Ain't no party like a Scranton party ... but the pay sucks.

I sympathize with the mayor - I think he's got a bonehead council - but wow. ...

Mayor of Scranton - in spite of judge's orders - slashes pay of ALL city employees to minimum wage.

This has to be a stunt? I don't see how he can legally do this. The police and fire unions aside, I don't see who he - or anyone else - can justify cutting someone's salary from say $16 an hour to minimum wage.



http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/07/09/political-statemate-leads-to-city-workers-salaries-cut-down-to-minimum-wage-in/

 

This is an old story.

 

I bet the Koch brothers are behind this. What's Joe Biden going to say. His hard scrabble city is falling apart.

 

I grew up in Scranton. This does not surprise me one bit.

 

If you don't live there, you can't comment [/poin]

County and municipal governments in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties are pretty much broke. I've only lived in the region for 18 months, so I can't tell you the causes, but corruption doesn't help. The other part is there aren't many jobs to be had up there, which hurts city coffers as there are a few local income tax in Pennsylvania.

 

Its a Prop 13 problem.

 

Surprised with thriving companies like Dunder Mifflin.

 

I lived in Scranton for 18 years and it is tough to explain all the reasons, but corruption is a big issue. They call it the "Scranton Plan." Basically, you work for the city for a few years (10 was the norm at one time), get "injured" on the job, declare handicapped for life, get full retirement and benefits at age 40, open bar and/or find work that requires almost no skill.

Now, not everyone is on "the plan," but it must get tempting if you see all the guys who pull it off. Some of my favorite scandals from Scranton:

-- ExamScam: Potential city cops would take a test. The test was damn near impossible without the answers. If you had an inside track, you just went to the bathroom and found the answers on the toilet paper in a stall.

-- City jail director (though may have been county) using inmates to work on his home and rental properties.
-- Mike Munchak's cousin AJ getting seven years in prison for kickbacks while he was in charge of the county.
-- Pretty much every problem ever at Lackawanna County Stadium ( home of the AAA Yankees)
-- Lead singer for Starship getting mugged ( though years later, he revealed he got in a fight with the guitar player)
-- Jake the Snake's python getting stolen and then abandoned while doing a show in Scranton,


Ok, so the last two weren't quite corruption, but still give you a feel for the town.

 

The Steamtown Mall is thriving as well. It's a dead mall walking.

 

The judge who sentenced kids to a private juvenile facility in exchange for cash from the owners of the jail was a peach as well, but can't blame that on Scranton as he was from down the road in Wilkes-Barre.

 

No wonder the head of purchasing for the school system can be bought off with lunch at Chilis.

 

Years ago, The Washington Post did a story trying to find the armpit of America. Wilkes-Barre finished third with the caveat that it looked good when to compared to Scranton, which finished second because the residents take a certain amount of pride in the corruption there.