We need to correct the present situation so we can once again be proud of our city and our elected officials. We would like to apologize beforehand for any embarrassment this may cause our public servants, but as the old saying goes "You have to break a few eggs, to bake a cake." We would like to see the residents of Scranton take our city back, to hold those accountable and give praise when praise is due. Public servants should be held accountable—they are elected on our behalf—to speak for us and carry our concerns and wishes for the greater good of this city. The only way to do this is to know the facts in their entirety. We will try to do this to the best of our ability at the Scranton Post.

I believe we, as a community, are tired of feeling like our hands are tied and voices fall on deaf ears. Remember the true mark of insanity is doing the same action over and over in the same manner and expecting a different result. It’s time to change things so they benefit all of us, and not just the select few. We should be allowed a clear and concise picture of where and how our tax monies are being spent, each project and undertaking by our public servants making them responsible and accountable for their actions and spending habits. Haven’t we had enough of the sleight of hand and misdirection? I’m sure all of us alike, young and old, have gone to a carnival or a magic show where the mayor, I mean magician, plays the game with the shells and ball or the three cards Monty. They show you where it is and then in an effort to confuse you, they move them around quickly. They then ask you to pick the correct one. How many of us have ever truly won that game? This isn’t to be mistaken for a carnival game or magic show; this is our hard earned dollars and cents being used and manipulated. We don’t have to stand for this any longer. It is better to fight standing up than to serve on our knees. Let’s not kneel down to public servants any longer.

In the first of many issues, we will address and take a look at our financial status, since we are and have been a distressed city for 16 years. This started in 1992. Scranton is now the longest city running under the status of distressed; Johnstown is no longer competing for that title. It seems, due to many factors, once a city is assigned a distressed status, it is a long, hard, and costly road out. Why is it that remedial math seems to be difficult to understand?

Do you believe that understanding our fiscal budget is a complex or difficult project to manage? I believe most of the residents here in Scranton are fully capable. Let’s look at the reality of it. We are going to try to simplify these accounting practices. One of the phrases you will hear and read about is structural deficit. What does that mean in simple terms? Let’s say, for argument’s sake—we all know how some public servants like to argue—you want to run your household for one year. So, you take all of your bills and expenses, such as water, sewer, electric, utilities, mortgage, taxes, and insurance, and you find it will cost you $10,000.00 per year to survive—don’t you wish? (So do I!)

You work hard and save money to make sure the bills are paid in a timely fashion, and at the end of the year, you discover that you indeed have made enough to cover your household expenses. Guess what? $10,000.00 in and $10,000.00 out, and you now have accomplished what is considered to be a balanced budget. Congratulations.

Now, let’s say, next year, you want to put a pool in. Again, good luck with that—the magic word here is want. It is going to cost you $3,000.00 to have it installed (an un-inflated and un-padded figure). You now have to figure out, "Where am I going to get this money?" You can either borrow it or shift funds by cutting other expenses in your budget or maybe even get a second job to cover these costs. As long as you have the money coming in for this, you are "A" OK. If you don’t, you will then have what is considered to be a structural deficit. Pretty easy, ay? Remember want versus need. Having said this, in the immediately ensuing articles, we will be following up on Articles 47 and 111.

Again, I ask our public servants, "Is this difficult stuff or does the only difficulty we’re having lie in deciphering through the endless stream of paperwork and pointless documents?" Get ready for the weeks to come, by visiting our website at www.ScrantonPost.com and look under "Where has the money gone?"

We will be posting numerous articles and easy-to-understand documents for your reading pleasure and review. You can then compare them and see for yourself just where has the money gone. These documents will be made public by the courtesy of Dave Gervasi, a lifelong resident, concerned citizen, and Firefighter in the city of Scranton. Kudos to you, Dave, keep your life jacket on. There are rough seas ahead.

If anyone has any questions, comments, concerns or would like the Scranton Post to follow up on or investigate, feel free to email me at Doc@ScrantonPost.com. I will try to answer all of your questions or concerns in future articles. With that being said, all correspondence will be held in the strictest confidence unless you would like to be known. We provide political life jackets at no extra cost to taxpayers.