State Police Called In For Impartial Investigation
SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA, FIRE CHIEF Tom Davis was involved in a tragic accident this past Friday when a pedestrian stepped out in front of his truck and was then struck and killed. Chief Davis was on duty but driving his personal pickup while his FD vehicle was in the shop.
Chief Tom Davis (WNEP-TV)
Debra Major, 60, stepped off the curb at a controlled intersection Friday afternoon as Chief Davis was making a left turn on a green arrow. Surveillance video shows that she was outside the crosswalk when she moved into the path of the pickup.
In order to maintain impartiality and citizens' confidence, the Scranton police chief Carl Graziano and Lackawanna County District Attorney Andy Jarbola agreed Monday to ask state police to provide an "independent set of eyes" for the investigation.
At yesterday's Morning Lineup we spent time talking about the ridiculous situation in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where the mayor arbitrarily paid every city employee the Federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour because the city doesn't have any more cash on hand to meet the full payroll. If you missed yesterday's Lineup, CLICK HERE to get up to speed on this unfolding drama.
We have an update for you this morning. The lawyer representing three unions, the firefighters, police officers, and public works employees, has said that he will immediately file a lawsuit against the mayor for violating the judge's order to pay all city employees at their full rate. CBS News reports:
"We've been busy," attorney Thomas Jennings told CBS News. "So much nonsense. [It's] really, really silly that we have to do something like this just to get paid. You can make more money flipping burgers at McDonald's" than saving people's lives, Jennings said.
City Council president Janet Evans blamed the mayor for the city's debt and ignoring other "revenue generators" proposed by the council, like a parking meter system and a parking tax.
"His refusal to negotiate in good faith with police and fire unions over the past 10 years had recently resulted in a landmark Supreme Court award of $32 million that is crippling the taxpayers of Scranton," Evans told CBS News, adding: "Incessant lawsuits from years 2002 to 2012… has amassed historic debt in the city of Scranton."
The unions also plan on taking action in federal court against the city for allegedly cutting off disability payments and not paying overtime.
CBS has prepared this good video report on this latest chapter:
No doubt there is more to come on this story, so check back for more updates over the next couple of weeks.
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Speaking of mis-managed cities, which we have sadly been doing more frequently lately, I want to pass along to you that the city of San Bernardino has joined the growing list of California cities that have filed for bankruptcy. Last night (Tuesday) the city council voted to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection, citing a depleted city treasury and nothing but large deficits in view for the next several years. The Los Angeles Times is reporting this morning:
The unexpected vote came at the suggestion of the interim city manager, who said the city faces a $46-million deficit and depleted coffers. "We have an immediate cash flow issue," Andrea Miller told the mayor and seven-member City Council.
Miller told the council that the city faced major deficits for the next five years. The deficits remain even after the city negotiated $10 million in concessions from employees and slashed the workforce 20% over the last four years.
Helping force the councils surprise decision last night was the revelation that, unknown to the city council and the mayor, the city had been given false financial statements by city budget officials for more than a dozen years. The LA Times continues:
City Atty. James Penman said city budget officials had falsified documents presented to the mayor and council for 13 of the last 16 years, masking the city's deficit spending.
"For the last 16 years the budget prepared for the council showed the city was in the black," Penman said, not naming those allegedly responsible. "The mayor and the council were not given accurate documents."
Looks like a path to some jail time for somebody. An irreversible mess that will be punishing those residents for years to come. The "good times" are over in San Berdoo.
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This past Autumn we posted a series of articles about long-time volunteer firefighters who were still active in their departments by helping out in whatever way they could. All of them were in their 90's and still dedicating their time for their community. Regretfully, I must now pass along to you that one of them, Arthur Hewitt of League City, Texas, passed away Monday night at age 92.
The video report from KTRK-TV Houston that we posted is still active, so take a couple of minutes to meet this interesting man:
We wrote at the time of the posting: Art had to quit going to fires when he reached age 85, but he still walks down to the station every morning to check the equipment and help out around the station. Firegeezer bets that he knows how to run the Bunn-O-Matic, too.
I guess it's time for me to take that task over now, so I'll head for the kitchen while you get started on the equipment check. See you back in the day room in a little while.
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And be sure to stop by Booth 743 to visit with us and Dave Statter
on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Pennsylvania has more than its share of collapsing city governments, although still a long ways from California's miserable record. The most notable one recently is the state capital, Harrisburg that is bankrupt. Another one that is imploding as we watch is Scranton, currently the state's 6th-largest city even though its population is only 76,000. Sixty years ago it had double the population and the economy was bounding along on the backs of coal and railroad industries. But times change and you already know that the coal is gone along with the railroads that carried it. And in Scranton, half the people are gone too, due to the lack of any major employer coming in to take advantage of their labor force.
This and related problems largely generated by an inept city council have knocked their fire department for a loop as well. Firefighter positions peaked at 200 and as recently as 18 months ago the SFD had 150 firefighters working 4 platoons on 7 engines, 2 trucks and a rescue squad. Today they have 112 FF's working 3 platoons (increasing their individual work week from 48 to 56 hours) and sometimes operating 4 engines when they don't have a brownout day (today is one of them with only 3 engines in service). They have one truck and the rescue squad still in service. But now the firefighters have been slammed by the city when last week the mayor arbitrarily moved all 398 city employees onto the Federal minimum wage scale of $7.25 an hour. It doesn't matter what your job description is, custodian or police captain….you're only getting $15 K a year now. The city has no money in the bank.
Scranton FD roster in 1899 (thanks to Local 60)
Not only is the checking account down to $5,000 as of last Thursday, but they are millions of dollars behind in paying their vendors including $2 million owed to Blue Cross for unpaid health insurance premiums on the employees. Aware of the mayor's plans to arbitrarily whack the salaries, the fire, police and public works unions went to court and got a temporary injunction prohibiting the mayor from paying anything less than their contractural wages. However, pointing his finger at the city council for failing to enact a budget, the mayor chose to go into contempt of the court and paid the min. wage anyway. He is claiming (rightfully) that the city does not have the cash to pay any more and the city cannot get a loan until the council comes up with a financial plan. They have been dithering over that for months now. The mayor also said that all missed wages will be paid once the council gets their act together and arranges for the needed loans for payroll and the vendor obligations.
They're all back in court now and the mess is getting deeper and messier. If you want to read the specifics of what's going on, check out today's edition of the Scranton Times-TribuneHERE.
Fortunately we still have enough cash on hand to feed the Bunn-O-Matic, so I'll take care of that while you get the equipment checked out. See you back in the day room in a little while.
A LATE-NIGHT FIRE IN SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA, destroyed two homes and heavily damaged two others before firefighters could get it contained.
Times-Tribune
The fire was dispatched at 11:07 pm Tuesday night and the first units arrived two minutes later finding a well-established fire in a duplex dwelling that was spreading to an apartment on one side and a group home for disabled people on the other. After a careful census check, the FD was satisfied that all the opccupants of the four affected buildings were out safely.
Times-Tribune
The Scranton Times-Tribune posted this video report from the scene:
Read the complete article in the Times-Tribune HERE.
WNEP-TV has additional details in another video report HERE.
AFTER TEN YEARS OF PLANNNG, FUND RAISING, and making, the City of Scranton, Pennsylvania, unveiled its Firefighters Memorial statue Saturday in a touching ceremony.
The memorial is dedicated to the city's fallen firefighters but also celebrates all the members of the department. The Scranton Times- Tribune, in a report on the dedication, tells:
With more than 100 members of the public, dozens of firefighters and numerous city officials in attendance, Scranton's newest monument was unveiled Saturday – honoring firefighters past and present. The monument depicts a firefighter carrying a child. It is adjacent to City Hall and fire headquarters on Mulberry Street and is a project more than a dozen years in the making.
Times-Tribune / Farmer photo
A wreath was presented, and James Sweeney played "Amazing Grace" on bagpipes. The names of the 26 Scranton firefighters who have died were read aloud. The widow and son of Capt. James Robeson, who died in 2008, sat near the podium.
The Very Rev. Nestor Kowal, pastor of St. Michael Ukrainian Orthodox Church, blessed the monument and gave a benediction. "Today is the most glorious and meaningful day of my life," he said. "You have given me, and I'm the sure the rest of the community, a sense of pride," he told the firefighters.
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