROTHCHILD: I do. I have quite 18 a few. First, I just wanted to go off of 19 something that Councilman King had mentioned 20 about the Scranton School District. When the 21 speaker was discussing the school district I 22 thought to myself, I've been really excited for 23 the day that we can send our children to the 24 Scranton School District. 25 I talk to my daughter about it all  49 1 the time because she's like a year away from 2 that. And we're one block away from our 3 neighboring school. And we'll pass by it and 4 I'll mention, like, this is going to be your 5 school because I'm genuinely excited for her to 6 be there. 7 So, you know, I'm proud of the 8 school district that we have here in Scranton. 9 And I also understand that it does need work. 10 And there are things that I'd like to see 11 offered within the school district. And I'm 12 hopeful for the future of our students. But 13 that's where I plan on sending my children. 14 And on the note of children, I 15 wanted to mention because it was also brought 16 up in public comment about a child being 17 disruptive. I think it's funny that we expect 18 a baby to understand the rules of Council but 19 not adults who blatantly ignore our Council 20 rules of decorum and act more inappropriately 21 than a baby would. 22 I also find it to be uplifting when 23 there's a baby in this room. Maybe it's just 24 the mom in me. But I don't -- I don't mind at 25 all. And I also understand that there might be  50 1 parents out there who want to participate in 2 their local government and not have the 3 childcare to be able to do so. 4 And I don't want them to be 5 dissuaded from being able to come here to 6 participate. So onto a few other things that I 7 had, there's a place that I've been bringing up 8 for several weeks now. And I've been told that 9 I think it's been five weeks and counting that 10 the recycling has not been picked up from their 11 street. 12 And I don't understand why. I don't 13 know if it's an error with Rubicon, like, if 14 it's a software problem or if they are just 15 ignoring the street or why it is that they 16 cannot get their recyclables picked up. It's 17 on Fairview Avenue, the 100 block. So the 18 neighbors are quite upset with this. 19 And I wanted to make sure that they 20 could get their recyclables picked up. And if 21 it hasn't already been escalated to the 22 administration and the Mayor, Mr. Voldenberg, 23 if you could please make sure that's done. 24 MR. VOLDENBERG: I'll escalate that. 25 DR. ROTHCHILD: Thank you. And I  51 1 think not having a current DPW director 2 shouldn't get in the way of that either. So I 3 don't know why this can't corrected. And there 4 is a vehicle on the 200 block of Harrison 5 Avenue. 6 I know I keep passing by it. And 7 the windows are blown out. The back of the 8 vehicle is all burned. There must have been a 9 fire in the vehicle. 10 And I can't imagine -- I don't 11 understand how it's still there and hasn't been 12 towed yet. But it's been sitting there for the 13 past several days just with no rear window and 14 the burnt back side of the vehicle. So if we 15 could have SPD get over there by tomorrow to 16 take care of it. 17 MR. VOLDENBERG: I will. I'll have 18 them handle that tomorrow morning. 19 DR. ROTHCHILD: Excellent. Thank 20 you. A number of people had mentioned the 21 weather being an issue and having concern for 22 people who could be suffering. And I have that 23 concern as well. 24 And I would like us to look into the 25 possibility of code red shelters again and  52 1 discuss that and see what role the city might 2 be able to take in something like that. But in 3 the meantime, the question about the county 4 having those code red centers, discuss with 5 them about the possibility of changing the 6 temperature adding the humidity as a factor and 7 find some more information about what the 8 county is offering. 9 I do know that I saw from the county 10 Facebook they were making people aware that 11 they have cooling centers. So those are, like, 12 daytime centers that are open specifically for 13 older adults to be able to come. And they have 14 them throughout the county. 15 But Scranton locations include the 16 Scranton Senior Center over at 1004 Jackson 17 Street in West Side and the JCC Jewish 18 Community Center. That's located at 601 19 Jefferson Avenue in Scranton. And now the -- 20 just so people are aware for the JCC they do 21 have like a bell that you have to ring and then 22 you could speak to someone on the speaker to 23 ask them to let you in because you're there for 24 the cooling center. 25 And another complaint that I had was  53 1 there are some parking issues up on the 900 2 block of Prescott Avenue. And one of them 3 being there is a business that's at 958 4 Prescott Avenue called Lulus Couture Spa. 5 And they have these lovely signs out 6 in front of it that say they have reserved 7 parking and that people will be towed if they 8 violate it. 9 Well, they have those signs right 10 next to street parking so I don't understand 11 how they could do that because that's not legal 12 in the City of Scranton. And I think they 13 even -- there's even pictures up on Google of 14 those signs there in front from, like, a couple 15 of months ago. 16 So if we could have those removed, 17 because the street parking is for anyone, not 18 just a particular business. I mean, Mansour's 19 doesn't have signage out front for people to 20 only be able to park for there for Mansour's. 21 So I don't see why this business would be able 22 to. 23 MR. VOLDENBERG: I'll have the 24 traffic officer out tomorrow. 25 DR. ROTHCHILD: Thank you. And one  54 1 last one. I know we had discussed Biden and 2 Kressler with that large pave cut that goes 3 across the street. Another one that is 4 similar, if not worse, is over on Pine and 5 Forest Court over near Cooper Electric. So if 6 you go Pine off of Wyoming, it spans the 7 street. 8 It's quite deep. And then there are 9 other potholes in that area too and like sunk 10 in sewage covers. So if we could get someone 11 out there. And I did bring it up to the former 12 DPW Director. But I don't think anything's 13 been done with it since I never have received 14 any information. 15 MR. VOLDENBERG: I will, Dr. 16 Rothchild. 17 DR. ROTHCHILD: It does have 18 markings on it. So I don't know if one of the 19 utilities companies was planning on going back 20 or what. 21 MR. VOLDENBERG: I will. 22 DR. ROTHCHILD: Okay. Great. Thank 23 you. And that's all that I have. 24 MR. SMURL: Thank you, Dr. 25 Rothchild. Mr. McAndrew, do you have any  55 1 motions or comments? 2 MR. MCANDREW: I have a couple 3 comments. So I'll start with the concern that 4 Mr. Spindler brought up. So I sat here. We 5 all sat here a month, maybe a month and a half 6 ago. And the administration came in because 7 they wanted us to amend the ordinance for pave 8 cuts, tighten it up. 9 It was a big pep rally, sat here. 10 They told us it's going to be streamlined. 11 It's going to be -- it's going to be the 12 procedures and processes are going to be better 13 for everybody. I was excited to hear you. 14 I'll be honest with you because we get the most 15 complaints we get from all of you are pave cuts 16 and potholes. 17 So in that same meeting they said, 18 oh, yeah, we got the pothole line. We got 19 this. So to be honest with you, about a week 20 ago, two weeks ago in front of Gerrity's in 21 West Side it was torn up, right. And within, I 22 don't know, less than a week there was a pave 23 cut done and it was repaved. 24 And you know what, it was the nicest 25 one I've ever seen, right? It's tarred on the  56 1 edges on the perimeter. So my concern is, are 2 they only paying attention with this new 3 ordinance and this new streamline and this new 4 trackable process for all the pave cuts with 5 our pave cut inspector crew because it looks 6 like they are just paying attention to the new 7 ones. All right? 8 That's not good enough because at 9 that same meeting I asked, I said, what about 10 all the old ones that are out there? There's a 11 ton of them. They're brought to our attention 12 every day. They said, oh, we're going to take 13 care of them too. 14 So it doesn't look like it's being 15 done. I'm going to give them the benefit of 16 the doubt. But residents come every week and 17 either tell us about ones that we kind of 18 already know about or the administration and 19 the city should know about or potholes, you 20 know, that keep popping up that should have 21 been taken care of. 22 So with that said, I mean, you know, 23 I have faith. I'm trying to have faith in this 24 new process. You know, it's online. It's 25 trackable. It's all this. Since their  57 1 presentation and their rollout of this new 2 procedure, could you please ask 3 administration -- I want an update. I want to 4 know what has been done. 5 How many potholes on the pothole 6 hotline have been fixed, how many of the old 7 pave cuts versus the new ones that are being 8 done are being satisfied? 9 MR. VOLDENBERG: I'll ask those 10 questions. 11 MR. MCANDREW: All right. It 12 doesn't sound like it's moving quick enough or 13 maybe it's -- maybe there's a kink or two in 14 it. But we need this fixed, okay? Thank you. 15 So also with regard to recycling, so we have 16 legislation tonight. 17 We're going to -- it's the final 18 vote for the recycling contract. And it was 19 brought to my attention that -- I got a 20 picture. I did not get a new recycling 21 calendar. All right. But I know in the past 22 there's been errors in them. So someone sent 23 me a picture of one that said paper and 24 cardboard. 25 And there is only two colors, blue  58 1 and red now. So I don't know about you, but -- 2 and I guess it was in the paper. I couldn't 3 find it in the paper. So the public should be 4 made aware of this. And I agree, this is a 5 change that everybody should know. I mean, you 6 know, on Facebook there's all of these little 7 pop-ups or this talk or the Mayor's thing or 8 the pop-up. 9 I think this information should be 10 included in that or put on the website or even, 11 you know, announced not necessarily in the 12 paper to the residents on some network, one of 13 the news channels. Because think about it, I 14 don't know about you, I have three daughters 15 and a wife that packages come every day, almost 16 hourly, boxes. 17 And if they're going to be picked up 18 every two weeks with the paper I could live 19 with that. But saving them for sometimes 20 three, four weeks to have cardboard picked up, 21 I think this has increased level service for 22 our residents if this is true, the paper and 23 cardboard is going to be picked up every other 24 week, you know, outside of the commingled. 25 So can we get justification or  59 1 clarification from the administration if this 2 is going to happen? So let's try to inform the 3 public. Maybe we're informing some people 4 right now. You tell everybody you know if 5 that's the truth. But I think it's increased 6 some service for us and I like it. But we need 7 to be educated and aware of this process. 8 Also, guess what, you know what, 9 it's easy to stand there and take shots at the 10 Scranton School District. It's a punching bag. 11 It's been a punching bag for the past 10, 15 12 years and it's not fair. I also have three 13 beautiful daughters who are products of the 14 Scranton School District. 15 And they are successful in their own 16 right. And they are very civic-minded 17 productive citizens. Was there a great support 18 at home, yes. Does the school district have 19 challenges, I was on a board there for six and 20 a half years. I witnessed it. 21 But I also witnessed the dedication, 22 care, and devotion of the teachers there. Are 23 there a couple other bad apples? There's a 24 couple everywhere. But the straightest path or 25 the quickest path to success with these  60 1 students is, you know, not just the teachers, 2 but they need a good partnership with the 3 parent or the guardian should take some of the 4 ownerships for that path to success. 5 All right. It's easy to take shots 6 at the teacher. It's easy to take shots at the 7 school board. It's easy to take shots at the 8 administration. But, you know, I -- no pun 9 intended, but if you are going to take shots at 10 the district, do your homework, all right, and 11 be prepared to, you know, to be rebutted from 12 us, all right? 13 We have the same famous speech in 14 Fifth Order that you have in Fourth, okay. 15 Also, what else? So I have something else -- 16 two more things. I'm sorry, but I get them 17 faxed -- I mean, text to me, e-mailed to me, 18 like, minutes before the meeting and that's 19 okay. 20 I mean, it's still my responsibility 21 but sometimes I have to pull them from 22 different devices. So, Mr. Voldenberg, this is 23 an issue that remains. It's the property right 24 next door to -- next door to Gerrity's, all 25 right? This is two years, three years in a  61 1 row. 2 It's the address is -- no one is 3 clear of the address. It's 1138 Eynon because 4 the structure's gone. It's been torn down. 5 But I have pictures that I will forward to you 6 after the meeting or tomorrow. If I forget, 7 remind me, please. 8 But this happens every year. They 9 come and maybe take care of it once, you know, 10 and then the rest of the summer or until a year 11 later it's not touched. And the pictures I 12 have are the grass is very high and shrubs. 13 All right, so can we finally get this situated? 14 MR. VOLDENBERG: I will, sir. 15 MR. MCANDREW: -- code enforcement. 16 Thanks. What do I have left here? I have one 17 from the Wright Center. I apologize. Like I 18 said, I have stuff all over the place here. 19 All right. So my understanding is there's been 20 complaints from the Wright Center itself that 21 there's an increased amount of standing parking 22 tractor-trailers at the edges of the Wright 23 Center on 501 South Washington Avenue, which 24 obstructs the view of the patients, employees, 25 visitors entering and exiting the parking lot.  62 1 And, you know, it's a line of sight 2 issue. It's a public safety issue. So my 3 understanding is, folks from there reached out 4 to the Scranton Police Department and requested 5 a traffic study because they're looking at 6 signage or requesting -- I mean, that would be 7 determined by the study, but 30 feet -- I don't 8 have it exactly here, but I can't find it, but 9 30 feet from each side. 10 And not at the -- you know, so 11 they'd have that line-of-sight. But the 12 response they got from the police department is 13 oh, yeah, okay, but in order to do that, it has 14 to be brought to Council if you need -- because 15 I know we need in tandem with highways if 16 there's a traffic study, it has to be with the 17 City Engineer. 18 So the e-mail they received back 19 was, okay, we'll have to bring it to Council. 20 So I'm bringing it now. Can you request -- 21 are you copied on this e-mail? 22 MR. VOLDENBERG: That's correct. 23 No, I wasn't copied, but I had a conversation 24 with the traffic officer today -- 25 MR. MCANDREW: Regarding this?  63 1 MR. VOLDENBERG: -- with SPD and 2 then I submitted it to the City Engineer. 3 MR. MCANDREW: All right. So -- 4 MR. VOLDENBERG: They're going to do 5 the sight traffic study. 6 MR. MCANDREW: All right. Well, 7 thank you. I wasn't aware of that. But I will 8 definitely forward you for your notes this 9 e-mail that I have if you need to explain 10 better to them or -- 11 MR. VOLDENBERG: Please do. I 12 believe it went to different sources. 13 MR. MCANDREW: All right. So that 14 is all I have. Thank you. 15 MR. SMURL: Thank you, Mr. McAndrew. 16 I have a few items. The first one was received 17 today from the Scranton Housing Authority 18 payment in lieu of taxes, they have five 19 payments, 8,966.56, 8,566.12, 14,581.84, 20 18,706.40 and 12,785. 21 And the total for their check we 22 received on the 18th was $63,605.92. That is 23 from the Housing Authority for the pilot 24 program for 2024. 25 Also, 817 Crown Avenue, we sent code  64 1 enforcement up there. I believe they had 2 stopped the work of the cars and stuff in the 3 yard. They were cited and it stopped for a 4 while. But it had -- it has started again. So 5 we had to send code enforcement back up there 6 to try to stop it again. Also, the address on 7 this property is 1639 Alder Street. 8 It looks -- neighbors say it's a six 9 family unit, Mr. Voldenberg, and it's 10 registered I believe as a four. But we are 11 picking up the garbage up. So if it is a six, 12 can we find that out -- have code enforcement 13 know. 14 And if it is a six, six units, then 15 they need to get a private hauler. The city is 16 not responsible for six units. 17 MR. VOLDENBERG: That's correct. I 18 sent that out today. 19 MR. SMURL: Thank you. Also 114-116 20 Crown Avenue, I know this one has been going on 21 a while because I've seen a lot of citations. 22 Right now it is pending citation. It looks 23 like it's at Magistrate Corbett's office. So 24 that's -- all right. 25 And also the corner in South Side,  65 1 this is the 330 South Irving. I remember a 2 large house on that property. But they thought 3 the building -- the property was cut in half. 4 But according to this, it was not cut in half. 5 So they were cited for quality of life ticket. 6 And I believe they paid it. But 7 it's back to overgrown again. So they will 8 receive another one. That is all. 9 MR. VOLDENBERG: 5-B. FOR 10 INTRODUCTION - AN ORDINANCE - AUTHORIZING THE 11 MAYOR AND OTHER APPROPRIATE OFFICIALS OF THE 12 CITY OF SCRANTON TO TAKE ALL NECESSARY ACTIONS 13 TO IMPLEMENT THE HUD 2025 CONSOLIDATED ACTION 14 PLAN FOR COMMUNITY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 15 PROGRAMS TO BE FUNDED UNDER THE COMMUNITY 16 DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) PROGRAM, HOME 17 INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIP (HOME) PROGRAM AND 18 EMERGENCY SOLUTIONS GRANTS (ESG) PROGRAM FOR 19 THE PERIOD BEGINNING JANUARY 1, 2025. 20 MR. SMURL: At this time I'll 21 entertain a motion that Item 5-B be introduced 22 into its proper committee. 23 MR. MCANDREW: So moved. 24 DR. ROTHCHILD: Second. 25 MR. SMURL: On the question? All  66 1 those in favor of introduction signify by 2 saying aye. 3 MR. KING: Aye. 4 MR. SCHUSTER: Aye. 5 DR. ROTHCHILD: Aye. 6 MR. MCANDREW: Aye. 7 MR. SMURL: Aye. Opposed? The ayes 8 have it and so moved. 9 MR. MCANDREW: I make a motion to 10 table Item 5-B. 11 MR. SCHUSTER: Second. 12 MR. SMURL: There's a motion on the 13 floor and a second to table Item 5-B. This 14 ordinance is the HUD 2025 Consolidated Action 15 Plan. It is being tabled to allow for 16 advertisement of a public hearing to be held 17 Tuesday, July 29th, 2025 at 5:45 p.m. On the 18 question? All those in favor signify by 19 saying aye. 20 MR. KING: Aye. 21 MR. SCHUSTER: Aye. 22 DR. ROTHCHILD: Aye. 23 MR. MCANDREW: Aye. 24 MR. SMURL: Aye. Opposed? The ayes 25 have it and so moved.  67 1 MR. VOLDENBERG: SIXTH ORDER. No 2 business at this time. 3 SEVENTH ORDER. 7-A. FOR 4 CONSIDERATION BY THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC 5 WORKS - FOR ADOPTION - FILE OF THE COUNCIL NO. 6 79, 2025 - ESTABLISHING A "NO PARKING ZONE" 7 ALONG THE EASTERLY CURB LINE OF SR3025 KNOWN AS 8 WYOMING AVENUE FROM SEGMENT 0020 OFFSET 850 TO 9 ITS INTERSECTION WITH OLIVE STREET FOR A 10 DISTANCE OF 370 FEET TO ITS INTERSECTION WITH 11 OLIVE STREET TO ALLOW FOR SAFE SIGHT DISTANCES 12 FOR A PROPOSED DRIVEWAY. 13 MR. SMURL: What is the 14 recommendation of the Chairperson for the 15 Committee on Public Works? 16 MR. SCHUSTER: As Chairperson for 17 the Committee on Public Works, I recommend 18 final passage of Item 7-A. 19 MR. KING: Second. 20 MR. SMURL: On the question? Roll 21 call, please. 22 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. King. 23 MR. KING: Yes. 24 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. Schuster. 25 MR. SCHUSTER: Yes.  68 1 MS. HERBSTER: Dr. Rothchild. 2 DR. ROTHCHILD: Yes. 3 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. McAndrew. 4 MR. MCANDREW: Yes. 5 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. Smurl. 6 MR. SMURL: Yes. I hereby declare 7 Item 7-A legally and lawfully adopted. 8 MR. VOLDENBERG: 7-B. FOR 9 CONSIDERATION BY THE COMMITTEE ON COMMUNITY 10 DEVELOPMENT - FOR ADOPTION - RESOLUTION NO. 11 230, 2025 - RATIFYING AND APPROVING THE 12 EXECUTION AND SUBMISSION OF THE GRANT 13 APPLICATION BY THE OFFICE OF ECONOMIC AND 14 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT OF THE CITY OF SCRANTON 15 TO THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC 16 DEVELOPMENT'S GREENWAYS, TRAILS, AND RECREATION 17 PROGRAM (GTRP) FOR UP TO $250,000.00 TO BE USED 18 TOWARDS THE WHITTIER SCHOOLYARD PROJECT. 19 MR. SMURL: What is the 20 recommendation of the Chairperson for the 21 Committee on Community Development? 22 DR. ROTHCHILD: As Chairperson for 23 the Committee on Community Development, I 24 recommend final passage of Item 7-B. 25 MR. SCHUSTER: Second.  69 1 MR. KING: Second. 2 MR. SMURL: On the question? Roll 3 call, please. 4 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. King. 5 MR. KING: Yes. 6 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. Schuster. 7 MR. SCHUSTER: Yes. 8 MS. HERBSTER: Dr. Rothchild. 9 DR. ROTHCHILD: Yes. 10 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. McAndrew. 11 MR. MCANDREW: Yes. 12 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. Smurl. 13 MR. SMURL: Yes. I hereby declare 14 Item 7-B legally and lawfully adopted. 15 MR. VOLDENBERG: 7-C. FOR 16 CONSIDERATION BY THE COMMITTEE ON COMMUNITY 17 DEVELOPMENT - FOR ADOPTION - RESOLUTION NO. 18 231, 2025 - RESOLUTION FOR PLAN REVISION FOR 19 NEW LAND DEVELOPMENT LOCATED AT 1230 NORTH 20 KEYSER AVENUE. 21 MR. SMURL: What is the 22 recommendation of the Chairperson for the 23 Committee on Community Development? 24 DR. ROTHCHILD: As Chairperson for 25 the Committee on Community Development, I  70 1 recommend final passage of Item 7-C. 2 MR. SCHUSTER: Second. 3 MR. SMURL: On the question? Roll 4 call, please. 5 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. King. 6 MR. KING: Yes. 7 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. Schuster. 8 MR. SCHUSTER: Yes. 9 MS. HERBSTER: Dr. Rothchild. 10 DR. ROTHCHILD: Yes. 11 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. McAndrew. 12 MR. MCANDREW: Yes. 13 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. Smurl. 14 MR. SMURL: Yes. I hereby declare 15 Item 7-C legally and lawfully adopted. 16 MR. VOLDENBERG: 7-D. FOR 17 CONSIDERATION BY THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC 18 WORKS - FOR ADOPTION - RESOLUTION NO. 232, 19 2025 - AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND OTHER 20 APPROPRIATE CITY OFFICIALS TO EXECUTE AND ENTER 21 INTO A CONTRACT WITH RUTLEDGE EXCAVATION TO 22 PERFORM THE TRIPP PARK STORMWATER PROJECT. 23 MR. SMURL: What is the 24 recommendation of the Chairperson for the 25 Committee on Public Works?  71 1 MR. SCHUSTER: As Chairperson for 2 the Committee on Public Works, I recommend 3 final passage of Item 7-D. 4 MR. KING: Second. 5 MR. SMURL: On the question? Roll 6 call, please. 7 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. King. 8 MR. KING: Yes. 9 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. Schuster. 10 MR. SCHUSTER: Yes. 11 MS. HERBSTER: Dr. Rothchild. 12 DR. ROTHCHILD: Yes. 13 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. McAndrew. 14 MR. MCANDREW: Yes. 15 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. Smurl. 16 MR. SMURL: Yes. I hereby declare 17 Item 7-D legally and lawfully adopted. 18 MR. VOLDENBERG: 7-E. FOR 19 CONSIDERATION BY THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC 20 WORKS - FOR ADOPTION - RESOLUTION NO. 233, 21 2025 - WAIVING RESPONSIBLE CONTRACTOR ORDINANCE 22 REQUIREMENTS FOR THE PROCUREMENT OF TRIPP PARK 23 STORMWATER IMPROVEMENTS. 24 MR. SMURL: What is the 25 recommendation of the Chairperson for the  72 1 Committee on Public Works? 2 MR. SCHUSTER: As Chairperson for 3 the Committee on Public Works, I recommend 4 final passage of Item 7-E. 5 MR. KING: Second. 6 MR. SMURL: On the question? Roll 7 call, please. 8 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. King. 9 MR. KING: Yes. 10 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. Schuster. 11 MR. SCHUSTER: Yes. 12 MS. HERBSTER: Dr. Rothchild. 13 DR. ROTHCHILD: Yes. 14 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. McAndrew. 15 MR. MCANDREW: Yes. 16 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. Smurl. 17 MR. SMURL: Yes. I hereby declare 18 Item 7-E legally and lawfully adopted. 19 MR. VOLDENBERG: 7-F. FOR 20 CONSIDERATION BY THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC 21 WORKS - FOR ADOPTION - RESOLUTION NO. 234, 22 2025 - AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND OTHER 23 APPROPRIATE CITY OFFICIALS TO EXECUTE AND ENTER 24 INTO A CONTRACT WITH WASTE MANAGEMENT OF 25 PENNSYLVANIA, INC. TO PERFORM RECYCLING  73 1 PROCESSING. 2 MR. SMURL: What is the 3 recommendation of the Chairperson for the 4 Committee on Public Works? 5 MR. SCHUSTER: As Chairperson for 6 the Committee on Public Works, I recommend 7 final passage of Item 7-F. 8 MR. KING: Second. 9 MR. SMURL: On the question? Roll 10 call, please. 11 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. King. 12 MR. KING: Yes. 13 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. Schuster. 14 MR. SCHUSTER: Yes. 15 MS. HERBSTER: Dr. Rothchild. 16 DR. ROTHCHILD: Yes. 17 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. McAndrew. 18 MR. MCANDREW: Yes. 19 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. Smurl. 20 MR. SMURL: Yes. I hereby declare 21 Item 7-F legally and lawfully adopted. 22 MR. VOLDENBERG: 7-G. FOR 23 CONSIDERATION BY THE COMMITTEE ON RULES - FOR 24 ADOPTION - RESOLUTION NO. 235, 2025 - 25 AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND OTHER APPROPRIATE  74 1 CITY OFFICIALS TO EXECUTE AND ENTER INTO A 2 CONTRACT WITH PEOPLEGURU, INC. TO PERFORM 3 PAYROLL PROCESSING SERVICES. 4 MR. SMURL: As Chairperson for the 5 Committee on Rules, I recommend final passage 6 of Item 7-G. 7 MR. MCANDREW: Second. 8 MR. SMURL: On the question? 9 MR. SCHUSTER: On the question, last 10 week several questions were raised about this. 11 We put those inquiries into the administration. 12 We haven't heard back yet. So I'm going to 13 make a motion to table until we get those 14 answers. 15 MR. KING: Second. 16 DR. ROTHCHILD: Second. 17 MR. SMURL: All right. I have a 18 motion and second to table Item 7-G. Do you 19 want to do a roll call -- 20 MR. KING: On the question -- 21 MR. SMURL: On the question. 22 MR. KING: -- on the table. Now a 23 roll call. 24 MR. SMURL: Okay, roll call, please. 25 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. King.  75 1 MR. KING: Yes. 2 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. Schuster. 3 MR. SCHUSTER: Yes. 4 MS. HERBSTER: Dr. Rothchild. 5 DR. ROTHCHILD: Yes. 6 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. McAndrew. 7 MR. MCANDREW: Yes. 8 MS. HERBSTER: Mr. Smurl. 9 MR. SMURL: Yes, so 7-G is tabled. 10 MR. VOLDENBERG: EIGHTH ORDER. No 11 business at this time. 12 MR. SMURL: If there's no further 13 business, I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. 14 MR. MCANDREW: Motion to adjourn. 15 MR. SMURL: This meeting is 16 adjourned. Thank you. 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  76 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.)