Take a Seat. Exercise. Chair Yoga is a hit for seniors with limited mobility.

March 31, 2017 | by Phyllis Zimmerman

On a recent morning, about 15 senior citizens gathered in the activity room at Susquehanna View Apartments in Camp Hill.

They were there to get some exercise, but, first, they had to sit down. It was the once-a-month gathering of a unique form of meditative exercise called “chair yoga.”

“Bring your chest in,” advised the group’s leader, 23-year-old Angela Conforti, a physical aide at Conforti Physical Therapy of Lemoyne.

She continued in a calm, soothing voice.

“Exhale,” she said. “Go at your own pace. Don’t worry about what your neighbors are doing.”

Participants, seated in a circle centered by four flameless candles and a small, lit tree, started with warm-up exercises that included rolling their shoulders in one direction, then another, then rolling their wrists in figure eights, all while remaining seated in their chairs. Strength exercises followed: raising arms forward one at a time, inhaling, exhaling, raising legs on at a time, and finally, raising an arm and leg on each side one at a time.

Nobody objected until it was time to cross ankles over knees.

“Oh, no,” a women in the group jokingly protested. “We don’t need to call 9-1-1 today.”

Conforti didn’t argue. Instead, she encouraged everyone to do only what felt comfortable. About one-third of the group followed through, setting an ankle over an opposite knee until told to relax.

When it was done, participants said they felt better than when they started.

Linda Cook, 73, who has “a little bit of arthritis everywhere,” said that Conforti’s “very restful voice” helped her to relax. Chair yoga, she added, is “very conducive to sleep.”

Robert Forsythe, 77, said chair yoga helps the pain in his hands.

“It’s very relaxing,” he said. “I’ll be back.”

Melvin Eichelberger, 72, was there because chair yoga helped his right hip and leg that “have really been hurting” for several years. The trouble began when he broke his leg at 5 years old, plus he believes that one of his legs is shorter than the other.

Susquehanna View Program Coordinator Michael Stewart said he introduced monthly chair yoga sessions to the senior apartment complex to enhance a twice-weekly traditional exercise program already in place.

“When you get older, your body starts falling apart,” he said. “If you don’t do exercise, your muscles start falling apart. Exercise also helps to lower your cholesterol.”

Stewart said he heard about chair yoga while taking a wellness program at Conforti Physical Therapy, where he was a patient. Angela’s father, Jeff Conforti, runs the business.

In general, yoga uses postures to focus concentration on specific body parts, as well as breathing techniques to integrate the body with mind and mind with soul. It is reputed to help with mood, lower blood pressure by reducing stress, improve strength and flexibility, and even provide better sleep.

“Our residents love yoga,” Stewart said. “It’s very relaxing and comforting.”

It’s hard to say who invented yoga as yogis practiced it before any written account existed, according to medicinenet.com. It’s believed that the earliest written record of yoga was by Patanjali, an Indian yogic sage who lived 2,000 to 2,500 years ago. Pantanjali wrote the “Yoga Sutras,” the guiding principles, philosophy and practices of yoga that still are followed today.

Conforti cited a Johns Hopkins University study noting that chair yoga has been found to decrease rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, biomechanical issues such as joint pain, and reduce depression and anxiety.

Conforti, who is pursuing a master’s degree in physical therapy through Marymount University, has been doing yoga for eight years and teaching chair and mat yoga for a year. She visits the senior residents at Susquehanna View Apartments once a month on a volunteer basis.

“I enjoy making people feel better,” she said. “Happier people make for a happier atmosphere.”

Chair yoga, she added, “empowers (participants) to find their own strength and power.”

The difference between young and senior yoga participants, Conforti continued, is that the young tend to “push themselves too hard.”

“There’s no place for ‘no pain, no gain’ in yoga,” she noted.

To develop appropriate exercises for seniors, Conforti uses “my expertise and what I know about anatomy and how they move. So, if they move good with a certain move, you’ll keep doing it.”

Susquehanna View resident Nancy Garman had a simpler explanation about Conforti’s techniques.

“She’s very good,” she said. “Her voice is very tranquil. I hope she comes back.”

Susquehanna View Apartments is located at 208 Senate Ave., Camp Hill. To learn more, call 717-763-1184.

Author: Phyllis Zimmerman

House of Ideas: For Sacunas, relocation to the King Mansion reflects evolution of the firm, commitment to Harrisburg.

March 31, 2017 | by Gina Napoli

Kim Riley and Adam Vasquez

Back in 2005, Nancy Sacunas moved her namesake firm into a specially designed building in Union Deposit. The layout and colors reflected her vision for the marketing/communications company.

So perhaps it’s no surprise that the company’s once-client, now-owner Adam Vasquez has followed suit, recently relocating the firm on his own terms, to the historic King Mansion, a reflection of the vision he has as part of Harrisburg’s rapidly growing creative class.

“We’re articulating the Sacunas brand in a modern way to connect our clients with their customers,” said Vasquez. “The King Mansion provides us an iconic, sophisticated presence in Harrisburg to give our clients a compelling partnership experience.”

Great Culture

The King Mansion, perhaps the most majestic of the many grand buildings along Front Street, has a history of successful occupants. Built in the booming 1920s by lawyer Horace King, the 22,000-square-foot building has been office space for decades, home to a series of quickly growing enterprises.

Vasquez swears by the prosperous flow and energy in the grandiose rooms. With its ornate touches and sculpted woodwork, the King Mansion is reminiscent of a life-sized Clue board game.

For the Sacunas team, the King Mansion is a jar of clay. Since moving in in January, team members have added personal decorative touches to their workspaces. Sketched unicorns grace different surfaces in breakout spaces, hovering like a spirit animal, hinting at uniqueness. A portrait of a Russian admiral overlaid with Vasquez’s face hangs in the mansion’s largest workspace, representing just one of the many private jokes critical for team cohesion.

“We’re serious about our work, but not always in the office,” Vasquez said. “We want to change the industry and make our partner brands great in a way that you can’t ignore them.”

Vice President Kim Riley said that the firm sets out to become part of a customer’s story, which is critical to their success.

“We define where they are in the market,” she said. “We help them fix their weak spots. Then they become part of our collaborative formula.”

Vasquez credits the majority of Sacunas’ success to his team’s capabilities—and their continuous desire to learn.

“I have worked with small companies that want to grow, but aren’t willing to invest in their talent,” he said. “That makes sure they can never grow.”

His confidence in his staff’s abilities frees time to focus on the Sacunas vision, which has included recent expansions into the major markets of Chicago and Portland, Ore. According to Vasquez, future growth opportunities include offices in northern Europe and the south-central United States.

Though Vasquez’s hometown is Vienna, Va., he feels strongly about having a Harrisburg headquarters. All of his staff members have lived in other places, including in traffic-choked Washington, D.C., he said.

“[Harrisburg] is a great place to live,” he said. “We want to build an organization that allows all walks of life to live incredible lives. The creative culture is supported in cities, but raising families is not.”

Sacunas is able to compete for business as a big-city firm. Riley asserted Harrisburg’s proximity to larger cities as another attraction.

“Some clients have said that we won bids based on kindness, that the people in our company are nicer than our big-city competitors,” she said.

Riley owns a house within walking distance of the new office, something that Vasquez hopes many of his associates will continue to do as a commitment to Harrisburg.

“There’s no reason Harrisburg can’t be on the map,” Riley said. “There’s a great culture here.”

Cheryl Rhein, CEO and owner of York-based Penn-Air & Hydraulics Corp., started partnering with Sacunas as a customer last August.

“When we first visited them in Harrisburg, it felt like we were home,” she said.

She said she chose Sacunas because their people, culture and expertise aligned with her own approach to conducting business.

“[Sacunas has] a way of attracting highly qualified and, well, awesome people,” she said.

City’s Heartbeat

As a collective, Sacunas fills a need for creative employees looking for more than just a paycheck. The King Mansion has homey touches like a huge basement kitchen, workout spaces and a billiard room (again, just like Clue!)

“Sacunas is a lifestyle brand,” Vasquez said. “Everyone leans in. We all come together to do our best work.”

Sacunas, Vasquez said, invests in each employee, providing funding and sabbatical time for continual learning. Not only does that enable associates to attend conferences, take classes and complete degrees, but it also allows them special perks, like an all-expenses-paid Napa Valley vacation as an employee thank-you.

As Sacunas spreads its wings around the globe, it remains committed to being a neighbor ready to integrate and contribute to the Harrisburg community. Plans include open houses, a speaker series, hosting startups, pro bono work for nonprofits and movie nights.

“We want to be a piece of the city’s heartbeat,” Vasquez said.

Sacunas is located in the King Mansion, 2201 N. Front St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit www.sacunas.net or call 717-652-0100.

Author: Gina Napoli

Preservation and Progress: Manada Land Conservancy celebrates 20 years of land protection.

March 31, 2017 | by Kate Morgan

When the Manada Land Conservancy was formed in 1996, its five members were Hanover Township residents who wanted to see the farmland around their local waterway, the Manada Creek, preserved.

Today, the group totals more than 400 members, and they have helped protect nearly 2,000 acres in Dauphin County.

“So often, you talk to someone who says, ‘My community looks so different from when I was growing up,’” said Jennifer Hine, executive director. “They don’t know they can have some control over that. Our primary mission is to preserve the wetlands, forests and valuable farmland here.”

While the Manada Land Conservancy does own some of the preserved acres outright, the primary method of preservation is through perpetual easements.

“We work with landowners who voluntarily want to preserve their land,” Hine said. “Over 90 percent of the land we’ve preserved has been done through easement. We put permanent restrictions on the subdivision and development of the property, and it’s our responsibility to uphold those in perpetuity.”

Once the easement is in place, the landowner can still sell or bequeath the property, and Hine said preservation doesn’t mean the land becomes useless to its owner.

“There are different protection levels,” she said. “If there’s already a house, that might mean minimal protections, and the owner can still build outbuildings or put an addition on the house. There are typically no restrictions on hunting and some land might still be logged if there’s a stewardship management program.”

The Manada Land Conservancy receives occasional grants, but the organization largely depends on the support of local businesses and individual members.

“Over 70 percent of our general operating funds comes through membership,” Hine said. “We have a lot of business supporters and hundreds of individuals who like what we’re doing. That’s our most stable source of income.”

Currently, the Manada Land Conservancy is focused on preserving the land surrounding the Swatara Creek and the Kittatinny Ridge.

“We’re committed to creating a greenway around the creek,” Hine said. “A 35-foot buffer of vegetation along the sides of the creek really helps the storm water control and absorbs pollutants coming off the roads and off our lawns before they enter our waterway.”

Hine thinks some residents of the county—particularly the younger generation—may not entirely grasp the creek’s importance or impact on their lives.

“A lot of people in this area don’t realize the Swatara Creek is their drinking water source,” she said. “I think kids in later generations especially have a big disconnect when it comes to knowing where their water comes from. You turn on the faucet and there’s your water. You don’t realize it’s actually coming from the creek down the street.”

Manada Land Conservancy is working with other local and national organizations to preserve the land along the Kittatinny Ridge—known locally as Blue Mountain, Endless Hill or Great Mountain. The 185-mile long ridge is the easternmost edge of the Appalachian Mountains.

“The ridge is a globally recognized migratory bird flyway,” Hine said. “We’re under a grant from the Nature Conservancy that allows us to reach out to landowners on the ridge to work toward preserving the recreational areas and wildlife habitats.”

After land preservation, the Manada Land Conservancy’s secondary mission is environmental education. The organization offers community lectures on land preservation, native plant initiatives and the importance of pollinators. Hine said programs like guided hiking and kayaking trips help people experience their local land resources firsthand.

“I think we’re unique in the sense that we have the ability to preserve these special areas in a way no other group does,” Hine said. “We connect with the community in a unique way.”

Part of the reason the group started doing outdoor recreation programs, in fact, is to help link people with their local natural resources.

“They can connect with us to realize we’re doing something to keep these resources great,” Hine said. “We’re pulling people into the things they already love about their communities.”

For details about upcoming events and more information about Manada Land Conservancy’s preservation efforts, visit www.manada.org

Upcoming Events At Manada Land Conservancy

Tree Planting

April 21 – Plant trees in a previously flooded area along the Swatara Creek with volunteers from Troegs Independent Brewing.

Native Plants & Pollinators Lecture

April 27 – Join nationally recognized plant gurus Doug Tallamy and Rick Darke to learn about native plants, pollinators and wildlife.

Spring Native Plant Sale

April 29 – Fill your yard with native flora from the annual plant sale in Boro Park, Hummelstown.

Music Over the Mountains

Sept. 24 – Enjoy BBQ and local bluegrass music at this annual benefit in Grantville.

Author: Kate Morgan

Another Round: Let’s all toast the return of Harrisburg Beer Week.

March 31, 2017 | by Ann Beth Knaus

The craft brew scene has been bubbling over in recent years, with several new breweries and tasting rooms popping up throughout the midstate.

So, just when beer lovers didn’t think it could get any better, along comes Harrisburg Beer Week, which runs the last week of April. The event promises high-end connoisseurs and weekend beer warriors alike more events, new brewers, an expanded homebrew battle and the opportunity to take classes in the art of beer-making.

And did I mention drinking beer?

Now in its third year, Harrisburg Beer Week, the brainchild of Sara Bozich, Chelsie Markel, Colleen Nguyen and Tierney Pomone, has helped to promote local beer tourism by drawing visitors to the capital area for a chance to imbibe, celebrate, learn and support charity. From its inception, the event has grown greatly in participants and customers.

This year’s event features several new kids on the block, like a mini golf outing on City Island, as well as the usual fan favorites, such as the Little Big Beer Fest and Battle of the Homebrewers. And, throughout the week, there’s no end to the beer pairings, tap takeovers, brewery collaborations and firkin nights.

Dizzying Array

The fun starts on April 21 with a VIP kickoff party in a new venue—the historic Pennsylvania Room of the Harrisburg Transportation Center. But, even if you can’t make it there, numerous local bars, restaurants and breweries will host their own celebrations on that first night.

The next day is PA Flavor, the longstanding festival that matches our state’s homegrown food with natively brewed beer. One participant will be HACC, which developed a certificate in brewing science program last year, and Beer Week will help showcase the results.

“HACChiato, created by the students in our Brewing Science Program, will be spotlighted in collaboration with Zeroday Brewing Co.,” said Abigail Peslis, director of corporate and business services at HACC. “Additionally, we will hold mini brewing education sessions—‘Brewing Abridged’—on April 25, instructed by local brewing experts.” The classes will be held at HACC’s Midtown campus.

Next-door neighbor Zeroday will play host to a dizzying array of events. Its biggest event, “Freaky Friday” on April 28, is a switcheroo that will transform Zeroday’s tasting room into Carlisle-based Molly Pitcher Brewing Co., while Molly Pitcher makes over its tasting room into Zeroday, with each brewery’s respective libations on tap at the other place.

“This is the first year something like this has been done,” said Brandalynn Armstrong, Zeroday co-owner and Lindsay Lohan stand-in.

Zeroday also will feature a collaboration brew with Molly Pitcher Brewing Co. and Middletown-based Tattered Flag Brewery & Still Works. The brewers worked together to design the recipe for the beer—“Marketing Gimmick,” a juicy, hopped saison—but will be brewing the same recipe independently with an official release on April 26 at the Midtown Tavern in Harrisburg. The new beer will be available for sale in the breweries’ tasting rooms, and guests will receive a punch card that is included in the Harrisburg Beer Week brochure. Customers who visit all three breweries during the week will get a specially printed, 32-ounce growlette.

“We really want to encourage travel to all three places,” Armstrong said.

Rich Heritage

Once again, Harrisburg River Rescue is the beneficiary of Beer Week proceeds. The organizers hope to top last year’s windfall of $40,000, which was double the inaugural year amount, to improve the rescue’s facility.

To that end, Garlic Poet in New Cumberland will offer tickets to its exclusive Chef’s Table Beer Dinners. These dinners will provide guests with the opportunity to eat and discuss the beer-making process, as well as meet Executive Chef Kurt Wewer.

The Garlic Poet’s sister restaurant, Grain + Verse Bottlehouse, located right next door, features more than 300 different craft beers. The unique bottle shop will hold a number of events, including the first-ever Tröegs beer trivia night, featuring a limited scratch beer to be tapped at the start of every round of trivia. Tröegs’ very own Ffej Herb will emcee the event.

“We have a rich heritage of producing beer in Pennsylvania, and this week celebrates it,” Wewer said.

Some new sponsors and features have been added to this year’s roster. Among the sponsors is Weis Markets, which will host events in the pub of its new flagship store on Valley Road in Hampden Township. Among the new events: the inaugural Mini Golf outing on City Island (hint: both putters and beer may be involved).

One of the most popular annual events, “The Battle of the Homebrewers,” has moved and expanded. It will be held April 23 at the Broad Street Market. Market vendors will be open during the competition, and 35 home-brewers are slated to participate for top prizes. Attendees will receive a commemorative tasting glass to sample the brewers’ creations and will be treated to live music.

“Beer Week is a wonderful addition to the area, and the organizers are truly dedicated to making Harrisburg a cooler, more worldly place,” Wewer said.

Harrisburg Beer Week runs April 21 to 29. For more detailed information and a full listing of Harrisburg Beer Week events, visit www.harrisburgbeerweek.com.

Author: Ann Beth Knaus

Scaling Up: HSO campaign “lets the music grow.”

March 31, 2017 | by Phyllis Zimmerman

Maestro Stuart Malina has seen a lot of progress in the 17 years he’s been conducting the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra.

More programming, a broader range of concerts, exciting guest performers.

But now he’s itching to do even more.

So, HSO began “Let the Music Grow,” a campaign to raise $1.8 million to fund initiatives outside of its annual operating budget, which is already committed to its Masterworks, Pops and Youth Symphony programming. A few months ago, HSO surpassed the $1 million mark with a celebration at the Susquehanna Art Museum.

Executive Director Jeff Woodruff said the campaign is intended to spark artistic innovation, grow education programs and “add excitement to concerts.”

“In essence, we want to become a better orchestra and touch more lives in the capital region,” he said.

Added Maestro Malina: “The audience will see a little bit more pizzazz, the kind of programming that big orchestras can afford.”

Malina said the campaign is intended to give the orchestra more venture capital for “artistic leeway,” such as purchasing music for “new kinds of concerts,” inviting more guest artists and performing movies from motion pictures or with dance.

Specifically, the campaign involves these elements:

Artistic Innovation Fund, $600,000: This fund is intended to help attract a younger audience through such means as high-tech, multimedia shows, classic films with live orchestral accompaniment and other special events.

“I look at the Artistic Innovation Fund as a sort of a ‘venture capital fund,’” Malina said. “In return for the community’s investment, we’ll be able to deliver an artistic product that’s bigger and better than anything they’ve experienced before.”

Educational Opportunity Fund, $350,000: This allows HSO to expand its existing educational programs in area schools and explore collaborations with music educators. HSO representatives already visit and perform in area schools, and the organization sponsors the Harrisburg Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Sound and Lighting Enhancements, $350,000: This fund will help pay for new sound shields and sound-projecting acoustic shells that will boost performance clarity, as well as new speakers, microphones, amplifiers and theatrical lighting. Instrument purchases will eliminate rental costs, upgrade the percussion section—especially for timpani drums—and will provide the Youth Orchestra with specialized woodwinds not typically available to high school students.

Stage Extension, $150,000: A 10-foot removable stage extension at The Forum will provide more possibilities for performances. “Our stage is not very deep and extremely wide,” Malina said. “During my first season there, the brass section was literally sitting in an alcove offstage because there wasn’t enough room for them onstage.”

Champions Fund for Deficit Elimination, $350,000: This goal has been achieved. “We already took care of the deficit. Now we are solvent,” Malina noted proudly, adding that few community orchestras can say this.

“It takes a lot of money to support a professional orchestra, but this community stands behind us year after year to make it happen,” said Ted Reese, HSO’s director of development. “I’m always thrilled to see how surprised people are when they come to their first HSO concert. They expect a stuffy—dare I say boring—concert from an OK orchestra, and they leave The Forum saying, ‘Wow! This is Harrisburg?’”

The HSO is comprised of 75 contract players. Some are from the Harrisburg area, but most come from cities across the east coast, such as New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Musicians are sent their parts several weeks before each concert then meet in Harrisburg for four, 2½-hour practice sessions immediately before their scheduled performances.

“We put them up in a hotel, per diem,” Malina said. “It’s sort of like a college summer camp for them. They’re all professional musicians, but they’ve been playing here for a very long time, so they feel very attached to Harrisburg. Plus, this is where I made my home.”

As the HSO heads toward its 90th season, Malina expressed a solid confidence in the quality of the group’s performances.

“I worry about how great it’s going to be, not if it’s going to be great,” he said.

To learn more about and donate to “Let the Music Grow,” visit www.harrisburgsymphony.org/let-music-grow.

Author: Phyllis Zimmerman

Seeking Re-Dress: Why is she wearing the same outfit all week? Ask her.

March 31, 2017 | by Susan Ryder

The “little black dress” is often regarded as a staple of a woman’s wardrobe.

It can be worn to work, for a night out, to a social event.

But it also can stand as a symbol of need, and used as a way to raise funds, which underlies this month’s Little Black Dress Initiative by the Junior League of Harrisburg, an organization for community-minded women.

Organizers Rebecca Taylor and Rachel Jones explained that, while it’s named after the iconic dress, the initiative has little to do with fashion forwardness.

Different from the typical, brief 5K fundraiser or cost-prohibitive gala, the initiative involves participants wearing the same little black dress or outfit for five days straight while seeking funds to support the Junior League’s many community programs. Some don a pin that says, “Ask me about my dress.”

“It’s about the resources you need, that you might not have, to feel good about what you are doing—confidence to have the right attire,” said Jones, chair of the initiative. “Regardless of the type of position you have, you want to look good when you go to work. It gives you confidence, and that confidence propels you forward.”

Taylor, JLH’s president, participated last year.

“It served its purpose, because I found, as I was going through my daily routine, I was starting to realize the things that I take for granted every day,” she said. “I went to the dentist and filled a prescription. I didn’t have to worry about being able to afford the dentist. I didn’t have to worry about transportation to get my prescription from the pharmacy. I just take those things for granted, that I will be able to go and do them.”

Jones had a similar experience, but hers focused more on the challenges of relying on a single outfit all week.

“I had to come up with creative ways to keep my dress looking fresh,” she said.

She found some help in products like Febreze and Shout Wipes. Naturally, she could have taken her dress to the dry cleaner to be freshened up, but didn’t.

“Most of the community we are advocating for can’t do that,” she said.

As a physician recruiter for a local health system, Jones had to look professional daily and took special care to be more delicate with her clothing, especially during lunch, knowing that this was her outfit for the entire workweek.

Taylor explained that the fundraiser also offers an opportunity for conversation.

“When you show up to work or wherever you go every day for five days [wearing the same outfit], people start asking you why,” she said.

Participants love getting that question, because it gives them the opportunity to talk about the work of the Junior League. The group’s focus this year is “providing self-sufficiency skills to at-risk youth in the Harrisburg area,” said Taylor.

This is a new focus for JLH, which continually changes with the times to meet the evolving needs of the community.

“We need to make sure we are providing an impactful service and not just doing something because it makes the members feel good,” Taylor said.

Community partners have identified areas where JLH can “fill in the gap” of services for youth. These include implementing training in leadership, interviewing skills, budgeting, eating on a budget and the like.

The Junior League also is focused on building relationships within the community.

In March, JLH hosted “Prom Possible” at Boys and Girls Club of Harrisburg, a “pop-up boutique” where prom-aged students could purchase a prom dress and accessories at little or no cost. The league also hosted informational booths about topics such as peer pressure and drinking and driving.

Last year, the Little Black Dress initiative raised just under $15,000, exceeding its $7,500 goal. Most of the donations came in small amounts, under $25. This year, the goal is $11,000. Each participant has her own website, where she is encouraged to post about the week’s experience. Social media is a key component of the campaign, and participants use it to raise awareness and funds.

Anyone can join in, and participants will be invited to a launch event where they will receive information about the initiative, direction on creating their online presence and advice on managing a week in one dress.

“All of our members wearing the same dress for the whole week is not only a conversation piece but a symbol of solidarity within the league,” Jones said. “It shows that we are all in this together. We’re all in it to help the community.”

So, don’t hesitate to ask if you see a co-worker wearing the same outfit during the week of April 24. She wants to tell you about her little black dress.

Junior League of Harrisburg’s Little Black Dress Initiative runs April 24 to 28. For more information or to donate, visit www.jl-hbg.com.

Author: Susan Ryder

Burg Blog: Tax & Send

March 30, 2017 | by Lawrance Binda

A dancer with the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet

“Elections have consequences.”

So said a rather resigned Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse, speaking to a few reporters following Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.

Papenfuse may have used an old political cliché, but his point was well taken. If the Trump administration gets its way on the federal budget, the city soon may run out of money to complete the remediation of a sinkhole-ravaged block of south Harrisburg, as those funds largely originate from federal programs targeted for cuts and elimination.

Papenfuse was making the point that the loss of federal funding locally is no longer theoretical—it’s real. So, a voter probably never thought about the sinkholes on S. 14^th Street when casting a ballot for president last November. However, as the mayor said, elections have consequences, and an abandoned, half-done sinkhole project—leaving behind a street of empty, rotting houses that invite crime and blight—may be one of those consequences.

The Trump administration also has targeted for elimination the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Nearly every major arts organization in central PA receives funding that originates from these sources, including such regionally important groups as Jump Street, the Central PA Youth Ballet, the Harrisburg Symphony, Gamut Theatre, Open Stage, the Susquehanna Art Museum and the Susquehanna Folk Music Society. The area’s public broadcaster, WITF, would be especially hard hit, facing the loss of 10 percent of its annual budget, about $1 million.

But perhaps you’re no fan of high culture, folk music, youth programs or “Morning Edition.” Maybe you really don’t care about the people who live in houses on what turned out to be dangerously porous ground on Allison Hill. Then I’ll make another argument, an economic one.

The cuts would harm not just the people directly affected—the artists, the kids, the beleaguered residents of S. 14 Street. Each year, those federal funds set in motion a virtuous cycle that pulses through the local economy: the folks who sell tickets to shows, who run nearby restaurants, who build the stunning sets, who supply labor and materials, who do engineering and construction work for housing projects. They then take their pay and purchase groceries, get their hair done, have their cars serviced, fix their houses and buy a thousand other things in and around central PA.

If the Trump administration has its way, this money will still get spent—it’s not going for deficit reduction—but spent elsewhere, for other things. It will be sent far out of the area, to giant concrete and construction firms in Texas and California, for instance, or to the likes of enormous military contractors like Lockheed Martin or Northrup Grumman, both based outside of Washington, D.C. These are the administration’s priorities.

Money once used to help house people and enrich our civic lives may go instead to Bechtel (San Francisco) or Martin Marietta (Raleigh, N.C.) or even to Houston-based Cemex, ironically the U.S. subsidiary of a Mexican materials giant, to pay for a few square meters of a $21 billion border wall of questionable utility (Mexico, it seems, won’t be paying for it after all) or to help finance upper-class tax cuts, another Trump priority.

Due to gerrymandering by the state legislature, six Republican-controlled congressional districts sit within about 20 miles of Harrisburg, including two that run right through our small city. We call on those members—Reps. Scott Perry, Lou Barletta, Tom Marino, Ryan Costello, Charlie Dent and Lloyd Smucker—to choose the interests of our people, our cultural assets and our economy over those of corporate behemoths located hundreds or thousands of miles away, many foreign-owned.

Our tax money should stay in central Pennsylvania, dedicated to good and necessary causes, then recycled throughout the local economy, over and over again. A benefit would accrue to us all, even if you don’t know a sinkhole from a black hole, whether you own your own opera glasses or can’t tell an arabesque from a plié.

Lawrance Binda is editor-in-chief of TheBurg.

Weekend Roundup with Sara Bozich

March 30, 2017 | by Sara Bozich

And just like that, March is gone. Out like a lamb? Mm, lamb.

Tonight I’m with the GK Visual crew at the Brewers of Pennsylvania’s Meeting of the Malts! We’ll be shooting, so if you’re around, stop and say hi. We’ll also be promoting our upcoming film, Poured in Pa.

The weekend is busy for me, compared to much of the last month. I’ve got a few shopping trips planned (hey, Stash, welcome back!), and on Sunday, we’re shooting our first interview for Poured.

What are you doing this weekend?

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Sinkhole Solution Nears: City fronts costs for project’s first phase as it waits to receive national grants.

March 29, 2017 | by Danielle Roth

orange road closed sign hanging in middle of street. Can see colorful, newer row homes.

Sinkholes badly damaged these 53 homes on the 1400-block of S. 14th Street in 2014.

Harrisburg will move forward with purchasing houses devastated by sinkholes, even though the city hasn’t yet received the funds into its coffers.

Last night, City Council voted unanimously to move forward with the purchase of 53 of S. 14^th Street properties while it still waits to officially receive federal and state grants.

At the meeting, council President Wanda Williams announced that the city received two letters yesterday from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA), which said that the city soon will receive two grants, one for $2.5 million and the other for $600,000, for the sinkhole project.

“You will soon receive one copy of the grant agreement for this buy-out project,” read the letters from Stephen Bekanich, director of PEMA’s Bureau of Recovery and Mitigation.

The city received this letter from FEMA in September.

Acting on a letter, rather than a grant agreement, means that the city will front the $2.2-million project cost before a May 31 deadline while it waits to be reimbursed by PEMA and the state Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), which are acting as conduits for federal grants.

“We are doing this based on a letter, not a grant agreement,” Mayor Eric Papenfuse said, describing the risk involved.

He said the city is still waiting for the official agreement from the state, which both parties must sign.

“The city is not sitting on any money,” Papenfuse said. “We do not have a grant agreement.”

In September, the city received a letter from PEMA, which approved $2.2 million of federal and state funds for the sinkhole mitigation project. The city must spend this money by a May 31 deadline in order to be reimbursed for up to $2.2 million.

With the upcoming deadline, the city likely won’t be able spend, and be reimbursed for, the full $2.2 million on both phase 1 and 2 of the project, which covers the acquisition and demolition of these properties.

Federal Housing and Urban Development Agency funds for phase two, which would cover the demolition of the 14^th Street houses, hang in limbo as the Trump administration has targeted the grant program in its draft budget.

“This is an example of a national election

The city received these letters from PEMA on March 27.

affecting local municipalities,” Papenfuse said.

DCED, the state agency that distributes HUD grants, acted under certain assumptions with grant funds under the Obama administration, said city Budget and Finance Director Bruce Weber.

“Those assumptions have changed,” Weber said.

In the worst-case scenario, the city would end up owning an empty city block without being able to demolish it, Papenfuse said. Council considered this risk before voting to move forward with this project tonight, he said.

“Basically, [this is] a promise we made to these folks,” he said.

At last night’s meeting, Papenfuse also discussed with reporters a new contract with the city’s Bureau of Police.

This contract, approved by the rank and file on Friday by an 89-7 vote, includes salary increases for all officers. In six months, officers will receive .5-percent increase. Six months after that, officers will see another .5-percent raise. Then officers will receive a 1-percent annual raise for the next four years, Papenfuse said.

The new contract also gives $1,500 bonuses for current officers as a “thank you for sticking with the city,” Papenfuse said.

“They have been working short-staffed for years, and they’ve suffered for that,” he said.

The bonuses come from 2016 funds slated for officer positions that were left unfilled, Weber said.

Under the contact, officers also will receive a day off for their birthday, which was “important symbolically,” Papenfuse said.

The contact also includes incentives for young police officers to stay with the force, Papenfuse said.

If a police officer leaves the bureau for another police department, he or she will have to give back training costs to the city. This “clawback” comes at $1,000 per year for up to five years, Papenfuse said.

Young police officers can more easily climb experienced-based salary jumps with this new contract, as well. The contract eliminated one rung of a five-part ladder to a top-level position, Papenfuse said.

A top-level patrol officer receives $62,591 while a trainee receives $46,943, according to the city budget.

These two items aim to prevent young officers from receiving training in the city then leaving for high-paying officer positions in the rest of the state, Papenfuse said.

This contract, if approved by council, means “four years of labor peace with the Police Bureau,” Papenfuse said.

“[This is a] clear sign there is more confidence in the future direction of our city,” Papenfuse said, adding that the city and labor union negotiated the contract without help from the state.

Also last night, City Council approved an insurance reimbursement for two pistols stolen from the National Civil War Museum. The city transferred the $175,000 received from the insurance company into a fund slated for Reservoir Park.

“This will be a nest egg we can use when they release the Reservoir Park master plan,” Papenfuse said, adding that the funds could be used to obtain matching grant funds.

Consultants are creating a master plan for the park’s future, which is slated to be released later this year, Papenfuse said.

The city purchased the two pistols that once belonged to President Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of War and Harrisburg native Simon Cameron in the 1990s for about $250,000, Papenfuse said. They were stolen from the museum about a year ago.

This story was updated at 12:30 p.m. to include details about a May 31 deadline for spending $2.2 million on phase 1 and 2 of the sinkhole project.

Author: Danielle Roth

Forcing the Sale: City Weighs Eminent Domain to Obtain Public Works Facility

March 23, 2017 | by Danielle Roth

image of Public Works Department building, located at former Brenner autodealership

The Public Works Department, which manages public infrastructure and waste collection, has operated out of this Paxton Street facility since 2014.

Harrisburg is considering using an age-old, if controversial, method to obtain a permanent public works facility: Eminent domain.

City Council introduced a resolution Tuesday that, if approved, would allow the city to force the sale of properties that the Department of Public Works currently uses as its facility.

The department has rented the facility at 1812-1820 Paxton St., formerly a Brenner auto dealership, since 2014, after moving from a location on the city incinerator grounds.

The lease expired last month, without the option to renew. The city now is renting the property on a month-to-month basis.

City Councilman Westburn Majors, public works committee chair, sees this resolution as a last resort.

“[The measure was introduced] just so we have the ability if we need to use eminent domain,” he said. “I don’t think we are looking to do any eminent domain proceedings anytime soon.”

The 11 properties on Paxton and N. 19^th streets, all zoned for commercial use, are currently owned by MEB Partners, LP; Brenner Motors, Inc.; Michael A. Brenner; Sam and Nancy Fulginiti; and Stephen M. Kozlosky, according to the resolution.

“The law bureau and the city are working with the owner to get a sale first, and if they can’t reach an agreement, then [eminent domain would be] a possibility,” Majors said.

The city’s 2017 budget, the first in many years to include a capital improvement budget, allocates $2.5 million to obtain a public works facility.

City Solicitor Neil Grover said using eminent domain, the government’s power to obtain private properties for public use, for a public works facility would be uncommon.

The city last used eminent domain powers three years ago when the city obtained pieces of properties to widen 7^th Street, he said.

“It’s sort of the ‘old school’ of what governments do, how they acquire property for an essential function,” Grover said.

Government typically uses this power in blighted neighborhoods for redevelopment projects, he said.

If City Council moves forward with using eminent domain, Grover alluded to a long process.

“It’s the beginning of a long-term thing,” he said.

Author: Danielle Roth

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