- Tom Ford, Editor
Mount Pocono Shenanigans, or, "You Get What You Vote For"

Long before the November election, I promised Mount Pocono that I would not take advantage of confusion over reassessment to raise Borough taxes. I asked Claudette Williams, Aida Montanez, Fran O'Boyle, and Michael C. Penn, and the rest of council, to join me in that pledge. They did not. Mount Pocono should have taken the hint. Williams, Montanez, O'Boyle, & Penn are all on the budget committee that -- AFTER the election -- proposed an 8.75% tax increase. O'Boyle even called it (the reassessment) a "golden opportunity"! Also after the election, Williams, Montanez, Penn, with newly-elected incoming council member Thomas Neville, all supported a move to more than double council pay AND to give council and the mayor free health care! Before the election, Williams & the rest vehemently denied reports that they were planning to strip employees of benefits. After the election, they are proposing to do just that. This is disgraceful and dishonest. Mount Pocono deserves better. But as long as a couple of dozen voters, out of nearly two thousand, continue to make decisions for the Borough, it isn't going to get better, Borough residents need to get involved if they would like to see this town reach its true potential.