Multiple residents used the May 22 Wilkes-Barre City Council meeting to press the city on quality-of-life issues, including tall grass and weeds, unmaintained sidewalks, vacant properties, and safety concerns with electric bikes and scooters.

Speakers described specific problem properties and asked who enforces codes and how residents should report issues. Tom Gagatak (public commenter) asked broadly, “Who regulates, who enforces, and how are they enforced?” Other residents named addresses and described six-month and year-plus maintenance lapses on private properties and called for stronger enforcement or property-manager requirements.

Mayor George Brown and administration staff responded with a multi-step enforcement description. The mayor said the city issues notices to abate, typically giving property owners about five days to cut high grass and weeds; if owners do not comply the city may issue a citation and send the Department of Public Works to abate and bill the owner. “So far this year... We've issued over 100 notices to abate,” the mayor said, noting rain has increased growth and contributed to the workload. The mayor added that building inspectors and health department staff also respond to complaints depending on the nature of the violation and encouraged residents to call the health department or their councilmembers to report problems.

On e-bikes and scooters, a resident urged the council to check permit and insurance requirements; Councilwoman Maclay (not present) was identified in the meeting as working on an ordinance to address e-bikes.

Why it matters: code enforcement is a day‑to‑day municipal function that affects neighborhood livability and public health. The meeting captured both resident frustration and the city’s operational response, including numbers for the scale of enforcement activity this season.

Next steps and contacts: Mayor Brown and staff advised residents to report issues to the health department, the mayor’s office staff (including Lisa Sanfilippo and executive assistant Tyler Ryan) or to their councilmembers. The mayor said the city will continue issuing notices, citations and, when necessary, use DPW resources to abate violations and recover costs.