Posted on 09/29/2009 8:24:55 PM PDT by Born Conservative
When Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty (D) first heard that NBC had a television show pilot purporting to be set in his hometown, he was worried.
"Writers from Hollywood determining how people are going to see my city" made him cringe, acknowledged Doherty who was born in Scranton and has served as its mayor for the past seven and a half years, in an interview with the Fix as part of our "Rising" series.
But, instead of piling-on a city that had seen its fair share of bad news over the past decade, "The Office" wound up helping Scranton -- largely due to Doherty's decision to embrace the show.
Doherty hosted an "Office" convention in Scranton over the summer that drew more than 2,000 participants and drew national news coverage -- "Today Show" weatherman Al Roker hosted the program from the convention. "It gave us a platform to tell our story," said Doherty.
That story?
Doherty, elected in 2001, took a city on the verge of economic collapse and without a bond rating, and immediately brought in $500 million in new construction investments -- including the state's first new medical school built in 50 years -- to draw jobs to the city and to keep young people who grew up in the Electric City (great nickname) at home.
(Excerpt) Read more at voices.washingtonpost.com ...
Ping
Nice shirt! Go Blue, beat State.
Maybe the shirt is just his way of trying to remind us about what happens when Democrats really get to run things.
Lol! Michigan economy, here we come!
He might have stood a chance if he wore one from Notre Dame (at least in his hometown, he’d stand a chance).
Scranton’s debt is at about $300 million most of it since this guy got into office. The rest of the $500 million is from state and other gubmit funds, the majority of news business has failed, the bond rating is better due to paying higher insurance premiums and Erie built a medical school in 1994 which has now branched into the southern part of the state. WOW! Who wrote this crap?
Scranton! WHAT! The Electric City!
That’s what she said!
The Electric City-so named because Scranton had the nation’s first successful, continuously-operating electrified trolly (streetcar) system.
Thanks for the ping.
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