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Rainbow Walk in Kirby Park raises funds for Candy’s Place

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Letter to the Editor: ‘Notable voices’ calling for moratorium on natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania

<p>Tony George overdid it.</p><p>In only four months as Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s mayor, he charged ahead on his priorities, pushing through changes that have angered, alienated and, at times, dumbfounded observers, including certain people on the city&#8217;s payroll. But, just maybe, this city of about 41,000 residents will be better for it after the dustups &#8211; and legal grievances &#8211; have time to settle.</p><p>&#8220;Everything I do,&#8221; George said, &#8220;has a reason.&#8221;</p><p>The mayor met last week with the Times Leader&#8217;s Opinion Board members, answering questions about his first 100-plus days since occupying City Hall. The Democrat, an ex-police chief who served one term on city council, was talkative, impassioned, convincing and occassionally funny &#8211; all the things that helped us to decide to endorse him from among four contenders in last year&#8217;s primary. By the time the general election arrived, however, we had misgivings about George&#8217;s handling of a bungled campaign finance report and his terse responses to questions on a range of issues; we endorsed his Republican opponent.</p><p>The new mayor admitted on Tuesday that he had tried to do too much right out of the gate. He intends to find a slower, more sustainable pace, he told us.</p><p>We were encouraged to hear George say he hopes to open a line of communication with council members, yet do so in a way that won&#8217;t violate the state&#8217;s Sunshine Act.</p><p>On a similar note, we encourage the mayor to adopt a less gruff tone regarding city employees. At times, for example, he praises the police for doing a &#8220;great job.&#8221; But he can be perceived as callous when saying the city is paying individuals to do a job, not &#8220;to be happy.&#8221; As the city&#8217;s chief executive, he ideally should express the same concern for the well-being and satisfaction of workers as he does for city residents at large.</p><p>George&#8217;s top priorities, he said, remain public safety: minimizing crime and maximizing flood protection, accomplishing the latter chiefly by fixing the battered walls along Solomon Creek. &#8220;If that floods, nobody&#8217;s coming back to South Wilkes-Barre,&#8221; he said.</p><p>He defended the promotion of Marcella Lendacky to police chief, noting that, as former head of the department&#8217;s midnight shift, &#8220;she ran a tight ship.&#8221; Certain residents recently have told the mayor they&#8217;ve detected a more visible police presence in their neighborhoods, he said, reflecting his policy to focus on troublesome &#8220;hot spots.&#8221; Similarly, city firefighters participate in a &#8220;fire watch patrol,&#8221; leaving their stations multiple times per shift to check abandoned properties, he said.</p><p>George also outlined his views on the city budget &#8211; saying his administration inherited past-due bills that have since been paid &#8211; and new backup ambulance protocol &#8211; which, he maintains, typically doubles the numbers of ambulances available to the city from two to four.</p><p>Detractors argue the mayor isn&#8217;t accessible enough, but George insists his door at City Hall is open &#8211; provided you&#8217;re willing to wait in line. He recently met with George Albert, the developer of a proposed downtown revitalization project, and multiple local and state elected leaders, including the governor. Among George&#8217;s next goals: start a small business roundtable.</p><p>If able to slightly change his tact &#8211; trying his hand at consensus building and telegraphing changes before springing them on people &#8211; Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s mayor might find that he becomes even more effective and his term, while still busy, gets less stormy.</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/2016/05/web1_TonyGeorge1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tony George </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>

Our Opinion: After turbulent start to Tony George’s term, expect the Wilkes-Barre mayor to change pace