Rob Mericle - Only A Miracle Will Put Him In Jail

I just read on timesleader.com that NEPA business and realty tycoon or should I say baboon Rob Mericle may have his plea bargain agreement with the Feds amended. Believe it or not, the G-Men want to change it from the minimum sentence to more up to the max for obstructing and impeding the administration of justice. Well, its about freakin' time. This slob has been suckling off the teat of the system for his entire life. He buys and develops properties in bogus KOZ zones and pockets tons of dough. If you are not familiar with the KOZ zones, these are properties that have their taxes deferred for a period of time to allow the owners to fix them up and use them without getting burdened with high taxes. They were made to help distressed areas like NEPA attract businesses. Of course, this guy has taken total advantage of this while pocketing millions. He is just like our friend Thom "The Tick" Greco. Rob "The Maggot" Mericle was caught up in the Cash For Kids scheme and so far has been Scott Free of any possible jail time. He pleaded guilty to being connected with the corrupt judges Ciaveralla and Conahan. So far Rob "The Maggot" Mericle has paid $2,100,000.00 in restitution to fund programs that improve the welfare of children. I wonder how much he made on the Cash For Kids scheme? I would think a boat load more than he is dishing out! This guy is as slimy as a maggot in a trash can in the summer and needs to be checked into the crowbar hotel. The Feds must have something more on "The Maggot" and lets hope they do. Its time to Sing Rob! My guess is that he will slither his way out of any slammer time and continue to milk dry the bosom of NEPA. Maybe, just maybe a Mericle will happen?

Ex-Luzerne County HR Director Gets Pension

Former Luzerne County HR Director Doug "Dougy Boy" Richards was in court this past week where he received a favorable verdict on his pension as well as restitution for his crime. "Dougy Boy" will not have to pay the cash strapped county any restitution and YES he will get his pension money totaling $17,854. Are your freakin' kidding me. "Ram Shot Richards" was sentenced last month for his guilty plea to corrupt receipt of an award for official action. In other words, he accepted money for handing out a contract to Continental Consultants Group for cleaning up after the 2006 flooding in the county. I believe the appropriate word here is "KICKBACK"! What I want to know is why is there no time in the slammer and why does he not forfeit his pension due to his guilty plea? This ruling by a Federal Judge will now open the flood gates of feces for convicted crooks like former Jury Commish Gerald Bonner, former Clerk of Courts "Really" Bob Reilly and former Deputy Chief Clerk Bill Brace to legally challenge the decisions made by the Luzerne County Retirement Board. Just so you know, our Soup Kitchen Swiller Reilly may receive $48,577 in pension money. WHAT! All of this is happening because Greg Skrepenak received money from the Retirement Board because they simply got a letter from his attorney stating no restitution was owed. This all stinks like the sewer authority area in Hanover on a hot August night. This makes me sick! Since when do the crooks get the money? These guys have real big ca-hones going to court for this dough! Aren't they totally embarrassed by what they did? Oh, it's Luzerne County and as we all know it's a rats nest of corruption. They don't give a rats ass about "We The People"! If it were you or me we would have been shackled and escorted right to the nearest crowbar hotel. We would have been asked to empty our pockets and that's the way they would stay. Empty! When will all of this crap end? I guess when they all get their dough, ray, me!

Wilkes-Barre Fire Fighter Responds

Last week I hit the Wilkes-Barre Fire Fighters hard right in the jejunum. Well, they have responded and the fire is now lit. Get out the hook and ladder, pull hose and get the juices flowing. A fan of The Gripe WBFF88 commented last week with:

When mayor was elected he asked all the city unions to help the city financially in their contracts. the fire union did (concessions = approx 3.5 million dollars over 7 years). Mayor Leighton said "By making (these) substantial concessions, the firefighters' union has agreed to become partners with the city in its revitalization plan" The Fire Fighters Union did their part and who gets cut back?
Nobody hears about that. Leighton lies and steals but the FD gets blamed.


So I asked him this:

WBFF88 - What were the exact concessions that the fire union made? I am interested because if I need to blast Leighton I will. Also, did any other unions chip in to help? And exactly what has Leighton stolen from the city?


Well, here is the response and it is an eye opener. "I believe" the Feds may need to take a long hard look at some of these things. Maybe Skrep will be getting a roommate at The Crowbar Hotel.

Hello Right to Grip (R2G), My name is WBFF88, I am a WB firefighter and I run a Blog 'WB Fire Fighters Thoughts' at http://wbff88.blogspot.com/ Please take a look.

To answer your questions:
This is the list that I like to use for Dictator Leightons screw ups;
1 Screwed up selling the Sterling hotel (costing us $325,000)
2 Bad faith moves (hiding the money from FD)
3 Back room deals (Medic 8 took over from surrounding medic units, no bid)
4 Tried to sell city property for 8 cents on the dollar to a campaign contributor (old river road bakery)
5 Lied to county officials to get tax forgiveness to a campaign contributor (old river road bakery to LAG Towing)
6 Cut our safety to fund HIS pet projects
7 The whole Ice Rink, which was supposed to revitalize W-B HOW?
8 The largely worthless camera system
9 Raised taxes and fees to an all time high.
10 Racked up MASSIVE lawsuit debts (Citywide Towing, Denise Carey + her lawyer fees, fighting the FD when it was a no win situation, Etc.)
11 Violated a contract (Citywide Towing's contract) so he could give it to a campaign contributor (that cost us $225,000) (LAG's owner)
12 Trying to sell W-B property (Tax Free) to a campaign contributor (Known for not paying his own taxes) (old river road bakery to LAG)
13 Outright lies to us (The citizens of Wilkes-Barre)
14 Blaming anyone and everyone for his failures (remember the 'I believe' campaign, "I wouldn't say I oversold it. I think maybe the media did," Mayor Leighton said. (WNEP June 10, 2005) AKA It's not my fault, it's the medias) list at http://wbff88.blogspot.com/2010/07/anyone-elses-fault-pt-2.html
15 Ignoring the Lloyds Study (which states the minimum FD manning per shift is 17) and cutting manning to 12 per shift
16 VIOLATED CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS, TWICE !!! (Denise Carey & the Hammonds). That's cost us over $275,000.


As for concessions, pay part of Health care, no raises for a year, lower than raises for 7 years, loss of parity for 7 years, and more (I'm just a union member, not on the executive board).

The other unions DID NOTHING and look (yes present tense) at us like pariahs because we did help.

Thanks for your time,
WBFF88
AKA Don Quixote

Wilkes-Barre Fire Fighters Hose Down City

With cities and towns struggling to balance budgets and pay bills, the Wilkes-Barre Firefighters dealt Mayor Tom Leighton and the city an almost fatal blow the other day. Wilkes-Barre's hose holders took the city for a total of $1,193,006.00 on a bogus union contract issue. The contract stated that the firemen should get a raise if the police one. Back in 2007, the city hired people to collect parking meters which I would believe falls under the police umbrella therefore constituting a police pay increase. The firefighters union thought they should get compensated for letting the city hire these meter collectors and the courts agreed. This crap sent a stench floating throughout the valley. First off, these unions are like milking machines sucking the teats of the city dry. Times are tough for most towns and these hose grabbing clowns just whacked Wilkes-Barre on the head of its pee pee. Did you know that there are 86 people associated with WB's Fire Department. Yes, all of them got a payment. Most of the 86 received $14,339.00, however there were a few that got much more. The 6 assistant chiefs hosed the city for a ton. James Clarke ($45,148), Norman Davis Jr ($49,152), Thomas Makar ($47,639), Bruce Reilly ($48,220), William Sharkness ($48,468) and Edward Snarski ($48,468). Are you freakin' kidding me! These guys got more than most of us make in a year in one blast. This makes me wanna puke! By the way, why does Wilkes-Barre need 86 fireman and why do they need 6 Assistant Chiefs? I'll tell you why, because its in the union contract, that's why. These unions need to be put out to the curb with the garbage. They are killing cities and towns all over the state with this kind of shit. Don't get me wrong, the firefighters put their lives on the line everytime they answer a call and I am grateful for that. However, it's the union that really pisses me off! In case you are thinking of supporting these unions, think again. Guess where the $1,193,006.00 comes from? You got it, THE TAXPAYERS. WE THE PEOPLE are footing the bill and I am getting sick and tired of the money flying out of my pocket. Mayor Leighton, throw these union bums out NOW! The cities teats are shriveling up.

A Griper Lashes Out

One of our faithful readers of The Gripe sent over this Gripe to us concerning our President, Barack "Osama" Obama. She is so right on target with this one. Since when does a dog killer rate higher than firefighters who give their lives to save people?

May I gripe a moment? I am not sure if this falls under a sports gripe, or a political gripe. Perhaps we can call it Spolitical?? I was shocked and appalled to learn President Barack Obama, for whom I voted, had the balls to contact Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie to praise the organization for giving quarterback Michael Vick a second chance and doing "the capitalism thing" . Praise for giving an animal abuser another chance?? Did those poor dogs he drowned and electrocuted get a second chance? HELL NO.

Surely you recall the tragedy in Chicago, just two days before Christmas. Two of Chicago's Bravest gave their lives searching for transients who may have been in a burning structure. Several other firefighters were injured in that same fire. Our President hails from the Windy City and he did not have the decency to call the grieving families and offer his condolences. It's never a good time to lose a loved one but Christmas is arguably the worst time for it to happen.

Mr. President, the hell with capitalism. Where's your compassion? I hope you never, ever have to know that type of tragedy first-hand.

Thank you for allowing me to vent......Karen H.