Tag Archives: Carlesha Halkias

January News Digest

January 30, 2014 | by Lawrance Binda

Harrisburg Receivership to End

The state last month submitted a petition to end Harrisburg’s 26-month-old receivership, stating that “critical components” of the city’s financial recovery plan had been completed.

If the petition is approved by the Commonwealth Court, the receivership would conclude on March 1, concurrent with the end of the state-declared “fiscal emergency” for the city. At that time, an Act 47 coordinator would replace the receiver to oversee and help guide implementation of the rest of the Harrisburg Strong Plan.

Just last November, the receiver’s term was extended for two years.

“The receiver is no longer vital and necessary to successful implementation of the remaining components of the Harrisburg Strong Plan in the absence of a fiscal emergency, and the remaining components of the plan can be successfully implemented by a coordinator appointed by the secretary (of DCED),” according to the petition by C. Alan Walker, secretary of the state Department of Community and Economic Development.

While most of the plan has been implemented—including the sale of the incinerator and the long-term lease of the city’s parking assets—a few parts remain unresolved, such as a new labor agreement with the city’s firefighters’ union.

The state imposed receivership on Harrisburg in November 2011 after the squabbling city government could not reach an agreement to resolve its financial crisis. Bond lawyer David Unkovic served several months in the post, drafting the initial recovery plan.

After Unkovic resigned, Air Force Maj. Gen. William Lynch took over as receiver, overseeing the creation of the final recovery plan and its implementation to date.

Officials Sworn In

The leadership of Harrisburg’s municipal government changed dramatically last month as several recently elected officials took the oath of office.

Eric Papenfuse became the city’s 38^th mayor at a brief swearing-in ceremony in City Hall, replacing one-term Mayor Linda Thompson in the office.

At the same event, Charles DeBrunner took the oath as the new city controller, and Ben Allatt and Shamaine Daniels were sworn in as new council members. Returning Councilwomen Wanda Williams and Eugenia Smith also began four-year terms.

Following the ceremony, City Council held its reorganization meeting. Williams was re-elected council president, while Sandra Reid became council vice-president.

In addition, council made committee assignments. The new committee chairs are:

Administration Committee: Wanda Williams
Budget and Finance Committee: Ben Allatt
Building and Housing Committee: Shamaine Daniels
Community and Economic Development Committee: Brad Koplinski
Parks, Recreation and Enrichment Committee: Susan Brown-Wilson
Public Safety Committee: Eugenia Smith
Public Works Committee: Sandra Reid

Each committee is made up of three council members except for the administration committee, which includes all council members.

Papenfuse Announces Cabinet

Mayor Eric Papenfuse last month announced his choices for most of the top administrative posts in city government. These include:

Neil Grover, who took over as city solicitor from Jason Hess. An attorney in private practice, Grover had served recently as special counsel to City Council.

Aaron Johnson, who replaced Kevin Hagerich as director of the Public Works Department. Johnson, previously the department’s deputy director, ran against Papenfuse as a write-in candidate for mayor in November, garnering about 17 percent of the total vote.

Bruce Weber, director of budget and finance, a post last held by long-time director Bob Kroboth. Weber formerly served on City Council.

Joyce Davis, a key Papenfuse advisor, as director of communications.

Jackie Z. Parker, a former mayor of Lebanon, as director of community and economic development.

Roy Christ, former president of the Harrisburg school board, as director of building and housing.

Lenwood Sloan as director of the newly named and reorganized Department of Arts, Culture and Tourism.

Carlesha Halkias, former deputy city solicitor, as director of human resources.

In addition, Karl Singleton was named as senior advisor on education and youth and Catherine Stetler as scheduler.

The Harrisburg Regional Chamber and Capital Region Economic Development Corp. (CREDC) will fund Parker’s position in full for the first year and at 50 percent for the second and third years. The city will take over full funding of the position in year four.

Budget Revisited

Harrisburg City Council last month reopened the 2014 budget to better reflect the spending priorities of the Papenfuse administration.

The $78.5 million budget is about $280,000 more than the budget passed in December, reflecting a slight increase in projected revenues from the earned income tax and intergovernmental transfers.

The greatest changes came on the spending side.

Mayor Eric Papenfuse proposed abolishing the post of chief operating officer, which paid $110,000 a year. Instead, he wants to establish the position of chief of staff/business administrator at an annual salary of $79,500. A new post of community services coordinator, paying $50,000 a year, would replace the position of assistant to the COO, which paid $41,000 annually.

Other proposed changes included:

Creation of several new posts, including director of arts, culture and tourism, director of sustainability and director of planning.
Raises for a number of management-level positions, including for the director of building and housing development, the director of financial management, the director of human resources, the police chief and the communications director.
Consolidating certain positions, decreasing salaries for others and not filling several vacant posts.

The council’s first budget review committee hearing is scheduled for Jan. 30. A final vote on the new budget is currently slated for Feb. 11.

Transition Report Released

The Papenfuse administration last month released a report with dozens of recommendations on how to improve government performance.

The 17-page report contained suggestions ranging from aggressively seeking grant money to making greater use of technology to tighter integration and communication between segments of government.

A few of the recommendations include:

Adequately staffing the finance unit by filling vacant positions and completing financial reporting on a timelier basis.
Appointing or designating an arts, culture, heritage and tourism liaison officer to oversee programs, activities and events.
Developing and implementing a plan for upgrading the city’s website, improving content and implementing social media.
Negotiating public/private partnerships to supplement resources.
Creating a new department focused on education, youth, recreation and related matters, hiring a qualified director and staff and securing new funding and partnerships.
Adopting a “broken windows” law enforcement approach to reduce crime and preserve order in targeted neighborhoods.
Conducting an independent feasibility assessment of alternative ways of providing sanitation service.

More than 70 people served on Mayor Eric Papenfuse’s transition teams and contributed to the report, which was compiled by consultant Robert Melville.

“This report represents hours of hard work from very dedicated people who want to see Harrisburg rise out of its problems and become the model capital it should be,” Papenfuse said.

The report contains many more ideas to improve the city government’s functions and operations. Read the entire report on TheBurg’s website, www.theburgnews.com, under the “News” category.

Brewery Eyes Midtown Building

If all goes right, a new brewery will debut in the heart of Midtown Harrisburg in the early fall.

Alter Ego Brewing Co. hopes to open a brewhouse in long-vacant space at the corner of Susquehanna and Boyd streets, at the rear of Midtown Cinema. The 3,500-square-foot brick building would house a beer-making operation, in addition to a tasting room with a limited menu featuring small plates, paninis and finger foods, said Brandalynn Armstrong, who operates Alter Ego with her husband, Theo.

The Armstrongs have numerous hurdles to overcome before they can open, including securing a liquor license and probable land use approvals. The building also requires a complete renovation, which should begin in late spring.

The couple took their first step late last month, holding a community meeting at Midtown Cinema, where they presented their plan and answered questions.

“We want to be good neighbors and an active member of the community,” said Brandalynn. “We think it’s a good fit for Harrisburg and that Harrisburg is a good fit for us.”

In addition to offering Alter Ego beers and a limited menu, the Armstrongs will feature local Pennsylvania wines and art gallery space. No liquor will be served.

The building is owned by Lift Development LLC, which includes two partners of GreenWorks Development. A couple of years ago, the state tried to relocate the former Midtown magisterial district justice’s office and courtroom to the building, but an agreement could not be reached.

More information on Alter Ego Brewing is at www.alteregobrewing.com.

Changing Hands

Berryhill St., 1940: PA Deals LLC to S. Maurer, $75,000

Briggs St., 1823: Wells Fargo Bank NA to S. Dial, $99,000

Brookwood St., 2420: P. White to M. Rodriguez, $63,900

Chestnut St., 2403: H. & L. Miller to L. & M. Walton, $149,000

Green St., 1703: Wells Fargo Bank NA & J. Landis to PA Deals LLC & J. Etzle, $116,500

Green St., 2013: WCI Partners LP to L. Binda, $209,000

Green St., 2135: D. Boyle to V. Brown, $35,000

Green St., 2233: R. Shokes Jr. & Shokes Enterprises LLC to R. & D. Requa, $60,000

Kelker St., 213: J. Henning to M. Porter, $124,500

Lewis St., 228: D. Hartman to C. Moss, $59,000

Manada St., 1903: PA Deals LLC to M. & D. Graeff, $90,000

N. 2^nd St., 606: D. Brown Jr. to 606 Dalmatian House LP, $754,000

N. 2^nd St., 1311: Susquehanna Bank to J. Feldman, $36,000

N. 2^nd St., 1313: Brick City Investments LLC to 1313 Real Estate Holdings LLC, $245,000

N. 2^nd St., 1522: T. & A. Magrory to J. Cantarell & A. Meck, $168,900

N. 2^nd St., 2731: Sierra Real Estate LLC to T. & N. Schmitt, $240,000

N. 6^th St., 2667: J. Vogelsong to G. Di Bosco, $31,500

N. 15^th St., 1603, 249 Maclay St., 438 Muench St. & 614 Wiconisco St.: R. Shokes Jr. & Shokes Enterprises to R. & D. Requa, $266,000

N. Cameron St., 1817: Integrity Bank to 1817 Cameron St. Associates LLC, $100,000

N. Front St., 1721: Susquehanna River Basin Commission to Hersha H. & Hasu P. Shah Family Foundation, $875,000

North St., 263: B. Josephs to B. Minner, $84,000

North St., 2009: J. & C. Mills to K. Snoke, $42,000

Paxton St., 1638: T. & A. Ferguson to CNC Realty Group Inc., $55,000

Penn St., 1612: J. & E. Rosentel to A. La Laz, $152,500

Penn St., 1703: Fannie Mae to B. Swisher Houtz, $63,000

S. 13^th St., 342: K. & S. Probst to B. & R. Lehman, $53,000

S. 13^th St., 502: PA Deals LLC to J. & A. Garbanzos, $45,000

S. 15^th St., 446 & 141 N. Cameron St.: G. Neff to San Pef Inc., $45,000

S. 17^th St., 325: R. Ekvall to J. Tran & D. Nguyen, $50,000

S. 18^th St., 1115: K. & W. Watson to M. Kaman & A. Phatimah, $68,000

S. 19^th St., 1670: The Harrisburg Authority to the Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority, $121,898,000

S. 28^th St., 806: DML Properties LP to AWK Consulting Engineers Inc., $225,000

Swatara St., 2025: Mussani & Co. to I. Fernandez, $65,000

Valley Rd., 2301A: F. & J. Haas to S. Thornsley, $195,000

Vine St., 114: F. Hutchinson to J. Robles, $135,000

Walnut St., 407: J. Brown & Graci LaPorta Partnership to J. & C. Bowen, $50,000

Harrisburg property sales for December 2013, greater than $30,000. Source Dauphin County. Data is assumed to be accurate.

Market in the Middle: Riddled with bureaucracy, Broad Street Market strives to move forward.

August 29, 2013 | by M. Diane McCormick

Broad Street Market is a study in contrasts. Signs of hope coexist with signs of neglect. Posters announce “Coming soon: Cornerstone Eatery” at a prime spot in the stone building on N. 3rd Street. A pergola-style booth houses the new, pristine Harvest organic foods stand in the brick building that backs onto N. 6th Street.

But inside the stone building, the space is dim—maybe because so many lights aren’t working. Plywood is tacked over worn doors leading into the brick building.

The Broad Street Market is an old-fashioned market looking for new everything. New roof. New doors. New manager. New customers.

Renewal, say market officials and vendors, is around the corner. Envisioned changes in ownership and management, it is hoped, will restore stability, attract vendors and lure new customers.

Scrutiny of the 150-year-old Broad Street Market has intensified as the farm-to-table movement goes mainstream and Midtown Harrisburg cultivates its artsy identity. The Market once thrived, but recent troubles—two shutdowns for pest violations, manager churn, vendor turnover and vacant stands—have tarnished its reputation.

“It’s one thing for a city resident to say, ‘I don’t go there,’” said Broad Street Market board chairman Jonathan Bowser. “It’s another for them to say, ‘I didn’t know they were still open.’”

Still, the market has its assets and charms.

“I’ve seen a lot of improvement,” said vendor Joy Gillette, of Simply Soup & Beyond Café. “A lot of foot traffic is starting to come back. This market is different. You really have to gain the customer’s trust.”

Some of the turmoil can be attributed to the market’s convoluted ownership and management structure. In short: Historic Harrisburg Association owns the Market entity. The city of Harrisburg owns and is responsible for maintaining the buildings, at least on the outside. The for-profit Broad Street Market Corp. board oversees operations and internal maintenance. A manager and facilities manager, hired by the board, run daily operations.

Got that?

“It’s like four carts trying to move along and pull things forward,” said Assistant City Solicitor Carlesha Halkias. “You look to the right, you look to the left, and you’re not really sure where the other is. We’ve worked hard the last several months to make sure that communication is flowing. I think that was a barrier before.”

Coming Soon

Anticipated changes could finally untangle the Gordian knot. HHA has removed its authority to amend the Market board’s by-laws and hopes to dissolve its ownership and become “a friend of the market,” said HHA Executive Director John Campbell. The city’s management lease expires at the end of 2013, and Halkias and Bowser say they’re working together on refinements that clarify responsibilities.

“We still want to have a very strong relationship and partnership with the city but a little more flexibility to manage the way we see best,” said Bowser. For instance, the ability to access funds more quickly would streamline daily operations, he said.

After the contract is finalized—Halkias said the mayor “has not advised me yet” on timing—the board expects an “internal conversation of what we want to look like as an organization,” said Bowser. One strong possibility is restructuring as a nonprofit or community development corporation, capable of seeking federal, state and local grants directly, without having to partner with the city.

Financially, the Broad Street Market earns just enough to pay the bills for its annual $350,000 budget, said Bowser and Campbell. But the market owes NRG an unspecified amount—Bowser said the details are confidential—for past steam bills that, due to an undetected leak, soared as high as $20,000 a month. Today, a gas system, funded by state grants, heats the buildings.

About $220,000 in grant money has been accumulated toward a “cooling mechanism” to remove hot air from the buildings, and Halkias said the city is consulting with contractors to determine the scope of a cooling project.

Vendor Energy

Bowser hopes that board transparency and stronger communications will improve vendor relations, and consistent enforcement of rules and regulations should simplify the manager’s job. Board member Amy Hill sees social media as a “gigantic untapped opportunity” to replicate, in electronic-age style, the word of mouth that once brought customers to the stands.

“It’s still that same sense of community that kept this market alive for 150 years,” she said.

Matthew Hickey co-owns the new Harvest organic foods stand. His co-owner, Joshua Kesler, is developing Stokes Millworks, located just across Verbeke Street, into a farm-to-fork restaurant.

“We know that there’s great potential in the Market, and we know there’s a need for good, healthy fresh food in the city,” Hickey said amid tidy displays of just-picked peaches and tomatoes. “It seems like there’s energy happening within the board, and everyone involved is very progressive. We all have the same vision.”

Vendor Leon Glick, of Two Brothers BBQ, racked up pans heavy with marinated beef and then meticulously cleaned the stainless steel counter while explaining that he invested in stand upgrades to be “courthouse compatible” for the day when a federal courthouse is built at N. 6^th and Reily streets.

Some vendors don’t think appearances matter, Glick said, but “just because we have low- to middle-income customers, that doesn’t mean we have to look low class.” Besides, he said, the Market is attracting “a totally different, new clientele here. More people means more business.”

Glick and other vendors have bought joint advertisements, but the market “has not spent anywhere close enough of our rent dollars on advertising,” he said. The motorists zooming past must be convinced to stop.

“I think we’re going to have to spend a lot of money to make money,” Glick said.

###

Addition to the print story: On Aug. 30, the Market announced the exit of HHA as part of its management. The press release follows:

THE BROAD STREET MARKET’S BRIGHT FUTURE

New Governing Structure Announced

HARRISBURG (Aug. 30) – “Fresh start” and “new beginnings” are not words typically associated with an organization with a history more than 150-years old, but that is how leaders of Harrisburg’s Broad Street Market described its new governing structure. The City of Harrisburg owns the landmark brick and stone buildings that make up the Broad Street Market at 3rd and Verbeke Streets in Midtown, but since 1996 the Historic Harrisburg Association has overseen the property and delegated the routine operations to a volunteer board of directors. The new agreement, announced today, simplifies the governing structure. HHA will step aside and a newly formed corporation run by community volunteers will assume direct control of the operational decision making. The city will remain the landlord.

“The change is one step forward in the very long process of revitalizing this community treasure,” said Jonathan Bowser, chairman of the Broad Street Market Board of Directors and Director of Economic Development, Corporate VP for Cumberland Area Economic Development Corporation. “HHA has been a great partner, but the new structure is more efficient. We will be better prepared to leverage funding and other investments to improve the Market when needed.”

HHA’s executive director, John Campbell is equally encouraged by the change. “Historic Harrisburg is proud to continue as an advocate and neighbor to the Broad Street Market; but the time has come for the teenager to leave home and go out on his own,” he joked. “We do not need to be in the managerial position anymore.” Both Bowser and Campbell stressed that the reigns of the Market are not being handed over to a typical private corporation. The Market will be governed by people from the community committed to maintaining its benefit to the neighborhood. Both agreed that change was not getting rid of something that does not work. The mutual decision to restructure will allow the Broad Street Market to focus on meeting the community’s need for a thriving farmer’s market in the city and to free up HHA to pursue its mission of historic preservation and building a sustainable community for the City of Harrisburg.

The Broad Street Market boasts 34 vendors providing fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, cheeses, baked goods and other grocery items as well as diverse, ethnic and fresh prepared foods. It is located at 1233 North Third Street, Harrisburg, PA 17102 and hours of operation are Wednesday: 7a.m. – 2 p.m. (limited vendors); Thursday – Friday: 7 a.m. – 5 p.m.; and Saturday: 7 a.m. – 4 p.m. There is ample free parking surrounding the market. For more information, visit www.broadstreetmarket.org.

# # #

NOTE: Jonathon Bowser and John Campbell are available for individual interviews and guided tours of the market. Contact Amy Hill at abhill@pacatholic.org or 717-343-9475 to arrange.

For more information, contact:

Amy B. Hill, APR

717-343-9475

abhill@pacatholic.org

Tag Archives: Carlesha Halkias

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