(From left) City Communications Director Mischelle Moyer, Mayor Wanda Williams and Interim Business Administrator Sam Sulkosky during a press conference at city hall.
Harrisburg Mayor Wanda Williams may bring a lawsuit against City Council after it passed a 2026 budget with changes that she called “short-sighted and foolish.”
At a press conference on Tuesday, Williams addressed council’s decision to override her vetoes on several amendments to the budget, all of which zeroed out salaries for top city staff.
“City Council has now crossed into territory that does not belong to them. Hiring, firing and personnel management are executive functions,” Williams said.
Council passed Harrisburg’s 2026 general fund budget earlier this month after making amendments to remove funding for the city’s interim business administrator, project director for business administration/LERTA and the police bureau’s director of community engagement and relations. Council also zeroed out the city’s portion of the salary for the interim director of building and housing development, which supplements the portion of the salary funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Last week, Williams vetoed those changes, saying that council gave no financial explanation for cutting salaries. However, at a special legislative session on Monday, council overrode Williams’ veto.
Williams said that she would meet with outside legal counsel today at noon to weigh the legality of the funding cuts and next steps, which could include a lawsuit.
“I will pursue every lawful option available to protect the proper function of the government,” Williams said.
In the meantime, Williams said that the city will likely need to lay off employees in the defunded positions.
When it comes to the business administrator position, Williams said that officials aren’t sure if council is legally allowed to defund it, and she stressed the importance of the role in the government.
“It’s a statutory position under city code and ordinances. It is not optional. It is not symbolic. It is required for the lawful operation of city government.”
Without a business administrator, who oversees daily operations of the city, Williams said the work will fall to her.
Council explained its decision to zero out funding for the interim business administrator and interim director of building and housing development as a concern with the length of time that the officials had served without approval. Interim Business Administrator Sam Sulkosky was hired in October 2024, but council denied confirming his position in February. He has since moved into an “interim” role. Interim Director of Building and Housing Development Gloria Martin-Roberts was appointed on a temporary basis in June 2024. “Acting” directors in city hall are allowed a 120-day period before council must approve their role, however, the city code lacks clarification on the length of time that “interim” directors may serve.
For the project director for business administration/LERTA, council members expressed dissatisfaction with director Jason Graves’ work, and for the police bureau’s director of community engagement and relations, members said the role was redundant.
However, Williams said that she felt council’s moves were personal.
“This is personal, and more importantly, this is harmful to the residents of Harrisburg,” she said. “Harrisburg deserves better than grandstanding. It deserves competence and respect for the rule of the law.”
During council meetings, council President Danielle Hill and others said that communication with Williams has been largely nonexistent, but placed the blame on Williams. Several members said they believed the mayor had blocked their cell phone numbers.
On Tuesday, Williams fired back.
“No one has ever called me, and that’s been in two and a half years,” she said. “You go in the elevator and don’t say a word. In the parking lot, they walk right past me and don’t say a word. I’m there and I’m always available. I haven’t intentionally blocked anybody.”
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