StopLouBarletta.com

A couple of days ago, Mayor Lou Barletta presented his budget for the city of Hazleton to City Council.  The budget is filled with tax increases and police layoffs.  Under Barletta’s “leadership”, Hazleton has become one of the most financially distressed cities in the state.  It’s already teetering on the edge of financial collapse, a direct result of Mayor Barletta’s horrible decision making.  This budget does little to ease the city’s financial crisis and adds more pain to a population that has already been drilled into the dirt by Lou Barletta’s incompetence.

And while all of this is very bad news for the people of Hazleton, voters all across the state should take notice.  This is because Barletta continues to hint that he might want to try another run at Congress.  Take a moment to allow that to sink in.  Mayor Lou Barletta, who has ruined an entire city with his patented combination of poor judgment  and political grandstanding, now wants to bring his brand of leadership to the halls of the United States Congress.  Based on his past history, Barletta being elected to Congress would end in disaster, almost all of which would be shouldered by his constituents.

Barletta has proven time and again that he has no understanding of managing a budget, economics, or managing debt.  The city of Hazleton is a mess, a direct result of Barletta’s destructive and divisive leadership style.  Barletta has served multiple terms as Hazleton’s mayor, and things have gone from bad to worse.  This new budget of his is further proof that his handling of the city’s finances has been a bad joke, and now all that he can think of is to raises taxes and lay people off.  Just the kind of leadership America needs right about now, eh?

Lou Barletta is, for lack of a better word, an idiot.  He has used his position as Mayor of Hazleton to ruin the city, driving the city deeper and deeper into debt.  What’s worse, this man is now considering a run for US Congress.  I guess Barletta assumes that since he’s broken the city of Hazleton into as many pieces as humanly possible, he should set his sites on bigger things to wreck.  Like the 11th Congressional District.  Lou Barletta should, at all costs, be kept out of the United States Congress.

See also: Barletta Makes More Excuses for His Failures and Hazleton’s Financial Problems Might Get Even Worse

-Dan Cheek
www.StopLouBarletta.com
StopLouBarletta@gmail.com

Mayor Lou Barletta, feeling more and more pressure, appeared on the Sam Lasante Show to address charges that his incompetence has led to the imminent financial ruin of the city of Hazleton.  During the interview, Barletta managed to blame every major problem currently facing the city on someone else, mostly State and National politicians.  Barletta used charts, graphs, and lots of fluffery to try and shift some of the heat away from himself and onto as many other people as possible.  Overall, Barletta’s performance came across as desperate.

During the interview, Barletta failed to, at any point, accept any responsibility for any of the city’s current problems.  This, despite the fact that every major problem currently facing the city originated during his tenure as Mayor of Hazleton.  Addressing the city’s pension fund fiasco (which could, by itself, bankrupt the city), Barletta offered this cheery analysis of the situation (from the Standard Speaker)…

In reviewing the pension fund crisis, the mayor stressed that the city has never taken money out of the pension fund and has never failed to make the full required contribution to the fund. In several years, the city contributed more than it was required to the fund

Utilizing a portion of the Pension Tax revenues to pay for health benefits for pension beneficiaries is the issue that set the stage for the current controversy between state Auditor General Jack Wagner, state Rep. Todd Eachus and the mayor.

“I don’t believe we did anything wrong. I believe what we did will benefit, not only the retirees in this city, but many other municipalities that would benefit from Senate Bill 961,” Barletta said.

Senate Bill 961 would formally legalize the use of a portion of Pension Tax revenues to pay for retiree health benefits in addition to mandatory municipal pension fund contributions.

So you see?  Everyone thinks that this whole mess will bankrupt the city.  And despite previously warning that this situation really could bankrupt the city, Barletta now says that it will “benefit” not only the city retirees but also other municipalities, as well.  Why haven’t we given this man a medal yet?  And then when talking about the huge legal bills from Barletta’s ill-advised defense of his “Illegal Immigration Relief Act”, Barletta gave this hopeful response (from the Standard Speaker)…

As the city continues to defend its Illegal Immigration Relief Act, the unconstitutionality of which is currently under appeal in the Third Circuit Court in Philadelphia, the city is also fighting to hold its insurance carrier responsible for possible plaintiff attorney fees.

Barletta remains optimistic that those costs will be reduced or paid by insurance.

Well, as long as Mayor Barletta remains optimistic, shouldn’t we all?  I mean, yes, if the city were to have to pay all of these legal bills, then, yes, Hazleton would go bankrupt.  But what are the chances of THAT happening, right?  Did I mention that Mayor Barletta is optimistic about the situation?  And when discussing the city’s budget shortfalls, Barletta explained that none of it was actually his fault and that it was all those bastards in Harrisburg’s fault.  As reported by the Standard Speaker….

Barletta offered proof that certain decisions in Harrisburg resulted in less money in Hazleton. He said it was an act of the state legislature that reduced the amount of Local Services Tax revenues collected by municipalities statewide.Authorized by the legislature in 2005, the $52 EMS tax was originally deducted from paychecks in one annual lump sum. In 2008, the legislature changed the name of the EMS to LST (Local Services Tax) and changed the $52 lump sum deduction to $1 per week for 52 weeks. In its $52 form, the tax was deducted from most paychecks and later refunded to those earning $12,000 or less. In contrast, the $1 weekly tax is only deducted from citizens earning more than $12,000.

Barletta said if a citizen works two jobs, each job paying $12,000 or less, the combined earnings could be as much as $24,000, but the tax would not be deducted from either paycheck. The red tape of deducting a $1 tax from employee paychecks each week is also considered a nuisance to some employers, Barletta said. So the fee goes uncollected, leaving the municipality with less LST revenues.

The city received $539,798 in EMS revenue when the legislature first authorized the tax in 2005. After the legislative change, the city received $316,903 in LST revenue in 2008 – which is a $222,895 reduction in the amount of money the city used for public services.

“That’s almost a quarter-million dollars less. We hired the police, now we have less because of what they do in Harrisburg,” Barletta said.

See?  It’s not Barletta’s fault that the city’s budget is a trainwreck.  It’s because of “what they do in Harrisburg”.  But the very best part of this interview was the part where Barletta talked glowingly about himself, bragging about how popular he is in California (he has a fan club) and how he could probably be the Governor if he wanted (he’s decided he doesn’t) and that people in Washington DC are practically begging him to come be a Congressman so he can save the country from itself.  Again, as reported in the Standard Speaker…

“It would be a lot easier for a lot of politicians if Lou Barletta would go away. But I’m not going to.”According to Barletta, a recent statewide opinion poll gave him a significant approval rating for the office of governor or lieutenant governor.

“But I have ruled both those out,” Barletta said.

Still, a run for higher office appears to be a sure thing in Barletta’s future.

“It is no secret they have been talking to me in Washington. But right now there is so much going on here in Hazleton. Yet I definitely think Hazleton has been short-changed. Take stimulus money, for example. Hazleton hasn’t gotten any. And I believe it’s for no reason other than politics,” Barletta said.

“I definitely feel Hazleton needs a stronger voice in Washington,” he said.

The mayor said he was recently approached by a woman in a grocery store who was visiting from California. She said there is a huge “Barletta Fan Club” on the West Coast.

“We love you in California,” the woman said.

After receiving similar accolades from a citizen of Houston, Texas, Barletta said the news makes him feel more frustrated than flattered.

“That shows there are so many voices across the country shouting for the same things, but the people in Washington and Harrisburg have grown too big, too powerful to listen,” Barletta said.

All of this finger pointing, blame shifting, and pipe-dream-happy-talk is nothing new for Barletta.  This man, as Mayor, has ground his city into the dirt.  He has left it a financial disaster area, one of the worst run cities in the nation.  And now, despite this, he wants to run for Congress.  Lou Barletta wants to bring his brand of “leadership” to Washington.  Facing the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression, the people of the 11th Congressional District can not afford to have Barletta represent them in Congress.  Lou Barletta should not be elected to the US Congress.

See also: Hazleton’s Financial Problems Might Get Even Worse

-Dan Cheek
www.StopLouBarletta.com
StopLouBarletta@stoploubarletta.com

Mayor Lou Barletta and the city of Hazleton may yet get the help from Harrisburg that Barletta has been begging for.  See, Barletta, as mayor of Hazleton, improperly used almost $3 million of the city’s Pension Fund.  The Office of the Auditor General ruled that, yup, the money was used improperly and the city would have to repay that money back into the Pension Fund.  However, sadly, Hazleton doesn’t have that kind of money laying around, and Mayor Barletta has said that forcing the city to repay that money would bankrupt the city.  His solution to the problem was having the State pass a law that would make his illegal use of the Pension Fund legal, making everything hunky-dory again.  It now appears this all might actually play out the way Barletta wants it to.

According to the Standard Speaker…

“Officials brokering a solution to Hazleton’s retiree pension fund crisis believe an actuarial analysis of the fund will make their work easier.

The analysis being undertaken by Hazleton city officials should provide important information about the fund’s ability to meet obligations to retired firefighters and police officers and its stability in the wake of last fall’s Wall Street financial meltdown, said House Majority Leader Todd Eachus, D-116, on Monday. Once officials have the actuarial data in hand, they can come up with options to address the pension crisis in a way that benefits both taxpayers and retirees, he added.

Eachus hosted a closed-door meeting at the state Capitol for 90 minutes with two dozen representatives of the Fraternal Order of Police in Hazleton and Hazleton city Firefighters Local 507 to discuss the future of the pension fund and its potential to send the city of Hazleton into bankruptcy.

Barletta said the meeting produced the possibility of a modified version Senate Bill 961, which would widen application of SB 961 to allow other municipalities, not just Hazleton, to utilize a portion of pension tax revenues for retirement benefits.”

Now, if the State is willing to pass a law that will help out the city of Hazleton, fine.  My problem with all of this is that I’m not sure this sets a very good precedent.  What kind of message does this send, especially to incompetent mayors like Lou Barletta?  “Go ahead and do whatever the hell you want with tax-payer money, legal or not, and if you get into trouble, we’ll just change the law for you.”  Nice.

The other thing about this whole situation that I find troubling is how Mayor Barletta is trying to make his mistake Harrisburg’s problem.  Had Barletta actually followed the law in the first place, the city wouldn’t be in this mess.  The State is still without a budget and facing a huge deficit, but Mayor Barletta would like the lawmakers in Harrisburg to put all of that on hold so they can focus on passing a law to make the consequences of his illegal activities go away.  Because, you know, making life easier for Lou Barletta is what we have a State government for, right?

Lou Barletta will probably run for Congress in 2010.  He has proven that he has no regard for the law.  He has proven that things like budgets and responsibility have no meaning to him.  Clearly, this is not the type of person that we need to send to Washington.  Look at all the damage he’s done as mayor of a city.  Do we really want to give him an opportunity to serve in the Federal Government, where he’ll be in a position to inflict his arrogance and incompetence on the entire nation?  Lou Barletta should not be elected to higher office.

-Dan Cheek
www.StopLouBarletta.com
StopLouBarletta@gmail.com

The city of Hazleton is currently buried under a $2.9 million mountain of debt, most of which is a direct result of Mayor Lou Barletta. In 2003, Mayor Barletta and the Hazleton City Council began using city pension money to buy insurance and buy back unused vacation and sick days from retiring city employees. The problem with this was that is was illegal, according to State auditors. Now, the city must pay back that money, bringing the city to the verge of bankruptcy.

Barletta’s solution? He wants State Representative Todd Eachus (D) to help pass legislation in Harrisburg that would allow the city to raise it’s earned income tax beyond the current legal limit. With this extra money, Barletta and the city could repay the pension fund and keep the city out of bankruptcy. The only trouble is, the State House of Representatives is less than eager to do any such thing. As a result, Barletta and a bunch of his mindless sheep who understand that Lord Barletta can do no wrong supporters are throwing a hissy fit, basically demanding that Eachus hurry up and pass this damn law so Barletta can avoid the consequences from when he broke those other pesky laws. Makes sense, right?

Right. Barletta’s whole defense for him using the City Pension Fund for purposes that it wasn’t intended for, uses that were illegal, is essentially, “It seemed like a good idea at the time.” And now that the poop is about to hit the fan, Barletta and his like-minded allies are trying to make all of this mess someone else’s responsibility. When I was in the Army, we had a saying that went, “Stupidity on your part doesn’t represent a problem on my part.” Does it suck that the fine people of Hazleton are stuck in this horrible mess? Yes. And it would be nice if the State House of Representatives would help, but if they don’t or they can’t, should we be mad at Harrisburg? No. Because, I remind you, all of this is Lou Barletta’s fault. The people of Hazleton elected him, repeatedly, as their mayor and he screwed them.

This is nothing new for Lou Barletta. He has a long and distinguished history of trying to make his own stupidity look like someone else’s fault. When he was first elected mayor of Hazleton, he thought it would be a good idea to save the city some money by cutting the police force in half. When crime began to rise, Barletta tried to fabricate this whole song and dance about an “illegal immigrant crime wave”. That was proven to be a lie. And now that Barletta has, once again, went and done something stupid that has resulted in the citizens of Hazleton having to suffer the consequences, he would like us all to believe that he’s the good guy and it’s some other bad guy’s fault, in this case Rep. Todd Eachus.

The real scary part of this story is that Lou Barletta is considering running for the United States Congress. Again. He’s lost the last two times he’s tried, but for whatever reason (another example of his inability to make good decisions, perhaps?), he thinks it would be a good idea. He’s probably hoping that he can get elected to higher office and then drop all of these problems that he’s wracked up for Hazleton on someone else’s lap. However, Lou Barletta should NOT be elected to ANY higher office. It will only allow him the ability to make bigger messes.

-Dan Cheek
www.StopLouBarletta.com
StopLouBarletta@gmail.com