Daron Northeast:

As time went by, the new building was eventually completed and it became apparent to the local residents that it was going to be some sort of manufacturing plant, made obvious by a large conveyor belt that diagonally attached to the building. The company's name was Daron Northeast. Then, large dump trucks began to deliver various types of materials to the site. Still, the local residents had no idea what was going on, but since the new building was situated toward the back of the property, it wasn't making anyone suspicious that everyone's life was about to dramatically change for the worse. Little did they know.

As time went by, the concrete blocks continued to be manufactured and slowly, stack by stack, they began to make their way closer to the houses of the residents in the area. The closer the stacks got to the houses, the more the residents began to feel threatened. They were waking up to an ugly and very intrusive looking concrete jungle, and they didn't like it. Where there was once an area of open land, there were now hundreds of stacks of concrete blocks overwhelming them.

The residents began to make calls to City Hall, and particularly, to the Office of the Mayor. They didn't get any return calls. Then, the tractor-trailer flatbed trucks started coming to load up with pallets of blocks. They showed up as early as 5:30 in the morning and the trucks sat idling waiting for the plant to open. They were loud and smelly and lined up in the street. All day long, countless numbers of tractor-trailer flatbeds went in and out of the plant, and when they left, they brought all the dust from the plant with them and dragged it down the street. The neighborhood was soon covered in dust. The streets were soon covered with oil and fuel spills from truck motors. The road began to take a beating, too. Before long, huge chunks of blacktop were torn out of place, leaving deep and wide potholes.

To make it worse, the truck traffic continued constantly every day until as late as 9:00 at night. The plant operated until after midnight with forklifts running all the time. They were also loud, and created even more dust. The disturbed residents' calls poured into City Hall, and into the zoning and licensing departments, but still no response from Mayor Doherty.

The residential neighborhood, where children were once able to live a relatively safe life in a quiet part of town, became captive to the non-stop flow of heavy dump trucks and tractor-trailers. No kids were seen playing outside anymore. For sale signs cropped up. The residents confronted the plant operators and the truck drivers, but to no avail. They argued with fork lift operators who were keeping them up late at night with noise and dust, but to no avail. They called the Police, but got no help. As more and more heavy dump trucks traveled into the plant, huge piles of sand-like materials started to rise, and that quickly, the residents suffered with the dust blowing off those piles, clogging their air conditioners, contaminating their swimming pool water, filling their homes and covering everything in sight. Pools had to be covered and it was common to see the residents rinsing down their porches and cars every day. It was a nightmare for all of them.

Finally, the noise, dust, heavy trucks and an ocean of stacked concrete blocks took their toll on the residents and they began to make appearances at Scranton's City Council meetings because they couldn't get any satisfaction from the mayor. They made their point. Council requested that the Mr. Fiorini, Director of Permits and Licensing, appear at the site to investigate the complaints and report back to them.

Mr. Fiorini appeared at the plant site and agreed that the plant was extremely dusty and the heavy trucks were making life miserable for everyone living there. Mr. Fiorini appeared at a council meeting shortly thereafter and reported his findings and offered that the only thing he could do was to post signs limiting truck traffic to arriving after 7:00 am and leaving no later than 7:00 pm, which signs were posted. They meant little to the truck drivers, who continued to appear at all hours of the day and night. Mr. Fiorini also stated that he was in contact with the railroad and inquired to see if the trucks could enter and leave at the rear of the plant over the railroad tracks, a proposition that was far fetched, and never materialized into anything but small talk.

The residents continued to call City Hall, this time directing their complaints to the Zoning Officer, Michael Wallace. He wouldn't respond to their calls, either. The residents wanted to know why the plant was able to go into operation without ever having to appear before the planning commission or zoning board to present their plans for approval, which meeting would have included the residents, by rights, to state their opposition to the plant being built. Mr. Wallace was completely uncooperative with the residents, ignoring their pleas for help. He refused to answer their questions and would not return their phone calls to satisfy them. There were good reasons for that. Mr. Wallace had intentionally allowed Daron Northeast to build their plant without filing a variance because the owners of Daron Northeast were close friends of Mayor Doherty, and in fact, were large contributors to his campaign.

To try to quell the cry for a variance and a public hearing, Mr. Fiorini, not Zoning Officer Mike Wallace, appeared at two council meetings. At the first meeting, he told council that a variance was not needed because the area was already zoned for light industrial use. Mr. Fiorini lied. At the second council meeting, Mr. Fiorini stated that a variance was not needed because there was already a building on the property. Mr. Fiorini lied again.

The truth of the matter is this: Anytime anyone wants to start a business in the City of Scranton, if they are going to change the nature of the business, they absolutely must appear before the Zoning Board to explain in full detail what they are going to do, how the neighborhood will be affected, what hours of operation are intended, what noise or dust or smells are involved, how parking may be affected in the area and if any trucks will be used in the operation. And, if a building is going to be built, altered or renovated, the party must also appear before the Zoning Board to present the same information.

The process includes filing a variance that asks for the names and addresses of all the neighbors who could be affected so that the Zoning Board can contact them by mail and explain that a hearing is going to be conducted, and that the residents may appear in opposition. The Zoning Officer is also required to post a hearing notice at the property for all of the local residents to read, and they too, may appear to oppose the variance.

Daron Northeast never had to file a variance. They are located in a light industrial zone. There are many businesses located in light industrial zones all over the city, and all of them had to appear before the Zoning Board at a public hearing to state the purpose of their operation, and residents appeared to oppose them. Many were not granted variances and were not allowed to proceed with the business. Examples are plentiful, and two that come to mind quickly are the old mill at the top of Ash Street on James Ave. that was being used for light industrial purposes. The owner wanted to switch the use over to apartments. He appeared before the Zoning Hearing Board at a public hearing. Residents also appeared and opposed the change, but the variance was granted. The other example is the old Metro Window building on Providence Road across from the Dog and Cat Hospital. Two men wanted to convert the operation to a manufacturing plant for small trailers. They appeared before the Zoning Hearing Board, as did the residents in opposition. The residents won that one, and ironically, their spokesperson was none other than the former Zoning Officer, Ron Kitlas. The variance was denied because of the noise that would come from the building. Those are two examples of businesses that already had buildings on the land and were already properly zoned, so if Mr. Fiorini was telling the truth, why did Ron Kitlas appear to argue on behalf of the residents against the people wanting to open a new business in the old Metro building? He appeared and argued because it was the law for those men to file the variance, that's why, just like it was the law for Daron to file a variance, which they never did, thanks to Mayor Doherty.

You know the first two reasons: 1) friends of the mayor; and 2) financial contributors of the mayor. However, being a friend and financial contributor shouldn't mean that you can get around a zoning officer. He represents the law. He has powers to force businesses to shut down if they don't comply with the zoning laws. The other reason why Daron Northeast was allowed to get by the Zoning Officer is because Michael Wallace is anything but a zoning officer. He was a laid-off computer operater for IBM, but was a close friend of former councilman and warden Thomas Gilhooley, who is now under indictment for fraud, among other things. The Zoning Ordinance required, by law, that Mike Wallace have two years experience and a two-year college degree in a zoning related field. He had neither, and that's just what Mayor Doherty wanted, someone with nothing to lose.

Michael Wallace is nothing more than a "Yes Man Puppet" for Mayor Doherty and his rich friends. Daron Northeast, also a KOZ, is not the only financial contributor and KOZ'er to avoid the variance process. A property at 815 N. Webster Ave. underwent extensive changes, going from a single family home to a nine-room boarding house, and not only without a variance, but without many of the required permits. The new plumbing and electrical work done in that home are still in violation of the codes, and nothing is done about it. That property is owned by an investment company operating out of 129 Wyoming Ave, a KOZ, and where Diversified also happens to operate.

There is no need to question why any mayor would hire a completely unqualified and incompetent person as his Zoning Officer when he has corruption on his mind. With the corrupt plans the mayor had, he certainly couldn't have hired someone with qualifications that included dignity and a strong ethical and moral character. That person wouldn't have played along with the scam. Daron Northeast would have been forced to file a variance and a public hearing would have been held. Once Daron stated what their intentions were at a public hearing, the outcry would have been loud, extensive and probably a little hostile. The was no way Daron would have gotten the variance, and even if a Doherty friendly Zoning Board granted it, it would have quickly failed under appeal anyway.

I got involved in this situation when I saw the people appearing at council early in the summer. I met with them and got a good eyeful of what was happening to them. For me, the whole thing reeked with corruption, pay-offs under the table and political favoritism, all at the expense of the sanity and physical health of the neighborhood. I decided to begin the process of getting these people a public hearing, which I knew was going to take some time because I knew that Mike Wallace was dirty, very dirty. He and Doherty conspired to get Daron up and running without public notification, but Daron was a full-fledged operation now. The road ahead was going to be a dogfight.

I sent Mr. Fiorini a registered letter asking him for copies of all the permits he issued to Daron Northeast. Publicly at a council meeting, he held my letter up and told City Council, "When Hell freezes over". I wouldn't have expected anything less from him. I also sent registered letters to the mayor and the Zoning Officer, explaining that Daron Northeast was operating illegally and that the residents never got their opportunity to oppose the operation at a public hearing. I asked to see a copy of a variance if it existed. No response. I also asked Mr. Wallace to cite Daron for opening a business without filing a variance, then force them to file a variance and schedule a public hearing. No response.I gave him several weeks to act on Daron, he didn't. I sent him another letter again demanding that he take action. He still didn't take action. I sent yet another letter demanding action or I'd immediately take legal action against him; no response.

So, on September 27th, 2005 I sued Wallace in a Mandamus action. A Mandamus action is filed to force a public official to act as prescribed by law. Mike Wallace has to follow the zoning laws, and where it can be shown that he didn't, the court will hold a hearing and order him to do it. You may wonder why I didn't file the Mandamus action sooner. I couldn't, by rule of court. Before a Mandamus action can be filed, the municipal agent or agency must be first advised of the unlawful or inappropriate situation and be given ample opportunity to correct it. I gave Mr. Wallace a lot of opportunity, but he refused to act on behalf of the people. The mayor stayed silent the entire time even though he had the power to direct Wallace to take action.

Mr. Wallace will have 20 days to respond to the Mandamus action once the Sheriff's Office serves it to him. We will have our day in court and the residents of Dickson Ave., Delaware St. and Electric St. will get their public hearing. And, Daron Northeast may have to go looking for somewhere else to set up shop. That was the high risk they took by believing that Mayor Doherty could insulate them from the law and justice. The opposition to their operation will be enormous, probably the most extensive opposition ever to be seen at a Zoning Hearing by the most residents ever to appear at a public hearing. In light of many other cases where other businesses were denied variances due to noise, dust and smells, the Zoning Board will be under tremendous pressure to deny the variance and Daron just may have to close its operation, which is only justice served after the way they abused the residents and bullied their way into their neighborhood through the fraud and conspiracy of Mike Wallace and Mayor Chris Doherty. I often wondered how much Wallace might have pocketed from that deal. What was in it for Doherty besides a campaign contribution? It had to be substantial in my opinion.

The Daron Northeast deal was as corrupt as the day is long. A crooked mayor and a phony Zoning Officer putting the screws to an entire neighborhood in the Green Ridge area where the mayor happens to live, ruining the lives of all those people. The values of the homes is severely compromised. Many of the residents are quite elderly. One elderly woman had her lungs seriously affected by the granular dust that blew into and around her home, and she got very ill. It's all about Mayor Doherty's greed and arrogance. The rich want to get richer and the greedy just push the little guy around to take what they want, even if it's against the law.

How about Doherty's whole game plan here? As councilman, with his corrupt friends on council like Gilhooley, Hazzouri and McCormick, he sold the property to the owners of Daron Northeast for a fraction of what the land was worth and then forgave hundreds of thousands in back taxes without notifying the school district. Then he became the mayor and hired an unethical and immoral puppet as a crony Zoning Officer to let Daron build and extensively renovate its buildings, and then start operations. I mean, that's planning. It's also corrupt and illegal. Everything you need to know about Chris Doherty's ethics is illustrated by what he did to the residents of Dickson Ave. and Electric St. He's a greedy and arrogant corrupt thief with no respect for others. He should be criminally charged in this matter along with Mike Wallace. It's a clear cut conspiracy. If it wasn't, why didn't Doherty intervene at any time to come to the rescue of the residents? Why did Wallace hide from his obligations to the residents? Mr. Doherty is the mayor, and he can overrule anyone in his cabinet. But, he didn't, did he? He turned his back and refused to answer calls from the residents. Guilty as charged in my mind. And he wants to be re-elected as mayor?

Below are some pictures for you to review. Look at what the residents on Dickson Ave. and Electric St. have had to life with. What Mayor Doherty did to those residents and the kids that live in that area is unconscionable. Absolutley underhanded and disgraceful, like many other things he's done as mayor. As a betrayer, he does not deserve to be considered for re-election. What he did is certainly not leadership, is it?

Vote against corruption and the hiring of unethical and immoral men like Mike Wallace.If Doherty wins, the unqualified and incompetent Mike Wallace stays on as the Zoning Officer. In good conscience, We the People, just cannot let that happen. It's time to take back our city. Out with these corrupt liars and thieves, from Doherty on down. Any of us can be Mayor Doherty's next victim of zoning law abuse. We're all safe if he's no longer mayor, and Wallace goes with him.