In his latest blog post Chris Paige makes some outlandish claims that lack any merit whatsoever. His lack of evidence for what he writes points to a flawed thought process worth noting. Here is part of his post:
Barletta & the Water Authority
Lou Barletta's fans never tire of telling me how brilliant he is, which begs the following question: why is he mismanaging his proposed sale of Hazleton's Water Authority? Apparently, the Water Authority has not even prepared a bidder's packet, and it's impossible to find the Authority's budget figures online - which means fewer firms will bid, which means the City will receive less than it should. Since we have to assume that Lou Barletta is too smart to have done this by accident, we must ask why is he trying to steer the authority to his preferred bidders at a below market price? Quite simply, either Barletta's not very good at his job (which is maximizing the price he'll get for selling the Authority) or he's corrupt - so, Barletta fans, which is it?
Mr. Paige let's examine each allegation.
First, there is no Hazleton Water Authority. Get to know the district.
Mayor Barletta proposed the sale of the water department which is part of the Hazleton City Authority(HCA) as a possible solution to Hazleton's financial crisis. The Hazleton City Authority also has an industrial division.
There is no bidder's packet because no formal action was taken to seek that sale of the water department by the HCA board or Hazleton City Council which would be among the first steps in such an endeavour.
The City of Hazleton has not issued any RFP's for the exact same reason although, if the process of selling the water department of the HCA is approved, it will be among the steps taken by the City.
The Hazleton City Authority does not post its information online and that issue is a problem for its rate payers seeking information about its operations.
Tax exemption is only one parameter of an intricate business model. Since you are in the financial world it is a fair shot to say your thoughts online give pause to your experience in those matters.
Since there has been no formal action and no RFP's how can you, Mr. Paige, make the accusation that Barletta is "steering" the authority to preferred bidders? There is no bid package, there is no RFP, THERE ARE NO BIDDERS. No one is steering anyone to anybody.
Who will respond to an RFP, if and when it happens, is anyone's guess at this point. How can one mismanage something when it hasn't happened yet?
The corruption question borders on defamation. If this treatise is your best shot you need to regroup. You seem to be better at writing fiction that speaking about the facts.
