I've been told that you're extremely offended by the fact that I'm going to speak about your plan to sell the Hazleton City Authority's water assets at a Town Hall Meeting at the Elks Lodge at 635 East Broad Street in Hazleton on Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 6 PM.  

Frankly, I don't know why you're offended.  You've been very secretive about this plan, refusing even to narrow down the proposed sale price.  (You've been quoted as saying the sale price would be approximately $30 million AND that it would be no less than $60 million. I'm sure you can appreciate that's a pretty big discrepancy.)

Also, you should remember your prior history with such deals.  Do you remember your decision to sell Hazleton Creek for $2.6 million, thereby surrendering a lease worth at least $4.2 million?  That was a $1.6 million blunder, so you shouldn't be surprised that people are skeptical of your financial calculations. 

Oh, and do you remember that your promised to invest the $2.6 million you made from the sale of Hazleton Creek?  Well, what happened to that money?  You spent every penny as it came in. So, again, you shouldn't be surprised that people don't trust you to keep your promise to invest the money from selling the water authority either; after all, you've told us this same tall tale before.  

And what about your plans for a solar power plant?  Your economic development deals to date haven't been great.  You brought Philadelphia's experimental toxic sludge to Hazleton Creek; you brought a halfway house for criminals to a downtown hotel, and you've tried to attract a methadone clinic to various sites all over the City.  Shouldn't we bit at least a little skeptical of your latest scheme?  Since solar power is more expensive than conventional electricity, how will paying more for electricity help Hazleton's taxpayers?  Granted, federal tax subsidies may reduce the cost of solar power, but how does a tax-exempt entity like Hazleton plan to take advantage of federal tax subsidies?  At the very least, we need more details to understand how your plan will work.

Moreover, you don't believe that I should be addressing this issue because you claim it's a local issue that's not related to our Congressional race. That's odd because you're running based on your record as Mayor, so how can you argue that your record as Mayor isn't relevant? Apparently, you believe your record as Mayor is relevant only to the extent that it helps you.  The truth is that I didn't make this an issue in our campaign - you did, by running on your record as Mayor. 

But here's my larger point: if you intend to be our Congressman, then you actually need to explain your ideas, so I invite you to join us at the Elks to discuss your plan. 

As I've said many times before: you say you'll fight for us, but you won't even debate for us.  Isn't it about time you proved your bravery? Or was all that tough-guy talk just empty rhetoric?  On February 4th, we will find out.

Sincerely,

Chris Paige