I have given this Wilkes-Barre fuel thing a name and it is Fuel Gate 2012. It appears that the City of Wilkes-Barre is in deep you know what because of this missing fuel issue. The state Department of Revenue has now asked the city to turn over their documentation because they cannot account for about 18,000 gallons of fuel. City residents Karen Ceppa Hirko and Bob Kadluboski asked the Department of Revenue to investigate this mess after The Times Leader broke the story. Now first off, never trust a woman with three names. They are very dangerous. Secondly, doesn't it figure that this moron Kadluboski would be in this mix. The self proclaimed towing watch dog has also filed a complaint with the county District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis to investigate Mayor Leighton and other unknown city officials for allegedly stealing fuel. On Thursday, the state DEA filed a notice of violation against the city for failing to keep records relating to leak tests of the tanks and pipes located at the city DPW. It is a state mandate that all entities that get tax free fuel are required to maintain documents that show the fuel was used for official purposes only. If the records are not kept, the fuel would be considered used for non official business and the state could seek to recoup these taxes at 31.2 cents per gallon for regular fuel and 38.1 cents for diesel.. If you do the math, the city would have to pay $3201.12 in taxes for the regular fuel and $2903.22 for the diesel. That's a total of $6104.34. Also, the state was asked by Karen Ceppa Hirko to investigate how the city spends it's state Liquid Fuel Funds. These funds are provided to municipality's through the taxation of fuels throughout the state. I can tell you that if Wilkes-Barre lost or had to pay back this Liquid Fuel Funds they would be in "Big Trouble In Little China"!
My take on Fuel Gate is that this fuel was used for non official business by several people in city government including the mayor. If this is true, they should all be brought up on legal chargers, tried for theft of city property and booted fro their positions if found guilty. My guess is that this theft has been going on for a long time. These people think that because they are elected or work for the local governments they can do anything they want. The fact is they are stealing from "We The People" and we are not going to take this anymore. It's time for these political jug heads to be held accountable to the people who rely on them to govern their city, state and federal governments. Things have gotten out of control and it's time for us to reel our government back in. It will be like reeling in a blue whale, but if enough people help, even a blue whale can be brought in. I for one am sick and tired of these people picking my pocket for more tax money and then spending my hard earned dollars on themselves. Maybe we should start loping of a hand or two when they get it caught in the cookie jar.
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