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<p>PITTSTON &#8212; Election season is quickly approaching, but Peter Ouelette has other plans to change America that don&#8217;t involve voting in a new president.</p><p>The Pittston resident recently organized the NEPA chapter of Represent.Us, which, according to its website, is the nation&#8217;s largest grassroots anti-corruption campaign.</p><p>&#8220;Ultimately, the mission is to change laws at the federal level,&#8221; said Ouelette. &#8220;But, the strategy for getting there is to get enough support on the local level and then the state level to build a groundswell of support. Politicians will have to listen to us.&#8221;</p><p>Represent.Us brings conservatives, progressives, and everyone in between to pass powerful anti-corruption laws that stop political bribery, end secret money, and give voters a stronger voice.</p><p>Ouelette started the NEPA chapter earlier this year and held a meeting in the John P. Cosgrove Center at the Pittston Memorial Library on Tuesday.</p><p>Only six people were in attendance, but they came from areas in Luzerne County such as Wilkes-Barre, Kingston, Avoca, Duryea and Hughestown.</p><p>Eric Bieski, Wilkes-Barre, said he attended the meeting because he wants to help bring change to the country.</p><p>&#8220;I was born and raised in Northeastern Pennsylvania and I grew up hearing stories how this area was and how it&#8217;s never going to change, and I&#8217;ve heard almost the sadness and defeat in some of the older people&#8217;s voices,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They&#8217;ve lived through it, and corruption is a way of live and they don&#8217;t have a voice&#8230; and I feel this organization gives me hope and faith and we can take our communities back to rise above it.&#8221;</p><p>Ouelette said one of the primary missions of the organization is getting the word out about the organization itself and the corruption that goes on behind the closed doors f politicians.</p><p>Those in attendance took turns tossing around ideas such as getting involved on social media, going to local council meetings and putting ads in the local papers.</p><p>Although the crowd was small, their enthusiasm was large and it made Ouelette happy to see people want to be involved in the Represent.Us organization.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s tremendous,&#8221; he said. &#8220;That&#8217;s where we&#8217;re going to get somewhere, by people putting their money where their mouth is.&#8221;</p><p>The NEPA chapter is the only one in Pennsylvania, Ouelette said, but there are over 41 other chapters across the country.</p><p>He mentioned how those chapters have seen success in getting state laws and resolutions in regards to the anti-corruption act.</p><p>Ouelette hopes to get the NEPA chapter to find similar success, but said the organization has to start locally before it can make a national impact.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re starting from the bottom up,&#8221; he said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Organizer Peter Ouellette, of Pittston, talks about ways to stop political corruption during a meeting of a local chapter of Represent.US at the Pittston Memorial Library on Tuesday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_TTL080316Corruption-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Organizer Peter Ouellette, of Pittston, talks about ways to stop political corruption during a meeting of a local chapter of Represent.US at the Pittston Memorial Library on Tuesday night. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_TTL080316Corruption2-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Attendee Eric Bieski, left, of Wilkes-Barre, offers ideas to stop political corruption as Art Pesotine, of Duryea, listens. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_TTL080316Corruption2-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Attendee Eric Bieski, left, of Wilkes-Barre, offers ideas to stop political corruption as Art Pesotine, of Duryea, listens. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta></subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jimmy Fisher</p><p>jfisher@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>WHAT&#8217;S NEXT?</strong></p><p>The next Represent.Us NEPA meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 15, at the Pittston Memorial Library John P. Cosgrove Center, 47 Broad St., Pittston.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jimmy Fisher at 570-704-3972 or on Twitter @SD_JimmyFisher.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Represent.Us NEPA meets in Pittston to end political corruption