Thursday, February 20, 2020

Really?

The new mayor of Scranton is soliciting ideas for a new city flag.

Let's back up a bit.

A mayor will be judged on safe streets, efficient firefighting, timely trash collection, nice parks and filled pot holes.  Financial solvency is also a plus.  Scranton is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy and it's been that way for a while.  It is a problem inherited by the new mayor.  It's none of her doing, but it's now on her plate.

A flag isn't high on the list.

As I have noted here before, it's also a mayor's job to get citizens feeling good about themselves and their city.  Scranton's Jim McNulty was the best I ever saw-- master showman, fantastic promoter.  He thought big, and that is a rare commodity around here.

There is nothing wrong with the old flag.  A new one might be the first step toward a new image, and a symbol of new thinking.  It just seems to me there are other problems that need to be tackled first.  It's like slapping a fresh coat of paint on a house with a crumbling foundation.