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Friday, May 30, 1997     Page: 2A

SAYSO
   
I would like you to find out, Joe Dessoye, a school teacher, Pittston Area,
    was working the polls, from 7 o’clock in the morning until 8 o’clock at
nightI’d like you to find out if the taxpayers are paying for his salary for
that day, and there were other teachers at different polls.
   
Editor’s note: Joe Dessoye, who is a teacher at the Pittston Area School
District, said he did work the polls on election day. Dessoye said he took one
of his two personal days on election day. Dessoye did not know if any other
teachers worked the polls on election day.
   
Boycott the arena, boycott the arena, boycott the arena, boycott the arena.
This stuff about they’re only go with union labor. You know, non-union people
have been paying taxes too, it’s coming out of their money. Bob Casey left
that money for everybody, you know. And five years from now when that arena is
built, I hope all of these out-of-town union construction workers come to
support it, because it’s going to end up like the Kirby Center. Have a nice
day.
   
I’m reading your SAYSO column in Thursday’s morning paper, and I’ve been
noticing that people are calling in about write-in votes, and Mary Ellen Sacco
said she would like to eliminate them, if it were possible. I’m 100 percent in
agreement with Mary Ellen. I had the opportunity to witness a write-in vote
count, and it was the most archaic mess that I’ve ever seen. It’s huge rolls
of paper and you must manually count every single name and it’s hard to
interpret handwritings. And also I feel it’s difficult for other candidates to
campaign against a write-in, when you don’t even know a write-in is going on,
and also I think it’s harder on the voters, because they feel that the people
who are listed on the ballot are the only candidates, and then all of a sudden
they find out that there’s all these write-in candidates who may win, and they
didn’t even have the opportunity to vote against them.
   
Yes, I do believe that it should be changed, and you should register in
time for your name to be on the ballot and those should be the only candidates
that will go into the election.
   
I’m calling about the arena being built with union labor. I think that all
non-union people that live in Luzerne County shouldn’t have to pay taxes if
they’re not allowed to work in the county.
   
I certainly agree with the writer who stated that maybe “Mayor McGroarty
cost Mr. Brace the election, once his ads on TV identified him as a supporter
of Mr. Brace.” Certainly the people of Wyoming Valley want to keep this
scoundrel in his home town of Wilkes-Barre and perhaps in the next election
they’ll vote the thug out. I certainly wholeheartedly agree, Mr. Brace would
have been the controller had it not been for that ad “Brace yourself.” What a
goof!
   
For the uninformed writer, regarding Pittston taxes. Pittston taxes are at
the highest level allowed by law, they cannot be any higher, and this, my
misguided friend, is the courtesy of the kind guidance we had by Mayor Walsh,
and first Mr. McGarry and then Mr. Wil Toole. If you thought taxes were
terrible without representation, my friend, you saw them with representation.
Let’s give Mr. Lombardo a chance, and then after a year, you can write your
misguided articles.
   
This statement is in regards to Mary Ellen Sacco, being the director of
Voters Services. I cannot believe that she did not know the rules pertaining
to vote counts. If you don’t know the basic rules of your position, you
shouldn’t have the job. I think it’s appalling, and I think these people
should follow the rules and know the rules that govern their position.
   
I’m a resident of Hanover Township and was in attendance at the last board
meeting, and I was personally embarrassed by the actions of the residents in
the local housing developments. These people spurt obscenities, they taunted
the board members during the entire public input session, and Frank Ciavarella
has made it perfectly clear that he has recruited these people to disrupt the
meetings every month, and promises that next month will be even more
entertaining. I think the taxpayers in Hanover Township should start getting
involved in this situation, and I believe, Mr. Aregood, that “if patience is a
virtue, you must be a virtuous man.”