Monday, July 21, 2008

Who's In Charge Here?


Nothing charges out today as a "must write about" topic, so here are thoughts on a few things...

The FBI has decided against recommending criminal charges against former Scranton tax collector Ken McDowell. The FBI launched an investigation after more than $12 million mysteriously appeared in accounts McDowell oversaw.

The Scranton Times-Tribune did a very good story on the case a couple weeks ago. One line jumped out of the story and bit me on the nose. It is attributed to "veteran office employees." "He (McDowell) also failed to make monthly financial reports to city, county and school district, which also is required by law." My question is this: How many people were asleep at the switch? You have the tax collector failing to make monthly statements to three different agencies. Didn't anyone realize something was wrong? Didn't anyone speak up? Why? Why not?

Scranton's new public access channel really hasn't hit the ground running, has it? There are always issues with a new enterprise, but I expected more than a few meetings and a whole bunch of graphics and public service announcements.

Some of you may have noticed I've been playing with the blog page header. It's still not where I want it, and I'll be experimenting a little more in the days to come. Yes, I need a hobby-- badly.

Good luck on your bike ride, Joe.