Reading voters made a bad decision choosing Wally Scott as mayor

by Steve Reinbrecht

The Democratic primary election May 19 was important for Reading.

The wrong guy won.

The Democrats had a sensible candidate -- Tim Daley.

Voters chose Wally Scott.

Scott's becoming mayor [he's certain to beat Republican Jim McHale in November] will set Reading back at a time when cities small and large are finding opportunities to develop into fun, prosperous places -- visit Lancaster or Allentown or Philadelphia or Pittsburgh or New York ....

City leaders must not scare off investors. In Berks County, I've heard business leaders dismiss prospective projects in Reading, citing perceived corruption and incompetence.

Scott, 63, is a great politician -- a charismatic strongman whose promises soothe basic fears among Reading's poor, uneducated residents. You won't get your water turned off if you don't pay the bill, or go to jail if your kid skips school.

Scott is a populist caudillo who has entered the power vacuum of Reading politics and I'm afraid will rule so that everything hangs on the web of how leaders grant favors to supporters.

Reading will suffer under Scott as it suffered under mayors Joe Eppihimer [2000-2004] and Vaughn Spencer -- old-school mediocrities driven by what they felt the job entitled them to rather than the long-term good of the city.

I'm worried Scott, who served more than 30 years as a [elected] city district judge [and whose $1 million bails got headlines] will have a system where his buddies can disregard the formal rules of government and use personal clout to gain advantages.

He'll get a $72,600 salary, the chance to hand out some plum jobs, and an inside position to protect his personal assets in the city. County records show Scott owns 10 city properties, commercial and residential.

Scott is a career elected official who probably learned the angles from the earlier generation of corrupt politicians in Reading.

In 1987, Scott was found guilty of crimes related to trying to cover up a car wreck involving a city councilman. "After a grand jury investigation, he was charged with perjury, tampering with evidence, hindering an apprehension, obstructing justice and four counts of conspiracy. Investigators say he aided in an attempt to cover up a March 13, 1987, accident by former city Councilman Thomas A. Loeper," according to the Allentown Morning Call.

His supporters properly point out that the decision was overturned on appeal. 

Does that mean he didn't do it?

In 1999, Wally Scott worked to get Eppihimer elected mayor. Eppihimer, a career school-district plumber, quickly settled into the old-school model of petty tyrant, firing enemies, demanding a specifically decked-out SUV as his mayoral ride and hiring a top supporter's brother as human-resource director, who rarely was in City Hall.

About the same time, Scott aligned himself with trash haulers who successfully defeated a proposal to have the city manage trash collection. He supported letting residents hire their own hauler, a system that led to tall piles of stinking household waste in alleys, abandoned houses stuffed with garbage from basement to attic, and loaded garbage trucks parked for the weekend in neighborhoods.

I was the Eagle's City Hall reporter at that time. Once, when I was leaving a meeting about trash legislation as Scott was entering, he told me, "You'd better be careful. You're hurting a lot of people."

Scott's long-ago scandal hardly prevented him from getting a 38 percent margin and more votes than the next two candidates combined -- incumbent Vaughn Spencer and Daley, a former city cop who runs the local Habitat for Humanity.

Still, that's not much of a mandate. About 6,875 people voted for a mayoral candidate, a turnout of about 16 percent of the city's 42,500 or so registered voters.

Spencer also adopted a strongman role, according to one insider.

"He [Vaughn Spencer] made Council's life hell, he made Council's staff lives a living hell," former city councilman Randy Corcoran wrote recently on Facebook.

"The managing director, the solicitor, the admin services director and basically everyone who worked at City Hall. His staff ruled by intimidation. If you didn't agree, you would be eliminated. ... He listened to the wrong people. ... You have no idea the games his administration played. ... I was threatened by one of his staffers, I was lied to, he surrounded himself with bad people, and that cost him dearly."

Scott's family members add weight to the idea that he lives in a culture where intimidation is acceptable and impunity can be expected.

In March, Scott's brother, Mallory, was suspended as a constable [also an elected position] after he was charged with DUI and assaulting two Muhlenberg Township cops who allegedly found him slumped in his car. Police said Mallory asked for a break and then fought them and spit at them when they refused him special treatment.

In June 2010, Scott's three daughters were charged with assault after an attack on a woman in a diner in West Reading. They pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct.

As any populist will, Scott goes for religious hyperbole, deftly weaving together even God and zoning.

His website states: "I was saddened, as a Christian, that in 2011 the Zoning Ordnance restricted churches in R1-R2-R3 districts (R means residential). Linda Kelleher, the Chief of Staff, for city council was asked, by Christian Ministers, which would you rather have, a bar on every corner or a church; her reply, she said “That’s easy – bars; they pay taxes you people don’t”. God left City Hall that day – remember, God is in all our lives." [sic]

In 2006, Scott's website says, he earned a bachelor's degree from Mountain State University in West Virginia. Muckraker that I am, I tried to confirm this with the school, only to learn it had lost its accreditation and closed down “after years of failing to correct major problems in leadership, program evaluations, and campus-wide governance."

Scott raised $48,000 for his primary campaign, compared with Tim Daley's $46,000 or so. Mayor Spencer raised the most -- $132,000 -- with a whopping $70,000 contribution-loan from retailer and ersatz city planner Al Boscov.

Beside Boscov, Spencer's donors comprised mostly unions and Philadelphia organizations. Daley's centered on local business people.

Scott's included doctors, nurses, and many city small-businesspeople -- for examples:

• ·        Nelson E. Espinal, Reading, grocer
• ·        Felipe Fana, Reading, self-employed
• ·        El Gallito Mexican Bakery II LLC, Reading
• ·        Jose O. Delacruz, Reading, self-employed
• ·        Reinaldo Antonio Jimenez, Reading, restaurateur
• ·        Sunilda D. Tejada, Reading, multi-service operator
• ·        Clemencia Reyes, Wyomissing, landlord

Reading needs government based on planning and expert advice, as I bet Allentown and Lancaster have.

Allentown's Ed Pawlowski has a master’s degree in urban planning and public policy from the University of Illinois. Lancaster's Rick Gray was president of his Dickinson law school class.

Good mayors choose the best people for the top jobs. Eppihimer and Spencer hired supporters and friends of supporters for jobs in City Hall. Spencer even created positions for them.

Good mayors would seek and consider the best advice and help from people in county and state government. Eppihimer thought he knew best and listened to people like Scott and Eugene LaManna.

Good mayors are a mouthpiece to tell the world about how cool their cities are, the good things that are happening, and successful outcomes. Philly's Mayor Michael Nutter [University of Pennsylvania] talks, talks, talks to the media. Reading's PR has sucked.