1  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  SCRANTON CITY COUNCIL SINE DIE MEETING  RECEIVED JAN 14 A 2016 OFFICE OF CITY COUNCILCITYCLERK  HELD:  Monday, January 4, 2016  LOCATION: Council Chambers Scranton City Hall 340 North Washington Avenue Scranton, Pennsylvania  CATHENE S. NARDOZZI, RPR - OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER    2  1 2 3 4 5  CITY OF SCRANTON COUNCIL: ROBERT MCGOFF, PRESIDENT PATRICK ROGAN, VICE-PRESIDENT  6 WAYNE EVANS  7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  JOSEPH WECHSLER WILLIAM GAUGHAN  LORI REED, CITY CLERK  KATHY CARRERA, ASSISTANT CITY CLERK JAMIE MARCIANO, ASSISTANT CITY CLERK  AMIL MINORA, SOLICITOR    3  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  MR. ROGAN: Call this meeting to  order. Please rise for the Pledge of  Allegiance.  (Pledge of Allegiance recited and  moment of reflection observed.)  MR. ROGAN: Roll call, please. MS. CARRERA: Mr. Wechsler. MR. WECHSLER: Here. MS. CARRERA: Mr. Rogan. MR. ROGAN: Here. MS. CARRERA: Mr. Evans. MR. EVANS: Here.  MS. CARRERA: Mr. Gaughan. MR. GAUGHAN: Here.  MR. EVANS: I'd like to make a  motion to nominate a person to fill the unexpired term of Council President Robert McGoff, Jr., for the remainder of his term of office which will expire at 12 noon,  January 4, 2016.  MR. ROGAN: A motion has been made  to nominate a person to fill the unexpired term of Council President Robert E. McGoff, Jr., for the remainder of his term of office which expires at 12 noon on January 4, 2016.    4  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  Is there a second?  MR. WECHSLER: Second.  MR. ROGAN: On the question? A1l  those in favor signify by saying aye.  MR. WECHSLER: Aye. MR. EVANS: Aye. MR. GAUGHAN: Aye.  MR. ROGAN: Aye. Opposed? The ayes  have it and so moved.  MR. EVANS: I make a motion to  appoint Ryan McGoff to fill the unexpired term of his grandfather, Robert E. McGoff, Jr., which will expire at 12 noon today,  January 4, 2016.  MR. ROGAN: Is there a second? MR. WECHSLER: Second.  MR. ROGAN: On the question? Roll  call, please.  MS. CARRERA: Mr. Wechsler. MR. WECHSLER: Yes. MS. CARRERA: Mr. Evans. MR. EVANS: Yes.  MS. CARRERA: Mr. Gaughan. MR. GAUGHAN: Yes. MS. CARRERA: Mr. Rogan.    5  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  MR. ROGAN: Yes. I - hereby declare  Mr. McGoff, Ryan, to take the seat of his  grandfather Robert McGoff.  (Ryan McGoff take a seat on the  dais.)  MR. ROGAN: Dispense with the  reading of the minutes.  MS. REED: THIRD ORDER. 3-A. NO  BUSINESS AT THIS TIME.  FOURTH ORDER. CITIZENS'  PARTICIPATION.  MR. ROGAN: There is nobody on the  sign-in sheet signed in, is there anyone who would like to address counsel at this time?  MS. REED: FIFTH ORDER. 5-A.  MOTIONS.  MR. ROGAN: Mr. Wechsler, do you  have any motions or comments?  MR. WECHSLER: Thank you, Mr. Rogan.  Normally it's very easy to go first in this job, but today not so much. I'd like to dedicate this last meeting to our leader, Bob McGoff. Bob took myself and Bill Gaughan under his wing when we were sworn in two years ago. He taught us how to be good    6  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  council people, how to respect each other, respect the citizenship, and respect other people involved in government. I will never forget Bob McGoff. Each day I will strive to keep up his tradition and his worth ethic. Our city is a better place for having had Bob McGoff lead us through this years. I welcome his grandson Ryan, it's an honor to sit with him as well and going forward, like I said, Bob McGoff will always be a part of my political experience. That's all I have at this time.  MR. ROGAN: Thank you. Mr. Evans,  do you have any motions or comments?  MR. EVANS: Yes, I do. Thank you.  First of all, thank you Rita and friends and family for being here today and you, Ryan, for accepting our appointment today. I think your husband and your friend and your grandfather would be very, very proud. I hope also he would have been all of us that are there today for our wish to bring his distinguished council career full circle in a respectful and distinguished manner.  After Bob passed, as I tend to do on    7  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  occasion, I started putting my thoughts and words on paper. Most times those thoughts never see the light of day, but in my own way they are sort of a therapy for me. So, if I may, I'd like to share some of those thoughts that I wrote up about the McGoff family and Bob. They relate to a movie that saw many years ago and how that movie might parallel not only my relationship with Bob, but also Bob's relationship with so many others, including all of us seated here  today.  f first saw the movie back in 1989,  the "Dead Poet's Society" starring Robin Williams. The setting was a private school somewhere in the northeast. Williams plays an English teacher who inspires his students through his teaching of poetry. His character, John Keating, encourages his students to make their lives extraordinary through the use of a Latin expression carpe diem or seize the day. Bob McGoff, as we know, was the emboitement of the words seize the day which we personally witnesses first  hand every Thursday evening.    8  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  As we fast forward through the  movie, the students get into serious trouble for resurrecting the Dead Poetry Society and against the wishes of the administration of the school and John Keating is ultimately made the scapegoat and is fired from his teaching position. In the final scene as Mr. Keating is leaving his classroom for the last time, his students in the ultimate act of respect, love, and honor stand on their desk and one by one repeat a line from a Walt Whitman poem as their final tribute to their former teacher, "Oh, Captain, my  Captain."  Maybe those four simple words are a  lasting tribute to a man we all respected and we honor today, Bob McGoff. Oh,  Captain, my Captain.  MR. ROGAN: Thank you. Councilman  Gaughan, any motions or comments?  GAUGHAN: Thank you. In our last  meeting before we reorganize and take on the challenges of the next two years we recognize with great admiration the legacy that Bob McGoff leaves here on Scranton City    9  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  Council. For the past two years, I saw a man fight a courageous battle against a difficult and insidious disease without flinching once or complaining. He served his city honorably with a grace and dignity that often left my colleagues and I in awe. He was a true definition of a public servant always taking every issue and examining both sides and then giving his thoughtful and concise opinion. His Irish wit kept us all at ease in some difficult times over the last two years. It's an honor to have Bob's grandson Ryan here today to pay tribute to Bob's service to the City of Scranton. He will be missed by all of us. Thank you.  MR. ROGAN: Thank you. Normally the  chair is the last one to speak, but I will extend that privilege to our newest member, Idon't want to steal any of your thunder. V would just like to echo what my colleagues mentioned about Bob McGoff. Those of you who know in 2007 me and Mr. McGoff had I should say the privilege to run against each other in election. The privilege was his, he was victorious, I lost the election, but    10  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  1 learned a lot through that process and when we first : when I first took my seat Councilman McGoff sat to the right of me and many times we were at odds, we were on opposite side of issues and through the years we learned that : through Bob that disagreeing out here doesn't mean  disagreeing in the real word outside and we became good friends and he taught me so much not only about politics but just about people working with people, but you disagree and be friends and that to me is something that I will take with me for the rest of my live and his service to the city, there has not been a better council president than Bob McGoff. He has done more in his two years as council president than council presidents in the past have in four or eight, maybe even 12 years. The city certainly misses him, we all miss him, but he sticks with us  every day. Thank you.  Mr. McGoff, any questions or  comments?  MR. MCGOFF: First off, I'd like to  take the time to thank the City of Scranton    11  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  for this opportunity to replace my  grandfather on city council, a seat that I never thought I would be in after watching him be here all of these years. I'd also like to thank Mr. Wechsler, Mr. Rogan, Mr. Gaughan and Mr. Evans for those kind words that they just gave and also the opportunity they have given me. Thank you for thinking about me in this tough time.  Ij just want to say my grandfather  loved this city and he did what he thought was right all the time. So, finally, I would like to thank the people of Scranton for giving him support for the last eight  years. Thank you.  MS. REED: 5-B. NO BUSINESS AT THIS  TIME.  SIXTH ORDER. 6-A. NO BUSINESS AT  THIS TIME.  SEVENTH ORDER. 7-A. NO BUSINESS AT  THIS TIME.  MR. ROGAN: If there is no further  business, I'11 entertain a motion to  adjourn.  MR. WECHSLER: Motion to adjourn.    12  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  MR. ROGAN: This meeting is  adjourned.    13  1 2 3 4 5 6 7  CERTIFICATE  - hereby certify that the proceedings and  evidence are contained fully and accurately in the notes of testimony taken by me at the hearing of the above-captioned matter and that the foregoing is a true 8 and correct transcript of the same to the best of my  9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25  ability.  CATHENE S. NARDOZZI, RPR OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER