Three hundred-sixty-eight days after I requested permission from the state to lead grassroots community group Harrisburg Hope, the Governor’s Office of Administration and the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board suddenly decided that my after-hours volunteering implicated an irrelevant executive order prohibiting partisan activities on state time, and ordered me to immediately “cease all involvement in Harrisburg Hope.” Two days earlier, I and others had criticized Gen. William Lynch, the state-appointed receiver, for refusing to participate in free community forums. A week later, Harrisburg Hope was scheduled to host the forum “Will there be justice for Harrisburg?” As the Patriot-News editorialized, “the state crackdown on Harrisburg Hope has ‘suspicious timing’ written all over it.”
The unanswered question is why the Governor’s Office of Administration – or anyone else – would want to silence Harrisburg Hope, a nonpartisan, grassroots community group that “urges civility as [we] bring together officials for debate and discussion,” as TheBurg put it in January. With a mission of bringing the community together, we have hosted a series of forums to give citizens a chance to question Democratic and Republican officials alike. Panelists have included Mayor Linda Thompson, Sen. Jeffrey Piccola, former receiver David Unkovic, Dauphin County Commissioner Mike Pries, City Controller Dan Miller, and nearly every member of city council. We also hosted the first public debate between senate candidates John McNally and Rob Teplitz.
When questioned by reporters, the Governor’s Office of Administration denied being involved in trying to silence Harrisburg Hope, even though the letter I received Oct. 3 suggested otherwise. Although I immediately appealed and had yet to receive a response at press time, the controversy has me wondering what it is about Harrisburg Hope that has the state in a tizzy. Is it the hard work of our volunteer team led by school board member Destini Hodges and Broad Street Market chair Jennifer Kyung? Is it the passion of the citizens who regularly pack the Midtown Scholar Bookstore to discuss city issues? Or is it the questions about creditor concessions, indictments, and solutions for a city saddled with $330 million in debt from a botched incinerator retrofit?
Because the success of our community is so critical, Harrisburg Hope forums have been seen on every local channel and statewide on PCN, heard nationally on NPR, and mentioned in Business Week. In a larger sense, we will know that the mission has been accomplished when there is no longer a need for Harrisburg Hope. When those we elect engage the community without being invited, when citizens from 2nd street to 22nd street, from Woodbine to Walnut, and from Hall Manor to City Hall are heard, and when leaders welcome debate, only then will Harrisburg Hope have fully engaged our community in the way it was designed to do.
Following Mr. Unkovic’s abrupt resignation, I wrote here that “what Harrisburg needs most right now is a commitment to civility and community empowerment.” Harrisburg Hope encourages citizens to ask the tough questions, demand accountability, and put aside our differences long enough to find common ground so that our city would have a fighting chance of achieving fiscal stability and good government. Harrisburg faces incredible challenges but also has enormous potential. We live and work in the hub of a region that is growing rapidly. From the ashes of Harrisburg’s “house of cards” must come the foundation for a brighter future.
Harrisburg Hope remains committed to encouraging civility and empowering our community. We will not allow actions by the state to prevent Harrisburg Hope from helping citizens ask the tough questions. We refuse to give up on Harrisburg. As Gen. Lynch recently said at a State of the City event, getting this river city out of debt is going to take concessions from creditors, sacrifices from residents, and a serious willingness to come together. Bickering and factionalism has cost Harrisburg good will and millions of dollars in interest. As Harrisburg moves beyond bankruptcy to regionalization and rebirth, there will be opportunities to open government to more voices, dialogue, and accountability than our community has ever known. Perhaps that is the real reason why some political leaders want to silence Harrisburg Hope.
Alan Kennedy-Shaffer is president of Harrisburg Hope.
