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<p>Tony George pledged to bring law and order as Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s mayor, but his first few weeks in office have been characterized by something that&#8217;s starting to resemble chaos.</p><p>Let&#8217;s review:</p><p>&#8226; His choice for assistant city attorney, Peter Moses, drew no support from the city council&#8217;s members, who said they should have been consulted on the pick, and caused other people to publicly object. Moses soon withdrew his name from consideration for the $52,500-per-year post.</p><p>&#8226; Twenty-one days after George took his oath, the mayor&#8217;s office announced he would not regularly attend council meetings. Instead, according to a news release, George will sit in only if an agenda item warrants his participation. Otherwise, his department heads will be on hand to answer questions.</p><p>The mayor indicated he will remain accessible to the public in other forums and at City Hall; his office can be reached by calling 570-208-4158.</p><p>Nevertheless, observers rightly question this decision, wondering if it defies George&#8217;s campaign assurances of a more open administration. Conveniently, it also allows him to dodge face-to-face criticism, an unfortunate hallmark of council meetings in recent years.</p><p>&#8226; George repeatedly warned that his predecessor&#8217;s budget for this year might be pie-in-the-sky, requiring the city council to revise the spending plan or brace for necessary layoffs.</p><p>Against this gloomy backdrop, he recently created two new jobs and hired acquaintances to fill them. The move seemingly defies logic. Can the city afford more employees or not?</p><p>&#8226; One of the workers George tabbed for a City Hall job apparently doesn&#8217;t live in Wilkes-Barre, as required. She reportedly helps to care for an elderly parent who lives in the city and is &#8220;there most of the time,&#8221; George said.</p><p>Rules are rules; the mayor, who formerly served as the city&#8217;s police chief, should abide by them or work through the proper channels to change them.</p><p>In the five weeks since George took office, he has done plenty to invite skepticism. On the flip side, he has done precious little to publicly convey the notion that city policing has changed, patrolling is up and people are more secure. Wasn&#8217;t safety to be the centerpiece of his administration?</p><p>He assured supporters prior to his November election that he was &#8220;going to hit the ground running.&#8221; So far, however, it appears he&#8217;s dashed in the wrong direction.</p><p>The mayor certainly can recover from this rocky start. He might begin by revisiting a few recent decisions, including his accessibility or lack thereof.</p><p>More critically, he needs to honor his commitment to make crime-fighting his top priority.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tony George</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_George_Tony.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tony George</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>

Our Opinion: Rocky start to Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tony George’s tenure, but he can recover