Harrisburg’s newest councilman, Dave Madsen, posed for a picture following last night’s long, sometimes heated, City Council meeting.
A discussion about mayoral term limits and political alliances in Harrisburg drew sharp words at a Tuesday night council meeting, ultimately ending with the City Council president accusing the mayor of trying to influence a council selection process.
Council is considering a resolution that would limit Harrisburg mayors to serving two, four-year terms. The bill was first introduced at the Aug. 29 legislative session and discussed again at Tuesday’s non-voting work session.
While the consensus on council seems to favor term limits, Mayor Eric Papenfuse said that he would only support an ordinance that established term limits on all elected offices.
“It’s a problem to have the legislative branch impose term limits on the executive branch,” Papenfuse said.
He also said that city hall needed to engage the public on the issue and compromise on the length of the term limit before making any change.
Williams agreed that term limits should apply to all branches of government, but then accused the mayor of interfering with legislative activities by trying to influence council votes. The exchange that followed, wherein Papenfuse defended his right to express opinions to council people, became a referendum on the perceived mistrust between the city’s executive and legislative branches.
Williams rebuked Papenfuse for allegedly texting members of council to tell them how to vote in the selection of a new council person. Council held a special session on Tuesday to appoint a replacement for Jeffrey Baltimore, a councilman who resigned last month.
Dave Madsen got the four-vote majority he needed to take the vacant seat, an appointment that only lasts about four months until the winner in the November election can claim the seat. Papenfuse, though, favored another nominee, Brian Ostella. He drew Williams’ ire for sharing his preference before Tuesday’s vote.
“How are we going to be transparent if you text a council person to select a certain individual?” Williams asked Papenfuse. “You should not have been involved in that process—how can we work together if you keep doing things like that?”
Papenfuse defended sending text messages to councilmen Westburn Majors and Cornelius Johnson, saying that he only told them how he would vote if he were called in to break a tie.
“The mayor gets to participate if there’s a tie, so I thought they should know where I stand if there was,” Papenfuse said. “I expressed my opinion that, for a four-month term with the budget vote coming up, that Brian Ostella would be a good addition to council.”
Williams accused Papenfuse of sending a text message to Councilwoman Destini Hodges, who was absent from last Thursday’s special meeting when council began the selection process.
Hodges voted for Madsen at Tuesday’s meeting, bringing his vote total to four and ending the election. If she had voted for Ostella, however, there could have been a tie between the two nominees. Papenfuse denied texting her about the vote.
“I had no conversation with Hodges at all,” Papenfuse said.
The long evening ended with Karl Singleton, special assistant to the mayor, getting into a heated exchange with Williams. He implied that Papenfuse had every right to voice his preference and that, in any case, Madsen was the choice of Williams’ backer, Jimmy Pianka.
Following this tense, loud exchange, Madsen got up briefly to say, “I look forward to working with all of you in a constructive manner.”
Author: Lizzy Hardison
Lawrance Binda contributed to this story.
