Democratic structure: next election

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The Editorial Board at The Scranton Times-Tribune has been steadfast in their stance and coverage of the Landfill since this expansion was first proposed.

Today's editorial urges more civic engagement.

Full Article

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Democratic structure: next election
BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD / PUBLISHED: SEPTEMBER 22, 2019

Even though a majority of Dunmore Borough Council abandoned the public interest Thursday by supporting the interests of the massive Keystone Sanitary Landfill, the majority was narrow enough for borough residents to re-establish the public interest in the Nov. 5 council election.

Council voted 4-3 to amend the borough zoning law to state specifically that a landfill is not a “structure.” That’s an important distinction because the zoning law precludes any structure higher than 50 feet in the manufacturing zone that includes the landfill.

Keystone needs a new definition to facilitate its 40-year expansion plan, under which it will climb several hundred feet above the borough as it accepts more than 100 million more tons of mostly out-of-state garbage.

Facing a precedent in state appellant courts that it likely cannot overcome — a determination that a landfill in another county is a “structure” for zoning purposes — the landfill turned instead to malleable borough politicians to do its bidding. The borough planning commission recently and narrowly recommended that council change the definition, and council members Michael Hayes, Michael McHale, Thomas Ehnot and Carol Scrimalli did so Thursday.

Four council seats are on the general election ballot in overwhelmingly Democratic Dunmore. The Democratic nominees are McHale, council President Michael Dempsey and Vince Amico, who both voted against the zoning giveaway; and Beth McDonald Zangardi, a planning commission member who opposes the change.

Hayes, who voted to do the landfill’s bidding, lost in the Democratic primary but won a Republican write-in nomination with 18 votes. Zangardi, Dempsey and Amico also won GOP write-ins and will be on both sides of the ballot.

Surely, if the zoning law can be manipulated to benefit the private interest of the landfill, it can be changed anew to serve the public interest — which is why zoning exists in the first place.

Borough residents should flock to the polls in November to reclaim the public interest.