Papenfuse speaks before the media mob.
What’s in a round number?
Today, Mayor Eric Papenfuse marked his 100th day in office, and, for the occasion, the local media dutifully swarmed in, elbowing into the mayor’s conference room for a briefing alternately self-serving and brutally honest.
The self-serving portion should be no surprise. Politicians are always their own loudest megaphones, and, to be fair, Papenfuse has worked hard and conscientiously during those first 2,400 hours. He has a right to crow over what he perceives to be his accomplishments.
Looking down at his notes, Papenfuse ticked off a list of achievements since Jan. 6, the day he took the oath of office. He made a number of appointments he’s proud of; he convinced the firefighter’s union to agree to a new contract that included significant concessions; he started a promised battle against blight; he located long-lost files in City Hall that have aided a grand jury investigation into the city’s finances.
Many of these achievements, however, have had significant downsides or remain in an unfinished state. Upon questioning, Papenfuse readily admitted that he wished several of his goals were further along.
While he was able to get most of his appointees confirmed, he lost an important battle over the creation of the position of sustainability director and another over securing raises for key staff.
City Council has not yet approved the firefighter’s contract, insisting on holding a hearing before voting on it, at a cost to the city of about $17,000 a week. The untimely death of Councilwoman Eugenia Smith has delayed the process further.
Papenfuse’s fight against blight took a weird, unwelcome turn when the first person arrested under his get-tough policy happened to be a prominent religious figure, the Bishop Augustus Sullivan, whose church began crumbling down onto neighboring houses.
Papenfuse also is proud that, after stumbles by the previous mayor, he’s revived the effort to update the city’s comprehensive plan. City Council, however, has yet to hold any hearings on it. His appointees to various boards also have been hung up in council.
“I will have to redouble my efforts to give them [City Council members] a sense of urgency,” he said.
Then there’s his escalating feud with the school district’s Chief Recovery Officer Gene Veno. Last month, Papenfuse appealed to state Secretary of Education Carolyn Dumaresq to replace Veno and, two weeks ago, he took his dissatisfaction with Veno to the public. Nonetheless, Veno remains in that office.
One hundred days is far too early to make any real judgments of the Papenfuse administration. At this point, I would expect many ambitious agenda items to be half-finished–or not finished at all–which, in fact, is the case.
However, if you turn on the TV news tonight, or read PennLive right now, you’ll see numerous stories trying to make significance from this random round number. PennLive even has a poll asking readers what they think of Papenfuse’s first 100 days (sample question: “How has dining in Harrisburg changed since Papenfuse took office?”).
It’s silly, really. If I hadn’t received an email informing me that there’d be a press conference today, I wouldn’t even have realized that this “milestone” was upon us. How do you assess a mayoralty based upon a tenure of three months and change?
By the end of the year, I expect many of Papenfuse’s half-done efforts to be done.
When it reconvenes, City Council should ratify the firefighter’s contract pretty quickly. It likely will move with more urgency to approve his nominees and start the comprehensive planning process, too. Papenfuse said he also expects to revive the process of potentially outsourcing trash collection. And the Sullivan matter ultimately won’t make any difference to the fight against blight.
Who knows? Once council and Papenfuse get used to working together, he might even get his sustainability director back.
The media, residents, even Papenfuse himself need to exercise patience. Harrisburg is just emerging from an unprecedented financial crisis and still is adapting to major changes in who holds power, how it’s exercised and what it’s focused upon. Meanwhile, the administration is still wet behind the ears, adjusting to the reality of governing this often-chaotic city.
A hundred days means nothing; an audit of achievements or failures is profoundly premature. Harrisburg, like any city that wants to progress and not just manage crisis, needs to take the long view.
Perhaps, by the end of the year, I’ll have an informed opinion of life in Harrisburg under Mayor Papenfuse. Maybe I’ll even have an opinion of how dining has changed. However, as I sit in one of the half-dozen new restaurants that are set to open by then, I’ll likely judge him more on whether my drive over was a smooth one than how much I enjoyed the meal.
