$5.00 fee to Swim this year! Doherty to Manipulate Public!

There was a time when every recreational facility in Scranton was filled with kids getting some exercise and developing some athletic skills, or enjoying a recreation room playing various games like ping pong and pool. You only have to go back three years when Jimmy Connors was the mayor. Since Doherty took over, however, the majority of the recreation programs for kids have been abolished. I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. Fields were ignored and the South Side Complex was sold. The golf course disappeared as a source of revenue and kids had to fork over $5.00 to take a dip at Nay Aug.

Yet, in April of 2001, it was Doherty who stated, "charging underpriviledged children to use the pools defeated the purpose of public pools." Charging anyone $5.00 just to swim defeats the purpose of public pools! Where did all the money go from the sale of the golf course? Doherty has moved so much money from one bank to another and one authority to another, it's hard to determine. But, the fact is, it is not completely accounted for, and what is accounted for at a Dunmore Bank could be earning much more money than it is earning up there.

Lawsuits cropped up, and appropriately so. One was filed to stop the sale of the Complex and another was filed to stop the $5.00 fee at Nay Aug. The taxpayers didn't read anything about the lawsuit relating to Nay Aug because the Times squashed the story so that Doherty wouldn't be embarassed. That's the political journalism that occurs when it's a one-newspaper town and the newspaper owners fill the pocket of their candidate.

As a councilman, Doherty pushed legislation that authorized the Bureau of Parks and Recreation to have control of its own budget and spending, but at the time, the budget consisted of just what it needed to maintain itself. Then, Doherty announced he was running for mayor and he won the election. Shortly thereafter, the Bureau of Recreation and Parks had its bank account stuffed with spending money, but since it was given an autonomous status by the council that Doherty presided over, with Hazzouri's backing, the recreation bureau had free reign to spend, spend and spend, being accountable to no one but the mayor. The current council tried to reverse the legislation, but councilman Pocius and McTeirnan blocked its passage. That's a good enough reason to not vote for Pocius.

When a mayor has two crony councilmen in his back pocket, the other council members are completely helpless to get legislation passed that could reverse the irresponsible and reckless spending of the mayor. That's what is happening now. Pocius and McTiernan are those two crony councilman and they're hurting the city's children by supporting Doherty's abolishment of many children's programs and his lavish spending on projects that don't promote the best interests of the kids. This generation of kids is the first to not be able to enjoy the full range of recreational activities that every previous generation enjoyed in Scranton, thanks to Doherty and his crony councilman rubber stampers. Now, they want to get Hazzouri back on council. If that happens, children-friendly council members like Janet Evans and Bill Courtright will be bookended by Doherty supporters with no intention to move in a direction that will stabilize recreation for kids.

There are more kids walking the streets with nothing to do than ever. No administration turned its back on the kids, none. Men like Jimmy McNulty, Gene Peters, Dave Wenzel and Jimmy Connors strived to take kids off the streets and into recreational programs and were very successful doing it. See, Doherty isn't a kid person, although he acts more like a kid in a huge political sandbox more times than not.

Doherty is a money and material person, a man with one interest, political power and using Scranton as a stepping stone to higher offices. I could be wrong, but stepping on kids might not be the best way to get to the next step, or even be re-elected, for that matter. Silver-spooners like Doherty are so greedy that the best interests of kids don't even enter their mind. Otherwise, all the recreational programs wouldn't be gone and the kids wouldn't be walking the streets. Expect crime to rise significantly because a city full of kids are going to get themselves into trouble sooner or later when they have nothing to do.

If you'd like to read the lawsuit and the City's answer to it, CLICK ON EITHER LINK AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE. You will need a word processing program to view the lawsuit document; and Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the City's Answer. The lawsuit is based upon language in a deed. The deed is difficult to read and can't be included in this link, (it is however, available for review at the Recorder of Deeds Office in the courthouse) but basically, it states that the land and water that we know as Nay Aug Park shall remain free and open to the public. And, if it is not, it can be repossessed by the grantors of the land and water, the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company,or its heirs.

The City has responded to the lawsuit, and, however, a legal opinion was released by the Law Department. Their position is that Doherty can still charge the kids the $5.00 fee because charging the fee does not prohibit people from enjoying the park as a free and open park. In literal terms, the park will still be free and open to the public, but they will have to pay to swim, just like they pay to go into the Museum. A free and open park, apparently by the administration's opinion, means just that; it is free and open to the public to enter as they please. What happens once they're in there, is up to Mr. Doherty. What happens to the kids' money once they're in there? Into Doherty's Recreational Authority's pocket, never to be accounted for.

The opinion cites case law to support its opinion because there are no controlling state laws or statutes in this circumstance. They cite cases that date back to 1951 and another case that dates back to 1945. The former relates to a similar circumstance where a woman granted, through a deed, a park to a city, as long as it remained free and open to the public. It occurred in Pittsburgh. The case was Bernstein v. City of Pittsburgh docketed at 77 A.2d 452 (1951). The case went before the Supreme Court on appeal by the party trying to stop the city from building an auditorium and charge for admission to it. The Supreme Court ruled that the building of the auditorium didn't prohibit the public from using the "free and open" park. The second case citation that the City of Scranton is relying upon is Cohen v. Samuel, 80 A.2d 452 (1951), but that case involves a party who lived next to the park and objected to the construction of a golf course on the park's land, also arguing that it violated the purpose of the park. The third case was New Castle v. Lawrence County, 44 A.2d 589 (1945), where the city wanted to build a building and lease them out to concessionaires. In both of those cases, the Supreme Court ruled that the leasing of the land to concessionaires did not prevent the park from being free and open to the public.

There are some significant differences with our city. First above all, this deed states that the grantors can repossess the park, and without any legal hassle from the city. Secondly, this involves a swimming pool, not a building that will be used as a concession stand, or, a golf course. In addition to that, the pool has always been free for as long as it held water, which is a very long time, probably over 80 years. Its open and free access is well established. Furthermore, times have changed in 60 years. The pool offers many contributing factors to the community to include that if the kids can't swim free at the pool, they'll swim freely at various water holes, like the Gorge behind the park where dozens of children have already lost their lives.

Our thoughtful Mayor Doherty took it upon himself to build a handy trail with dangerous railing right down to the gorge, a very reckless and irresponsible invitation to children to resume swimming in the Gorge. You know what tragedy is waiting to happen there...again. Other mayors before Doherty took every precaution to keep the Gorge clear of kids. Jimmy Connors had the police cruising the area all the time when it was good swimming weather, and still, kids took a sneak down there and some didn't walk back out.

Is it just me, or do you agree that Nay Aug's treacherous Gorge should not have been provided with a trail for the kids for easy access? What's Doherty's next project to prevent a tragedy, installing swing sets on the railroad tracks? Is this man for real? Hello, Mr. Doherty. Kids have died in the falls. A lot of kids have died in the falls. The weight of whatever enjoyment older folks might get from walking down the Davis Trail is nothing compared to the weight that attends the threat that the falls present when kids head down there. Besides, if the public wants to see a lot of water, they can go to the Plot and see furniture floating in it or up to East Mountain, where half the mountain disappears with every heavy rain. Not only that, if he needed to call something the Davis Trail, he only needed to look at Lackawanna Ave. where you enter the town from West Side. I hit a pothole there that had its own Zip Code it was so huge. If not Lackawanna Ave., pick any of hundreds of streets that are more trail than pavement, except all the roads where Doherty lives in the glitzy Green Ridge section. All of them have been paved very nicely.

What about that $250,000.00 grant that Kanjorski gave to Doherty in September of 2003? Where did that go? Anyone know? Maybe it went toward the bill for the water leak that went unattended at the park's poool house for months, and racked up a bill of $27,123.00. How long would you let your water run like a faucet before you got it fixed? Probably less than 5 minutes. Not Doherty, several months!

His disrespect for kids, together with his blatant and disturbing disrespect for the military families in our town, will do nothing more than to give him something to think about after he's been run out of politics permanently. A politician can rough up his opponents all he wants, and even rough up the city's unions now and then without cutting his political throat. But, when he crosses the moral line and becomes a threat to the kids, and puts them on the street through cutting their recreation programs and making swimming costs prohibitive, he puts a noose around his own neck. Flipping the military families the finger by being a "no show" at the Watrous Armory upon their return from Iraq, pulled the lever on the gallows and down he goes, where he belongs, hanging by the political rope he weaved through his own silver-spoon selfishness and lack of consideration for others, like the people who pay his salary.

CHRIS DOHERTY DOESN'T NEED HIS SALARY. HE'S WEALTHY, VERY WEALTHY. HE CAN DROP THAT SALARY ON ANY TABLE AT ANY CASINO AND NOT EVEN FLINCH IF HE LOSES. HE'S IN POLITICS FOR THE BIGGER PAYDAY, THE ONE THAT HE CAN GET ON STATE LEVEL POLITICS AND THERE'S A SEAT OPENING UP A LITTLE FURTHER DOWN THE ROAD. HE THINKS HE CAN PAVE THE ROAD TO THOSE RICHES BY HOODWINKING SCRANTON'S POPULATION.

THIS ELECTION ISN'T JUST ABOUT ONE CANDIDATE AGAINST THE OTHER, IT'S ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT TO GIVE DOHERTY THE CHECKBOOK FOR FOUR MORE YEARS. AS IT STANDS NOW, NO MAYOR IN THE HISTORY OF THE CITY EVER TOOK THE CITY FROM A SURPLUS TO NEAR BANKRUPTCY SO FAST, AND NO MAYOR ACQUIRED THE MASSIVE DEBT LOAD, WITH NO PLAN TO GET OUT OF IT, THAT WE HAVE NOW IN SUCH A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. GIVING DOHERTY ANOTHER FOUR YEARS TO RECKLESSLY BURY US DEEPER ISN'T SOUND OR RESPONSIBLE VOTING. ONCE HE GETS US THERE, HE'S SCREWED - WE'RE ALL SCREWED. THAT'S WHEN HE'LL START ANNOUNCING PLANS TO TAKE MORE SERVICES AWAY AND RAISING TAXES TO COVER THE MASSIVE DEBT. THAT'S EASY TO AVOID ON NOVEMBER 8, 2005 AND IT CAN BE DONE WITH ONE FINGER..........ON THE HAND OF EVERY BLUE COLLAR MAN, WORKING WOMAN AND MILITARY FAMILY IN THIS CITY.

He's nervous...he has skirted the issues by remaining silent. What does that tell you? Anyone who morally believes they are doing the right thing will stand up and say so. His lips have been sealed on every issue he has been confronted with, including his absence from City Council meetings.

Getting back to charging the kids a swimming fee. The city has some case law in their favor, but it's very old case law. Typically, old case law is difficult to use to guide or control situations in a more modern era of time. But, let's say the court sides with Doherty. Do you think he has plans to make us pay for using other parts of the park? If he's charging the kids five bucks to swim, what stops him from charging adults to enjoy a picnic grove? Nothing stops him. The Zoo will become fee only entrance, too. You know what's scary? Doherty knew he was going to do these unethical things even before he became mayor. What's he got planned if he gets a second term? There's no question, it's already been planned out and scheduled, just like he manipulated the Bureau of Parks and Recreation into an autonomous status while he was on city council. He's a planner. White collar cronies and the Times call him a Master Politician.

In order for The Times to sell us on the Master Politician label, it first has to show that he has completely fooled us, all of us. Because, that's what a true Master Politican does, he completely fools everyone with photo ops and manipulating the truth through the crony newspaper.

While the kids had to swim in dangerous creeks in the area because of the pool fee, and they had to walk the streets for lack of having a recreational facility or playing field, Doherty spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Christmas lights at the park and tens of thousands to lavishly equip his office. How about $30,000.00 plus for a desk and other furniture? Do paper clips really know the difference between a new desk and an old desk? There are plenty of blue collar men, working women and military families who don't make that in a year. And, he did that on his first day in office, as well as have his door frosted to keep people from seeing if he was on the job.

A couple hundred thousand went to the Davis Trail, which is a complete wreck now and a serious liabilty between erosion and a fence that will not stop any child from falling through it and over the bank onto the tracks. Over a million dollars went into landscaping while these kids walk the streets for lack of recreation. The list can go on and on, I think enough is said.

We, as homeowners, should take Doherty's lead. Let's bury ourselves in debt and then fill our yards with flowers, put in a pool with a sliding board and buy a gas hog SUV. If we get short on cash, we'll charge our kids $5.00 for taking a shower, $4.00 room and board, $3.00 to eat, $2.00 to play in the yard and $1.00 to take their garbage out. Of course, we'd lose everything. Doherty, on the other hand, can waste our tax dollars and recklessly play to Play.