While the Harrisburg mayoral race has another leg, barring any atypical occurrence, we know what the next City Council will look like.
In this Democrat-heavy town, only Democrats have run for council in the past few years, so it’s the primary election that determines the winners and the losers.
This year, there were four seats up for grabs, and of the ten candidates who ran, there were three incumbents—Wanda Williams, Eugenia Smith and Kelly Summerford.
Summerford lost, and two fresh faces were elected to office. In fact, one of those newbies, Shamaine Daniels, garnered more votes than anyone else, which was a surprise to many and, most certainly, to the incumbents.
Aside from the fact that a relatively unfamiliar newcomer succeeded above the rest, it’s worth noting who lost, most especially Summerford, who was considered a Linda Thompson defender and upholder.
When looking back on City Council votes since 2010, when Summerford took office, his voting record indicates an alignment with Thompson and her positions. He was not alone. His comrade was former City Council President Gloria Martin-Roberts. In 2011, she retired from council at the end of her term, choosing no longer to run for local government, but rather tried to make the jump to state. In 2012, she ran for the 103rd PA House of Representatives seat, coming in last in the primary.
She also has stood out as a fervent Thompson supporter.
On the other hand, we have City Council incumbents who have been re-elected. And whether it was this run or the last, what we know is that the “Fabulous Four” made it, while the others have not.
Who are the Fabulous Four?
In a long story made short synopsis….
Back when Linda Thompson was on council, she and Mayor Stephen Reed engaged in a fight about whose right it was to appoint members to the Harrisburg Authority (THA) board—the mayor’s or council’s. The issue headed to the courts, where it went as high as it could. However, there was no final ruling until Thompson defeated Reed and took the office of mayor.
On May 26, 2010—as City Council-appointed members of THA were making progress on the organization of chaotic files and setting terms of negotiations with creditors in the incinerator debt matters—the state Supreme Court came down with its ruling on the matter.
It ruled that the mayor has the right to appoint members to THA’s board, not City Council. Thus, by law, THA’s board was immediately dismantled. Work on a plan to face the incinerator crisis and on a much-discussed forbearance agreement stopped.
Despite a lot of public pressure to do so, Mayor Thompson refused to re-appoint the board members so they could get back to work. It could have been done. The next day. The irony, of course, was that Thompson as city councilor fanatically claimed it was council’s prerogative to appoint the THA board. Hence, the lawsuit with “Linda Thompson” explicitly named as one of the parties involved, meaning she believed so full-heartedly that City Council should appoint the board, not the mayor, that she was willing to spend public money and time to prove her righteousness of principle.
Yet, when the tables turned and she was mayor, instead of returning the council-appointed board back to business, she delayed and then began to send down a list of new candidates who either withdrew themselves before they came before council or caused strife amongst city councilors.
This is the first time we saw the so-called “Fabulous Four,” as the media began to refer to them. There were four members of City Council who stuck together and demanded a re-appointment of the old board—Wanda Williams, Susan Brown-Wilson, Eugenia Smith and Brad Koplinski. They stood strong despite the mayor and City Council President Gloria Martin-Roberts calling them “obstructionists,” “hypocrites” and “children.” This is when Summerford was noted to side with Martin-Roberts and Thompson.
Why does this matter? Because, looking back on that summer of 2010, reflection easily demonstrates how bad of a move it was for Harrisburg to have an inactive THA Board.
It gave creditors power and ultimately contributed to Thompson’s application to the state for the Act 47 program in October 2010, which led to a state takeover and the appointment of a receiver.
The “Fabulous Four” stuck together for a long time. They formed a bloc that voted down various Thompson administration initiatives, including premature asset monetization moves, high-interest financings and the Act 47 program and plans. They even fought receivership and never failed to call Thompson out in unity if there were a questionable claim or deal on the table.
They were publicly applauded. They were voted back into office.
Gloria Martin-Roberts and Kelly Summerford were not. Even Patty Kim, who continuously teetered in the middle of the two sides, won the 103rd seat by a very slim margin.
Apparently, Harrisburg wants fighters. Voters have indicated they want elected officials who seem to understand the complexity of the issues at hand, who have noble opinions and who express perspective for the common good.
The electorate wants representatives to fight the fights that matter the most and not the ones that don’t.
If anything, this election seems to reflect that.
For the two newcomers—Daniels and Ben Allatt—they’ve been given a chance to show who they will listen to and what they’re made of. Clearly, the standard has been set.
