Thanks for the Scranton Cheerleading! (Dunmore, Progress: chapel, employment, live)

[weluvpa]

As far as SWB he won't debate the true facts or should i say how the numbers paly out in reality. He is good at quoting all the stats from the web sites about Scranton but he cannot debate the real issues that affect the residents everyday, because he does not live in Scranton. He can cheerlead all he wants from the sidelines, but until he moves here he will never know the hardships that come with tax increases, floods and property ownership.
He just needs to grow abit and move out of the nest.

[weluvpa]

94.3% tax increase in the next 3years in the city of Scranton, if you pay $2000 in taxes in 2006 in Scranton you will pay:

2007-$2500
2008-$3125
2009-$3906

Thats a 94.3% increae in 3yrs almost doubling your current property taxes in Scranton and school taxes will rise again and then what?????????????

The residents of Scranton are for change and welcome it and anything that can help this city to grow and expand. We want this city to be grand again and we want it done right but at what cost????????????????
When does the burden on the residents out way the need to change???
How much is tooo much????
Paul if you can debate without quoting the mayors inflated stats and smudged crime stats and debate the reality of what is happening in Scranton then please grow up abit and try to understand that you are part of the problem and in no way part of the solution. Pittston needs you my friend and we think that we can get by without your help right now. Thanks for all the nice pics of the wealthy houses in the city......

[mm_mary73]

Originally Posted by jak163

It's fine if you don't want to debate, but I don't think you should get cranky if someone contradicts you.

I am not aware of exactly when or how you've contradicted me. I try not to make generalizations, as it can be detrimental in my line of work, but reading your responses have lead me to the conclusion that your have a specific mindset where the issue of personal opportunity, or lack of it, is concerned. I respect that, but don't fault me for offering the notion that there may be other views or insult me by calling me "cranky". However, I must correct myself; Raleigh was rated #1 in Forbes. I saw the article last evening. I hesitate to call our state capitol a "boomtown" since there are three major universities in the immediate area along with several private institutions and community colleges and the research facilities that are generally associated with them. Jobs are not plentiful, unless you have the specific skills related to the research industry. Nothing drastic has happened in Raleigh, except the Speaker of the House admitted to taking bribes and has been replaced.

[Agrippa]

I find it interesting that the Doherty-hating crew loves to talk about increasing taxes on one hand, but then when it comes to what actually drives the cost of running the city, they side-step the conversation.

As a resident and property owner of Scranton, I am not happy with the tax increase...any tax increase for that matter. However, the grim reality of running the city is that personnel costs probably account for 60+ percent of all expenditures. One can not be intellectually honest and advocate for BOTH reduced taxes AND increased wages and benefits for city employees. This is the kind of "having it both ways" nonsense that politicians pull every day and which has gotten Scranton (and other cities) into trouble time and time again. Yes, there is fat in the Doherty budget, and yes, the city can be run more efficiently. However those two statements WERE ALSO true during the last mayors tenure and they WILL BE true during the tenure of the next mayor.

In the end, simply demonizing Doherty will solve NOTHING, other than to further the careers of his adversaries. That, my friends, will NOT SOLVE a single problem facing the city.

[weluvpa]

I never said I was against the increase as much as the amount of the increase this year then next and the year after. I have not demonized the mayor, I have said all along that I am pro scranton and if this mayor can get it done right then lets go. The reality is that this mayor started with a surplus budget and now we are $300,000,000 in long term debt. There have been many new job creations in the last 5 yrs and those salaries are unnecessary. This city did well without creating all those new jobs for political contributors and their families. The spending has been out of control and now the tax increase as well as the debt and there really is not much to show for $300,000,000 in Scranton today, not while neighborhoods are being aloud to flood and police and firefighter positions are being cut and well lets say after this storm that the DPW is a mess and in need of some house cleaning. Why is it when anyone says that they do not like whats going on in scranton that they are immediately against Doherty. I have alot of friends that voted for the mayor and now they would vote in Mickey Mouse if they thought it would get this debt down.

2001 surplus budget
2007 $300,000,000 in debt.
Where did the money go?????

Its not a difficult question to understand is it? Where's the $$$$$$??????
Show me the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$!!!!!

[CHSgrad]

Mary:

Should have checked this earlier but Raleigh is indeed in the Piedmont, so there would be a contradiction, since you were suggesting the fortunes of people in the Piedmont were similar to those of Scrantonians.

Also I think you are describing the economy too narrowly. This from Wikipedia:

Raleigh's industries include electrical, medical, electronic, telecommunications equipment, clothing apparel, food processing, paper products, and pharmaceuticals. Raleigh is part of North Carolina's Research Triangle, a center of researching and textiles. The city is a major retail shipping point for eastern North Carolina and a wholesale distributing point for food stores.

The following companies are based in or operated in Raleigh:

* Siemens Power Transportation & Distribution
* Progress Energy
* Red Hat
* IBM
* Parata
* Asea Brown Boveri
* First Citizens Bank
* Golden Corral
* RBC Centura
* Epic Games
* Lenovo
* Cisco
* Carquest
* Nortel Networks
* Dickinson,Logan,Todd & Barber, Inc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raleigh,_North_Carolina

If even one of these companies decided to locate in Scranton, the city leaders would hail it as the rebirth of the city. What industries does Scranton have?

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by jak163

What industries does Scranton have?

For starters:

Prudential Financial
MetLife
Sanofi-Pasteur Pharmaceuticals
CIGNA HealthCare
Solid Cactus
IBM
Lockheed-Martin
Cinram
Tobyhanna Army Depot
Chamberlain Manufacturing
Diversified Information Technologies
Bank of America
State Farm Insurance
Sallie Mae
TMG Health
Kraft Foods
FedEx
UPS
CONVERGYS
Gentex


Those of you who claim "there are no jobs in NEPA" either truly aren't looking dilligently enough or simply don't have the skills necessary to match the desires of prospective employers in a rapidly-changing, ever-competitive workplace environment. With the advent of the Wall Street West initiative, you'll soon see even more white-collar, high-tech, family-sustaining employers moving into the Scranton/Pocono region as NYC firms seek to establish "satellite" locations far enough away from the Big Apple to not be inconvenienced in the event of the next terrorist attack yet close enough to be within a reasonable drive of the city.

[SteelCityRising]

By the way, have you compared the educational attainment rates of both metropolitan areas? The reason why Scranton isn't blossoming technologically into diversified employment sectors is because so few locals feel as if it is essential to either attend college to earn a degree or to somehow learn other specialized skills to make themselves more competitive candidates in the workplace. As long as so few adults in our area think a college degree is a good "stepping stone" to a better career path, then you'll never see abundant wealth in our region. Fortunately, nearly my entire graduating class from high school either went to college, had learned a successful trade through a Vo-Tech program, or enlisted in the military. I'd estimate that roughly 70% of my graduating class will possess a Bachelor's Degree in a few more years, and of those, perhaps half with go on for their Master's Degree or even their Doctorates. If enough of these people hang around NEPA, then the 2010 Census will show a huge upswing in our local percentage of college graduates, which will make us more attractive to prospective employers when they view the region's demographics. What high-caliber firm would want to locate in our area now when they'd either have to invest a lot of financial resources in training or importing skilled labor from other areas? Until our area "catches up" to everyone else with educational attainment levels, then we'll always be laggards. This isn't the fault of Scranton itself; it's the fault of the lack of ambition amongst her people! I can't name one U.S. City with at least 1/3 of its adults holding Bachelor's Degrees that is not a hotbed for high-paying employers. As long as our area hovers in that dreadful 1/6 range, we're never going to be able to hope for more than uneducated positions in telemarketing, truck driving, janitorial work, clerical work, etc. If you want Scranton to become home to GlaxoSmytheKline, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Boeing, or any other MAJOR, well-compensating employer, then you better rally your neighbors to get off their rear-ends and to stop expecting good-paying jobs to be handed to them without preparation on their part first in terms of furthering their educational backgrounds and/or skill levels. I don't expect to be earning a great $50,000 salary right out of college with my Master's Degree, much less with barely a high school diploma, so I don't know why so many of those in NEPA who have no degree insist that they are "worth" that type of salary? If you want the "big bucks", then you have to put forth the effort to land that dream job!

[Agrippa]

Weluvpa...I was not referring to you specifically, but rather the rabid DohertyDeceit crew. I should have been more direct in my post, as believe it or not, I agree with a few of your well reasoned points. Where I draw the line though is when the "Doherty is guilty of ____________ (fill in our favorite scandal/crime)". FOR EXAMPLE...While I am inclined to agree that Mayor Doherty's OCED head isn't qualified for the job, I will not engage in that discussion when it is surrounded in the same breath with tawdry rumors of marital infidelity...and I am not alone in that regard. In essence, the Pilchesky's of the area have poisoned the well when it comes to an honest debate about the Mayor's effectiveness. For them, it seems that the debate isn't about disagreeing with the Mayor's performance, it's about hating the Mayor as a person. THAT KARL ROVE STYLE OF POLITICS ('SLASH & BURN') LEADS NOWHERE.

SWB...loved your post. I happen to work for one of the employers on your list (a certain large financial services company with rock for a logo), so in anticipation of the negative replies you will get, here is some information on that employer...

...we have been in NEPA since 1989
...we bought our building when the lease was up
...our wages are among the best in all of NEPA; our starting salaries for college hires are competitive with the salaries offered by other employers in large metropolitan areas
...our voluntary turnover has averaged about 3% over the years (compared to about 15% for similar offices in New Jersey)
...in addition to a full cafeteria, our building also has an exercise facility
...we have over 700 professional working in our building
...of the approximately 700 people working in our building, only about 120 work in a call center (which is an in-bound call center by the way); the rest have jobs that span computer programmers to client relationship managers

As you can see, there is no coal-miner attitude where I work. Our office is among the most productive facilities operated by our employer.

Yes, SWB is right, there are great employers in the area. Are there enough of them? No, but there can never be enough.

[SteelCityRising]

Agrippa, it's interesting that you should mention Prudential, as my father used to work there for a number of years before he was outsourced somehow to IBM, which also did (does?) share the same facility behind WNEP. He loved working there, and I loved being a part of his work family indirectly as well. He HATED IBM, even though his salary jumped, because they didn't treat their employees nearly as well as Prudential did. I remember my mother, sister, and myself accompanying my father to volunteer with the Boys & Girls Club of Scranton, and I can still recall how much fun it was to be a part of something so great, even though I was only perhaps 10 at the time. I also remember some sort of family fun day tailgating thingies held at the Lackawanna County Stadium with food, entertainment, and seating for the ball game. Your particular company (and his former one) are truly an asset to this region, not only for its employment options but also for its community involvement, yet it is often overlooked by so many people. If you ever have openings in the future for a CPA, let me know, and I'll be sure to mention you for a referral bonus.