Scranton Police Called to Council Meeting---AGAIN! (Harrisburg, Pittston: city hall, credit, attorney)
Northeastern PennsylvaniaScranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pocono area
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Well, our very own anti-government radical "WeLuvPA" was part of a major brou-ha-ha of sorts that erupted at last night's Scranton City Council meeting, in which he apparently got into a physical spat with a city police officer who was trying to break up ANOTHER disturbance with two other attendees, one of which had caused a previous disturbance at the meeting so vile that it had to be adjourned early.
One city resident accused Council President Judith Gatelli of using the police department to spy on him---a claim which she denied. When he continued with his accusations against her, she asked him to leave the podium, at which point he simply raised his voice and began to yell unintelligibly. President Gatelli moved to adjourn the meeting. Shortly thereafter another city resident yelled that Mr. Patilla, the offending party, was an "idiot," at which point the two of them went at it! A police officer got between the two of them, at which point the officer and Mr. Patilla erupted into a brief verbal spat.
A Scranton officer escorted City Councilwoman Sherry Nealon-Fanuci and President Gatelli, who was visibly in tears, to their vehicles, and fellow councilman Robert McGoff left visibly angry, quoted as saying "I've had enough." Councilwoman Fanucci was quoted as saying "This has gotten totally out of hand. It's impossible to conduct city business anymore. This has got to stop."
This comes on the heels of another council fracas earlier in the year. President Gatelli likewise motioned to adjourn a meeting early back in March when regular complainer Ray Lyman refused to leave the podium. A few of his "finer" rants can be found on YouTube:
The next week President Gatelli canceled the regularly-scheduled council meeting due to "threats" made against her on the web site DohertyDeceit, which is run by anti-government extraordinaire Joseph Pilchesky: DohertyDeceit
One of the members on his web site created an avatar showing a well-dressed man (possibly a politician) having his head blown off by a shotgun, and I could understand how she could perceive that as a "threat" against her when she and Mayor Doherty are the two "targets" of that site.
That lead to a major outcry from city residents, who showed up at the next meeting in anger. That meeting was in "lockdown mode," in which the number of residents allowed inside at one time was limited and monitored, people were passed through metal detectors at a separate entrance from city elected officials, police officers were roaming looking for potential assassins, etc.
Shortly thereafter, Joseph Pilchesky filed a seven-figure lawsuit against both President Gatelli and the city for slandering him in the Scranton Times-Tribune by implying that his web site had something to do with the threats. Now, President Gatelli has filed a countersuit against Joseph Pilchesky, in which she is hoping a judge will order him to release the identities of those involved in posting the anti-political rants on his web site (one of whom may very well be our own "WeLuvPA", who seems to have trouble keeping his anger in check).
In a follow-up article, I had to laugh out loud when Mr. Pilchesky made the outlandish claim to the Scranton Times-Tribune that Mrs. Gatelli was more than welcome to register on his web site herself in order to refute the claims made against her, as he has an "open" policy for registration. HA! I similarly tried registering to his little site of hell under the user name "ScrantonWilkesBarre," and I never got approved. My guess is that he recognized me as being a perceived "Doherty Loyalist" from the City-Data boards during his brief tenure here (during which "BigBuddy", one of his minions, posted outlandish personal information about my family on here before being banned by Yac). As others have said, Pilchesky will ban people from his own web site if they don't agree to slam Doherty, Gatelli, Fanucci, etc. into the ground. I'm currently working on a rebuttal letter to the editor of the Scranton Times-Tribune to refute Mr. Pilchesky's outlandish claims about open registration, and I'll cite my own experience with NOT being approved in order to discredit him. If he decides to sue me, then I'll counter-sue him as well for violating my rights to free speech.
All I know for sure is that Scranton is full of a bunch of uneducated people at this point in time if you can't even control yourselves long enough to sit through a city council meeting! YOU are the ones giving our city its "black eye" to the rest of the BosWash Corridor, not a "corrupt government." When headlines like these are gleaming on the front page of your local daily paper, then why would anyone want to take you seriously? As for me, I'm glad that there are still people out there like ConorsDad and ScrantonVideoProductions who have proven to me that they can live life like NORMAL PEOPLE in Scranton, and I'll be among their ranks in a few years.
What, if anything, can be done to end these constant political "brou-ha-has" so that city business can continue and the city can move forward?
What Can be Done to Fix Scranton's Political Mess?
Nothing. Stupid is as Stupid Does. Current solution. It's not working.
Halt All Public Inputs at City Council Meetings Until Further Notice. DING! The "public" is not offering anything other than inane rants, accusations, and personal attacks. The general public is not represented at these meetings because a select few speakers, presuming to represent "the people", refuse to let the elected representatives do their jobs. My solution? Five minutes, agenda items only. Period. One appearance per person per month. No more WWE style "citizen participation" crap. And as if you're a plantiff in a lawsuit against the City, you are not to appear at Council meetings AT ALL. You're flaming the fire, exaggerating situations, encouraging beligerance, and just plain making matters much worse than they need to be.
Assign More Police Officers at Meetings to Keep People In-Line Unecessary. Three dozen or so civilized adults should be able to behave themselves without police intervention.
Blow up Scranton and Start All Over Again on Fresh Ground! Cutting off the nose to spite the face. Dissolve the current city government and start from scratch.
Show Meetings on YouTube to Make a Fool Out of Residents Like Ray Lyman Channel 61 isn't doing that already? Television cameras really need to be removed for at least a year. Scranton residents are very clearly not mature enough to handle their presence.
Raise Taxes Until People Learn to Behave Themselves Only so much blood can be drawn from a stone.
While a lot of people are to blame for last night, Dan's situation was totally avoidable. As someone who is campaigning for public office (to whatever extent his quest for Controller can be considered campaigning), he has a responsibility to raise above the fray. Take your seat and shut up for a minute until it blows over. Don't be a stubborn jacknut and talk back like some BS tough guy. THAT'S the type of attitude that needs to be checked at the door. By everyone. Council included.
It appears as if our very own anti-political radical, WeLuvPA, is being issued a citation for harrassing a police officer for "forcefully shouldering" him at the meeting. Daniel claims that the officer shouldered him, and that he is the victim. Considering the Times-Tribune has a habit of slanting stories against those who oppose the mayor, I'll reserve my judgments at this time. However, I'd just like to add that the people of Scranton display no class or maturity when they behave in this childish manner. There is no reason why council members should leave weeping with tear-stained cheeks or why people should have to be arrested. I have yet to hear of any other municipality in our region where the residents regularly behave like, well, uncivilized beasts!
Meanwhile, two others at the meeting are being investigated by the D.A. for their roles in the confrontations. After Mr. Samuel Patilla refused to step down from the podium when he was told he was "out of order" by President Gatelli after he accused her of having police stalk him near his home, another member from the audience, Charles Newcomb, yelled out that he was an "idiot." That prompted the two to jump each other before an office intervened.
Furthermore, the uneducated, moronic residents of the city of Scranton showed themselves to be utterly tasteless and inhumane by lighting up the boards of the anti-political site DohertyDeceit with heinous comments about a 17-year-old junior city council member, including calling him "Hitler", and "Boy King," and then by writing "Doug Miller is nothing more than a puppet. He needs his strings cut before someone uses the them to strangle the cocky twit who has no respect whatsoever for his elders." During that same meeting, Junior Councilman had a heated confrontation with a city resident in the audience who told him not to speak.
He was quoted after the meeting as saying "These people are animals. They are supposed to be adults, but look at how they act." His mother expresses fear that she may soon have to force him to stop attending meetings for his own personal safety!
THIS HAS GOT TO STOP YOU UNEDUCATED BUFFOONS! WeLuvPA, I hear you're running for elected office now. If it turns out you're found guilty of shouldering that police officer at the meeting, I'll be sure to urge everyone on MySpace, Facebook, and on various other internet forums to not vote for you if you can't handle yourself with common decency and class. Why would anyone in the city want someone like that representing them?
I agree!
I watched the meetings, so many times...but, when it turned into some sort of "Jerry Springer Episode" I stopped watching, in disgust.
While some people love to watch confrontation, verbal and physical, it just reminds me, that those people have a lot to do with the city, and the future of all aspects pertaining to it.....and just that kind of primal acting, scares and freaks me out!
How can that be good for a city, needing all the help, support and good press it can get?
A heated head, full of rage...how can ANYTHING logical come out of that, and just WHO, in their right mind, would put any weight into that?
Sorry, if people are not in full control over themselves, you can not be in control over a city and it's best interest, speak for it's residents, and can not be taken seriously!
Sorry, if you are up and out there, speaking on behalf FOR the city, your behavior BETTER BE IMPECCIBLE in EVERY ASPECT!!!!!
That's my take and "nough said (coming from the average joe-schmo, a former resident,employee in and lover of the city.)
BTW...this behavor is not new, but gotten worse...even when I lived in the city in 1993.....
Last edited by MB2; 06-02-2007 at 02:27 PM..
Reason: typo...what else is new??? :-p
First lets start by saying that I am not running for the office of controller and that decision was made after the primary. Second if I actually shouldered into the police officer like they allege I did, I would have been arrested on the spot for aggrevated assault on a police officer. The harassment charge is solely to try and shut me up on the Daron Northeast issue that I have brought forth to council and the EPA, DEP. This issue is a huge political, financial mess involoving millions of campaign funds involved with spot zoning for HEAVY industrial plant that was aloud to open in light industry area, in a neighborhood. There are several residents that have already been diagnosed with permanant lung damage due to the dust that this plant produces during production. There are several private neusance(sp?) classaction lawsuits filed against this company and some of the children of the residents have missed over 40 days of school due to breathing problems and have been told that they will never recover from this. It is basically black lung but above ground, they are suffering from silicosis fibrocisis of their lungs. The owners of this company have contributed over $200,000 plus to the mayors last two campaigns to ensure that they can operate without a variance or site plan review which both are required by the state. they have repeatly fined by the EPA and the DEP but yet the city has turned a blind eye to this.
I do not agree with what happened the other night but i will tell you this my friend Paul, that man that you call uneducated(Mr. Patilla) is more qualified to be a cpa then you are right now. He is very educated and has a degree in accounting, and he has severed his country as well. Sam is abit too animated at the meetings and I'll agree that he has to tone it down, but Mr. Newcomb was sent to upset Sam. I'll give you a little history on Mr. Newcomb. About 4 years back his son was a very vocal outspoken resident against some of the mayors doings and when they were sick of hearing him they went after him and found that he was illegally collecting benefits for himself and his girlfriend under the guise of a false marrige license. He was caught and charged with 6 counts of fraud, well after they talked to his dad and him and they said that they would never talk out against the admin then the charges would go away and they did. This is all true and if you google it you'll find the artciles involving him and the fraud. This was all a set up and they decided to get me as a bonus. Harassment has to show a pattern of harassing the person and they do not have the pattern, if they had anything they would have arrested me on the spot for assault. this will be fought and won on my behalf. There were close to 10 witnesses including the solicitor that were standing by me when this happened, I wasn't even in the room at the time if the argument.
As far as the jr council president Mr. Miller he never left the room and just sat there, what he did do was call people animals in the paper and on the radio thus opening himself up to the ridicule that he is receiving from the residents. He is only 17 and there for really should not be speaking on the issues of the adults in the city because he is not even old enough to vote and there for cannot affect change to begin with, Paul at least you are old enough to vote. As far DD is concerned I do not post, but I am registered under my real name and my user name is my fullname so i am hiding nothing from anyone there and I feel that I do not have to. my statements are factual and truthful and I always have the info to back up my statments. This is what happens when you try to help 250 houses that flood and try to protect close to hundred families from a huge enviromental hazard in their backyard. The problem is that I uncovered the money line to campaigns and the mayor along with the state and local zoning violations that if enforced would close this company down yesterday.
I amtired of trying to justify myself and my actions to you, again you do not have to suffer under flooding and enviromental hazards and you just want to paint a picture that fits you ideals and not the reality of the city and what has happened here. your right to free speech is not a issue on DD if you can rant and rave here and make false statements but when we respond to you you cry to the moderators like a baby and thus I get blocked for a week, where is my right to free speech here on this site. Paul again and i have said this in the past, you are a child in amans world and when you can sack up and move out and move here and get involved other than being a armchair quaterback that will not get in the game I have no respect for you anymore and as well what happend to Scrantonvideoproductions after our meeting???? he has not posted here since but yet I have seen him at the council meetings, hmmmmmm maybe he realized how childish and uninformed on the issues you are once he moved here and had to be subjected to the issues himself personally. My anger stays put but only comes out toward your childish rants about the hard working and hard fighting residents of this city that make you look like the child you are hiding at home. I do welcome you to this city as well as all that want to move here because we are going to need all the tax dollars we can get to climb this mountain of debt that this admin has left us with. the mayor has annouced in city hall that he will not be seeking a third term because he knows he cannot win and will go out on top then be beaten down in a landslide election against him. i am tired of this forum and its slant towards you so if you want to talk then meet me again but if you cannot have the respect to speak to me face to face on these issues then like Mr. Miller, I ahve no time in my life for anymore children then I already have at home so thanks for the fun and pictures, keep up the cheerleading and I'll see you at the voting both, oh wait you do not live here so you cannot vote on Scranton issues.
Haha like half of the people said to blow up scranton and start over. That has my vote.
SWB got that one from me
Quote:
Originally Posted by weluvpa
I amtired of trying to justify myself and my actions to you, again you do not have to suffer under flooding and enviromental hazards and you just want to paint a picture that fits you ideals and not the reality of the city and what has happened here. your right to free speech is not a issue on DD if you can rant and rave here and make false statements but when we respond to you you cry to the moderators like a baby and thus I get blocked for a week, where is my right to free speech here on this site. Paul again and i have said this in the past, you are a child in amans world and when you can sack up and move out and move here and get involved other than being a armchair quaterback that will not get in the game I have no respect for you anymore and as well what happend to Scrantonvideoproductions after our meeting???? he has not posted here since but yet I have seen him at the council meetings, hmmmmmm maybe he realized how childish and uninformed on the issues you are once he moved here and had to be subjected to the issues himself personally. My anger stays put but only comes out toward your childish rants about the hard working and hard fighting residents of this city that make you look like the child you are hiding at home. I do welcome you to this city as well as all that want to move here because we are going to need all the tax dollars we can get to climb this mountain of debt that this admin has left us with. the mayor has annouced in city hall that he will not be seeking a third term because he knows he cannot win and will go out on top then be beaten down in a landslide election against him. i am tired of this forum and its slant towards you so if you want to talk then meet me again but if you cannot have the respect to speak to me face to face on these issues then like Mr. Miller, I ahve no time in my life for anymore children then I already have at home so thanks for the fun and pictures, keep up the cheerleading and I'll see you at the voting both, oh wait you do not live here so you cannot vote on Scranton issues.
Yeah I got off my 1 week ban too. I didn't know you were also banned. That's cool i aint the only one gettin my first amendment right D-blocked.
I didn't know you bumrushed them POlice officers. I got some new respect for you man.
After reading all the problems scranton has, I am amazed. I didn't know that it sucked THAT bad. OMG you guys are living in a mess. you gotta stop electing them crackheads to run scranton, I know it's hard to find sober people to represent scranton but you can elect me. I'm sober 5 days a week. I'll getcha out of it.
First of all, any banishment was on your own behalf; I had NOTHING to do with "crying to the moderators." If you'd like, I'll actually ask Yac and/or the Administrator to send you a PM detailing the fact that I indeed did NOT have ANYTHING to do with your punishment. Hell, just to show you that I'm by no means their "favorite" either, bear in mind that I was likewise given a profile infraction by Markablue for personal attacks against you, as well as temporarily banned a few months ago. If you want to try to sour people against me by proclaiming that I "cried to the moderators," then be my guest and once again you'll be eating crow when I ask them nicely to verify this to you through a PM.
Next, part of the word "CPA" is "public." In this sense, Mr. Patilla is supposed to rise above immaturity and allowing his anger to get the better of him while dealing with people, whether it be in private practice or at a city council meeting. I saw the edited version of the meeting on Channel 61 (Lord only knows what the UNedited version must have looked like ), and Mr. Patilla was visibly yelling at Mrs. Gatelli, and I deem the "animated" antics that Mr. Patilla expressed to have been very "out-of-order." I'm no fan of Mrs. Gatelli myself, but she at least deserves to be treated with respect as a fellow human being. Having her leave in tears is inexcusable. If he feels as if Mr. Newcomb is needlessly harassing him on the command of Mrs. Gatelli, then perhaps he should consult his attorney and file a lawsuit against both her and the city, as Mr. Pilchesky currently is doing. What did he gain by getting another meeting abruptly adjourned? What did he gain by once again causing the front page headline of the Scranton Times-Tribune to be dominated by the phrase "Fallout follows fracas," which furthers taints the city's reputation? What did he gain by once again irritating others in the room who might have wished to speak afterwards? I know if I were on the list to speak after him and lost that chance due to his rage-filled tirade, then I too would have called him an "idiot" without hesitation.
Do you know how many times I've wanted to just reach out from the podium and strangle the three knuckleheads who were elected to the Pittston Township Board of Supervisors for just being too thick-headed to take anything I have to say at the meetings into consideration? When the new "Pittston Crossings" mall on Highway 315 was being proposed, I asked if this would lead to a mass abandonment to the existing aging retail corridor along North Township Boulevard. I thoroughly researched the developer's previous projects and concluded that many of the tenants to be expected would be the same ones already in both the Pittston Commons and Pittston Plaza centers (Hallmark, Radio Shack, Chinese buffets, Fashion Bug, dollar stores, etc). I also inquired about impacts regarding water runoff, traffic congestion on Highway 315 and Oak Street during peak hours, air quality, etc., and the three of them looked at me like a deer in headlights. Now that the project is nearing reality, I can't wait to just say "told ya so" when it turns out to be nothing but a recipe for disaster to the older retail strip corridor along North Township Boulevard, which will only serve to increase the level of blight in the township. Nevertheless, for as much as I think I can do a much better job than the three of them could ever hope to do combined, you don't see me raising my voice or acting "out-of-line," do you?
Perhaps Mr. Patilla should consider investing some money to take a 1-credit course at King's College entitled "Leadership for the 21st Century." I found it to be a very enlightening experience---one which will live on within me for years to come. Among our discussion topics included "Conflict with Civility," in which we explored methods in which to work through disagreements and tensions without running into roadblocks, arguments, etc. I sympathize with Mr. Patilla's situation, but he approached the matter in a rather immature manner. One thing I've noticed from Channel 61 is that many of the attendees of the meetings need to take a lesson or two in anger management.
P.S. For what it's worth, I'm not working this Thursday evening, so I plan to attend the city council meeting (assuming attendance quotas or limits, aren't re-enacted after this most recent brou-ha-ha). I do care very deeply about the city, and I'm still committed towards relocating there to open my business, restore a blighted home, raise my family, pay taxes, and volunteer to make the place a better place to live. However, I refuse to fall into the trap of allowing dirty politics to DOMINATE my life, as it seems to be doing with you. Everything I say about the city has to be countered by you with some sort of anti-political pot-shot, and I just don't see why? Don't you have any hope that the city can continue to survive on its own solely from private investors and through the determination and hard work of the city residents themselves, as opposed to relying on the unreliable city government to step up to the plate? Who cares if we have idiots at the helm? This city can still become an AWESOME place to live again if we the people band together to make it happen. We don't need Doherty, Gatelli, or even the over-worshipped Evans to hold our hands through the process of revitalization when the power to do great things lies within the community.
Daniel, I admire your passion for the city very much, but you're just a tad too much of a "Doomsday" type for my tastes. Yes, $300,000,000 in debt is an unimaginable chunk of change to be indebted, and a 25% rise in the city's portion of property taxes each year for the next three years might be burdensome to city residents on fixed incomes, but, overall, there is hope for a better tomorrow in the city. Why am I the ONLY one who can see that on this forum---one in which I've now become the "bad guy" to everyone because I choose to try to see potential where everyone else sees distress.
Haha like half of the people said to blow up scranton and start over. That has my vote.
SWB got that one from me
Yeah I got off my 1 week ban too. I didn't know you were also banned. That's cool i aint the only one gettin my first amendment right D-blocked.
I didn't know you bumrushed them POlice officers. I got some new respect for you man.
After reading all the problems scranton has, I am amazed. I didn't know that it sucked THAT bad. OMG you guys are living in a mess. you gotta stop electing them crackheads to run scranton, I know it's hard to find sober people to represent scranton but you can elect me. I'm sober 5 days a week. I'll getcha out of it.
And I though Harrisburg had problems.
You, too, should be advised that your banishment had nothing to do with me. I'm accustomed to most people on this forum hating me, and if I "cried to the moderators" at every whim, I'd probably end up banned in the long run for being such a cry-baby and cramping their styles!
Scranton is a total freakin' disaster politically, but I still get the sense from the people I choose to associate with that there is likewise hope for a better tomorrow. I recall the 1990s when Scranton was similarly a dump, yet nobody saw brighter days ahead. At least now there is a rapidly-growing percentage of the population that wants to see the city revived, including me, ScrantonVideoProductions, new downtown business owners, Rediscover Scranton, Scranton Tomorrow, Scranton Today, POWER, etc. Scranton is no longer "dead and gone forever." It is now a city on life-support and just about to receive an essential organ transplant that will bring it back from the cusps of death.
I also don't know why you're congratulating Daniel for having a run-in with the police at the meeting. To me, the Scranton Police Department is a force that is to be commended for putting their lives on the line everyday to keep our streets safe (There's a reason why neither Scranton nor its suburbs has had a murder in two years). Even though I've been pulled over now twice for speeding, I still have nothing but great things to say about the local police force.
With that said, if Daniel would learn to take some "chill pills," I'd gladly vote for him if he ever ran for public office in the city in a few years. He really isn't that bad of a guy---just a bit too heavy-handed with the "doom and gloom."
You, too, should be advised that your banishment had nothing to do with me. I'm accustomed to most people on this forum hating me, and if I "cried to the moderators" at every whim, I'd probably end up banned in the long run for being such a cry-baby and cramping their styles!
No worries, man! I was probably asking for it when I told that dude from TN to go sleep with his sister.
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I also don't know why you're congratulating Daniel for having a run-in with the police at the meeting.
Don't read into it too much, bro!
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With that said, if Daniel would learn to take some "chill pills," I'd gladly vote for him if he ever ran for public office in the city in a few years. He really isn't that bad of a guy---just a bit too heavy-handed with the "doom and gloom."
Oh brother.....has this become a threesome now???? LOL
I am still cheerleading here....lol......
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A police officer got between the two of them, at which point the officer and Mr. Patilla erupted into a brief verbal spat. 
YOU are the ones giving our city its "black eye" to the rest of the BosWash Corridor, not a "corrupt government." When headlines like these are gleaming on the front page of your local daily paper, then why would anyone want to take you seriously? 
As for me, I'm glad that there are still people out there like ConorsDad and ScrantonVideoProductions who have proven to me that they can live life like NORMAL PEOPLE in Scranton, and I'll be among their ranks in a few years. 
That has my vote.
