New COO for City
Robert Philbin will fill the post of Harrisburg’s chief operating officer/chief of staff until the end of Mayor Linda Thompson’s term, it was announced last month.
Philbin served as Thompson’s spokesman for almost two years before leaving in February to accept the post of marketing/communications officer for Capital Area Transit (CAT). He said he plans to return to CAT after his stint as COO.
The COO post was open after the sudden departure of Ricardo Mendez-Saldivia, who served about one year. Mendez-Saldivia was the city’s first COO, a position created as part of Harrisburg’s financial recovery plan in an effort to bring more professional management to city operations.
During his six-month tenure, Philbin said he would focus on continuing to implement the city’s financial recovery plan, crafting a budget for 2014 and helping with the transition to a new administration. The job pays an equivalent of $110,000 annually.
“I’m honored to serve the city during this historic period of fiscal recovery and transition, and I look forward to working closely with Mayor Thompson and her administration in the coming months,” Philbin said.
Philbin’s career with the city has been a rocky one. He took the communications director post in 2011, the fourth person to hold that job in over 2½ years, soon becoming a close aide to Thompson. City Council struck the job from the 2012 budget, leading him to work without pay all of last year. Council reinstated the position in 2013 only to have Philbin leave for CAT shortly afterwards.
Fee Hikes on Tap
The Harrisburg City Council last month boosted fees for a variety of services, such as answering false alarms, taking out building permits, renting park space and hanging banners.
The hikes, approved unanimously, were in response to suggestions made last year by Maximus Inc., one of several firms assisting the city in its financial recovery. In many cases, the fees had not risen in more than a decade, said Councilman Brad Koplinski.
For instance, the fee for a second false burglar alarm goes from $10 to $50; for a fourth false burglar alarm from $35 to $100. The permit fee for a plumbing fixture and trap increases from $15 to $25.
City Council members said they didn’t want to raise fees, but that the city needed to consider every option to increase revenue. Raising long-stable fees is part of the receiver’s financial recovery plan for the city.
Harrisburg Threatened with Fund Cut
The state House last month passed a budget plan that would slash the amount of direct state funding Harrisburg receives from $2.5 million to $496,000.
That money flows into the Fire Bureau budget for compensation to protect the Capitol complex. The bureau estimates that it costs Harrisburg about $4 million annually to provide emergency fire service to the Capitol complex.
State Sen. Rob Teplitz (D-Dauphin County), state Rep. Patty Kim (D-Harrisburg) and Mayor Linda Thompson all said they would work hard to restore the funding for the cash-strapped city before the state budget is finalized.
“At a time when the city is already struggling to maintain safety, this painful cut to fire protection funding further jeopardizes the safety of Pennsylvanians and adds to the burden of the city’s fiscal crisis,” said Kim.
Harrisburg already faces an operating budget deficit of around $3 million this year. The proposed funding cut would widen that gap considerably.
School Unions Agree to Cuts
Harrisburg’s two school unions have signed off on a plan to cut staff salaries as part of the financial recovery package for the debt-laden school district.
Both the Harrisburg Education Association (HEA) and AFSCME Council 13 last month tentatively agreed to salary and benefit cuts of 5 percent, said school Chief Recovery Officer Gene Veno. Already, Harrisburg school district personnel have not received regular raises for the past two years.
AFSCME, which represents non-instructional staff, originally rejected the offer, leading Veno to plan layoffs. The union later reversed itself, stating that members objected more to tougher evaluations and performance standards than to the salary and benefit cuts.
At press time, the memberships of both HEA and AFSCME had yet to ratify the agreements.
A third group representing school administrators also agreed to the cuts, said Veno.
Vacant Lot Ignites Dispute
A dispute over the use of a vacant lot at the corner of 6th and Herr streets could come to a head this month.
Bethel AME Church had run a commercial parking operation out of the lot until 2010, when its temporary variance to the zoning code expired. In May, the church applied for another temporary variance, but some members of the Fox Ridge neighborhood near the lot raised objections.
Ted Hanson, whose house abuts the southern edge of the lot, said the church falsely claimed “community support” for the commercial parking plan.
“Not one of the signatories on the church’s petition resides in Old Fox Ridge,” he said.
He added that the church historically has not made any effort to develop the lot appropriately, as past variances have required. On a website, foxridgeneighbors.org, Hanson also called into question Bethel’s appeal to make the lot tax-exempt, saying the church already owes nearly $6,500 in back taxes on the property.
Bethel AME declined to comment.
The application was to be considered at a meeting of the Zoning Hearing Board on June 17, but the meeting was cancelled at the last minute due to an error in the public announcement. The board’s next meeting is July 22, though Geoffrey Knight, the city’s zoning officer, said an earlier date is being sought to review the application.
Harrisburg Again without Health Officer
Harrisburg lost its Health Officer last month after the city, acting on the instruction of receiver William Lynch, declined to raise the position’s annual salary from $40,000 to $50,000.
The officer, Cornelius Johnson, left the post to accept a $50,000-per-year offer for the same position in Susquehanna Township.
The Health Officer conducts routine inspections on Harrisburg restaurants and food vendors to ensure they are complying with health codes. The city is currently seeking someone to fill the position at a starting salary of $42,000. In the meantime, inspections will be conducted by other codes officers employed by the city.
City Council President Wanda Williams expressed regret over Johnson’s departure and criticized Lynch and Mayor Linda Thompson for not ensuring the position offered competitive pay.
“City Council did everything it could to try to retain him,” she said.
Recently, Harrisburg has had trouble filling that position. The health officer post was vacant for more than a year before Johnson took the job.
Councilwoman Susan Brown-Wilson praised Johnson’s abilities, adding that he was Susquehanna’s “number one choice” for the job.
Lynch, however, pointed out that all other city employees are experiencing a pay freeze and stressed that making an exception for one employee would have a “corrosive” effect.
Another Independent for Mayor
Air Force Staff Sgt. Nate Curtis last month announced his candidacy for Harrisburg mayor, the second independent in the race.
At a press conference in the Pennsylvania State Museum, he said his political party affiliation will read “Curtis for Mayor” on the Nov. 5 general election ballot.
Curtis grew up in Harrisburg, where his mother worked at a number of restaurants around the city. His father, whom Curtis said he met when he was a teenager, was a homicide detective with the police department.
Curtis recently returned to the city after a tour in Afghanistan and said he was distressed to find “my hometown at war with itself.” In 2007, his brother Dax was murdered in the foyer of his apartment on Woodbine Street.
His priorities as mayor, he said, would be addressing education and blight and cutting the city’s budget, including a 10 percent pay cut to the mayoral salary and a dismissal of the mayor’s security detail.
The race to replace Mayor Linda Thompson has grown increasingly crowded. Midtown Scholar Bookstore owner Eric Papenfuse captured the Democratic nomination for mayor in May, and Uptown resident Nevin Mindlin also is running as an independent.
City Controller Dan Miller, who lost the Democratic primary, narrowly won the Republican primary based upon 196 write-in votes. At press time, he had not announced his intentions for the general election.
Broad Street Market Loses Manager
Harrisburg’s historic city market is again without a manager as Dennise Hill left after less than a year on the job.
The board of the Broad Street Market confirmed Hill’s resignation, saying that Market vendors were informed of the departure, but refused further comment on this personnel issue.
The Market has had great difficulty retaining top staff, with the past three managers all serving very short stints.
Restaurant Roundup
Harrisburg-area foodies got a triple treat last month as two long-promised eateries and a café made their debut.
The month started out strong as Little Amps Coffee Roasters opened its second location at the corner of N. 2nd and State streets on June 1. Little Amps first rocked Harrisburg’s gourmet coffee market in October 2011 with a storefront in Olde Uptown, and its new downtown spot offers the same fresh-roasted coffee along with a selection of goodies and sandwiches from Yellow Bird Café.
In mid-month, Taco Solo began serving tacos and salads from a central location at the corner of N. 2nd and Locust streets. The downtown taqueria is the inspiration of Juan and Lisa Garcia, owners of the popular Mexican restaurant El Sol, who wanted to bring their cuisine to the takeout crowd.
About a week later, owner Sri Kumarasingam gave a culinary nod to Midtown in the form of Pastorante, a new pasta-themed restaurant at 1012 N. 3rd St. The completely renovated space features an open kitchen, homemade pastas and numerous creative Italian dishes and pizzas. The storefront has been empty for years, last housing the greatly missed Italian Market.
Speaking of Midtown: Fine diners will be delighted that Char’s Tracy Manor will begin to serve Sunday dinner starting July 7. Until now, Char’s only served Sunday brunch, which will be suspended. Also, the beautiful riverside restaurant at 1829 N. Front St. now features live outdoors music on Friday and Saturday nights, 7 to 10 p.m.
Changing Hands: May Property Sales
Briggs St., 1608: T. Simmons to Fannie Mae, $61,911
Capital St., 1007: 3rd Street LLC to CJ Good LLC, $125,000
Cumberland St., 216: D. Maguire Trust to P. Wambach III, $117,500
Derry St., 1711: J. Mendoza to D. Patel, $36,432
Green St., 1628: C. Lex to M. & A. Collins, $90,000
Hale Ave., 433: T. Bryant to G. & C. Speroff, $72,500
Hanna St. 110: Donna C. Flath Trust to M. Knouse, $150,000
Harris St., 625, 641, 643 & 1521, 1523, 1525, 1527 Wallace St.: J. Close to
U.S. GSA, $63,600 each
Harris Terr., 2481: PA Deals LLC to S. Hill, $66,000
Hoffman St., 3028: V. & C. Piatos to J. Hull & L. Downs, $140,000
Holly St., 1849: B. & K. Kreps to D. Reed, $69,900
Hudson St., 1256: J. Fabiankovitz to Lemoyne Land Corp. Inc., $45,000
Hummel St., 224: V. Mainardi to Brethren Housing Assoc., $48,500
Kensington St., 2135: S. Orfanelli to A. Segin, $45,000
Kensington St., 2147: PA Deals LLC to J. Gaidos, $67,900
Liberty St., 1404, 2021 Holly St, 2651 Jefferson St. & 1826 Briggs St.:
Shokes Enterprises & R. Shokes Jr. to R. & D. Requa, $201,000
Locust St., 103 & 105: Front & Locust LLC to Browser Properties, $150,000
Maclay St., 524: W. Grannison to 524 Real Estate Holdings LLC, $100,000
Manada St., 2003: D. Barrick to M. Jackson, $63,000
N. 2nd St., 1225: J. Van Allen to M. & L. Day, $120,000
N. 2nd St., 1404: Kyzer Rentals LLC to Tang Liu Realty LLC, $100,000N. 2nd St., 2405: PBE Companies LLC to M. & R. Lindquist, $140,000
N. 2nd St., 2533: J. & V. First to K., C. & E. Meisinger, $120,000
N. 2nd St., 2619: R. Davis Jr. to D. Skerpon & C. Baldridge, $225,000
N. 15th St., 17: B. Miller to Wofford Enterprises Ltd., $50,000
N. 15th St., 1217: PA Deals LLC to A. Plowman, $79,900
N. Cameron St., 101, 101 Rear, 109 & 111 Hancock St.: C. Green to R. & S.
Otto, $269,000
Oakwood Rd., 2309: M. & S. Gruin to M. Knopf, $245,000
Penn St., 1523: K. Thralls to E. Jones & J. Lindgren, $134,000
S. 12th St., 1442: Beneficial Consumer Discount Co. to N. Sanchez, $42,500
S. Cameron St., 1119: River Rescue to Statewide Enterprises LLC,
$385,000
Verbeke St., 210: K. Leitner to R. Katsifis, $90,000
Sales data is collected from Dauphin County records and is assumed to be accurate.
