Wilkes-Barre mayor used used summer jobs program to hire family, friends

Citizens Voice reporter, Andrew Staub, uses DocumentCloud to publish documents showing Mayor Tom Leighton has been hiring his kids and relatives for summer jobs. Over the past 8 years, Leighton hired his children for over a dozen different positions.  However, it’s not just his children he’s hiring, but also affluent children from his neighborhood.

“The hires have clouded a summer jobs program that offers organized activities and lunch for city youth and resume-building work experience for the hires. A review of Leighton’s seasonal and temporary hiring, funded largely through more than $2 million in budget allocations over eight years, showed the summer program often benefited residents with existing city ties – especially those who lived in Barney Farms, the small riverside development the mayor and many other politically connected residents call home.”