PITTSTON – Mayor Michael Lombardo issued a proclamation on the morning of March 26 in a move to curb Pittston from being a “drop-off” point for individuals from locations outside of Pittston.
“This proclamation issued stems from a situation brought to our attention to us by our residents and by workers at Turkey Hill,” Lombardo explained. “Unlicensed and unmarked vans are dropping off people off that are essentially homeless. Some of those people showed up at the Housing Authority.”
Lombardo assured the proclamation doesn’t stem from the current COVID-19 crisis in order to prevent anyone from outside the area from migrating Pittston.
“This problem began before this (COVID-19 crisis) and now we’re in a situation where we are supposed to stay home or socially distance ourselves from others and containing ourselves,” Lombardo said. “The thought of a van showing up from New York City, and I’m not picking on New York City, presents a problem. We don’t know the condition of those showing up.”
Just this past week, Martz Bus ceased excursions to and from New York City and Philadelphia in order to attempt to flatten the curve of the rise of the coronavirus in Wyoming Valley from the big cities were COVID-19 cases have been increasing exponentially.
“We’re going to be aggressive,” Lombardo said. “We’re going to take every step to keep our residents safe.”
According to Lombardo, he had phone conversation with Wilkes-Barre Mayor George Brown the same day as Pittston City’s proclamation was written. A teleconference will be held to include other area mayors regarding the influx of people being driven to NEPA by unlicensed transportation vans.
The proclamation reads: “In the interest of the public health and safety of the residents of the City of Pittston in light of the risk of infection for city residents due the geographical impacts of the current pandemic, the City of Pittston hereby regulates the following activity, to wit: ‘The drop-off of any ticketed passengers from any inter-city van, motor coach or livery from locations outside the City of Pittston in immediately prohibited at any location within city limits. Specially chartered conveyance, and vehicles operating on a ride-share network are excluded from the provisions herein.’ Violators will be subject to potential criminal or civil prosecutions, penalties and/or fines set forth in the City Charter, City Code, applicable ordinances of the City, and laws of the Commonwealth.”
Lombardo said there has been an increase in Section 8 cases in Pittston in recent years.
Section 8 is a program allowing private landlords to rent apartments and homes at fair market rates to qualified low-income tenants. The term Section 8 is a common name for the Housing Choice Voucher Program funded by the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development.
“When people come in to public housing, they are afforded a level of confidentiality and they deserve that,” Lombardo said. “We don’t ever embarrass someone because of their hardships but we also need to understand who we are getting. We need to do a better job at communicating.”
Lombardo said it’s a criminal violation for unlicensed/undocumented transportation entity to carry passengers. “We just want everyone to play by the rules,” Lombardo said.
“We’ve been working really hard to deal with neighborhood stabilization and housing in the neighborhoods and this is another component of it,” Lombardo added. “I don’t want to make an issue of illegal citizens, I don’t know that to be a fact or it might even be irrelevant in this situation. I don’t want to lead from reaction standpoint; I’m going to lead from a policy standpoint.”
