Mayor abruptly slashes wages to minimum for Scranton City Workers

[HiPointDem]

136. Apparently the parking authority is sitting on a spare million and still asked for a bailout.

Last edited Wed Jul 25, 2012, 07:01 AM - Edit history (1)

It's the $1.1 million question. Scranton City Council wants to know how Scranton Parking Authority's debt reserve increased from $3.2 million to $4.3 million in the past 18 months, particularly at a time when SPA had been seeking - and eventually received on June 14 - a $1 million bailout from the city.

Council questions whether SPA had been parking cash into the debt reserve fund while simultaneously seeking since October for the city to cover a SPA budget shortfall. Council questions why SPA didn't tap any possible excess debt reserves instead of asking the city to cover the debt.

On Thursday, council voted 4-1 to ask SPA to either return the $1 million in bailout money or any excess in the debt reserve than is legally required to be there.

"Obviously, there's an extra $1 million floating around that the parking authority now has that the city does not," Councilman Pat Rogan said. "It's just a giant scam on the part of the parking authority. It's a scam and the taxpayers were had for $1 million."

Mr. Rogan said, "The question has to be answered: why was $1.1 million put into that (debt reserve) fund, or if the investments made $1.1 million, why wasn't that taken out of the fund to pay the debt instead of coming to the city" for a bailout.

http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/scranton-parking-authority-faces-1-1m-question-1.1346557


The parking authority's supposed shortfall is what set off this whole chain of events. Their exec's salary is higher than the mayor's. How much management can parking in a city of 75K need?

Feels like some big fraud going on.

now they've replaced the bond trustee:

Scranton Parking Authority's bond trustee is replaced

Bond insurers for the beleaguered Scranton Parking Authority have replaced the bond trustee that oversees the agency's debt, city council announced Thursday at its meeting.

Asked if the appointment of a new trustee could be a first step in a council-sought dismantling of SPA, council solicitor Boyd Hughes said, "Yes. That's the first move..."

On June 6, the SPA board cut the pay of the authority's three managerial posts. Then, on June 15 former SPA solicitor Paul Kelly, who also is city administration solicitor, resigned from the SPA post, citing a potential conflict of interest if SPA and the city become legal adversaries. The council majority previously had been calling for Mr. Kelly's resignation.

On June 20, SPA appointed Mr. O'Brien to replace Mr. Kelly. It was on that same day that SPA's bond insurers, Radian Asset Assurance and National Public Finance Guarantee Corp., replaced former SPA bond trustee Bank of New York Mellon with Wells Fargo as the new trustee, Mr. O'Brien said...

Councilman Pat Rogan said, "I hope they will be placed into a receivership. Right now there aren't any signs they're folding up."

http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/scranton-parking-authority-s-bond-trustee-is-replaced-1.1339929