Greater Harrisburg's Community Magazine
It’s been a busy week in Pittsburgh, shooting interviews for Poured in PA. We return tomorrow, and I have a low-key weekend on deck.
Saturday morning will begin as usual, then I’m hitting the HYP Home Tour (weather permitting, I’ll be honest), and by night — well, we’ll be following our hockey playoff watching traditions.
ABC27 anchor Dennis Owens addresses mayoral candidates, pictured left to right, incumbent Eric Papenfuse, Anthony Harrell, Lewis Butts, Gloria Martin-Roberts and Jennie Jenkins.
With less than a week until Harrisburg’s Democratic primary, Harrisburg’s five mayoral candidates leaned into the big ideas of their platforms at last night’s live-broadcast debate.
Mayor Eric Papenfuse and challengers Anthony Harrell, Lewis Butts, Gloria Martin-Roberts and Jennie Jenkins responded to questions fired from a panel of four local journalists, including TheBurg’s Editor-in-Chief Lawrance Binda.
The night started with Binda asking the candidates where they stand on the issue of a home rule charter, which potentially could change the governing structure and taxing abilities of the city.
Martin-Roberts said she would work with City Council, saying that it would not be a decision she would make alone.
In her opening statement, she emphasized her vision to be a collaborative leader, which played out in many of her answers including her position on establishing a home rule charter for the city.
“I’m indecisive,” she said. “The home rule process is something the community will decide by vote…Before we go that far, we need to educate the community about home rule.”
Papenfuse criticized Martin-Roberts’ mention of being indecisive.
“We cannot afford to have a mayor who is indecisive,” he said. “Yes, we need home rule. We need to have a serious conversation about it.”
Jenkins said that a home rule charter would “tax and fee the residents out of existence.”
Papenfuse responded that Jenkins “doesn’t understand home rule,” adding that the city must come up with an exit strategy to leave Act 47. A home rule charter would allow the city to keep taxing powers granted by Act 47.
For 90 minutes, the panel, which also included Christine Vendel of PennLive, Emily Previti of WITF and Jason Scott of the Central Penn Business Journal, fired targeted questions aimed to illuminate candidates’ understanding of some of the complexities of the mayor’s position. ABC27 anchor Dennis Owens moderated the debate with more than 130 attendees seated in the ballroom of the Hilton Harrisburg.
When responding to a question about how two potential state laws would affect the city’s gun ordinances, Harrell established himself as a “2nd Amendment” candidate.
“I do carry and obey all laws this country puts down,” he said. “All of us should carry our own weapons.”
While questions didn’t explicitly touch on crime and safety in the city, Harrell brought many questions back the issue of “securing the city.”
“We must make this city safe and secure, then we can work on these great ideas,” he said.
Jenkins, who said she would aggressively lobby to change the city’s parking situation, said she would not lobby state lawmakers deciding on gun policies that could put the city in costly legal situations.
“I’d abide by all the laws that’d be enacted,” she said.
Some creative questions pointed to warmer topics, such as how often each candidate visits the Broad Street Market.
Martin-Roberts, who moved to Harrisburg as a child, called the market her nursery.
“I start on Thursday and eat my way through to Saturday,” she said. “I eat anywhere in the Broad Street Market except the floor.”
Papenfuse said he goes at least one a week and eats pierogi, pizza and Greek cuisine. He transitioned into how his administration worked to turn the market into an independent nonprofit last December.
“It’s an example of everything going right in Harrisburg,” he said. “Its success mirrors Harrisburg’s success.”
Butts said he’s a fan of the “hard-fried oysters,” adding that each neighborhood should have a market.
Harrell and Jenkins also said they visit the market at least once a week.
Voters can learn more about the candidates at the final debate, which is 7 p.m. tomorrow at Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center and is sponsored by ABC27. Or voters can hope to run into them at the market.
Author: Danielle Roth
Welcome to TheBurg Podcast, a weekly roundup of news in and around Harrisburg.
May 5, 2017: This week, editor-in-chief Lawrance Binda and city reporter Danielle Roth pick apart Tuesday’s mayoral debate and discuss each candidate’s performance. Binda catches listeners up to speed with Friends of Midtown’s City Council forum, which he moderated, and the State’s corruption probe into the Harrisburg Incinerator. Binda and Roth discuss President Donald Trump’s weekend visit to Harrisburg.
Subscribe to TheBurg Podcast on iTunes and Google Play.
Special thanks to Paul Cooley, who wrote our theme music. Check out his podcast, the PRC Show on iTunes.
Find the stories referenced in this week’s podcast, plus candidate Q&As and a list of upcoming debates:
One of the many lovely homes that will be featured this month during the HYP Home Tour in Bellevue Park.
In Harrisburg, there are a few annual events that you can mark your calendar by: the holiday parade, the summer festivals and, each May, the HYP Annual Home Tour, organized by Harrisburg Young Professionals.
This year, the Home Tour, for the first time, travels up to Bellevue Park, a leafy, rustic enclave of large homes and beautiful gardens that outsiders rarely get to see.
If you’re unfamiliar with this neighborhood, Bellevue Park was laid out in 1910 at the height of the “City Beautiful” movement. Renowned landscape architect Warren Manning designed the neighborhood’s layout, including the “reservations” (common green areas) and ponds that fill in the spaces between home lots and along roads. The area features winding lanes, wooded streets and many natural elements.
For this year’s event, guests will get to tour 17 homes, each with a one-of-a-kind story. Each home will be partnered with a unique food and drink sponsor from the local area. There also will be an after-party, with food and live music, held at the Bellevue Park Community Center.
Proceeds from Home Tour benefit the HYP “Home in the City” program, which provides $1,000 grants to qualified HYP members who are purchasing a home in Harrisburg. In 2016, the organization provided $9,000 to HYP members through the program.
“This has been one of our longest-running events, and, by far, the most impactful in the Harrisburg community,” said Joe Tertel, 2017 HYP president. “We have the opportunity to bring hundreds of individuals to an area in the city that they may not be aware of. From these types of events, we hope to bring awareness to the uniqueness of architecture and history that our city provides.”
The 2017 HYP Home Tour takes place on Saturday, May 13, noon to 5 p.m., in Bellevue Park. For more information, including how to purchase tickets, visit www.hyp.org.
Author: Lawrance Binda
Tuesday’s debate shook awake a rather sleepy mayoral campaign in Harrisburg, one that, until then, was marked by little more than Facebook posts and midnight runs along N. 3rd Street to plant signs.
It was the end of the “phony campaign” (to use a war analogy), when, with great anticipation, the sides stare each other down but little happens face to face.
For the first time, in an awkwardly laid-out room at HACC’s Midtown II building, all five candidates were present, sitting close to one another, to answer a barrage of questions from CBS21’s John Hanrahan and PennLive’s John Micek and Christine Vendel.
So, what did we learn?
From a superficial standpoint, we didn’t learn much that we hadn’t already read from the candidates’ websites and social media posts: Lewis Butts has never met a development gimmick he doesn’t like; Jennie Jenkins thinks she can sweet talk SP+ into turning the parking system back over to the city; and all the challengers think the city could be safer and cleaner.
But, on a deeper level, there was more to learn.
First of all, the debate exposed something that had been simmering beneath the surface for months—that the old, Reed-era Harrisburg establishment has coalesced behind challenger Gloria Martin-Roberts.
During the debate, Martin-Roberts was asked, for instance, about former Mayor Linda Thompson, a long-time ally who circulated a nominating petition for her. In responding, Martin-Roberts defended Thompson’s tenure, saying “she did quite well” despite “some hiccups with personality,” which may be the most generous analysis of Thompson’s term I’ve heard.
Martin-Roberts also was asked about James Ellison, who is serving as her campaign treasurer. Ellison has been a fixture around Harrisburg for about 20 years, serving as counsel and chairman of the Harrisburg Authority, as counsel to the Harrisburg school district and as a top campaign aide to Thompson.
In one of his most noted actions, Ellison voted to approve the final bond issue to retrofit the Harrisburg incinerator, doubling the facility’s debt load, an action also supported by Martin-Roberts as a councilwoman. He also advised the school district’s board of control that it legally could fire former Superintendent Gerald Kohn, though 16 months remained on Kohn’s contract, a measure driven by Thompson and supported by Martin-Roberts. Kohn eventually won a $1.2 million settlement for wrongful termination.
But it’s not just Ellison. City Treasurer Dan Miller, who served on City Council during that same period, also supports Martin-Roberts. And, just recently, it was revealed that Reed himself sent out an email encouraging a friend to donate to the Martin-Roberts campaign.
Papenfuse mentioned some of this during the debate, as he feels that Harrisburg’s old guard wants back in power, a group he’s battled for years. For her part, Martin-Roberts said that neither Thompson nor Ellison would serve in her administration. That said, Martin-Roberts certainly is not distancing herself from Harrisburg’s recent, troubled past, an interesting decision that voters will have to weigh seriously.
Secondly, voters got to look at several of the challengers for the first time. I generally wasn’t impressed by their performances, though I’d say Jenkins presented better than Anthony Harrell or Lewis Butts. Jenkins had a few rough patches, but probably did well enough to continue the momentum she’s built up over the past few months.
Without question, Jenkins has run the most visible and energetic campaign among the mayoral hopefuls. While I don’t always agree with her tactics, I can’t deny that she’s run a solid campaign, beginning early and continuing over months with consistent effort. I doubt this will be enough for her to win, though it may be sufficient to play the role of spoiler.
Conventional wisdom has it that Jenkins will take more of the vote away from Martin-Roberts than Papenfuse. I don’t disagree with that, but it remains to be seen just how much support she’ll earn citywide and, thus, how many votes she’ll grab from her fellow challengers.
Because of this, I thought we’d see Martin-Roberts go after Jenkins more directly. I’ve been told that that’s not her style, though I’ve seen her, as a councilwoman, be plenty tough.
With the first debate behind us, we move on. Next is the HYP debate at the Hilton Harrisburg on Tuesday, and I’ll be on the reporter panel for that. It will be interesting to see if the gloves come off, if the candidates decide to shift what they say and to whom they direct their fire.
Author: Lawrance Binda
A busy, busy weekend ahead. Tonight, we’re off to a wine dinner at the Hilton that my husband bid on at last year’s Tres Bonne Annee, so that should be fun.
Tomorrow evening, it’s Over the Rhine at Midtown Scholar, amid rain showers.
Saturday, my usual Next Step/Broad Street Market routine before Derby Day.
On Sunday, I have both a morning wedding and an afternoon baby shower to attend, capped by dinner with a friend in the evening. Whew.
Harrisburg Hoopla will take place June 3 at City Island’s Skyline Sports Complex.
Typically, professional athletes compete at Harrisburg’s City Island. However, come June 3, amateurs will have their day to play, while raising funds for local nonprofits.
Harrisburg Hoopla will give participants a day of friendly competition that ends with cold drinks, snacks and live music. Groups of at least six will face off in the Skyline Sports Complex in eight events of field day classics, such as the dizzy bat race and dodgeball.
The Emerging Philanthropist Program (EPP), a partnership between Harrisburg Young Professionals and the Foundation for Enhancing Communities (TFEC), created Harrisburg Hoopla this year to raise awareness and funds for local charities.
“We want to raise awareness for different causes and local nonprofit organizations,” said event organizer Devin Langan. “There are some organizations that are out there that are doing really good work, but people may not know about them.”
Teams select different local nonprofits to support. The winning three teams take the bulk of the donations for their charities. The first-place team takes 30 percent of funds raised. Second and third place teams, respectively, take 20 and 10 percent of funds raised.
After the field day activities end, the event turns into a party complete with live music, alcohol, snacks and a food truck.
“We have a little bit of everything,” Langan said. “People can relax, have fun and enjoy the weather.”
The winning teams will be given a platform to talk about their charity of choice.
So far, teams have been selected to compete for the Samara Center for Individual and Family Growth, the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank and a charity to benefit those with cystic fibrosis.
The event also serves as a fundraiser that will sustain next year’s event and EPP’s grant-making fund.
“Instead of just focusing on raising money for EPP, we can raise awareness of the local charities,” he said.
The program acquaints a class of 15 young adults with Harrisburg’s local nonprofit community. At the end of the yearlong class, the group doles out a $5,000 grant to a nonprofit. In its fourth years, EPP has donated $15,000 to local groups, including the YWCA and the Shalom House.
After completing the program, Langan and other event organizers wanted to create an annual event that would engage all the community and benefit the nonprofit community they became connected with.
“We want to keep Harrisburg growing and improving,” he said.
Participants must register to compete. Attendees can purchase tickets to come for the evening festivities. Register before May 7 for an early bird rate. Event organizers suggest that those supporting and cheering on teams during the day donate.
“[Harrisburg Hoopla is] open to everyone. We want as many people to come as possible,” Langan said.
For more information about Harrisburg Hoopla, including how to register, please visit www.tfec.org/hbghoopla/registration.
Author: Danielle Roth
Mayoral candidates sat in the order they will appear on the ballot. From left to right: Lewis Butts, Gloria Martin-Roberts, Mayor Eric Papenfuse, Anthony Harrell, and Jennie Jenkins.
Harrisburg mayoral candidates Gloria Martin-Roberts and incumbent Eric Papenfuse defended their records last night, taking jabs at each other, while challengers Lewis Butts, Anthony Harrell and Jennie Jenkins tried to introduce themselves, and their ideas, to a live TV audience.
The moderators, CBS21 Anchor Robb Hanrahan, PennLive Opinion Editor John Micek and PennLive City Reporter Christine Vendel, asked candidates about pressing city issues and their backgrounds. Candidates sat in the order they appear on the May 16 Democratic primary election ballot. About 60 audience members filled the room at HACC’s Midtown Campus for last night’s hour-long, live-recorded event.
Mayor Eric Papenfuse took the first rhetorical punches at Martin-Roberts as candidates answered a question about improving blighted neighborhoods.
Martin-Roberts started off the panel’s responses with a common phrase of her campaign.
“I don’t have a favorite neighborhood, and I’ve been saying this,” she said. “This entire city would be the city that I love. I would start focusing on those neighborhoods that have been overlooked for a very long time.”
She added that, as mayor, she would listen to the needs of the community, use the law’s full force with absentee landlords and encourage buyers “to see blighted properties as diamonds in the rough.”
Papenfuse responded first with a dig at Martin-Roberts.
“I first would l to say that I do not have a favorite neighborhood,” he said. “I care about this whole city equally, and I find Ms. Martin-Roberts’ rhetoric, frankly, divisive. If the city is going to succeed, we are going to have to look for all of us to succeed together.”
He cited South Harrisburg’s sinkhole remediation plan, Allison Hill’s $3 million grant-funded MulDer Square development project and LERTA, a city-wide investment incentive program, as three of the “most important anti-blight remediation efforts” in many years.
Harrell, a veteran, mentioned a program to help veterans purchase houses before turning his answer back to crime.
“As long as crime is on the rise, no one will move into [these neighborhoods],” he said.
Butts referenced his “Harrisburg First” plan to train workers and contractors with a trade center in an attempt to connect job creation with neighborhood development.
Jenkins said she would go after federal funding for crime and blight, before criticizing the current administration.
“I thought three years ago, that’s what we were going to do: fight blight,” she said. “Here we are, three years later, wondering about blight,”
“Any funding that comes in for blight, that is what I am going to use it for,” she said of her plan.
Jenkins defended her troubled career as a police officer. The city fired her after accusing her of misappropriating $7,000 from the city’s Police Athletic League. She also found herself in trouble when thieves stole two guns from her unoccupied car. Currently, she is in a federal discrimination lawsuit against Police Chief Thomas Carter.
When asked about her transparency with these lawsuits, she said she couldn’t talk about the discrimination lawsuit as it is currently in progress. She said lawsuits prevented her from speaking about the embezzlement case with the city, though the case ended in January 2016.
Moderators asked a follow-up question about how, as mayor, she would manage a police department led by Chief Thomas Carter, who she said she would keep in office. She said that the discrimination lawsuit would be over in January, before she would take office.
“I don’t hold anything against anyone,” she said. “I’ve grown from it. I’ve learned from it.”
Martin-Roberts also defended her record in response to questions about her City Council vote to increase the incinerator debt and about her connections to former Mayor Linda Thompson and to James Ellison, a former associate of Mayor Stephen Reed.
Though Thompson had “hiccups with her personality,” she had “her hands deep in the Harrisburg Strong Plan,” she said.
“We would not be where we are today without her work,” she said.
She said that Ellison, now her campaign treasurer, would not serve in her administration. Ellison, a lawyer, found himself in controversy while serving both with the Harrisburg Authority under the Reed administration and, later, as counsel to the school district of Coatesville, Pa.
Papenfuse’s responses to certain questions elicited their fair share of groans, including one about the lack of a residency requirement for police officers.
“As a result, we have been able to attract some of the best and brightest from the nation and across the state,” he said.
Coming after Harrell and Butts commenting that police officers should reflect city neighborhoods, some members of the audience took Papenfuse’s comment as an insult.
As Harrell offered his closing remarks, Midtown resident Chris Siennick crashed the live television recording, introducing himself—complete with red headband and skateboard—as the Socialist candidate in the November general election.
After the audience erupted in laughter, Hanrahan closed the evening with these remarks: “[Last night was] a great example of how anything can happen on live television.”
Author: Danielle Roth
The Farm Show’s New Holland Arena, where President Trump spoke on Saturday.
Over the past few days, some people have been surprised that I’ve written several critical pieces on the visit of President Donald Trump to Harrisburg, as he marked his 100th day in office.
TheBurg’s the nice guy on the block, right?
Actually, we’ve weighed in on politics and government from the very beginning and, as you may know, there’s often nothing more fraught than local politics. In my magazine column this month, I mention that, every election cycle, I get into “trouble,” as I begin to step on toes with my annoying opinions. And, as soon as Trump announced his visit to Harrisburg, deeming it a “campaign” stop, it became a local political story, as well.
Over the past few days, I’ve written two main pieces for TheBurg’s website about the Trump visit. They’re quite different, written for different reasons.
In the first, I suggested that Trump’s people did not choose wisely when deciding to come to Harrisburg to mark his Day 100. I found it odd that, seeking affirmation, he would visit a deep-blue city in an increasingly blue region.
I wrote that piece for two main reasons. First, I had been asked all week why I thought Trump selected Harrisburg, so decided to share my belief that his people likely didn’t understand where they were going—that Harrisburg seemed like a conveniently situated place in a state that had swung for Trump–and that was as far as their thinking went. But I also wanted the national media not to make the same mistake—to think that Harrisburg is the heart of Trump country, because it’s not. (For a totally different opinion on this, click here.)
And, in fact, yesterday, I exchanged a couple of emails with Marc Fisher, a Washington Post senior editor, about his story in the Sunday Post, which touched on exactly this issue. His response to me was:
“I had looked into the vote numbers and sought in the story not to make any sweeping statements about Harrisburg. But inevitably the name of the locale gets conflated to some degree with the larger region from which the crowd travels. I think the individual stories of Trump fans within my article demonstrate that the supporters came from many rural and suburban areas, not mainly from Harrisburg.”
Secondly, I wrote a satirical piece about Trump’s address. This was unplanned, but I wrote it spur-of-the-moment (maybe you can tell) after hearing his speech, which I found to be hateful, divisive and self-obsessed, far beneath the standards that we should expect of our president. Moreover, I was taken aback by the blind loyalty of some of his supporters, despite his constantly shifting logic, statements and policies.
I’ll be honest—I’m no Donald Trump fan, never have been. I grew up in the 1970s just outside of New York City, so have read and heard about him all my life—from his playboy/Roy Cohn/Studio 54 years to his many mistresses and marriages; from his high-wire builder and casino mogul days to his numerous bankruptcies; from his lurid chats with Howard Stern to his embarrassing appearance at a Comedy Central roast; from the books he didn’t actually write to the university he didn’t actually run; from his shameless branding to his reality show persona; from his sudden switch from mildly liberal, pro-choice plutocrat to spitting-mad conservative plutocrat. For 40 years, I’ve had a seat to the Donald Trump show and have enjoyed almost none of it.
When Trump declared for president—famously descending that golden escalator at Trump Tower—I thought to myself, “Another publicity stunt.” And, to this day, I believe that’s what it was supposed to be, another way for Donald Trump to direct the spotlight on Donald Trump. To attract attention in a large field of Republicans, he took the lowest road possible, demonizing entire groups of people while making wild promises (e.g. bringing back coal jobs, forcing Mexico to pay for the wall) he’ll never be able to keep. It was all strategy without sincerity, but it worked, which may be good for Trump (or maybe not), but, I believe, is terrible for the country.
In any case, Trump has now left the building (and the city). So, I’ll return to the tamer (not really) world of Harrisburg politics, where, after a rather quiet campaign, the mayoral candidates have begun swinging at one another in the manner to which we’re accustomed. I’ll have more on that later.
Author: Lawrance Binda
As a public service, TheBurg offers a “fair and balanced” interpretation of President Donald Trump’s speech last night at the state Farm Show Complex.
Trump: I’m delighted to be here in Harrisburg to mark Day 100 of my presidency. Everyone knows that I’ve had more success in my first 100 days than any president ever.
Crowd: Wild applause
Now, some of you, I’m sure, are aware of all the promises I made during my campaign and in my “100-Day Contract,” which is why the banner in this hall reads, “Promises Made, Promises Kept.” We’ve kept them all, folks!
Huge applause
And I promised you that I would repeal Obamacare on Day 1!
Crowd: Hooray!
And have I?
No!
No, I have not, but that’s only because no one knew that healthcare reform could be so hard. No one. But the fake news media won’t tell you that, folks.
Boo!!
That’s right. They won’t tell you about all my tremendous accomplishments, and I know because that’s where I get most of my false information.
Boo!! Boo!!
From Fox primarily.
Yay!
Hey, we’re gonna build that big, beautiful wall on the border with Mexico—and who’s gonna pay for it?
We are!
That’s right, you are! You and you and you over there, way in the back. Mexico might, someday, maybe, because Donald J. Trump will pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.
Hamburger!
And then none of those MS-13 thugs will flood over the border into our great American nation to rape and rob and murder, even though MS-13 is actually a Los Angeles gang that spread from the United States into Central America. But you don’t know that, do you?
We do not!
Hey, and speaking of Mexico, I repeatedly promised that the United States would withdraw from NAFTA. Worst deal ever! So, have we?
No!
No, we haven’t. But, don’t worry, folks. Mexico and Canada will come back to the negotiating table because . . . hey, what about our amazing veterans, folks? Give our vets a huge round of applause!
U-S-A! U-S-A!
Then there’s China.
Boo!
You all remember what I said about China, right?
Unfair trader! Currency manipulator!
And our new best friend!
Hooray!
Chant begins: Lock her up! Lock her up!
We’re not doing that.
Yay!
Now, I also promised to drain the swamp. I admit, we’re a little behind in that effort, since I’ve only nominated 37 people for 530 senior-level jobs in the agencies. So, if anyone in this room would like to be an associate deputy undersecretary in the Department of Labor or a deputy United States Trade Representative, please let Mike Pence know. Anything not claimed by the end of the night is going to Jared Kushner.
OK, now folks, let’s talk tax cuts.
Wild applause.
I promised you that, within the first 100 days, I would slash the corporate tax rate from 35 to 15 percent. Is anyone in this room a corporation? No? Over here? No? That’s OK. I haven’t done much about that either.
More wild applause.
But it’s not just corporations, folks. I also plan to eliminate the despised death tax, hated by everyone with an estate over $5.45 million. I’m sure that applies to almost everyone here.
Now, I made a bunch of other crazy promises in my 100-day contract—things like the “Restoring Community Safety Act,” the “End the Offshoring Act,” the “Affordable Childcare and Eldercare Act” and the “Restoring National Security Act.” But you folks have never heard of any of these—and I haven’t done anything about them anyway, so we’ll just forget about them.
Hooray!
In conclusion, I would like to reminisce for a moment about my wonderful campaign, and I know you all were there for me. Give yourselves a big round of applause for Making America Great Again!
Wild applause.
So, I once said, early on, during a campaign stop in Iowa, that I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and still not lose my voters. Bang! Good night!
Author: Lawrance Binda