Antonio Megna during Tuesday’s council meeting. Screenshot from livestream.
Harrisburg has a new chief of staff.
At a meeting Tuesday, City Council approved Antonio Megna as the new business administrator, a position that has been vacant since a legal battle between council and the mayor resulted in the former office-holder’s termination.
Megna previously served as the special assistant to the business administrator for about a year. He began to take on some of the business administrator’s duties himself when his boss was fired earlier this year.
Samuel Sulkosky previously held the role, but his position was defunded in December as part of council’s city budget approval process. Council had previously voted against retaining Sulkosky in his position, but Mayor Wanda Williams kept him in his role with an “interim” title.
After council defunded the business administrator, saying that Sulkosky had served without council approval, and defunding several other city roles, Williams sued council for overstepping its powers. A Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas judge sided with council, but later council and the mayor signed a joint agreement to re-fund the business administrator role, along with several others, and end the practice of appointing “interim” directors to skirt council approval. The agreement also stated that Sulkosky would not return to his role.
Megna, of Mechanicsburg, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in public administration from the University of Phoenix in 2019 and a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Maryland in 2022. Before working for the city, he worked for Gannett Fleming as a policy analyst and as a campaign manager for less than a year.
Megna said that some of his goals are to get the annual budget process started earlier, streamline city processes and foster better communication with department heads and council.
Council voted 6-1 to approve Megna in the position, but not without voicing concern over the process through which he was chosen and his limited experience.
City Solicitor Neil Grover said that only two people applied for the role, and the other person eventually withdrew their application.
“I really believe in you. I believe that you would do a good job here working with the city of Harrisburg; however, I just also feel that at this time, it’s just too soon to take on the business administrator aspect,” said council Vice President Lamont Jones, the sole “no” vote.
Some council members ultimately voted “yes,” noting that they want the position filled, but expressed frustration that they had to vote on short notice, and didn’t have a longer time to see Megna’s work.
Council member Jocelyn Rawls asked if Megna could be appointed and wait the 120 days that directors can serve without council approval, so council can see his work before a vote.
However, Grover said that the mayor has the power to request that council, within seven days, vote on the approval of a director. Without a vote, the director would be automatically approved.
“She’s been frank. They’ve had no resumes for economic development director. They’ve had no resumes for LERTA administrator, and she is concerned about getting positions filled,” Grover said. “And this is someone there. Her operational concerns are valid.”
Grover added that the 120-day deadline for directors’ approval isn’t a “probationary” period, as Rawls suggested it was.
“That’s not about a probationary period,” he said. “That’s about a maximum time of appointment before council gets to act.”
He later added, “hiring and firing is an executive power.”
In other news, council approved a land development plan by Chris Catania of Storage Five Harrisburg, LLC to convert a vacant office building at 1171 S. Cameron St. into a self storage facility.
Council also approved the submission of a grant application to the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, in conjunction with the Capital Area Greenbelt Association, for $100,000 to acquire property in South Harrisburg to relocate a portion of the Greenbelt that was detoured due to construction of several veteran housing developments along S. Front Street.
Additionally, council approved a contract with McCormick Law Firm to help the city update its Business Privilege and Mercantile Tax Ordinance with more modern language and information.
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