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Residents press council on shelter hours, firefighter pension vacancy and alleged property sale irregularities
Summary
During citizen participation, residents urged the council to adjust shelter policies during extreme cold, demanded the mayor fill a retired-firefighter seat on the pension board, and raised allegations about a property sale and tree removal tied to a local developer.
Members of the public used the council—s citizen participation period to press the City Council on homelessness services and other civic concerns, telling elected officials they fear life-threatening outcomes during the current arctic weather and asking the council to act on pension-board vacancies and alleged property irregularities.
Joan Hoduanas, a Scranton resident, said homeless people who shelter overnight are being required to leave at 7 a.m. or 8 a.m. and asked whether the council has reconsidered that practice for extreme cold mornings. "I don't want to read in the paper or see on the evening news that we found a corpse frozen to death," she said, calling the situation a public-safety issue.
Mike Mancini, another resident, told the council that Code Blue had been activated and said the overnight shelter period he understands is "7 PM to 7 AM." Mancini asked where people are expected to go during daytime hours when wind chill makes conditions dangerous. Council members said they would confirm operations with Keystone Mission, which runs parts of the shelter operation.
Virgil Argenta urged the council to press the mayor to fill the unoccupied retired-member seat on the Firefighters' Pension Commission, which he said has caused tied votes. Argenta told the council the Pennsylvania Auditor General's office will begin a compliance audit of the city's aggregate pension fund on June 6, 2025, covering the period June 1, 2022, to Dec. 31, 2023, and asked whether the city is prepared for that review.
Several other speakers raised complaints about possible misuse of city assets and contracts, business impacts from local construction, and abandoned vehicles. Ron Elman alleged the deliberate destruction of a landmark tree and questioned how a small parcel of property came into private ownership; he asked for a state investigation into what he described as "insider trading." Tom Goin and others criticized the council for allowing remote participation by phone and for the proposed pay increases, arguing for greater accountability and for more inspections of aging buildings.
Council members acknowledged the concerns, asked staff to follow up, and pledged to request clarifications from relevant agencies. Council members said they would seek details on Code Blue operating hours from Keystone Mission and asked administration to provide information on pension contributions and the upcoming audit. Several members thanked DPW, police and fire personnel for storm response work during the arctic blast.
