SCRANTON — City voters have stark choices for mayor in the Nov. 4 general election that has three challengers aiming to defeat incumbent Mayor Paige G. Cognetti, a Democrat seeking her second, four year mayoral term.
In a debate Thursday at the University of Scranton, two of the challengers — Republican Patricia “Trish” Beynon and independent Eugene “Gene” Barrett — each touted their roots in the city and experience as attributes, while Cognetti cited her record of shepherding the city to stability after the corruption scandal that imprisoned former Mayor Bill Courtright.
Barrett, who is retired, is an Army veteran and former Scranton councilman and former executive director of the Scranton Sewer Authority.
“Gene Barrett was born here, raised here, spent over 40 years in public and private sector. I spent over seven years in the united States Army,” Barrett said in part about his background. “My public and private sector experience supersedes any of the people sitting to my left, and that’s not an exaggeration. My family is here. I’ve been in business here. My children are here. My wife is here. We own homes here. My grandchildren are here. I’m here to be your mayor.”
Beynon, an accounting executive at Don Scartelli Construction Services and General Contractors Inc. of West Scranton, said, “I’ve lived in Northeastern Pennsylvania my whole life and I moved to Scranton 34 years ago. I’m proudly calling Scranton my home, Scranton’s West Side. I am accounting executive for well over 34 years, where I’ve done bonding jobs, I’ve done contracted jobs. I’m definitely qualified to balance the city of Scranton’s budget. I know what I’m doing with bonds. I know what I’m doing with contracts.”
Cognetti, a former member of the Scranton School Board and former employee of the state Auditor General’s Office, described her tenure as mayor as one exemplifying good government, restoring and maintaining fiscal solvency and promoting transparency. “I sat on this debate stage six years ago when the city was in crisis. The mayor had gone to prison for corruption, but that wasn’t the first public official in very recent memory that had that same fate. We in six years have a built a government that works for everyone, that there is excitement in, that there is trust in … we are on the right track,” Cognetti said. “The people that are on the stage with me tonight would take us right back to where we were.”
The other candidate, Rik Little, who is running as an independent, often spoke about his plight of being homeless. He largely took aim at government in general, expressing concerns in particular about the judicial branch, as well as how the city and Lackawanna County operate under home rule charters. Little said, “I came to Scranton out of New York State Family Court and that’s where I really learned how much this judiciary thing, when you have government, three parts of government, and the judiciary has just taken too much. I think everybody can see that over and over and over.’
About 120 people attended the hour-long debate hosted by the University of Scranton and that had questions posed to the candidates by three local journalists: Donnie Collins of The Times-Tribune, Elizabeth Haikes of Fox56 WOLF and Borys Krawczeniuk of WVIA News.
Mayor since January of 2020, Cognetti, of Euclid Avenue, won a special election in 2019 running as an independent to fill an unexpired term and then switched back to Democrat and won a full, four-year term in 2021.
On Sept. 2, Cognetti announced a run for Congress that has started while she also is running for reelection as mayor. She aims to challenge in the 2026 midterm Congressional elections Republican U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan for a seat in Congress from Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District.
Barrett and Beynon both stressed they are running only for mayor of Scranton.
“I’m not trying to propel myself to a higher position in government,” Barrett said. “I want to be your mayor. I don’t want to be anything else. I’m not looking for another job. I’m looking for one job. That’s mayor of the city of Scranton.”
Beynon, of Lafayette Street, said, “I’m not going anywhere. I’m here for the next four years to do the best job I can for everybody. That’s what you pay me for, that’s what I’m going to do and I’m not going anywhere.”
Cognetti said, “We have spent six years moving this forward. I know the people of Scranton want to keep moving forward. We cannot go back to where we were. If I am elected to Congress in 2026, I will make damn sure that in 2027 there is someone sitting here on this debate stage that I can pass the torch to, to continue to make progress.”
Citing safety as a main concern, Barrett and Beynon both claimed that crime has increased in Scranton in recent years. Cognetti disputed those assertions, saying “I’m not sure where the people up here with me are getting their crime stats. We do not have an increase in crime. We have an extraordinary record of combatting crime here in Scranton.”
Krawczeniuk asked Barrett and Beynon where they are getting their information that crime is on the rise in Scranton.
Beynon replied, “If you research the 2024 New York Post and other posts online, you will see that homicide and violent crime has increased in the city of Scranton over the past few years.”
Cognetti said, “The New York Post is not a crime database. You can go to actual crime databases. You can check those stats right online and see that crime is, in fact, not spiking in the city of Scranton.” The mayor said there might be more crime incidents reported because there is more proactive policing by the police department under Chief Thomas Carroll.
Barrett, of Arthur Avenue, said, “Most of the stats that I’m talking about are the national statistics, FBI statistics, discussions with the District Attorney’s Office. That’s where my information is coming from. And at the same time, I don’t understand the mayor’s comment, so because we have a more proactive reporting process, that is why it appears there is more crime. That seems to contradict itself.”
Some testy exchanges occurred between Cognetti and Barrett and Beynon. In a question about stormwater flooding, Cognetti referenced Barrett’s ownership of the former Community Central Energy Co. that once was home to dynamos that provided steam heat to downtown buildings and powered trolley cars through the city.
“We have steam pipes underneath the city that Mr. Barrett hasn’t mentioned that he actually owns. There are some issues with that. There are some holes in the ground that he needs to fix and he has not responded to our request.”
Barrett responded, “Since I shut the steam system down in 2006, every time public works, police department or another utility contacted Community Central Energy regarding a failure, it’s been repaired. So I’m not necessarily sure what the mayor is referring to.”
Cognetti also said that Barrett, when he was director of the Scranton Sewer Authority, had been sued by the Green Ridge Neighborhood Association over a matter involving leachate from Keystone Sanitary Landfill in Dunmore. Barrett shot back, “I want evidence of me being sued by the Green Ridge Neighborhood Association. You better be careful what you’re saying there, mayor.”
In 2017, the association sued the Scranton Sewer Authority, its successor, Pennsylvania American Water, which bought the Scranton sewer system in 2016, and the city of Scranton. That lawsuit, which did not specifically name Barrett as an individual defendant, claimed he had unilaterally and improperly changed a landfill permit on Dec. 17, 2015, to allow the landfill to bypass a dedicated leachate line, and instead also be allowed to use an alternate leachate line, according to the suit that is public record and archives of The Times-Tribune. At the time of the permit change, Barrett had said it merely fixed a typographical error. The landfill’s original permit allowed for use of the alternate line, but at some point when the permit was reissued, the alternate line was omitted, Barrett had said, according to newspaper archives. The lawsuit claimed use of the alternate line violated a 1990 agreement to bar leachate in the alternate line, known as the Monahan Avenue/Reeves Street, or Green Ridge, line. A judge in 2017 dismissed the lawsuit, ruling the neighborhood group did not have standing to sue and that its suit otherwise was deficient.
In touting her experience working as an accounting executive for the Scartelli firm, Beynon claimed she was qualified to deal with the city budget and contracts. Cognetti said, “In the case of Ms. Beynon and the construction company for which she works, we did do many audits throughout these last many years. Unfortunately one of these audits discovered that there was $238,000 that had been given to said construction company in the prior administration and the work was never performed. We only just recovered that money a month ago.” Beyon interjected, “You had to make a settlement for that because you knew you were wrong.” Cognetti said, “It took a lot to recover our money for that.”
Seated in the audience, Don Scartelli, who is engaged to marry Beynon, said aloud, “Mayor, why don’t you tell them what you had to pay me to make me go away. Taxpayer’s money. I didn’t want it (the settlement). I wanted to do the job.”
In July, the city and the Scartelli firm settled two lawsuits filed in 2023 and 2024 involving three different projects. Under the settlement, the city paid $285,000 to Scartelli’s firm, and the firm paid back to the city $223,800 in grant funding the firm had received as an advance under a prior administration in June 2019 so the city wouldn’t lose the grant before it expired, according to an article in The Times-Tribune that cited the settlement and representatives from both sides.
Scranton mayoral candidates Gene Barrett, Trish Beynon, Mayor Paige Gebhart Cognetti, and Rik Little speak before members of the public during the Scranton Mayoral Debate in the PNC Auditorium at the University of Scranton’s Loyola Science Center in Scranton Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Director for the University of Scranton Center for Ethics and Excellence in Public Service Brian Snee talks with Scranton mayoral candidates Gene Barrett, Trish Beynon, Mayor Paige Gebhart Cognetti, and Scranton mayoral candidate Rik Little before the Scranton Mayoral Debate in the PNC Auditorium at the University of Scranton’s Loyola Science Center in Scranton Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Rik Little speaks on a panel with Scranton mayor candidates Gene Barrett, Trish Beynon, and Mayor Paige Gebhart Cognetti during the Scranton Mayoral Debate by university police in the PNC Auditorium at the Loyala Science Center on the University of Scranton campus Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton mayoral candidate Trish Beynon answers a question during the Scranton Mayoral Debate in the PNC Auditorium at the University of Scranton’s Loyola Science Center in Scranton Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton mayoral candidate Rik Little answers a question during the Scranton Mayoral Debate in the PNC Auditorium at the University of Scranton’s Loyola Science Center in Scranton Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhart Cognetti answers a question during the Scranton Mayoral Debate in the PNC Auditorium at the University of Scranton’s Loyola Science Center in Scranton Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton mayoral candidate Rik Little glances into the audience during the Scranton Mayoral Debate in the PNC Auditorium at the University of Scranton’s Loyola Science Center in Scranton Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton mayoral candidate Trish Beynon answers a question during the Scranton Mayoral Debate in the PNC Auditorium at the University of Scranton’s Loyola Science Center in Scranton Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton mayoral candidate Gene Barrett holds up a photo of what he calls “garbage juice” left on a city street as he gives his closing remarks during the Scranton Mayoral Debate in the PNC Auditorium at the University of Scranton’s Loyola Science Center in Scranton Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Rik Little speaks during the Scranton Mayoral Debate by university police in the PNC Auditorium at the Loyala Science Center on the University of Scranton campus Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton mayoral candidates Gene Barrett, Trish Beynon, Mayor Paige Gebhart Cognetti, and Scranton mayoral candidate Rik Little debate in the PNC Auditorium at the University of Scranton’s Loyola Science Center in Scranton Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton mayoral candidate Gene Barrett looks on as he sits on a panel with Trish Beynon, Mayor Paige Gebhart Cognetti, and Rik Little in the PNC Auditorium at the University of Scranton’s Loyola Science Center in Scranton Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Scranton mayoral candidates Gene Barrett, Trish Beynon, Mayor Paige Gebhart Cognetti, and Rik Little speak before members of the public during the Scranton Mayoral Debate in the PNC Auditorium at the University of Scranton’s Loyola Science Center in Scranton Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Originally Published: October 17, 2025 at 6:36 PM EDT