Local News

Over 100 farmers in Monroe County are getting greater recognition for preserving their farms. The newly designed sign was unveiled today in Brodheadsville.

Saturday, September 25th, 2021 • 12pm - 4pm
    (Rain Date 9/26/21)
    Hosted @ the former
    Barrett Elementary Center in Cresco

Details:
http://rotaryclubofthepoconomountains.com/concert-in-the-park/

I recently filed a Right to Know request about our township's job openings, asking for a copy of any help wanted, job opening, or career opportunity posting that the township put together in the last 5 years.  In 2019 Barrett Township reported almost $400,000 in payroll expenses so it would make sense that they regularly post ads and hold interviews, right?

Wrong.

The RTK response came back indicating the "records do not exist."

In other words, the Township has filled all of its employment needs by hiring people from within its own network, rather than advertising the openings and interviewing the best candidates for the positions.  

(source)

This started out as a simple request for a 5 year budget comparison. When the township treasurer was unable to provide the requested financial report, I requested the Quickbooks data file, so I could create the report myself. The response wobbled: first the RTK request response said that Quickbooks data is unavailable. Then I asked more questions and it turns out that they do have that Quickbooks file, now they are saying they can't share it because it has confidential information.

Which is it?

(Read the full article on my blog)

Editor's Note:
Rosemary Brown has been doing a series on local school budgets and funding, the first two were for other school districts in our area so I didn't include them.  Last week she sent out details about Pocono Mountain School district so here they are:

Weekly Series (3 of 5)
Education quality and funding continues to be a priority of mine, as well as creating an environment and policies that help reduce the rate of our school property tax bills.

For a deeper understanding of our education funding locally, we will review school district funding within the 189th Legislative District. (Including East Stroudsburg, Stroudsburg, Pleasant Valley, Pocono Mountain and Delaware Valley school districts). Over the last 10 years in my position as your state representative, we have made tremendous progress in improving state funding to our school districts, and although it is not perfect, the progress has been strong, which you will see.

Northeast PA Redistricting Regional Hearing:
1pm on Monday October 18, 2021 at The Sidney and Pauline Friedman Jewish Community Center

Rescheduling details:

Please be advised that the Northeast Regional Hearing on Congressional Redistricting originally scheduled for 1 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 20, will now be held at 1 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 18. The hearing will still be held at the Sidney and Pauline Friedman Jewish Community Center, Cohen Family Social Hall, 613 S J Strauss Ln, Kingston.

The reschedule was necessary because the state House of Representatives has been called to Session in Harrisburg the week of Sept. 20. The Chair of the House State Government Committee apologizes for the inconvenience.

As a reminder, written testimony is required in order to be placed on the schedule. Please be advised that due to recent changes to the Sunshine Law, subject matter of testimony must be confined to the hearing topic only. Testimony outside of the scope of the hearing will not be permitted.

Details:
http://paredistricting.com/Nehearing

(This post will be updated with sample ballots and additional information - stay tuned)

Edit 9/9/21:
Remember to sign the petition to reduce the number of Supervisors from 5 to 3

Locations:

Barrett 1
Barrett Township Municipal Building, 993 Route 390, Cresco, PA 18326

Barrett 2
Mountainhome United Methodist Church Annex, 6680 Route 191, Mountainhome, PA 18342

Don’t wait until it’s too late – register to vote now.

If you’re already registered, but didn’t vote last November or in the primary in May, you may want to check your registration status here for confirmation. That’s also a good way to verify your voting location.