Posted on 06/24/2005 7:46:14 AM PDT by Born Conservative
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) — People here were buzzing for days over a cryptic news release, distributed by the mayor's office, that promised "something UNBELIEVABLE is about to happen in Wilkes-Barre."
They wondered: What could Mayor Tom Leighton possibly have up his sleeve? After all, the last unbelievable thing that happened in this struggling northeastern Pennsylvania city was in 1972 — when Hurricane Agnes destroyed thousands of homes and businesses.
On June 9, after nearly a week of rampant speculation fueled by local talk radio and intensive newspaper and TV coverage, nearly 1,000 people showed up to hear Leighton finally reveal what was so unbelievable. Expectations were enormous — but what the first-term mayor said was certainly not what anyone expected.
It was a pep talk.
Apparently, Wilkes-Barre is so down on itself that the mayor felt compelled to tell people to buck up.
"The biggest obstacle that we must overcome," he declared, "is the negative attitude of a small, but pervasive, segment of our population. ... If we embrace this negative attitude, we are not only failing the city, but we are failing ourselves." He continued, "We must reverse this negative attitude. We must be taught how to believe again."
And with that, Leighton unveiled a new slogan — "I believe ..." — that has since shown up on buttons, keychains and signs distributed by the mayor's office.
Political and business leaders applauded the mayor's pluck, and "I believe ..." posters popped up on a few windows.
But workaday Wilkes-Barre yawned.
Some had been expecting a major new employer promising hundreds of jobs, retailers to fill the empty storefronts that pock downtown, maybe even riverboat gambling along the Susquehanna River.
"I believe it was a joke," said Jerry Chromey, 45, whose reaction was typical. "A total joke."
In Mayflower, a hilltop section of neatly kept singles and twins, a visitor was hard-pressed to find anyone with a kind thing to say about Wilkes-Barre or its political leaders. A few days after Leighton rolled out the "I believe..." slogan, a large cardboard sign was erected in front of a burned-out house on Grant Street that said, in big black letters: "WE DON'T BELIEVE."
If Wilkes-Barre's working class is skeptical, it is because history hasn't exactly been kind to this once-prosperous city nestled in a valley about 100 miles north of Philadelphia.
Anthracite coal mining, once the economic lifeblood, ended abruptly in 1959 when the Susquehanna River breached a mine, killing 12 men and flooding the region's vast underground network.
Thirteen years later, the Agnes flood wiped out downtown, and despite the massive urban renewal project that took place afterward, it has never really come back. Shoe factories and silk mills closed, jobs evaporated, and the city's population plummeted to just over 40,000. Today the biggest employers in the city include health providers, universities and the government.
The last mayor, Tom McGroarty, rode into office nearly a decade ago with plenty of enthusiasm and ideas. But he was unable to deliver on many of his promises. By the time voters kicked him out of office in 2003, the city was $10.8 million in debt, its credit rating was shot and a political Web site had named him the worst mayor in Pennsylvania.
These things "fostered a sense of negativism about the city and its leadership," said Thomas Baldino, a political science professor at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre.
Despite residents' glum outlook, signs are everywhere that Wilkes-Barre is on the rebound.
Some $150 million worth of development is taking place downtown, including a 14-screen movie theater, a residential complex and a state office building. A shuttered landmark, the Sterling Hotel, is about to get a makeover, as is the moribund riverfront. Luxury homes are being built on former minelands. Crime is down.
Leighton also laid off city workers, froze overtime, raised taxes and closed firehouses, decisions that were unpopular but that the mayor says were necessary to resurrect the city's finances.
Plenty of challenges remain. Roads and streetlights are in bad shape and the drug trade is flourishing despite a police crackdown.
But Leighton's most difficult task may be convincing a jaded populace that seeing really is believing.
Harry Smith, a union boilermaker who was born and raised in Wilkes-Barre and raised his family in Mayflower, said he doubts the city will ever return to its glory days.
"Our taxes go up and what are we getting for it? Nothing. To me, they are just chasing people out of here," he said. Downtown will never come back, Smith said, "not like it was when I was a kid."
Leighton acknowledges the persistent nay-saying. It's why he took to the podium two weeks ago.
"You have the perception out there that Wilkes-Barre is done, it's dead, it's never going to come back. It is going to come back," said Leighton, 45, a businessman and former city councilman in his second year as mayor.
Elected leaders have tried to talk their constituents through tough times before, with decidedly mixed results. In the 1970s, Gerald Ford was scorned for urging Americans to wear buttons with the acronym WIN ("Whip Inflation Now"). In 1979, in what came to be known as his malaise speech, Jimmy Carter damaged himself politically when he lamented America's "crisis of confidence." But Ronald Reagan won people over by telling them it was "morning in America."
Stephen Barrouk, president of the local chamber of commerce, believes it's morning in Wilkes-Barre — and the renaissance is happening right under people's noses. "The part of this I'm enjoying more than anything is so many people aren't expecting it," he said.
"The people here have been fed false promises for so long that they have developed an unhealthy skepticism," Barrouk said. "It's unfortunate, but I can fully understand it."
New London: Now THEY got something unbelievable.
If Harry keeps thinking and talking like this, they'll kick him out of both the union and the Democrat party!
This sounds like the same garbage the mayor and newspaper here in Reading, Pa. is trying to push on to people. The worse things get the more stories and quotes from the mayor appear telling everyone how great everything is becoming. Democrats have no new ideas or initiatives to improve cities so they resort to slogans and half-truths. It must work because they keep getting re-elected...
Since when is it the job of a mayor, to hire people and 'promise' employement?
I smell a lawsuit by the citizens of Wilkes-Barre for the misleading comments about "something unbelievable". Hell, if the lady can sue over the 100 Grand candy bar, anything is possible in a breach of trust case.
They'd better be careful. Now that the Supremes have opened the floodgates of corruption, the mayor of Wilkes-Barre may just take their homes for the "economic good" of the community.
Any locals able to comment on this? I would like to think that this is being done via private companies, but the "state office building" inclusion suggests that it's all being done via tax money. The lack of mention of any companies doing the work, especially on the Sterling, makes me doubly suspicious.
In Wilkes-Barre, since the end of the 19th century (maybe even before that). Nepotism runs rampant, and the only sure way to get a job is to know someone. The mayor holds a lot of political clout. That's why this area is in such rough shape.
BTW, the Tilbury is out of business.
I'm betting Harry's union helped put the putz in office in the first place.
The "Sterling" is an old hotel that would probably be a 4 star hotel (maybe 5; it's heyday was when I was a kid). It's been abandoned for 20+ years, and was up for tax sale. Not sure who bought it, but there has been talk of renovating it. The movie theater has been in the planning stages for several years; the original developer backed out (IIRC). As for the riverfront, the taxpayer will most likely foot that bill; Rep. Kanjorski, a tax and spend lib, wants to put a dam on the Susquehanna River, and develop it as a recreation area, all on the taxpayer's dime. All of these projects are within 4-5 blocks of center city. Wilkes-Barre has lost a lot of businesses, as well as inhabitants. There is a mall several miles away, and all of the new businesses are centered around that area.
Yikes.. that's too bad. It's a mess no matter where you turn, it seems.
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