The Real Difference
By Lou Jasikoff
I just read the local articles about Monday night’s Luzerne County Council meeting in the Times Leader and Citizen’s Voice. Here is our full report:
Citizen’s Voice:
http://citizensvoice.com/news/luzerne-county-approves-260-1m-budget-1.1417917
Now, we all reported on the vote and we all had quotes from Council members. While both articles in the Leader and Voice were well-written and accurate, the difference was the following paragraph, a reference to Kathy Dobash omitted from the other two reports. All news is not the same! Keep an eye on the WBIG:
In a somewhat unexpected development, former candidate for County Council Kathy Dobash requested that both Jim Bobeck and Tim McGinley recuse themselves from the final budget vote because of the appearance of conflicts of interest. Tim McGinley worked for the Commission on Economic Opportunity which receives County money and Ms. Dobash expressed concerns that he still possesses affiliations and professional contacts within that Commission. She voiced even greater concern over Jim Bobeck’s participation. Bobeck’s father, James is the current President and CEO of Step by Step Inc, a nonprofit which receives millions of dollars in contracts from the County and other government agencies. Dobash informed the Gazette that the elder Bobeck’s 2009 salary was $198,235 at a time when the State average salary for similar positions was about $101,000, by comparison.
