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First Posted: 7/16/2013 WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Seated alone before city council Tuesday night, Darla Carey spoke for many people concerned about crime in the city.
Her three-minute appearance seemingly overshadowed the other speakers and business council handled during its nearly two hours of meetings, even the call for ending the prayer said after the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of the public sessions.
Carey, of Gates Street, read from a letter, chastising Mayor Tom Leighton for being &#8220;self-centered&#8221; and &#8220;selfish&#8221; and abandoning her and others who can&#8217;t sit on their porches, go to the store or walk the streets for fear of being robbed or killed.
&#8220;I know Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s past, but I&#8217;m afraid of its future,&#8221; said Carey, 53, who said she is a lifelong city resident. &#8220;You should be ashamed of yourself for what the city has become. Are you that blind when traveling around town how disgraceful it is?&#8221;
While acknowledging that the mayor on his own can&#8217;t protect the city, Carey accused him of turning his head on his constituents.
&#8220;We&#8217;re afraid,&#8221; she said, adding it was time for him to begin listening to people like her.
&#8220;You promised us a revitalized city, a good town to raise families,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Show me where. Take your blinders off, put your phone away and stop your antics and listen.
&#8220;Our home, our city has gone to the dogs,&#8221; she said.
Carey refused to let up on the mayor, telling him he&#8217;s no different from others just because he lives in the well-t0-do neighborhood of Barney Farms.
&#8220;Your job as our elected official is to protect the fellow citizens and keep our neighborhoods safe. You&#8217;re not doing that. Our police can&#8217;t keep up. Crime is not down. It&#8217;s not reported to us. You need to start doing your job,&#8221; she demanded, providing him with a starting point. &#8220;Walk the streets. Observe. Talk with your neighbors all over the city and listen to us.&#8221;
Many people in the packed council chambers applauded her when she finished, and the mayor defended himself from the criticism.
&#8220;I go up and down crime-ridden streets every single day, throughout the city,&#8221; he said.
Since 2003 crime is down, he added, and his administration has spent $7 million on equipment over 10 years. When he took office in 2004 he cut all departments except the police, he pointed out. But over the past few years, the poor economy has hampered his efforts to add to the force, he said.
&#8220;I have done, the furthest thing from the truth is turn my head on crime,&#8221; he said.
The city recorded its sixth homicide of the year earlier this month, and gun crimes and shootings have plagued the city and alarmed residents.
&#8220;We&#8217;ve admitted violent crime is up. It&#8217;s up,&#8221; the mayor said.
Even his neighborhood isn&#8217;t immune, because there have been break-ins there too, he said.
But the mayor said he refuses to surrender and has committed resources to fight back.
&#8220;We&#8217;re not going to lose this battle. We&#8217;re not going to lose our neighborhoods. They think they can take our neighborhoods; they&#8217;re wrong,&#8221; he said. &#8220;My commitment is crime fighting and the safety of our neighborhoods.&#8221;
He offered Carey an invitation to walk with him the next time he goes out.

W-B resident bashes mayor over crime