I'm sold. Home Rule Yes!

From today’s Citizens’ Voice, a quote attributed to our Luzerne County Clerk of Courts, Bob Reilly:

“I have been here faithfully running this office for over 22 years,” Reilly said Tuesday. “Just because somebody considers something different than it is, there’s all this chatter.”

Chatter?

Yeah, well, I guess. I guess, when a talk show host catches you red-handed selling cars when you‘re supposed to be doing the mysterious Clerk of Whatever routine. And especially after you sued because the county budget cuts proposed for the judiciary supposedly left your office too understaffed and too grossly under funded to even function. Chatter? I guess.

Oh, and there is that other witness…myself. The guy who saw the Clerk of Whatever selling cars each and every time he entered the auto dealership in question.

And how completely sad is it that the president judge of the county has to sit with the double-dipping, AWOL Clerk of Whatever and then request that he make his elected county position his first priority. How sad is that? He couldn’t just order him to be there or else. No, he had to request that he show up every once in a while. In actuality, he has no boss.

But that’s what happens when the county code is this purposely crafted gray area, which allows everyone employed by the county to fly south of any semblance of accountability, and to plod along for years on end with no job description in sight. To boldly go where no questions receive answers.

Thanks to Mr. Reilly’s brazen response to getting his hand caught in the jar with all of the car keys, I’m done. I’m good. I am sold. I’m voting “Yes” when I get to the home rule study referendum question on the ballot. I may not know who exactly I’m voting for when I pick 11 commission members from the sizable list of hopefuls, but Godspeed you unknowns.

Ever since this scandal-plagued county started flailing under the intense glare of direct scrutiny, it’s become patently obvious that most of those that were previously thought to be “serving” us are nothing more than prevaricators, scoundrels and thieves.

Frighteningly enough, I truly fear that a majority of the electorate will vote much like a battered woman clings to her physical abuser. He can curse at her, and spit on her and punch her until she falls down and then kicks her, but she’ll likely not press charges and go back to him.

All of this circumlocution aside, it’s Home Rule Yes, kiddies!

And what’s up with this tomfoolery already?

From the Times Leader:

W-B officials bickering over Hawkeye

This is the second time some heated exchanges resulted over the “concerns” some Wilkes-Barre City council folk have concerning something or other about the makeup or operation of Hawkeye Security.

From that Times Leader story:

Kane said she and Murphy have had difficulty in communicating. She said a meeting about Hawkeye she had with Murphy “didn’t work out.” She said Leighton does answer her questions “but he can’t answer them all.”

Councilman Bill Barrett, who has questioned Hawkeye in the past, said, “Did I have concerns? Yes. Are there still concerns? Yes.”

Neither Barrett nor Kane would reveal their concerns. “I’ll wait until the city attorney gets back to me,” Kane said. She said she doesn’t expect any answers for at least a week.

Hawkeye is the not-for-profit company created by Leighton to oversee the creation, purchase and implementation of the surveillance system. The system will be monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week by TAC, a firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Blah, blah, blah. Listen to me tell it: Until the “concerns” are aired, all of this back-and-forth heated nonsense amounts to needless bickering at a public meeting.

While the scandals grow by the day, Wilkes-Barre officials do their level best to add Wilkes-Barre City Hall to the list of government buildings operating under a cloud.

So here’s my attempt at a solution. This is me playing arbitrator.

Either share your “concerns” with us, or make like you’re really doing something important. You know, pretend. Create the Junior Varsity Council to serve under the Junior Council. I dunno.

I’m happy with the progress we’ve made. I’m appreciative of the fiscal responsibility. I’m thrilled with the beefed-up police presence. I can’t wait for the new high-profile projects to be completed. But can we cool it with the Mickey Mouse bullspit?

I’m just asking.

Buh-bye