The owner of a downtown restaurant and nearby tavern announced his bid Sunday for Scranton City Council, saying he wants to put his business experience to work solving the city's financial mess.
"I'm running on a fresh perspective and real solutions. That's my tagline," said Greg Evans, owner of Whiskey Dick's tavern and the City Cafe restaurant, about two blocks apart on North Washington Avenue.
Mr. Evans, 33, of 1501 Hawthorne St., is unrelated to council President Janet Evans. He is a committee member of Scranton Tomorrow, the downtown civic association; chairman of the Tripp Park Neighborhood Association board; a founding board member of the West Scranton-Hyde Park Neighborhood Watch and co-chairman of the watch's Elm Street revitalization project. He also led opposition to expanded hours for parking meter enforcement and increased meter rates.
"I'm so knee-deep in the community already that the next step would be getting involved in government, helping the community even more," Mr. Evans said.
Mr. Evans said he learned the hard way about financial difficulties when the sidewalk in front of Whiskey Dick's collapsed into an underground vault just after he bought the bar in 2009.
"So being able to put the brakes on and to manage through not just that but also a poor economy I think gives me some experience in dealing with a crisis," he said.
A regular at city council meetings, Mr. Evans said the council and mayor must fashion budgets and a financial recovery plan based on "real numbers." He cited the city's failed attempt at a commuter tax because a court blocked it.
"Would that help? Absolutely, but we can't bank on it," he said. "I think the recovery plan needs a lot of work" because it relies on unrealistic revenues.
Mr. Evans offered no specifics on producing new revenues, but said he wants experts from local universities to help brainstorm solutions.
The recovery plan calls for about 80 percent in higher taxes over a three-year period, ending in 2015. Mr. Evans said he wants to raise taxes only if "it's absolutely necessary," but said ruling out tax hikes would be "foolish."
"We're in a terrible position right now, so it's very likely taxes will have to increase," he said. "But it's up to the administration and council to come up with a way around taxing Scrantonians out of Scranton."
Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@ timesshamrock.com