Mayor Wanda Williams spoke about her agreement with City Council during a press conference in city hall.
Harrisburg Mayor Wanda Williams said that, while she and City Council reached an agreement on funding for top officials, she doesn’t see the compromise as a victory.
During a press conference on Thursday morning, Williams addressed her agreement with council following a legal battle over council’s defunding of several top positions as part of the 2026 budget.
“This is not a victory speech. It is a statement of compromise,” Williams said. “This is a necessary step to move the city of Harrisburg forward.”
Earlier this week, council and Williams filed a joint agreement in the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas to re-fund a few of the positions that council had previously defunded, including the business administrator and project director for business administration/LERTA and create a new director of economic development position.
In the budget, council also removed funding for the police bureau’s director of community engagement and relations and partially defunded the director of building and housing and economic development. Those changes will stand.
Williams sued council in early January, alleging that council acted outside of its power, however, Dauphin County Judge Jeffrey Engle sided with council in his decision. A week later, council and Williams came to an agreement.
Council members, during a Tuesday legislative session, praised the agreement. Council Vice President Lamont Jones called it a “new day” for the city and a “shining moment.” Other council members saw it as a step forward for the city and for the relationship between council and the mayor.
In contrast, Williams said that the compromise with council was not something to celebrate.
“I do not confuse compromise with celebration,” she said. “My responsibility is not to win arguments. It is to protect the interests of the residents of the city of Harrisburg […] Compromise is sometimes necessary to keep a city moving. That is what great leadership does.”
Williams said that she didn’t “love” the terms of the agreement, but said that “because the voters, the taxpayers and residents deserve a city government that is unified,” she accepted the terms.
Terms of the agreement included Williams hiring a new business administrator and ending the practice of appointing “interim” directors and having council approve of new hires, an issue that informed council’s original decision to cut funding to two directors.
Williams and council did not meet as part of the negotiation process, but had their attorneys come to an agreement. Williams said that she has not met with council since then either.
When TheBurg asked if she would consider setting a meeting with council to work on their relationship, Williams said that her door is always open to council, but that no one has come to her office.
“This door is always open,” Williams said. “I even stay here until 6 or 7 o’clock at night. You’ll catch me here many a night. Two of them [council members] have jobs, the other five probably don’t have jobs, and I am here if they need me for any kind of information.”
Williams said that the city will begin searching for new employees to fill the business administrator, project director for business administration/LERTA and new director of economic development positions.
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