And then there were 3 (mayoral hopefuls)

Libertarian Betsy Summers announced on WILK’s Sue Henry Show earlier today that she intends to run for the position of mayor here in Wilkes-Barre.

She had a lot to say when asked what she would do if elected mayor, most of which you’ve probably heard before from previous challengers to Mayor Tom Leighton.

But she did say she would cancel her own taxpayer-provided retirement benefits she would not yet be entitled to. And she went on to say that she would push our City Council to also reject retirement benefits for what she called “part-time employment.” On that point, I couldn’t agree more.

I have no problem with the overly generous salaries our council folk draw. But drawing retirement benefits after holding twenty years worth of council meetings? Sorry, but that’s a rip-off.

Anyway, I seriously doubt that Betsy could pull it all off, but I did want to say in public that our council folk, past, present and future, do not deserve to be showered with retirement benefits on the public’s dime. Not for what they do.

Here’s a couple of excerpts from her announcement this morning…

She said she intends “…to change he whole feeling in the City of Wilkes-Barre.”

She said the city is suffering from “…years and years and years of bad leadership.”

As for her chances, she said, “If the people listen to my ideas, if they like them, they will vote for me.”

I’ve never actually met her, Betsy. But she's always come off as really, really likeable and entirely genuine on the radio.

As for her budding mayoral candidacy, I think she’ll do little more than siphon votes away from Lisa Cope, the Republican challenger to the incumbent mayor.

 

Later