Karns Quality Blog

The May 15 primary election for Harrisburg City Council is rapidly approaching, and the outcome has the potential to have a significant impact on the administration of the city. Three seats on the council are open for election. Two incumbents and five challengers are running for the democratic nomination. In a city like Harrisburg, this primary is likely more important than the general election in November. Harrisburg’s population is so strongly Democratic that it is unlikely that a Republican will win a seat. The stakes are high, and I urge all of you who can vote to do so and to really consider the candidates first. That being said, I’d like to share some of my thoughts on the state of the city.

There is no doubt that Mayor Reed has coordinated numerous improvements to Harrisburg since his tenure in office began in the 1980’s. In the past year, however, he has stumbled, and we must consider his role in the city in light of these new issues. For this discussion I would like to focus on the budget crisis that gripped Harrisburg last fall.

News arrived in October from the Mayor’s office that the city would be short many millions of dollars by the end of the year. The announcement seemed to come out of nowhere with stories of doom and gloom for the city. If City Council did not approve the Mayor’s borrowing plan to cover the difference, Reed claimed that layoffs and reductions of services would ensue. In the wake of this, City Council asked some hard questions and pushed back before passing a more limited plan to fund the financial gap. After failing to get exactly what he wanted, Reed smeared the City Council claiming that they were out of control. While mistakes were made on both sides, Reed’s attitude seemed to do nothing to benefit the city and disregarded the role that the Council plays in city management.

The part that astounds me is how rapidly this crisis emerged into the public spotlight. One day everything was fine, and the next $14 million was gone. As a scholar of public administration, I can only reach three possible conclusions as to why this would happen, and none of them are good for the Mayor.

1. An unforeseen financial crisis rapidly emerged and slammed the city budget. This did not occur. While the Harrisburg incinerator has been an immense burden on the budget, its impact has been ongoing and predictable.
2. Due to incompetence, the administration mismanaged funds and did not realize the shortfall until it was too late.
3. The administration was aware of the shortfall and attempted to hide it from the public eye for as long as possible in order to save face and develop another solution.

I have not heard a straight answer on this, leaving me to develop my own conclusions. Reed has served in public office for long enough that I like to believe that the answer is not number two. Thus, I have to deduce that the administration attempted to cover this up as long as they could.

Reed appears to me to be of the old guard of politicians who attempt to control the flow of information at all costs. They tightly control the flow of press releases, buddy up with journalists, and generally try to keep the picture rosy. The emergence of blogs has changed this on the national level, and I believe that it can change things here in Harrisburg as well.

Whether politicians believe that open access to information should or should not occur is irrelevant because open access to information is the reality of this day and age. The message can no longer be controlled. Harrisburg needs a City Council that will ensure that Reed cannot keep his plans for our home a secret.

The Mayor has put together the so called “Reed Team”: Calobe Jackson Jr., Brad Koplinski and G. Eugenia Smith. These three candidates are being touted as the answer to an out-of-control Council. These candidates have even gotten the support of the county Democratic Party, which appears to have abandoned its own incumbents. While I do have some issues with the current City Council, one is not that they are out of control. They provide a pivotal role of oversight for the Mayor’s plans.

While I am not opposed to Reed developing and pursuing projects, the people of Harrisburg must be made aware of them early in the process via City Council. City Council must ask the tough questions, and Reed must answer. Then and only then should the plans go forward. Our Mayor has stumbled too many times recently to be blindly trusted, and I am very skeptical that three candidates hand-picked by the Mayor are capable of monitoring the Mayor for the people.

I oppose Calobe Jackson Jr., Brad Koplinski and G. Eugenia Smith for City Council for these reasons. I urge you to consider these issues before you vote. If I have time between now and the 15th, I will continue my research and share my thoughts on some of the other candidates.