Towards the end of the Connors ERA there was an attempt by his Administration and the Scranton School Board to collect money from non-profit institutions like the University of Scranton. Then Councilman Christopher A. Doherty refused to participate or support the suit. Here are his OWN words as quoted by his paper the Fishwrap on June 10, 2001.
“Democratic mayoral candidate Chris Doherty, a councilman, said he hasn't considered suing because he is so confident he will be able to help negotiate an agreement if elected. He would push for an agreement, something he said current Mayor Jim Connors hasn't done. And by the way here is the link….http://www.scrantontimes.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=1930090&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=415898&rfi=8
Now Mayor Doherty recently claimed that he has no leverage to negotiate any kind of payments from the non-profits. Here are his most recent words….again as quoted from his paper the Fishwrap on May 22, 2005. Mr. Doherty does not believe he has the leverage to seek those voluntary payments as mayor. And again here is the link….http://www.scrantontimes.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14569204&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=415898&rfi=8
So what exactly is leverage Mr. Doherty? Did you use the leverage you had when LJC was milking the taxpayers for 500,000? Did you use the leverage you had when the U of S was stealing the South Side Complex? Speaking of LJC how much do they give to the City?
What mayor Doherty and then councilman Doherty have not mentioned is the fact that he does private business with the university of Scranton. He claims it is minimal. The other issue that has not been raised is how much business does Mr. Doherty do with other Independent Schools?
The University is a member of the Association of independent colleges so I wonder how much business Mr. Doherty does with members of that group. Here is another quote from that first article. It comes from the president of that group…
“Don Francis, president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania, who said he has never heard of a similar suit against a college, expects the university to prevail. "It seems very sad to me to see the municipality that has been treated as generously as Scranton has to be doing this to this institution."
I know this certainly is not newsworthy but perhaps Mayor Doherty would like to send Joann Williams or somebody to a council meeting to explain his position. Kinda the way he sent Bull Fiorini last week. The new and improved Chris Doherty seems to be worried about us common folk.
When it all comes down to it nothing will be said and nothing will be done for a few reasons. The Mayors biggest bestest campaign contributor, the felon, has ties to both LJC and the U of S. And the owner of the FISHWRAP is on the board at the U of S so that will explain why its not newsworthy.
