SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)— “Free Palestine, over 100 thousand people killed, two years of genocide,” exclaimed a debate attendee. A fiery start to the Mayoral Race debate in Scranton when someone got up from their seat and started yelling.

It was tit for tat during the Scranton mayoral debate at the University of Scranton.

The four candidates debated for a little more than an hour, taking questions from the panel on many issues the city faces.

28/22 News reporter Avery Nape was there as the personal attacks were unleashed.

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“That would take us right back to those days where people think that they could profit personally off of the public,” voiced Mayor Cognetti (D).

“I want evidence of me being sued by the Greenridge neighborhood association. You’d better be careful what you’re saying here, Mayor,” interrupted Eugene Barrett, Independent candidate.

A heated mayoral debate took place at the University of Scranton on Thursday evening. Democratic incumbent Paige Cognetti faced off against republican candidate Patricia Beynon, and two independents, Eugene Barrett and Rik Little, in the Scranton mayoral race.

A number of issues were discussed, but Cognetti took aim at two of the other candidates, making things personal.

“Mr. Barrett ran toxic landfill waste under Greenridge, skirting the approval process of a public board. The Greenridge Neighborhood Association sued him for that,” stated Cognetti.

Barrett fired back, questioning the lawsuit.

“The mayor is telling me that I’m violating federal rules and regulations? We’re operating under a consent decree. That consent decree comes from the Department of Justice to EPA, DEP, Scranton Sewer Authority, and so on,” expressed Barrett.

Cognetti also took issue with Republican Patricia Beynon.

“In the case of Miss Beynon and the construction company for which she works, we did do many audits throughout these last few years, and unfortunately, in one of those audits, we discovered that there was $238,000 that had been given to said construction company in the prior administration, and the work was never performed,” said Cognetti.

We met with Beynon following the debate, who says the city paid the company in advance, but couldn’t complete the work until the city gave them the green light. She says the green light never came, resulting in a legal battle.

“It was never an issue with what we did, although she made it sound like it was. She did the wrong thing; she shouldn’t have said that. She misspoke, which was unfortunate and on her part. If you’re gonna lie, you shouldn’t be a mayor,” stated Beynon.

We also caught up with Mayor Cognetti after the debate to ask about her plans to run for Congress, something she says is to help the city of Scranton from the federal level.

“I love being mayor, and I plan to continue being mayor next year. The reason I’m running for Congress is because it’s going to be very hard for us to do our job here in the city if the federal government continues to cut out our legs underneath us,” said Cognetti.

Cognetti says if she wins, there would be a special election to fill the remainder of her term. Beynon, however, says she finds Cognetti’s interest in helping Scranton hard to believe.

“Do you think her priorities lie with Scranton?” asked Nape.

“No, they do not lie with Scranton. We’re a stepping stone. They’re for the next political position that she wants to obtain,” said Beynon.

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