It may take a long time, but our city will conquer today’s legal and financial woes. Will Harrisburg have to change for that to happen? Absolutely. But how much? Well, my guess would be not much at all. Here’s why.
Our local history includes a long-forgotten public official, Mayor William Kepner. If your memory of him is hazy, you may find some help from a story that scrolled across my screen in recent days.
It seems that Harrisburg’s elected council was fighting with a new mayor. They had passed a resolution on a public debt. The mayor was not consulted. More precisely, the council with an out-of-town financier, whose apparent business included handling government bonds and loans. The real dollars were huge for Mayor Kepner’s day, vastly beyond the means of the average resident. City officials moved forward anyway.
In order to re-pay this public debt, local officials earmarked future tax revenue to be spent on the obligation for many years. For the council, the matter must have appeared simple enough, as Harrisburg was renewing an earlier agreement. Terms were set down and a contract drafted, followed by official resolution by council that by an official resolution by council that was quickly approved, all business as usual. But this being Harrisburg, there was a hitch.
Kepner decided that he did not like the way council had handled the matter. He voiced objections to the deal, insisting the council had no right to approve public expenditures by a mere resolution. Yet council read it differently, finding that the City Charter denied the mayor any power in such matters. With a stalemate brewing, and with this being Harrisburg, the Mayor refused to sign. He saw council as poaching his territory, taking power that rightfully belonged to him. He insisted an ordinance must be passed whenever public funds were at issue, meaning a different process, one that included him. Does this sound familiar yet? This being Harrisburg, a lawsuit quickly followed. The council asked the court to direct the mayor to sign the contract, arguing he had no right to ignore such official actions and worse, in doing so, he was playing the city’s sorely needed credit at risk. Though a Dauphin County jury sided with council, this being Harrisburg, the fight did not end. In short order, officials found themselves before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the final referee in government disputes.
In fact, this tale of Mayor Kepner in large part can be found in the resulting Supreme Court opinion, in the case of Kepner v. Commonwealth, published 150 years ago, in 1861. That historical timestamp stands out for many reasons, the most important being that our little burg on the Susquehanna just had been reinvented in 1860, when Harrisburg was officially reclassified to be a city. With that move, a new city of 13,000 held its first local election, voting William H. Kepner to be the first elected mayor. The officials who were doing battle with him in the courts were the members of our first elected council, a body then known as a “common council.”
In its decision, the Supreme Court ruled that there was little read difference between a local resolution and ordinance, rejecting the arguments of all sides. That opinion was issued by Chief Judge Lowrie, who found the city’s newly formed council had inherent powers including the power to make rules to govern themselves, to borrow money on behalf of the city and to exercise general power over city affairs. Score one for council.
But after dispensing with the officials’ arguments on who holds what power, Judge Lowrie moved on to address what he saw as the important points. He reminded these public servants that, in matters impacting the affairs of the city, “the people have a right” to the judgment of both their mayor and their council. A desire to get their input on public matters was the very reason they were each chosen. That said, the court went on to find that Mayor Kepner should get an opportunity to consider any legislation. Therefore, as the council had not consulted him about the contract, the court found Mayor Kepner under no obligation to sign.
Of course, this being Harrisburg, the decision did little to resolve the issues surrounding the large public debt. The city still owed an earlier loan, an obligation first approved by the Borough of Harrisburg. Because the court decision sent the local officials back to square one, the lawsuit resolved nothing in terms of the city’s actual financial concerns. Therefore, at the end of the city’s first legal battle, Harrisburg’s official still left to find their own workable solution to the city’s debt problem.
In a tradition abandoned by modern courts, Chief Judge Lowrie’s decision offered sage advice to these feuding officials. Using words in the style of his day, the Judge pointed our the one thing that could resolve this dispute, reminding everyone that “respect for the law, and respect for each other… will be… a very sure remedy against official encroachments and official jealousies.”
In modern terms, he told the parties that they must respect each other and through such mutual respect, they could prevent or at least stop most disputes, as a respectful work atmosphere would help those in government concern themselves with doing their own jobs.
Did our very first mayor and council heed that wise advice? Who knows? But this we do know: We have watched local officials wage the very same fight in much the same way, some 150 years later. So this being Harrisburg, perhaps we should not only realize that these battles rage on, but also ask if these fights are really about the powers and duties of public officials. far too often, these battles are little more than raw political theater. We watch as the same scenes get acted out year after year, while different players enter and exit our main stage. So what, if anything, does this history lesson tell us about what to expect for Harrisburg in 2012?
Consider this one thing: Most of us locals know that we are about to enter more difficult times and yet, this glimpse into our city’s past just might offer a small ray of hope, if not a hint of what our future holds. Despite the long history of a government plagued by relentless infighting, history shows that, somehow, the city abides. The root of that stubborn endurance could be found resting in those who formed Harrisburg or still exists in those who later strayed on to live here.
The people of this city have been the ones who refused to let local officials–whether they were the original slate, our present-day officials or anyone in between–to bring our city to ruin. Thus, with this being Harrisburg, our fractious history suggests that those who call Harrisburg home will be who makes certain this city abides.
We in Harrisburg are resilient people, ones who soldier on each day, equal to whatever the next battle brings. In the tale of Mayor Kepner, it is the quiet power of our resilience that must be the lesson taught and learned. If we are to find a remedy for today’s financial woes and restore our city, we will need to call upon that resilience once again, for in the end, the people of this city most likely be the ones left to administer our own cure and remedy our own problems, this being Harrisburg.
