Scranton mayoral candidates debate

Yahoo

23-04-2025

During a debate Tuesday night, candidates for Scranton mayor disagreed about top priorities and how the city should deal with the expansion of the Keystone Sanitary Landfill in neighboring Dunmore and Throop, among other issues.
The University of Scranton hosted the debates between candidates running in the May 20 primary election for Democratic and Republican nominations for city mayor.
Separate debates for each party included: two Democrats, incumbent Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti and former Scranton School Board President Bob Sheridan; followed by two Republicans, accounting executive Patricia 'Trish' Beynon and business owner Lynn Labrosky.
The challengers each targeted Cognetti, who is seeking a second four-year term, while she touted and defended her record.
Top priority
The debate moderator, university professor Michael Jenkins, Ph.D., asked each candidate what would be their top policy priority if elected.
'Just one?' Cognetti said. 'We must continue to be strong financial stewards of taxpayer dollars here in Scranton.' Saying responsible financial management underpins everything City Hall does, the mayor noted that under her tenure the city has achieved bond-rating upgrades and won state awards for municipal excellence. 'Financial stewardship is the absolute bedrock of what we need to do and it's based on not just strong leadership, it's based on fairness for taxpayers.'
Sheridan, who owns D&S Auto Sales in South Side, said, 'My top policy would make sure the budget is secure … and make sure the employees are happy.' He then claimed city employees and their unions are dissatisfied with Cognetti, who 'failed to negotiate with her unions.' Sheridan also called her an 'absentee mayor.' He said he would dedicate a room on the first floor of City Hall where union members could meet with him. Noting he's a lifelong city resident and a retired city police officer, Sheridan said, 'Your employees are the foundation of the house and if you have a house with a bad foundation you will fail. She has failed in the last four years with her employees … morale is down the tubes with our unions and employees. We can't have that.'
Cognetti disputed those assertions, noting her administration has negotiated contracts with all of the employee unions and raised salaries. 'By 2027 all city employees will be earning over $50,000 a year. When we came into office, people were earning $28,000, $32,000 (a year). We have worked extremely hard to make sure that we can balance the fact that we are a taxpayer-funded entity with the need and the desire to make sure that all of our employees are paid a living wage and have great health care benefits.' Cognetti also said arbitrations involving police and firefighter unions are 'standard practice.'
Beynon, an accounting executive with Don Scartelli Construction Services and General Contractors of West Scranton, said her top priority would be transparency. 'I'd like to know what's actually going on in City Hall behind closed doors. I don't feel that we have enough transparency. We don't know where our tax money is going all the time. We don't know what's going on behind closed doors. I think people need to know. They need to know where the tax money is going. They need to know who they can rely on,' Beynon said. 'I would let them know where the money's being spent, if it's being spent properly, if it's being allocated properly to the right departments. We need transparency.'
Labrosky, who along with her husband owns Labrosky's Automotive Service Center in South Scranton, said, 'My top policy would be, if I became mayor, listening.' Noting she is a lifelong city resident, Labrosky said that in campaigning she has learned from residents 'that they don't feel heard. If people don't feel heard then that creates a big gap between city government and the citizens that live in Scranton.'
City Hall safety
City Hall access was not a question asked by the moderator, but it was raised as an issue by the Republicans and Sheridan, who each said they would remove the interior locked door at City Hall that Cognetti has had installed.
'I would also open the doors to City Hall. I would gladly do that. I don't feel fearful that anyone would come in and,' Labrosky said, and then pivoted to, 'It could happen in a grocery store, if something's going to happen. It could happen in church. It could happen anywhere. There is violence in the country and we have to figure out ways to curb those issues and find solutions. But at the same time I would make City Hall what it should be, and it should be a building where everyone in the city of Scranton is welcome.'
Beynon said, 'We also need to have the doors open,' because many residents are elderly and do not use computers to access city services online and need personal interactions. 'We need to be able to go into City Hall and ask questions, get answers, know where everything is going.'
Sheridan said, 'We need to open up City Hall and make sure if you need to see me as mayor, I'll be there eight hours a day.'
Cognetti said the locked door was installed for safety and security purposes. She defended preventing anyone from roaming freely throughout City Hall, noting state law prevents cities from regulating firearms on municipal properties. 'There are lots of folks that like to say that City Hall is closed. That is absolutely not true,' Cognetti said. 'But there is a security door that you need to have an appointment to get through, so that we don't have people, for any reason, coming in and going into our law office, our finance office, our HR office, with confidential records. … I'm not going to let them (employees) be in danger.'
Sheridan claimed the city could have a police officer at the door check someone's weapon and put it in a locker for safekeeping, such that 'Your gun will be locked up and you could go do your business' inside City Hall. 'So, I'm sorry, you're wrong. It can be done.'
Cognetti replied, 'That's not factually accurate.'
Landfill expansion
Referencing the state's extension of a permit for Keystone Sanitary Landfill in Dunmore and Throop to continue operating while odor and leachate control issues remain under review as part of a massive, nearly 40-year-long expansion, the moderator asked how the candidates would work to support a safe and clean environment for city residents.
Cognetti said, 'I have always supported Friends of Lackawanna in their effort to stop that landfill expansion and I'm very proud of the work that they've done. I've been alongside most of our local elected representatives in that fight. Everything is always a balance — I understand that. I understand that it's a business, but it is a business that if allowed to expand out four decades would have a detrimental impact on our environment and all the great future potential that I see for us. We're raising two little girls in this city and I certainly don't want to see them having to live next to an increasingly large landfill. I think I share that with most folks around but not everybody stands up to that.'
Sheridan said, 'I understand it's a business, too. … We need to make sure our neighborhoods are safe and make sure that anything going through our neighborhoods' is safe and the landfill has 'to go by code, they have to make sure that it's lawful.' Sheridan then asked Cognetti whether she has lived in the city during her entire tenure as mayor; she did not respond.
Beynon said of the landfill: 'We have to look into the Clean Air Act and we have to make sure that the people in Scranton understand that even though it (the landfill) is in a different area and it is owned by (owners) out of the area, we still need to focus on this.' Beynon noted she often smells landfill odors at her home. 'I would say make sure it doesn't expand any more and then work with the environmental controls to see if we can get the smell taken care of. It's way out of control and it needs to be taken care of.' The city also should try to get state and federal grants to remedy problems and also reach out to the landfill and owner, she said, while not mentioning Louis DeNaples by name. 'I don't know why more people aren't reaching out to the landfill. I know he's considered a higher-up person there, but we need to reach out and make sure that it is taken care of hands-on right at the landfill. It's been going on way too long. We do have a smell.'
Labrosky said, 'I would say when it comes to the landfill and any type of expansion it would be all about compromise. I mean we have a long-standing businessman in the community that worked his whole entire life to build that landfill and build a small business. People don't always agree on things and I would fight for whatever is best for the citizens of Scranton, but at the same time I don't see any reason why you can't sit down with someone and have a conversation, because conversations lead to solutions. … I would try to come up with the best solution that would benefit everyone. Everyone is not always going to be happy. But at the same time, everyone has a right to make a living and continue on with being the businessperson that they've been in the community. The person that owns the landfill has done a lot for our community and has invested in our community, but at the same time we also want to look out for citizens and if they have concerns, I believe there is always compromise.'
Closing remarks
Sheridan said, 'Ask yourself, are you happy with the last four years of the present administration? … Let's turn the page on Paige.'
Cognetti said, 'We have so much to be proud of in Scranton. … We came in to give the city what it deserves, which is serious leadership, technical expertise and vision for the future. … Scranton deserves serious leadership in what is unfortunately a very serious time where things are uncertain.'
Noting she also has been a licensed Realtor since 2015, Beynon said she listens to concerns of people as far as purchasing homes in the city and 'they are worried about their safety, a lot of times, they're worried about taxes. They don't want to live in the city of Scranton because of those issues. … My goal is to change it around so that people want to live here, they want to stay here.'
Touting her small-business experience, Labrosky said, 'I am running for mayor of Scranton because this is my city, this is my home, this is the city I grew up in. The city is starting to become unrecognizable. I go back five generations of family in the city. I'm seeing my children move out, (there's) not enough opportunity here. … Everyone that lives in the city has needs, so those needs need to be met and I don't feel they're being met by the current leadership.'
The debates were recorded by Electric City Television for airing at a later date. The university's Center for Ethics and Excellence in Public Service website also will post video of the debates. The event, which was not broadcast live, drew a crowd that mostly filled a small auditorium.
Winners of the primary will advance to run in the Nov. 4 general election.
The mayoral term on the ballot is for four years.
Mike Mancini and former Scranton Sewer Authority Executive Director Gene Barrett also have announced intentions to run as independents in the Nov. 4 general election for mayor.
Scranton Mayor-Elect Paige Gebhardt Cognetti at Scranton City Hall in Scranton on Nov. 7, 2019.Robert 'Bob' Sheridan, candidate in the 2025 Democratic primary election for mayor of Scranton. (PHOTO SUBMITTED / COURTESY OF BOB SHERIDAN)
Patricia 'Trish' Beynon, Republican candidate for Scranton mayor in the May 20, 2025 primary election. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)Lynn Labrosky, Republican candidate for Scranton mayor in the May 20, 2025 primary election. (PHOTO PROVIDED / COURTESY OF LYNN LABROSKY)
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Current mayor Paige Cognetti and Democratic candidate Bob Sheridan answer questions during the mayoral candidate debate at the Loyola Science Center at the University of Scranton on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, at left, and Bob Sheridan, Democratic candidates for Scranton mayor in the May 20, 2025 primary election, shown during a debate on April 22, 2025 at the University of Scranton. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
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Current mayor Paige Cognetti responds during the mayoral candidate debate at the Loyola Science Center at the University of Scranton on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Democratic candidate Bob Sheridan responds to a question during the mayoral candidate debate at the Loyola Science Center at the University of Scranton on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Current mayor Paige Cognetti reacts to comments from candidate Bob Sheridan during the mayoral candidate debate at the Loyola Science Center at the University of Scranton on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, at left, and Bob Sheridan, Democratic candidates for Scranton mayor in the May 20, 2025 primary election, shown during a debate on April 22, 2025 at the University of Scranton. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
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Patricia 'Trish' Beynon, at left, and Lynn Labrosky, Republican candidates for Scranton mayor in the May 20, 2025 primary election, shown during a debate on April 22, 2025 at the University of Scranton. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
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Republican candidate Lynn Labrosky responds during the mayoral candidate debate at the Loyola Science Center at the University of Scranton on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Republican candidate Patricia Beynon responds to questions during the mayoral candidate debate at the Loyola Science Center at the University of Scranton on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Republican candidates Patricia Beynon and Lynn Labrosky answer questions during the mayoral candidate debate at the Loyola Science Center at the University of Scranton on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Republican candidates Patricia Beynon and Lynn Labrosky answer questions during the mayoral candidate debate at the Loyola Science Center at the University of Scranton on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Patricia 'Trish' Beynon, at left, and Lynn Labrosky, Republican candidates for Scranton mayor in the May 20, 2025 primary election, shown during a debate on April 22, 2025 at the University of Scranton. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
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Current mayor Paige Cognetti and Democratic candidate Bob Sheridan answer questions during the mayoral candidate debate at the Loyola Science Center at the University of Scranton on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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