Staff Reports
Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti is running for Congress while trying to sell voters on a public-safety plan that looks a lot like forgiveness-by-proximity. Months after photos surfaced of her standing with operators of a hookah lounge tied by prosecutors to a Crips-run drug operation, she turned around and promoted a “safe space” program for people recently in the justice system — even after a city detective was seriously wounded in a gang-related ambush. That sequence deserves more than polite eyebrow-raising from voters; it deserves scrutiny.
Photos with Crips-linked lounge operators raise real questions
The photo of Mayor Cognetti with Dwight Smith and Damion Williams wasn’t a candid neighborhood meet-and-greet. Both men were later arrested and pleaded guilty for roles tied to a drug operation centered at Blueface Global Hookah Lounge — a building the local district attorney called a “notorious hotbed of criminal activity.” Their records go beyond traffic tickets; court filings show prior guilty pleas for theft, drug offenses, guns charges, and other crimes.
Promoting a “safe space” program after a detective was shot
Shortly after Detective Kyle Gilmartin was ambushed and shot during what authorities called a gang-related crime spree, Mayor Cognetti pushed a Group Violence Intervention (GVI) approach and moved to reallocate ARPA funds toward it. GVI programs can work when run with clear accountability and close law-enforcement cooperation. The problem here isn’t the idea of rehabilitation — it’s credibility. When the mayor who wants voters to trust her on crime is seen smiling beside people tied to violent criminal networks, voters have a right to ask whether public safety or political optics come first.
Why Scranton voters should care
This isn’t just theater for a congressional campaign. Mayor Cognetti is running against Rep. Rob Bresnahan in a district where law-and-order is a top concern. Taxpayer money, including ARPA dollars, is being shifted to programs that require both community trust and clear boundaries with criminal actors. The mayor’s cozy photo op undercuts her claim that these interventions are “not an arm of the police” and must be a neutral safe space. Neutrality shouldn’t mean neutrality toward crime.
Bottom line: transparency and results, not photo ops
Voters deserve straightforward answers. Who vetted the partners connected to these programs? What safeguards are in place to keep violent actors out of taxpayer-funded “safe spaces”? Mayor Cognetti can champion rehabilitation and prevention — and she should. But rehabilitation has to come with accountability, not with smiling pictures that suggest poor judgment. If she wants to run for Congress on a public-safety platform, she should start by proving she can protect Scranton’s residents, not confuse them.
