Community Corner: Notable August Events

July 31, 2014 | by TheBurg Editor

Lunchtime Concert Series
Aug. 1, 8, 15, 22, 29: Have your lunch at the Broad Street Market and enjoy a concert in the courtyard every Friday in August. Concerts run 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and feature local musicians. Contact 828-230-0451 or [email protected].

Cultural Fest
Aug. 1: The annual, free Cultural Fest at on 2^nd and Market streets, Harrisburg, will be held 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Celebrate diversity in Dauphin County with food, crafts, and music. Visit dauphincounty.org.

Mt. Gretna Home Tour
Aug. 2: Mt. Gretnans will open their homes for this self-guided walking home and garden tour. Tour runs 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 day of. Visit gretnamusic.org.

India Day Festival
Aug. 2: The annual free event features more than 30 performances and food, clothing and jewelry vendors. The festival takes place at HACC’s Harrisburg campus 12 to 8 p.m. Visit aiacpa.org/indiaday.

Bookstock Read-In
Aug. 4: Celebrate the 45^th anniversary of Woodstock with the Fredricksen Library at this summer read-out. Bring a lawn chair or blanket, snacks and a book. The free event takes place 5 to 8 p.m. Visit fredricksenlibrary.org.

National Night Out
Aug. 5: Neighbors meet neighbors during National Night Out, which will be celebrated after work throughout greater Harrisburg. Check with your town or community group for happenings in your neighborhood and enjoy this annual community-building event.

34^th Annual Central PA Jazz Festival
Aug. 7-10: Support local music and Central PA Friends of Jazz at this year’s JazzFest. The weekend includes a jazz cruise, jazz party, jazz picnic and a jam session. More information is available in a story in this issue and at friendsofjazz.org.

Decked Out Live
Aug. 8: Dauphin County Library System and Vineyard and Brewery at Hershey have teamed up to benefit the library. Tickets are $20, which includes a wine and beer tasting at 6 p.m. and a reserved seat for the Soul House Quartet at 7 p.m. at the winery/brewery. Contact Lori Lane at 234-4961 x 110 or visit dcls.org/DeckedOut.

Keystone Cluster Dog Show
Aug. 8-10: See show dogs compete and participate in events, including an all-breed dog show and junior showmanship classes for children and their dogs. Event is at the PA Farm Show Complex. Admission is $6 and free for children 12 and under. Visit hkc.org.

Music at Gretna
Aug. 8-10: Mt. Gretna Playhouse will host a weekend of music. On Aug. 8, Capitol Steps will perform political parodies. On Aug. 9, the Russian Festival Chamber orchestra will perform classic Russian masterpieces. On Aug. 10, the Lee Smith Group and Hendrik Meurkens Samba Jazz Quartet will perform as part of Central PA Jazz Festival. Visit gretnamusic.org.

4^th Annual Chocolate Tour
Aug. 9: Support cancer research at Penn State by walking, running or cycling. Events range from 6-mile walk and run to a 10-, 25-, 35-, 50-, 75- and 100-mile bike ride. Samples of local chocolate and other foods will be available. Visit pennstatehershey.org/web/melanoma/home/fundraising.

.5K Challenge
Aug. 10: Join Keystone Rotary Club for its fun “.5K Endurance Challenge.” Registration for the “exhausting” race starts at noon at Appalachian Brewing Co., 50 N. Cameron St., Harrisburg. Fees are $25 for adults and $15 for kids. Proceeds benefit local service projects. Information is at www.hbgkeystonerotary.org.

Automobile Show
Aug. 10: Join the Blue/Gray Chapter of the Oldsmobile Club of America at the AACA Museum in Hershey for an Oldsmobile, Buick, Pontiac, classic and antique automobile show. Event takes place from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Visit aacamuseum.org.

Genealogy & Adoption
Aug. 10: Sandi Bornman, Act 101 representative for Dauphin County, will be at the Historical Society of Dauphin County research library 1 to 3 p.m. to answer questions about genealogy and adoption records. Event is free for members of the Society and $10 for non-members. Call 717-233-3462 or visit dauphincountyhistory.org.

Twisted Stitchers
Aug. 11: The August meeting of Twisted Stitchers at Fredricksen Library will take place 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The free event is for ages 16 and older who love to knit and crochet. Visit fredricksenlibrary.org.

Exhibitor Seminar
Aug. 12: West Shore Chamber of Commerce hosts a free exhibitor seminar to teach skills for a better trade show experience. Exhibit Studios/Get Graphics Now will present this seminar at the Radisson 9 to 11:30 a.m. Contact [email protected] or visit wschamber.org.

Teaching Residencies
Aug. 12: Perry County Council of the Arts will hold an information session for artists interested in a teaching residency in schools within PCCA’s service region. Event takes place at Landis House, 67 N. 4^th Street, Newport, 6 to 7 p.m. Contact 717-567-7023 or [email protected].

Fredricksen Reads
Aug. 12: Be a part of Fredricksen Reads, a series of book discussions at the Fredricksen Library, with “Juliet in August” by Dianne Warren. You must have read the book to attend. Free event begins at 7 p.m. Visit fredricksenlibrary.org.

Business After Hours
Aug. 14: Join Harrisburg Regional Chamber & CREDC for an informal networking event at Penn National Insurance. Free event takes place 5 to 7 p.m. Call 717-232-4099 or visit harrisburgregionalchamber.org.

Woodstock Tribute
Aug. 14: Shea Quinn & Friends will wrap up Concerts on the Lawn series at the Fredricksen Library with a tribute to Woodstock. Free event begins at 7 p.m. Rain date is Aug. 19. Visit fredricksenlibrary.org.

Build with Natural Materials
Aug. 16: Furniture builder and author Bill Willow will teach the basics of building with natural materials. Event takes place 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Hershey Gardens. No experience is necessary. Students must bring their own hammers and pruning shears, but all other materials are provided. Visit hersheygardens.org.

Farmers & Arts Fest
Aug. 16: Broad Street Market will hold a produce-only farmers’ market in the courtyard, featuring farmers within 100 miles of Harrisburg. Deep Roots Fest, a concurrent celebration, will feature locally made art and community groups promoting positive change in Harrisburg. Join the celebration 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Contact 828-230-0451 or [email protected].

Business Seminar
Aug. 21: Learn how to interpret your business’s performance at this seminar with Stephen Taylor, CFO of B2B. Free event takes place at Lower Allen Township Building 9 to 11 a.m. Visit harrisburgregionalchamber.org or call 717-232-4099.

After Dark 7K
Aug. 22: Harrisburg Area Road Runners Club will host this race at 7 p.m. starting at Kunkel Plaza in Harrisburg. Registration is $30. Prizes awarded to the top three runners in each age group. Visit usroadrunning.com.

Yorkfest
Aug. 22-24: Celebrate our neighboring city at the Yorkfest Fine Arts Festival, featuring about 100 fine artists from around the country, a juried exhibition at YorkArts, free family entertainment and more. Visit yorkcity.org/yorkfest.

Supercars on State Street
Aug. 23: The annual showcase of exotic and supercars benefits Making Strides Against Breast Cancer and the American Cancer Society. Registration takes place 9 to 11:45 a.m. on City Island, and the event runs 12 to 3 p.m. Cost of registration is $40. Visit carshowlink.com/August.

Keystone State Triathlon
Aug. 23-24: Challenge yourself in one of several triathlon courses, including an Olympic course, at Gifford Pinchot State Park in Lewisberry. The top three males and females in each age group will win awards. More information is available at trimaxendurancesports.com/KeystoneState.html.

Transportation Briefing
Aug. 26: Sheryl Connelly of Ford Motor Co. will reveal 10 transportation trends changing our world. Event will take place at the Radisson. Registration required. Cost is $45 and $35 for Harrisburg Regional Chamber members. Visit harrisburgregionalchamber.org or call 717-232-4099.

Luminary Awards Luncheon
Aug. 27: West Shore Chamber of Commerce will honor two businesswomen with the Visionary and Shining Star Luminary awards at this luncheon at the Radisson, which takes place 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Cost is $35 for members and $45 for non-members, with a portion benefiting a nonprofit chosen by the award winners. Call 717-761-0702 or visit wschamber.org.

Kipona
Aug. 30-Sept. 1: Harrisburg’s Kipona festival migrates to City Island with its “celebration of sparkling waters.” Each year, Kipona marks the conclusion of the summer festival season with the three-day event over the Labor Day weekend. Check the city’s website for more details at www.harrisburgpa.gov.

Country Casual
Aug. 31: Celebrate the arts at Hunters Valley Winery. Enjoy beer, Hunters Valley wine, food and music by local band Hemlock Hollow and participate in exciting Silent and Live Auctions. Event will take place 4 to 8 p.m. Tickets are $50. Visit perrycountyarts.org.

Justice Delayed: Harrisburg ponders how to use acres of empty space as Congress puts the proposed federal courthouse on hold.

July 31, 2014 | by M. Diane McCormick

A vacant lot stands at N. 6^th and Reily streets in Harrisburg. But where, many ask, is our shiny new federal courthouse that’s supposed to be rising there?

The answer comes down to two obstacles, one better known than the other. It’s no secret that the first obstacle to construction is congressional appropriation of the funds, but the project’s fate also rests on the outcome of a lesser-known review underway of all federal courthouse construction projects.

Chastised by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) for a clouded decision-making process and bloated construction projects, the federal judiciary is re-examining its five-year (2014 to 2018) plan that prioritized new courthouses for Harrisburg and 11 other cities. The reworked plan will then be handed to Congress, which could use it to guide funding decisions.

First, a recap.Harrisburg’s current federal courthouse stands downtown at N. 3rd and Walnut streets, occupying several floors of the Ronald Reagan Federal Building. In 2004, the federal judiciary put Harrisburg on a list of cities where new construction was a top priority, prompted by the need to beef up security or add more space, or both.

The General Services Administration (GSA) seemed hellbent on tearing down a viable block of 2^nd Street downtown to make way for the new, 265,000-square-foot facility. Residents, organizations, city officials and the state’s congressional members put up a fight.

In 2010, the city prevailed, winning a commitment that the building would rise from the vast, L-shaped parcel bounded by N. 6^th, N. 7^th, Reily, Harris and Boyd streets, affirming hopes for a courthouse as a jewel of a Midtown renaissance.

More than four years later, the five-acre site remains vacant. About half of the $26.7 million appropriated by Congress for site and design work has been spent, according to the GSA, but Congress has yet to approve the remaining $110 million needed to move forward.

It “remains to be seen” if Harrisburg stays on the list of priority construction projects, said U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, a Republican who represents a chunk of Harrisburg and chairs the House Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management.

“The Harrisburg Courthouse remains on the Judiciary’s five-year Courthouse Project Plan,” said Barletta. “However, there are six federal courthouse projects scheduled ahead of it, at a combined cost of $700 million—which is currently not funded.”

While many players point to the lack of a congressional allocation as the holdup, Harrisburg also must wait while the judiciary reconsiders its construction projects.

The rethink was prompted by GAO’s April 2013 report that the judiciary’s five-year plan lacked transparency or documented justification for many priority projects. For instance, GAO claimed, the plan cites the need for two or more new courtrooms as a key criterion for a new building—and Harrisburg needs only one.

The judiciary balked at GAO’s recommendation for a moratorium on construction but agreed to review all projects. Harrisburg is part of that review, according to U.S. Courts spokesperson Karen Redmond. She had no timeline for completion of the review, although the GAO report said it could be done by October 2015, plus another 18 to 24 months for a long-range facility plan.

Waiting, Waiting

Harrisburg’s current federal courthouse has “a sufficient number of courtrooms,” but security is a major concern, said Middle District Chief Judge Christopher Conner. The building, finished in 1966, has exceeded its 40-year lifespan and, sitting squarely on the street, doesn’t comply with post-Oklahoma City setback guidelines, he said.

The primary concern is that the current building can’t be retrofitted with “secure corridors for the ingress and egress of prisoners, judges, witnesses, jurors and the like,” said Conner.

“I ride in the same elevators as the prisoners, the witnesses, the attorneys,” he said. “There is no segregation of judicial officers from the other participants. I’ve been in elevators with the family of somebody I’ve just sentenced, and it’s awkward and unsettling, probably for everyone.”

U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, a Republican who represents most of Harrisburg, said that he and his staff have “sought feedback from a wide array of sources,” including city officials, local business leaders, concerned citizens and the GSA. Congress will review the judiciary’s new plan when it’s released, he said.

“I believe that ensuring the proper administration of justice for our citizens is a core function of government,” Perry said. “Yet, with our nation facing a $17 trillion debt, Congress has a duty to ensure that taxpayer money is used efficiently.”

In January, Barletta told Pennlive/Patriot-News that the project could be done under a public-private partnership, in which businesses make a deal with government to shoulder a big share of the load in exchange for a profit. Still, it all goes back to a congressional appropriation, he told TheBurg.

“I do believe that public-private partnerships should more frequently be used for this type of project, but funding is still a big issue,” he said.

Nothing Firm

While federal officials ponder their next moves, the GSA is leading residents and the Papenfuse administration in considering how to make temporary use of the vacant space at 6^th and Reily. Ideas that emerged from a meeting in May included dog park, community gardens, park and playing field, fitness area, bandshell/theater and open space.

Working with the GSA and the city, Friends of Midtown and today’s the day Harrisburg solicited opinions on the site’s interim use. Findings were to be shared with the GSA.

Under GSA guidelines, any use would have to be temporary and add little infrastructure, said Friends of Midtown Vice President and Treasurer Don Barnett.

“We’re trying to gauge what the community would like and what the community would use,” said Barnett.

Before his election, Mayor Eric Papenfuse was among the residents who fought for the 6th and Reily site. He remains interested in the talks about its temporary use, said spokesperson Joyce Davis.

“There have been some conversations at recent public meetings in which the mayor indicated he favored being able to let the land be used for community purposes, including some of it possibly being used for a dog park, but there is nothing firm or confirmed about these ideas,” Davis said.

City to Residents, Visitors: Get Ready for Kipona

July 25, 2014 | by Lawrance Binda

Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse explains the details of the city’s Kipona festival during a press conference today.

Are you a fan of the pow-wow, the chili cook-off, the fireworks, the canoe races, the music, the food and craft vendors?

Then you’re in luck, as Kipona will take place as usual over the Labor Day weekend, with just a few changes to the annual three-day festival, the city said today.

In perhaps the greatest change, most activities will be located on City Island, said Mayor Eric Papenfuse. Riverfront Park near the Walnut Street Bridge will be reserved for food and vendor booths, though some booths also will be located on City Island. Fireworks will go off Sunday night at dusk.

“Everything we’ve done with Kipona, we’re doing,” said Papenfuse, of the Aug. 30 to Sept. 1 festival. “We’re only tweaking the location of events.”

Notably, 1,200 parking spaces on City Island will be free on Saturday, as will spaces in the River Street parking garage. Parking will be free on all city streets on Sunday and Monday. Bike taxis will be free of charge for transportation over the Walnut Street Bridge connecting the two festival locations.

The footprint of the festival will shrink, which will help keep down the cost, Papenfuse said. Front Street will be closed for just one block, from Locust to Walnut streets, on Saturday and Monday. On Sunday, the closure of Front Street will extend to Forster Street to accommodate the large crowds expected for the fireworks.

The city will pony up $37,500 for Kipona, of which $20,000 will pay for the fireworks, said Papenfuse. Moreover, the city continues to seek sponsors for the event to further offset costs. In past years, Harrisburg’s main three summer festivals cost the city “in excess of $100,000” each, said Papenfuse.

City Council will be asked to approve the expense for Kipona once it returns from its summer hiatus in late August, said Papenfuse. He added that, in prior administrations, the cost of festivals was “off-budget,” but that, going forward, the cost would be included as part of the normal budgeting process.

During today’s press conference, Papenfuse repeatedly took issue with recent media reports on Kipona, which he characterized as incomplete, wrong and purposely inflammatory. Some media outlets, for instance, reported that Kipona would be held exclusively on City Island.

Half-a-Year Out, Laid Off Parking Employees Count Their Losses

July 23, 2014 | by Paul Barker

Robert Wilson, pictured here with his granddaughter at his Uptown home, is one of more than 50 employees laid off from the Harrisburg Parking Authority last year.

On a Monday morning last December, two days before Christmas, Robert Wilson finished his final shift at the River Street garage, where he had worked as a night custodian since 1989.

As regular customers arrived from their morning commute, he told them it would be his last day. Around 8 a.m., he headed to the maintenance shop and dropped off his keys, his garage pass and his spare uniforms—dark blue pants, maroon shirts. Then he went home to hand off the car to his wife, who was starting her work day.

Wilson is one of more than 50 employees of the Harrisburg Parking Authority who lost their jobs last year. Now, as state unemployment benefits run out and the authority’s monthly supplemental payments become his only income, Wilson is once again taking stock of how his 25 years of service came to end.

In the fall, as the city edged towards a resolution of its debt crisis, Wilson and his co-workers confronted an unpleasant reality. The city needed to generate hundreds of millions of dollars to pay off bad debt, and the parking system was one of its only assets with any long-term value. But union jobs like Wilson’s, with good wages and benefits, contributed negatively to the system’s potential value.

In September, members of Wilson’s union, AFSCME Local 521, voted 43-0 in favor of a “transition agreement” outlining the terms of the transfer to the system’s new operators. It described two options: continued employment with a 10-percent pay cut, with no guarantees of wage or job security after one year, or a severance package that included a lump-sum payment and unemployment supplements for up to a year.

David Gash, a retired union staff representative who was involved in the negotiations, described the severance package as unusually generous. “I’ve had companies close and not give their employees anything,” he said. All but five employees took it.

Typically, a laid-off worker in Pennsylvania collects unemployment at a rate of about half his or her former salary. Under the union agreement, however, the Harrisburg Parking Authority would supplement its former employees’ state checks, bringing their total compensation to the level it had been when they were employed.

The agreement also stipulated that laid-off employees would be reimbursed for the costs of health insurance, at a rate of 90 percent of the parking authority’s previous contributions to their monthly premiums. Both sets of supplements would be paid out of trust funds, administered by the authority’s handful of remaining employees. The authority would make payments out of the funds—$588,000 for unemployment supplements, $360,000 for insurance reimbursements—for up to one year, at which point the benefits expired, and any leftover funds reverted to the authority.

For Wilson, as for others, the severance package was vastly preferable to the uncertain promise of continued employment under the new private operator, Standard Parking.

“How am I going to go from $14 an hour to $7.25?” he asked, reflecting a belief that, once a year had passed, Standard would be free to reduce its compensation to minimum wage.

Even so, he found the transition negotiations bewildering, such that he and his sister, Jackie, also a former parking employee, wound up believing they’d been promised much more than they had.

For one thing, while the agreement promised unemployment supplements for up to one year, there was an important caveat: the parking authority would pay a maximum of 50 percent of each past employee’s former earnings. State unemployment benefits would theoretically make up the other 50 percent—but those would only last for 26 weeks. Without the federal government’s emergency extension of benefits, which the U.S. Congress did not renew, in six months the authority’s supplements would be all he earned.

Additionally, the insurance reimbursements were just that: reimbursements for premiums, which laid-off employees would have to pay first on their own.

With respect to the insurance agreements, yet again, the severance agreement was meant to be generous. Laid-off employees can usually obtain so-called COBRA coverage, under a federal law giving them the right to continued benefits under their former group health plans. But they often wind up with insurance premiums that, absent the contribution from an employer, are difficult to afford.

The Parking Authority severance sought to mitigate the pain by guaranteeing employees a 90-percent reimbursement of the authority’s prior contributions to their premiums. To receive the reimbursement, though, former authority employees had to sign up for COBRA or other continued coverage themselves.

One way or another, the Wilsons missed the message. As they tell it, they relied on assurances from the union and from management that they would continue to receive health coverage. Representatives at the authority, however, say that employees were clearly told about the nature of the reimbursements at meetings in the fall. In any case, Jackie didn’t learn she had no coverage until March, when she took her daughter for a maternity checkup.

A generous severance package is still a severance package, and people close to the labor negotiations will generally acknowledge that parking employees caught a tough break. Effectively, they suffered the consequences of a debt crisis they played no role in creating.

“They ended up paying the price. They were all good employees, all good people,” David Gash, the AFSCME staff representative, said. “It was terrible. Everybody felt bad about it.”

Theft Charges Filed Against Former Leader of Police Athletic League

July 22, 2014 | by Paul Barker

Harrisburg police officer Jennie Jenkins, second from left, at an event with children and fellow officers outside PAL's N. 6th Street headquarters.

Officer Jennie Jenkins, second from left, at an event with children and fellow officers outside the Harrisburg Police Athletic League’s N. 6th Street headquarters.

The office of Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane filed charges today against Harrisburg police officer Jennie Jenkins, who was placed on administrative leave last October over her alleged misappropriation of funds as the head of the Police Athletic League.

The criminal complaint—which details charges for one third-degree felony and four first-degree misdemeanors, all related to theft—was assigned to Magisterial District Judge Lavon A. Postelle, in whose court Jenkins was arraigned Tuesday afternoon.

In it, the Attorney General’s office alleges Jenkins paid herself $7,000 for work related to PAL and falsified PAL time sheets over an eight-month period beginning in November of 2012. The Harrisburg police department’s own internal investigation of the matter, which was begun last August and concluded with the filing of charges, supported the AG’s complaint, Harrisburg Police Chief Thomas Carter said Tuesday.

At a press conference in city hall Tuesday afternoon, Mayor Eric Papenfuse suggested that Jenkins’ alleged misuse of funds stemmed from a culture of favoritism and poor accountability in the police department, which his administration has sought to eradicate since he took office in January.

“You had individuals given special treatment,” Papenfuse said. He added that the people associated with this culture have left the city, and that “those who said ‘enough is enough’” had risen to positions of leadership in the new administration.

The mayor pointed to Chief Carter as an example, saying the city had “the right leader at the helm.” He declined to name former employees who might have been involved in creating the culture he condemned.

The 43-year-old Jenkins joined the Harrisburg police department in August of 2005, and was appointed president of the Police Athletic League in August of 2011, in the midst of the city’s efforts to revive the dormant charity.

The Police Athletic League, usually referred to by the acronym “PAL,” provides youth mentoring and other community services, relying on police officers to volunteer time in its various programs. The IRS awarded PAL its nonprofit status on Nov. 30, 2012, following an application by PAL the previous July.

The Attorney General’s complaint lists three offenses, all related to Jenkins’ actions in her two years leading the organization. The first offense, charged as a third-degree felony, relates to allegations that Jenkins paid herself $4,000 out of charitable donations to PAL for time she had spent working for the organization. According to the complaint, Jenkins submitted time sheets to The Foundation for Enhancing Communities, a local manager of charitable funds that served as PAL’s account administrator from November 2011 to March 2013.

The second offense, charged as three first-degree misdemeanors, relates to three alleged cases of Jenkins receiving checks totaling $3,000 from PAL’s account with PNC Bank in the spring and summer of 2013 in return for services she provided the organization.

The checks, for $1,600, $900 and $500, were dated May 1, July 16 and August 5, respectively. The first check, for $1,600, noted in its memo section that the payment was for “Jan-Feb Mentoring Pal,” according to the complaint.

The third offense, charged as a first-degree misdemeanor, involves Jenkins’ alleged falsifying of time sheets on 13 separate occasions between November 2012 and July 2013. According to the complaint, Jenkins was paid a total of $875 for hours she claimed to have spent working for PAL when she was actually working for the police department.

On Tuesday, Jenkins’ defense lawyer, Brian Perry, said that his client’s position is that she was entitled to compensation for hours she spent working for the organization. “She was basically running the Police Athletic League by herself,” Perry said. “The whole case is about the hours she put in. There are two questions: was she allowed to be paid? And did she double-dip?”

Perry declined to comment on the complaint’s allegations in the third offense, relating to the falsified time sheets, saying he had not yet seen the documents in question. But he did say that Jenkins reviewed all PAL expenditures with a board of directors, who approved every payment she requested.

Jenkins was placed on administrative leave on Oct. 18 last year, following the Harrisburg police department’s inquiry into her handling of PAL funds. Chief Carter said Tuesday that he opened the investigation after becoming interim chief in August and finding discrepancies in her accounting of PAL and police department hours.

Janice Black, the president of The Foundation for Enhancing Communities, said Tuesday that Jenkins brought receipts to TFEC whenever she requested reimbursement for goods and services provided through PAL. She said that investigators had visited TFEC offices and gone over all materials related to the PAL account, and that it was her understanding that there had been nothing inappropriate about payments TFEC had made.

“We had receipts for everything,” Black said.

Black also said that the Harrisburg PAL had received numerous charitable donations in the period that TFEC managed the account, including several from area banks. Jenkins was a “very good fundraiser,” she said.

Mike Dillhyon, the executive director of the National Association of Police Athletic/Activities Leagues, said that Harrisburg’s PAL was awarded a $15,000 grant in 2012 for its youth mentoring program. The grant was to reimburse costs for snacks and other program-related expenses in 2013, but expressly excluded payments to program mentors, who are supposed to be volunteers.

The Harrisburg PAL had to forward receipts and other documentation in order to receive reimbursements, Dillhyon said. He said that his organization had not detected any issues with the Harrisburg PAL’s filings, but did say he had forwarded several documents connected to the 2012 grant to investigators last year.

The Harrisburg PAL is one of numerous members of the national organization, all of which pay a $400 annual membership fee in exchange for benefits including lower insurance costs and free website development.

Years before Tuesday’s criminal complaint, Jenkins faced disciplinary action on two occasions for having a service weapon stolen from her personal vehicle. The first time, the police union blocked any penalties, and the second time, in August 2010, she was placed on desk duty, according to prior reports by abc27.

On Tuesday, Chief Carter would not go into detail about either of these incidents, saying that he was eager not to denigrate Jenkins, who remains on the payroll on administrative leave.

“Our thoughts are with Officer Jenkins,” the chief said. “She’s still a Harrisburg police officer. She has been charged but not convicted, and we should be mindful of that.”

Harrisburg Police Officer Charged with Theft

July 22, 2014 | by Lawrance Binda

Office Jennie Jenkins with youth and fellow officers of PAL

Officer Jennie Jenkins (second from left) poses with city children in 2012, soon after the re-establishment of the Harrisburg Police Athletic League.

Harrisburg Police Officer Jennie Jenkins today was charged with five counts of theft for allegedly misdirecting funds intended for the city Police Athletic League to her own use.

Three years ago, Jenkins was widely lauded after helping to revive PAL, a charitable organization focused on helping city youth, which had been dormant for many years. The press release from state Attorney General Kathleen Kane’s office follows:

Harrisburg City Police Officer charged with stealing from HPAL

HARRISBURG – Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane today announced charges against a Harrisburg City Police Officer following allegations that she misappropriated funds from the Harrisburg Police Athletic League (HPAL), a volunteer charitable organization she helped administer.

According to the criminal complaint, Jennie Jenkins, 43, 2605 N. 2nd St., Harrisburg, paid herself out of HPAL’s charitable donations and grant funding following its revival in 2011.

The investigation revealed that when Jenkins assumed the role as president of the athletic league it was made clear that she would not receive any additional compensation beyond her salary as a city police officer.

The charges state that Jenkins allegedly wrote checks to herself from the athletic league’s account and submitted falsified time sheets for periods when she was actually performing regular police duties. Agents estimate that Jenkins stole $7,000 from the organization.

Jenkins is charged with four counts of theft by unlawful taking or disposition and one count of theft by deception.

Attorney General Kane thanked the Harrisburg City Police Department and the Dauphin County District Attorney’s office for their assistance with the investigation.

The case will be prosecuted in Dauphin County by the Office of Attorney General’s Criminal Prosecutions Section.

Harrisburg’s Awarded Grants Tally Passes $1 Million, With More To Come

July 21, 2014 | by Paul Barker

An aerial view of the Broad Street Market, whose renovation the city hopes to fund with a USDA grant applied for earlier this year.

Six months into the administration of Mayor Eric Papenfuse, Harrisburg is beginning to see the fruits of a revitalized grants-writing process, according to city officials who spoke on the topic this morning in city hall.

Errol Newark, a grants manager in the office of financial management, said that from January to June of this year the city was awarded more than $1 million in grants from outside agencies, including two first-time awards in amounts totaling $110,000. Not included in that figure are applications pending for an additional half-a-million in grants which, Newark said, the Papenfuse administration identified and pursued for the first time this year.

The $1 million includes grants for projects in public safety, public works, tourism and parks and recreation. The vast majority of them—$924,300—were awarded on the basis of applications made under the previous administration of Mayor Linda Thompson. These include $466,998 in Dauphin County gaming funds for the purchase of a new fire engine; $78,843 for an upgrade to police information systems; $250,000 from the state Department of Environmental Protection for a leaf collection vehicle and a recycling truck; a $13,619 state fire grant for firefighting equipment; and $114,840 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for advanced firefighter training.

An additional $112,500 were applied for in 2014 under the Papenfuse administration, including two awards that the city pursued for the first time, Newark said. One was a $10,000 grant from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for assessing the condition of five city playgrounds. The other was a one-time award of $100,000 from the Hershey Harrisburg Regional Visitors Bureau.

The remaining $2,500 came from an application this year to Walmart, for a grant to help fund the renovation of the playground at 4^th and Emerald streets uptown.

Joyce Davis, Mayor Papenfuse’s spokeswoman, suggested Monday that the recent awards reflect the new mayor’s leadership in the area of grant applications. She compared the $1 million figure with the $425,000 the city was awarded in grants in the first six months of 2013.

Newark, the grants manager, echoed this sentiment, though he suggested that Papenfuse’s real contributions would be felt in the months to come, as applications for newly identified grant opportunities began to show results.

“There are certain agencies I’d never heard about until this mayor came in,” Newark said. “New grants came to the table this year because of this administration’s priorities.”

Newark estimated that the city was on track to receive between $10 and $12 million in outside grants this year, in contrast to last year’s total of $7 million. Both figures include the $4.5 million in state grants to the city for public safety, a line item that the state legislature increased last year as Harrisburg and its advisors were negotiating the final pieces of the city’s recovery plan.

So far, in addition to those for which funds have already been awarded, the city has submitted applications this year for three large grants related to recreation and economic development. One is for another $148,450 from DCNR for the development of Reservoir Park. Another application, to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is for a $99,999 rural business grant to help renovate the Broad Street Market in Midtown. A third is an application to the state Department of Community and Economic Development for $250,000, to be spent on equipment for the five playgrounds being assessed under the previously awarded DCNR grant.

Newark, who started working for the city in June of 2012, has worked on compliance issues for city governments since 1998. Most recently, he worked as the compliance manager for the city of Baltimore.

During his first six months in Harrisburg, Newark said, he focused on cleaning up the city’s grants program, which was then in deep disarray. Among the problems was the chronic delay in preparing an independent audit of city finances, which outside agencies rely on for assurance that their awards will be appropriately spent and accounted for.

“Who wants to give grants to a city without an audit?” Newark said. “I told my staff, ‘We’ve got to fix our house before we apply for grants.’”

On Monday, Newark attributed the grant program’s recent successes to a combination of these cleaning-house efforts in the last two years and the leadership of the new administration. “We’re reaping the rewards of these two factors,” he said.

The money from the Hershey Harrisburg Regional Visitors Bureau, in particular, shows how the Papenfuse administration has left no stone unturned in its quest for outside funding. Traditionally, the HHRVB has spent city tourism money—which comes from a tax on overnight lodging in Dauphin County—directly on bills supplied by the city in connection with an overall marketing campaign.

Recently, the bureau committed around $70,000 to the “Summer in the City” promotional campaign, which the Papenfuse administration has used to highlight Harrisburg’s seasonal arts and leisure offerings.

But months before that, Papenfuse wanted to ensure the city received its full share of tourism money, a portion of which Harrisburg is entitled to under county ordinance. Early in his term, he requested additional funds from the HHVRB, which the HHRVB awarded in the amount of $100,000. Ostensibly, the money was for marketing purposes, though it was not attached to any formal campaign and went directly to the city’s general fund.

“HHRVB views it as a one-time… allotment? process? A one-time…I can’t use the word ‘grant,’” Rick Dunlap, the bureau’s public relations director, said, adding that the bureau has no process for receiving or approving grants.

But Davis, the mayor’s spokeswoman, said that as far as the administration was concerned, the money was a grant. “That money did come to the city,” she said. “And we’re defining ‘grant’ as any money that came from a source outside the city.”

City To Replace Downed Light Poles on Front, Seek Bids for Citywide LED Upgrade

July 18, 2014 | by Paul Barker

The city will soon be replacing 15 downed light poles along Front Street, Mayor Eric Papenfuse announced this morning at a press conference along the 2900 block of the road.

The project is a prelude to a larger campaign to replace missing street lights across the city, as well as to upgrade approximately 6,000 existing ones to cost-saving LED bulbs.

The Front Street replacements will be partly funded by a $22,000 donation from Lighten Up Harrisburg, which in partnership with the Historic Harrisburg Association raised the money through sponsorships of its first annual “Glow Run” on June 7 this year.

The work will begin at the north end of Front and proceed with the installation of 15 poles over the next week. Installing the 29-foot poles will cost around $2,000 apiece, the administration said, with the city matching the charitable donation with labor and the cost of additional poles.

On Thursday, city engineer Wayne Martin issued a request for qualifications to design and install the LED-conversion project. The RFQ went out to 48 interested parties, Martin said, with applications due Aug. 15.

The LED bulbs are expected to generate significant cost and energy savings. In May of this year, according to the RFQ, the electric costs for the city’s 6,161 existing mercury-vapor and high-pressure sodium lights totaled around $64,000.

More information on the Glow Run and the city’s lights can be found in “Let There Be Lights,” a feature story in the June issue of TheBurg.

No Drama

July 3, 2014 | by Lawrance Binda

“Is this what a normal city is like?”

Someone asked me that question today about Harrisburg, remarking on the lack of drama in a place that has become known for it.

When TheBurg launched nearly six years ago, we began to cover the drama of the last days of the Steve Reed reign. Then there was the drama of the financial crisis and the unending drama of the Thompson administration. Last year, the election offered nearly a year of dramatic twists and turns.

But the new administration seems to be stabilizing into a day-to-day routine that, by Harrisburg standards, is positively dull. You may like Eric Papenfuse or you may not, but no one is going to accuse him of being Mr. Excitement. And governments tend to take on the sensibilities of their leaders.

Now, it’s taken a few months to reach this point. Upon taking office, Papenfuse wanted to make many changes, and change, by its nature, foments controversy. He lost a few of those battles (Gene Veno, anyone?), won a few more, and that change now is becoming institutionalized in such places as a new Housing Court and a revived economic development office.

Recently, the most controversial issue has been the proposed change in the zoning code, and most of that controversy has centered around the timing, the fact that the administration is trying to get it passed in such rapid fashion.

In this battle, I agree that the city needs a new zoning code, as the existing code is a Byzantine, confusing mess. However, I also understand the stance of several developers, who have complained that the new code was dropped on them without a chance for them to argue for changes, especially in areas of the city where they own property.

But outside of those guys, I’ve seen little indication that this issue has resonated with the broader public, which still seems most concerned with parking, a topic the administration can do little about. Even crime, which often spikes along with the heat in early summer, is not generating any more than the usual concern.

So, on this 4th of July weekend, we should be grateful that the fireworks will be happening over our heads and not within City Hall or in the neighborhoods. In fact, absent some big surprise, it might just remain quiet through the end of August, with the administration going about its business of running the local government. At that point, City Council returns from its six-week summer hiatus to take up the topic of–um–tax abatement.

Cue the drama, anyone?

Sexual Abuse of Elderly Woman Was Investigated Days Before Her Death

June 30, 2014 | by Paul Barker

An 83-year-old woman whom Harrisburg police found dead in the basement of her N. 13^th Street home last Thursday was named only two weeks prior in a civil action alleging she was being sexually abused, court records show.

The action, initiated by the Dauphin County Area Agency on Aging, states that the agency is “strongly of the opinion” that Peggy Swann, of 107 N. 13^th St., was “engaged in intimate acts” which may or may not have been consensual.

At a city hall briefing Monday morning, police had confirmed some details of the case, but declined to mention the alleged abuse, saying only that they had reasons to view her death as suspicious. But the director of the county agency, when presented later with information from the court documents, confirmed his staff had been working with law enforcement in the days before the discovery of Swann’s body.

The agency’s petition identifies David Barksdale as a resident of the house along with Swann. It notes that Barksdale, as well as other “unknown persons” at the address, denied an agency caseworker access to the property.

The agency “cannot emphasize enough that in response to the Agency’s representation of an investigation of sexual abuse, the denial of access to Peggy Swann constitutes a ‘red flag’ that cannot be ignored,” the court petition says.

The petition, dated June 11, also notes that Swann was believed to be a “mentally incapacitated older adult,” and that she had “uncharacteristically been missing” from her residence for two nights prior to the court filing.

Robert Burns, the agency director, would not go into detail about the case, citing confidentiality rules. But he did say that, in general, the agency would not initiate a court action without something substantial indicating a report of abuse warranted investigation.

“We’re in close contact with law enforcement and sharing what we learned,” Burns said.

Earlier on Monday, Harrisburg police Capt. Deric Moody had confirmed that Swann’s body was badly decomposed when it was discovered by police in the basement of the N. 13^th St. home. An initial autopsy was performed early Monday morning, he said, but the body was going to be sent to Erie for a more extensive analysis, which could take anywhere from one to eight months. He estimated Swann had been deceased for around two weeks when her body was found.

“There are some things that haven’t made sense,” Moody said of the death, which was being investigated as a potential homicide. “To be there that long with no one smelling it…we haven’t got a good explanation yet.”

According to county property records, Barksdale and Swann have co-owned the property since June 2006, when Swann added Barksdale, identified as “a single man,” to the deed.

This story has been updated for style and to provide additional information.

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