Tag Archives: harrisburg

Closing the Books

August 5, 2013 | by Paul Barker

Monday afternoon, at a podium in the garden of his 2^nd Street home, Dan Miller announced he would not be running for the office of Harrisburg mayor.

“With apologies to all those voters who supported me, especially those who wrote my name on their ballot, I have decided not to accept the Republican nomination,” Miller said. He was standing between rosebush hedges and a pink crape myrtle and reading from a prepared statement. His campaign manager, Chuck Ardo, began to distribute copies to the gathered press.

A moment later, as he answered questions, a campaign poster that had been taped to the podium popped loose and fell to the grass.

“How appropriate,” Miller said, smiling. He looked relieved.

Miller’s campaign for mayor had stalled in May, when he lost the Democratic primary to Eric Papenfuse, owner of the Midtown Scholar Bookstore. But Miller, who received 196 write-ins on the Republican side—sufficient to secure the nomination and appear on the fall ballot—spent the summer leaving spectators in doubt as to whether he’d actually run.

With Monday’s announcement, Miller marked not only the end of his campaign, but also the likely close of his nearly decade-long involvement in city politics. (Though he would not go so far as to say he would never seek office again, he said it was doubtful.) He leaves behind a commendable, if varied, legacy.

Miller was elected to City Council in 2005, where he served until he won city controller in 2009. In that time, his political persona evolved considerably.

During his run for council, he had seemed an uncontroversial and unifying figure. He was endorsed by both Mayor Reed and his opponent, Jason Smith, who was running a vicious counter-campaign for the Democratic nomination. Miller’s newsletters, often punctuated with exclamation points, were sprightly and optimistic. (“Please identify all your Republican friends and neighbors and ask them to write-in Dan Miller on May 17^th,” one advised.)

In office, however, his persona hardened. He became one of Reed’s fiercest critics, taking him to task for his Western-artifacts fund and his use of the Harrisburg Authority as something like a personal mint for special projects. Often, his critiques seemed driven—predictably, given that Miller worked (and still works) full-time at Miller Dixon Drake, the Harrisburg accounting firm he founded—by a desire for transparency, accuracy, and detail.

A 2008 clip, for example, made available by Roxbury News, shows Miller questioning Mayor Reed over the sale of the Senators baseball team. Reed is typically evasive, but Miller hammers away, trying to get a firm answer on what happened to the money. When Reed repeats for a final time that he doesn’t know, Miller tersely states, “I think that’s the height of arrogance, and I’m outraged by it.” For people who watched Reed get away with so much for so long—and continue to deny, through the 2012 State Senate hearings, that he had any specific knowledge of how the city’s incinerator debt had so badly ballooned—it’s hard not to be thrilled by Miller’s persistence.

As city controller, at least at first, his stature as the city’s top watchdog began to rise. He created a separate website for his office, harrisburgcitycontroller.com, which was notably more reliable than the city’s own site and made financial reports and audits readily available to the public.

He frequently expressed a belief that transparency was critical to the city government’s health. He also publicly sparred with Mayor Thompson when, early in her term, she attempted to gag city employees, ordering that any outside requests for information be forwarded to her office.

So why did this defender of careful accounting, in a time when the city’s structural deficit and debt were spinning out of control, fail in his bid for mayor?

As Miller would have it, he was simply outspent. “Politics is about money,” he said Monday afternoon, “and we didn’t have the money.” Noting that the Papenfuse campaign spent upwards of $240,000, in contrast with his campaign’s $90,000, he complained about “oversized, full-color mail pieces and misleading TV ads.” In this sort of campaign environment, he said, the “issues took a back seat.”

It’s true that a great deal of money was spent, and that despite this, Miller was edged by a narrow margin—about 400 votes, out of around 6,500 cast. But there was more to his defeat than money.

The vigilance Miller brought to City Council and the controller’s office could come across, in debates, as spiteful and sour. He lamented the lack of an “honest debate on the pluses and minuses of bankruptcy,” but failed to make a palatable case for the pluses, especially in terms that lay voters could understand.

Besides that, Miller frequently skipped debates, often explaining his absence by reference to his full-time accounting job—a reasonable excuse, perhaps, but one that may have confused voters about his priorities. And while Papenfuse did indeed outspend him, he also out-campaigned him, going door to door, organizing street cleanups, and meticulously posting about his activities on Facebook and Twitter.

To observe Miller on his home turf—as I did on the night of the primary returns—is to understand why he was able to form as sizable a coalition of supporters as he did. That night, he was gracious, cheerful, and charming, even as it became clear that he was losing at the polls. But when it came to presenting a vision for the future, one that could both inspire and reassure, the scrutineer persona Miller had crafted proved limited. He was too intent on past failures, too ready to go on the attack.

The most telling moment at Monday’s conference may have come when Miller finished his script and looked up to take questions. His posture immediately relaxed, and he was smiling. (Later, he would say, in reference to the collapsing campaign sign, “That was great that that thing fell off at the end,” and laugh.)

He seemed to feel about the conference the way he’d come to feel about the race: happy it was over.

FitCircuit Folly: Going where few exercisers have gone before.

August 5, 2013 | by Lawrance Binda

On a beautiful summer day, Riverfront Park is a busy, noisy place.

Walkers compete with runners who compete with cyclists for space along the narrow park path. Screams of “on your left” are sometimes barely heard against a soundtrack of speeding cars and deafening motorcycles roaring down Front Street.

But there is one very calm space in the park — or actually 15 very calm spaces, where no one will bother you. These are the soft, woody ditches of ParCourse FitCircuit, a series of exercise pits along the path, each with a piece of simple metal equipment and a sign instructing you how to use it.

However, very few people do.

For the most part, the stations sit vacant all day alongside the path, a well-intended effort to encourage exercise, but now mostly used as the occasional plaything of climb-y, crawl-y children, who definitely are not in it for the total body workout.

But what if you are? What if you actually had the crazy notion to use these exercise stations, in order, as they were intended? Would you survive the experience? Or would you just be laughed at by the joggers/cyclists/skateboarders?

To find out, my girlfriend Andrea and I decided to complete the circuit as faithfully as possible. I wish I could say that we had long planned our fitness outing, but really we were just bored on a Sunday. Yet another glorious summer weekend had passed without an invitation to join a boozy pontoon boat party, so we needed something to do.

“Hey, let’s go use that exercise equipment in the park,” she said.

“Really?” I said, committed to my sad immobility, watching my beloved Washington Nationals fall behind in (and ultimately lose) another game.

“You’ll feel better,” she said cheerfully.

I doubted that, but rose from the sofa anyway and slowly changed into my baggy gym shorts. Then we set out on foot from our house farther down Front Street near the Taylor Bridge and, about a mile already expended, arrived at the course.

Near the corner of Front and Maclay streets, two large, double-sided signs introduce you to the fun about to come. One says, “Welcome to the ParCourse FitCircuit,” with an abundance of information about stretching and pulse rates and cool downs. The other is basically an ad for the sponsor, Capital BlueCross, which, back in 2009, footed the $53,000 bill for the construction.

We were fired up to start!

But wait.

We quickly saw that something was not right. The introductory sign said the first exercises, logically, were stretches and warm-ups. But the first station was not a warm-up, but a rather intimidating set of bars for the “Chin-Up” station. We then realized that the entire exercise circuit had been built backwards. We were staring at Station 15, the final, and one of the most difficult, exercises in the circuit. The first station was half-a-mile upriver.

So back it was to walking. We slowly passed the other stations, one by one, in descending order, farther and farther away from the sign that said, “Welcome to ParCourse FitCircuit.” We hoped that, by the time we reached the first station, we still would remember our instructions.

It wasn’t a completely pointless venture. Along the way, we took in the good (the wide variety of architecture along Front Street), the bad (another downed light pole lying like a corpse near Seneca Street) and the, well, interesting (let’s just say, as a general rule, that all men should wear shirts when they jog).

At the corner of Schuykill and Front, across the street from the low-slung, butt-ugly State Corrections Officers Association building, we reached our first destination, Station 1, an Achilles tendon stretch. As at all the stations, a prominent sign explained the exercise with a helpful sketch of a person performing it.

Andrea, a runner, had no problem.

I, on the other hand, am not very bendy. Sure, I have a “Y” membership and am pretty fit for some middle-aged bald guy, but flexibility is not my strong suit.

“You’re doing it all wrong,” Andrea said, a phrase she would repeat for almost the entire length of the 15 stops.

I gave it my best shot.

And so it would go for the next hour as we made our way through the rest of the circuit. Andrea would perform an exercise perfectly, and I would mess it up. About the only exceptions were the Vault Bar, which no one should do without professional instruction, and the last two, the Bench Dip and Chin Up, which required more upper-body strength. We also were perplexed by why Station 3 (Leg Stretch) is located in the middle of the course, between Station 10 (Sit-Up) and Station 11 (Push-Up). There’s no explanation.

After a few attempts, Andrea managed the vault.

But, in the end, the enjoyment was in the journey. Yes, it was a gorgeous day, with the stiff northerly breeze making it seem like some weird mix of August and October. However, it really was just an excuse to do something different in Riverfront Park, which, for all its flaws (weeds, cracked steps, groundhogs) remains a green gem on the wide, sparkling Susquehanna River.

It also allowed us to have some experiences we would have missed if we had just taken our usual stroll. For instance, we were nearly run down by former Friends of Midtown President Don Barnett, who, once he identified his near-victims, stopped his bike to chat for a minute. We had a nice talk about the strangely intriguing mural on the otherwise bland Governors Plaza South building.

Later on, we met David, an older guy who lives in the River Plaza apartments and was sitting on the bench across the street (also known as Station 10). We had to ask him to please stand a minute so we could do some sit-ups on it. He complied but wanted to know if we liked football and which church we belonged to. Then he told us about his church. He was the only person we saw, besides ourselves, “using” the equipment.

Afterwards, Andrea was right, I did feel better. I could tell that I had worked muscles that I had ignored for too long and that I needed to include more stretching into my normal workout. The next day, I felt a welcome fatigue in several areas of my body, like I did as a kid following the first ocean swim of summer vacation.

Wrapping it up at the Chin-Up station. Note: Poor form.

It’s fair to say that the ParCourse FitCircuit probably wasn’t the best use of $53,000 that Capital BlueCross has ever made, as I’m willing to bet that we were the only two people all weekend (all week? all month?) to try to use the course as it was intended. But, at least on this day, it gave us an excuse to be outdoors, doing something different, in a stunning river setting, on a gorgeous day, in the city of Harrisburg.

Lessons from Ronn: There’s gloom and there’s hope and there’s Harrisburg.

July 31, 2013 | by Lawrance Binda

When I first came to Harrisburg, one of the first people to engage me in a serious conversation about the city was Ronn Fink, the long-time, greatly missed co-owner of the Bare Wall gift shop on Green Street.

Ronn had been around Harrisburg for almost 40 years and, as he himself said, “had seen it all”: the decline, the floods, the porn theater/streetwalker years, the Reed era, the occasional sprigs of hope. Ronn had started out as an idealist—had even helped found the Historic Harrisburg Association—but, like many disappointed optimists, had become increasingly cynical in his later years.

On any halfway decent day, you could find Ronn perched on a folding chair just outside his shop, cigarette in hand, nose invariably buried deep in a pulp paperback. He knew everyone on the street, greeted passersby, laughed easily and welcomed good conversation.

Thus, he was eager to speak with me when, after a year or so of publishing TheBurg, I began to write more seriously about Harrisburg. I believe our talks began after I wrote a column praising a group of people who had started a new arts event called 3^rd in The Burg. I could tell he thought I was naïve.

“I’ve seen Midtown on the verge of turning around so many times,” he said, shaking his head, as if to give me fair warning of my own eventual disappointment.

Then his voice lifted a little, revealing that it really didn’t take much to reach that underlying vein of hope that was his true nature.

“Who knows?” he said. “Maybe this time it will work.”

I think of that conversation frequently when I walk up N. 3^rd Street in Midtown—so much potential, too many dashed hopes. Empty storefronts, a lot of great shops that never made it, and then some other dreamer shows up willing to give it a shot.

I’ve learned a lot about Harrisburg since that first talk with Ronn—some good, a lot not. But one important thing I have learned is that Harrisburg’s condition or fate isn’t the way it is just because it’s the way it is. It’s the way it is because people— individuals—make decisions that cumulatively add up.

Midtown is a great example.

Right now, Midtown is caught between two opposing forces—let’s call them “old” Harrisburg and “new” Harrisburg.

Old Harrisburg is ghetto Harrisburg, dilapidated Harrisburg, a city that looks broken down—and the individuals who are happy to keep it that way.

They’re the folks who own the rundown buildings that line N. 3^rd, who seem fine with renting apartments cheaply as long as they don’t have to put a penny more into their buildings.

They’re the groups who run old-time social clubs with blocked-out windows, completely cut off from the world and community around them, prompting more than one person I know to ask, “What the heck goes on in there?”

They’re the owners of troubled bars who seem to have no problem condemning entire neighborhoods to danger and blight so they can continue to sling cheap booze.

They’re the commercial landlords who let yet another lottery ticket/cigarette/soda-and-chips joint open or, alternatively, who ask so much in rent for retail space that their buildings are always empty.

Old Harrisburg is deeply entrenched. They’ve survived, even thrived, for decades doing whatever it is they do, even as their buildings fall down around them. They’re not going anywhere.

Unless squeezed out by new Harrisburg.

New Harrisburg is where the hope lies for the city in general. Almost without exception, new Harrisburg is made up of people who’ve arrived relatively recently to settle and open businesses. They come from places where it isn’t acceptable to let your rental property go to rot or run a bar where there’s a shooting every few months. And they’re trying so hard to give Harrisburg something better.

They’re folks like Josh Kesler, who is doubling—make that tripling—down on Midtown by opening a farmer’s co-op in the Broad Street Market and renovating a long-vacant landmark building for a restaurant and art space; like Sri Kumarasingam, whose Pastorante may well be Harrisburg’s best new restaurant; like Steph and Ammon Perry, whose amazing Yellow Bird Café has become a magnet both for the neighborhood and for outsiders; like Eric Papenfuse, who, whatever you might think of his politics, is a one-man Midtown improvement machine.

And therein lies the hope for Midtown and for Harrisburg.

If Ronn were still around today, he might say that he warned me, that the forward progress I cited a few years back couldn’t be sustained, that we’ve returned to two steps forward, one step back.

I’d have to agree with him. Many of the interesting, creative new businesses that seemed to be transforming Midtown then are already gone.

But then he’d smile slightly, shrug his shoulders and say: “Who knows? Maybe this time, it’ll work.” And I’d have to agree with that, too.

Lawrance Binda is editor-in-chief of TheBurg.

My Day at the Harrisburg Auction: Millions of public dollars were squandered buying Wild West artifacts. I wanted one small memento.

July 31, 2013 | by Lawrance Binda

I had my heart set on the spittoon.

I had no practical use for it, being neither a chewer nor a spitter. But it was the one item at last month’s artifact auction that actually pertained to Harrisburg, manufactured by the city’s own F.H. Cowden Co. sometime in the late 19^th century. That was why I wanted it.

Estimated sales price: $40 to $50.

I hoped the small stoneware vessel would get lost amongst the 5,500 or so other lots up for grabs at the (mostly) Wild West auction held on City Island. Apothecary bottles, Indian-style rugs, butter churns, sheriff’s medals of dubious provenance, creepy religious statues.

A spittoon manufactured in Harrisburg, Pa.? Who’d want that?

To me, it was the perfect symbol of this singularly bizarre episode in Harrisburg history. Over a dozen or so years, former Mayor Steve Reed and his minions crisscrossed the country, quietly spending some $8.3 million in public money to buy tons of stuff for a “National Museum of the American West” he hoped to build.

In central Pennsylvania.

There was never any solid path or plan to getting this thing built, little more than the surreal notion in Reed’s head that what was needed was a Wild West Museum.

In central Pennsylvania.

For years, Reed used his appointed board at the Harrisburg Authority to OK his debt-fueled buying sprees, stuffing his treasures floor-to-ceiling into a warehouse like some publicly elected version of Citizen Kane. And, on this day, the results of that failed project were listed in a 23-page brochure as the action commenced on a steamy morning inside the Carousal Pavilion next to Metro Bank Park.

And amidst the old-timey bathtubs and old-timey oil lamps and old-timey chamber pots, there was but a single item that I saw with some connection to this city where I lived—the stoneware spittoon—and I wanted it.

Fair Warning

About a half-hour before the 10 a.m. start time, I had set off on foot from my Front Street house.

I took the river route to City Island, walking across Riverfront Park (overgrown grass, rotting tree limbs), down the ramp (missing railings, groundhog infestation), onto the river walk (cracked pavement, washed-out stairs), past the river steps (weed-choked, disintegrating) and over the Walnut Street Bridge (lights out again).

I arrived just as a guy with Guernsey’s auction house was laying down the ground rules for in-person bidding. Speaking above the roar of several industrial-strength fans, he explained that there were no reserve prices, so the highest bid would win the item, regardless of its perceived value.

I was in.

I took some pictures, said “hi” to city COO Bob Philbin, chatted with TV news guy Dave Marcheskie, claimed bidder ticket #112 and had a seat.

The crowd was sparse, maybe 50 or 60, but I wasn’t certain what to make of that. Guernsey’s said that more than 7,000 people had registered for the auction, so most of the action was going to come from Internet bidders. And, in fact, a long table occupied the entire right side of the pavilion, where Guernsey’s staff hovered over a line of computers to track and call out Internet bids.

A bit after 10 o’clock, the auctioneer took her position behind the microphone and announced the first item: an antique wooden yarn winder. Estimated pre-auction value: $60 to $100.

A picture of the item flashed on a screen beside her, at the front of the auction area. It looked like a long wooden stick with handles on either end, but the projected image was vague in the daylight and difficult to see clearly.

“$100,” the hopeful auctioneer called out.

Nothing.

“$75,” she said and paused briefly.

“$50,” she barked out.

Still nothing. She took a breath. The bidding was going the wrong way.

Then some hope. A staff member manning one of the laptop computers had an interested bidder.

“$25!” he yelled out.

“$25,” repeated the auctioneer.

“Thirty, thirty,” she said, trying to juice the crowd into bidding more. “Thirty. Do I have thirty anywhere?”

Faces looked up blankly, and no auction numbers were raised.

“I have $25,” she said, drawing out the number. “Fair warning . . . “

“Sold! To the Internet bidder! $25!”

And so started the long-awaited Harrisburg artifact auction, with a sale of an item at less than half the estimated sales price.

Much of the rest of the morning would proceed in a similar way. There were a few bright spots, such as the beautiful National brass cash register, which an Internet bidder paid $600 for (estimate: $300 to $500).

But most of the items ended up more like the $30 paid for “primitive farm implements” (estimate: $40 to $50); the $80 paid for the “large wooden ox yoke” (estimate: $100 to $200); and the $60 paid for the “Oliver Standard Visible (Type) Writer No. 9” (estimate: $300 to $400).

Other items fetched more or less their pre-auction estimates, while a bunch received no bids at all and were passed over.

And Sold!

As I waited for my spittoon to come up, I struck up a conversation with a guy sitting next to me, who, as it turned out, grew up on Allison Hill, but now lived with his family outside Mount Gretna.

His name was Darnell Pemberton, and he had come to bid on several African-style masks, meaning he had a long wait ahead of him, hours still, in the steam bath posing as an auction house. He also was interested in one of several western wagons that wouldn’t be up until the auction’s next-to-last day, Saturday.

“I’ve always wanted to own an old wagon,” he said matter-of-factly, as if this were a common hope.

He asked me why there were African items at an Old West auction, and I told him that Reed dreamed of building other museums in Harrisburg, including a world-class museum of African-American history.

He looked at me and chuckled, as if I had just said the most ridiculous thing.

“Who would come to Harrisburg for a museum when they can just go to Washington?” he asked.

I then explained how we all had come to be there that day, that Reed had spent years and millions of dollars in public money accumulating this stuff, which was now getting sold off at a rate of an item every three-or-so minutes, most below estimated value.

“Weird,” he said, and I nodded.

But that wasn’t going to stop me from making a bid, and my spittoon was due up next. I grabbed the cardboard number from my bag and nervously got ready to shout out my bid.

“Number 1086: F.H. Cowden Harrisburg Spittoon,” said the auctioneer, and the vague image of the stoneware vessel appeared on the screen. I leaned forward to try to see it more clearly.

“$50,” called out one of the guys following the Internet bidding, before I could say a word.

$50? The spittoon already was selling for the top of the estimated range. Oh no.

“$75. $100. $125,” cried the auctioneer, happy she finally had an item selling over predicted value.

Clearly, a few other locals were jumping on the only Harrisburg-related item in the auction, and I was being outbid into stunned silence.

“$150? Do I hear $150?” said the suddenly hopeful auctioneer.

“I have $125,” she said. “Fair warning . . .”

“And sold! To the Internet bidder! $125.”

Rats!

Sure, I had lost out, but at least hadn’t gotten suckered into paying too much for it. Researching Cowden pottery before the auction, I learned there’s a ton for sale on eBay for less than $100, which was my upper limit for the piece.

I stuck around long enough to bid on another lot I had spied at the auction preview the day before in a warehouse at the incinerator complex. My girlfriend liked a set of 10 old-timey glass lamp shades, said they’d look nice in a house we’re having renovated in Olde Uptown.

Estimated value: $100 to $150. I paid $40.

As I made my way back across the Walnut Street Bridge (lights still out) and over to the adjoining plaza (badly damaged planter) and back to the office through the streets of Harrisburg (potholes, cracks, no striping), I wished that my money would be spent well, but knew it would go only to covering a fraction of the massive debt Reed had amassed. Money that, years ago, should have gone to fixing Harrisburg.

Save the Cynicism: Harrisburg needs doers, not critics.

July 31, 2013 | by J. Alex Hartzler

If you read or watch the local and national press, it is hard not to be a cynic. Our public discourse, like our politics, is polarized and often even shrill. On the rare occasion that I turn on Fox News or read the editorials in the Wall Street Journal, I am amazed at what appears to be a different reality from my daily copy of the New York Times or National Public Radio show, let alone my favorites, Lawrence O’Donnell and Rachel Maddow on MSNBC.

The cynic assumes that narrow self-interest drives all discourse. There is no objective “truth” in government, the cynic says, just a policy that helps or hurts my party or interest group or my personal finances. Thus, members of the state legislature or Congress cannot or will not break with leadership to vote for a bill proposed by the leader of the “opposition” party, even though a substantially similar bill supported by their party would gain overwhelming support. The recent failure of important bills on the state and federal level are evidence of this.

We are too often afraid to grant our “adversary” or really anyone who may disagree with us the basic courtesy of believing that their policy view is based on broad good intentions instead of only narrow personal benefit. The problem with distrusting intentions—beyond bad social manners of course—is that it provides an easy excuse to stop listening altogether.

I believe that this cynicism, particularly on a local level, is misplaced. In order to move our community forward, we need the honest and open participation of all stakeholders. Political labels or differences are unimportant to helping our city and region. Urban or suburban, liberal or conservative, we all have the responsibility to help our city move forward and be successful, and we all benefit from or are impacted by such success or failure. The perception and indeed the reality of our capital city is something that affects all of us in the region.

I am aware that my other business interest in real estate through WCI Partners leads some to believe that my political advocacy as chair of the Harrisburg Capital PAC is merely financially motivated and thus unworthy of support, as recent public arguments with the Patriot News have demonstrated.

This viewpoint is wrong on two levels. First, we need more, not fewer, investors and stakeholders in the city who have a deep financial commitment to improving life here. As a community overall, we should want to attract more investors who want to build their business and real estate holdings in the city instead of somewhere else. Our population decline from almost 100,000 in 1950 to less than 50,000 today shows that we have lost many of those stakeholders and that we need them back. We should welcome any new business owner or resident who wants to join us in Harrisburg, while acknowledging that they are not likely to do so if it is not in their financial self-interest. The costs of municipal government will only continue to increase over time, and, if we don’t grow our economic base to pay for it by incentivizing new investment today through tools like tax abatement (which actually increases municipal revenues), our fiscal problems will continue long into the future.

On another level, however, I know that there are many business and community people who want to build Harrisburg, regardless of their personal financial situation. The co-members of the PAC are a terrific example. For many of them, Harrisburg is a place where they, like me, spend their financial resources, not where they make them. There are numerous successful people from throughout the region who want to see Harrisburg adopt best practices that are successful in other cities. It is not because of any personal financial stake, but because they know that we all do better if Harrisburg does better.

So, save the cynicism, if you must, for national issues, but put it aside on the local level. Our city needs anyone who is willing to help, for whatever reason, to bring our city back. We need enlightened self-interest and, yes, even plain old self-interest, if we want to rebuild our city. Let’s put in place policies that will attract them.

J. Alex Hartzler is publisher of TheBurg.

An Al Fresco Favorite: steak Florentine & panzanella salad, the perfect dish for the perfect summer day.

July 31, 2013 | by Rosemary Ruggieri Baer

I know Harrisburg isn’t Italy.

But every time we drive down and around city streets on summer evenings, I see scores of people dining outside at our many pubs and bistros. Everywhere you look, large and small tables line sidewalks, often in tight spaces or corralled behind fencing and barricades to allow walkers to pass by. And I am always reminded of the small towns of Umbria and Sicily where almost all the trattorias offer al fresco dining.

Harrisburg’s outdoor dining scene seems to lend a sense of vitality and fun to our little city, especially on a beautiful day. From busy 2nd Street with old favorites like Stocks, The Red Door, Café Fresco and the Hilton Courtyard to Bricco’s cozy spot at 3rd and Chestnut, diners enjoy happy hour cocktails, appetizers and dinner. Newcomer, Federal Taphouse, has gotten into the act and added outside tables to its bustling venue. And even tiny Alvaro’s, quietly serving wonderful pasta on Friday and Saturday nights, has placed a few wrought iron tables on their Green Street corner. At Carley’s on Locust Street, the entire front wall opens to the sidewalk, and a piano player croons to evening patrons. Home 231 boasts a backyard dining space canopied with lights where a strawberry Prosecco cocktail tastes sublime.

Al fresco dining is great at home, too. I have a tiny, screened porch at the back of my house, and, this year, I splurged on a table that actually seats more than two people comfortably. There is no wood oven scenting the night air, no jasmine covered arbor and no silvery olive trees in the backyard. Our wine comes from the state store and not from the vineyard over the next rolling hill. But it is a place where I start the day with coffee, end it with a glass of wine and eat meals whenever I can.

The recipes that follow make for wonderful end-of-summer al fresco dinners. Both dishes originate from Florence, or Firenze, the golden jewel of Tuscany. Both epitomize the best of summer foods: simply grilled beef and sun-ripened vegetables in a unique salad. Bistecca Fiorentina (or steak Florentine) is special to Tuscans, who eat beef often. The steak, enough to serve two, must be a large T-bone cut at least an inch or inch-and-a-half thick with a large tenderloin. The salad, called Panzanella, makes perfect use of leftover Italian bread. With a glass of chilled white wine and maybe some sliced sweet peaches, it’s all you need for a perfect dinner.

Steak Florentine and Panzanella Salad

For the steak:

In a small bowl, mix a few tablespoons of olive oil, a handful of chopped fresh herbs (use whatever you like such as rosemary, chives, oregano or parsley) and a tablespoon or two of minced garlic. Set aside.
With the grill on high heat, sear a large T-bone or Porterhouse steak, cut about 1½-inches thick and weighing about 1¾ pounds. (Order ahead from your favorite butcher.) Cook to desired doneness but know that, in Florence, the steak is served darkly seared on the outside and rare inside. Place the steak on a platter to rest for a few minutes and then top with the garlic and herb mixture.
Place the steak on a cutting board, garnish with Rosemary sprigs and serve.

For the panzanella (tomato bread salad)

Take a several-day-old Italian baguette and cut it into large cubes. Sprinkle the bread with water until it is thoroughly moistened and let sit for 15 minutes. Drain the bread and squeeze out as much water as possible.
Cut 3 ripe, red tomatoes into chunks and place in a second bowl along with a cubed and peeled cucumber and a diced medium red onion.
Add the drained bread and a handful of torn fresh basil leaves.
Drizzle good virgin olive oil over the mixture to moisten it, add salt and pepper to taste and a little minced garlic if you like.
Add several tablespoons of red wine vinegar and toss the salad again.
Serve at room temperature along with the steak.

This recipe is best made with the freshest and ripest tomatoes you can find, as well as homegrown, summer cucumbers. It’s also very flexible. You can add chopped celery or black olives or even anchovies. And, if you add some chopped tuna, it can be a summer lunch.

So head out to your porch or patio with your steak and salad, place a vase of sunflowers on the table and pour a cold white wine. Enjoy the sights and sounds of August and your own Tuscan dinner.

And don’t forget to try Harrisburg’s outdoor eating venues too. The time for al fresco dining will be over far too soon.

Non-Profit Problem: About half the property in Harrisburg is nontaxable. Can anything be done about it?

July 31, 2013 | by Reggie Sheffield and Lawrance Binda

Non-profits in downtown Harrisburg.

Forum Place. Harrisburg Hospital. The Farm Show complex. The state Capitol.

Four places, four very different businesses, one thing in common—all are regarded as nonprofit entities, so pay no property taxes to their host city, Harrisburg.

According to the city treasurer’s office, Harrisburg is home to 716 parcels that are tax-exempt due to their non-profit status. Making the situation even more difficult: more than 75 percent of those parcels belong to either the government or government-related entities, which by law cannot be taxed, according to the Harrisburg receiver’s office.

So, what’s a city to do?

For years, the answer was “not much,” as the state did with Harrisburg pretty much what it wanted. Condemn and raze entire neighborhoods? Sure. Turn local streets into forbidding, perilous highways to accommodate suburban workers? Why not? Expand and take more properties off the tax roles? OK.

During the past century, the city has toggled between actively participating in its own destruction by facilitating the state’s unquenchable thirst for more land and, more recently, lamely complaining in City Council meetings and mayoral press conferences that the state does not pay its fair share for the services it consumes.

Last month, the situation changed somewhat. The state passed a 2013-14 budget that gave Harrisburg $5 million in “fire protection” funds, representing the largest-ever direct infusion of cash from the state as part of a regular budget process.

However, as it stands right now, that level of funding is a one-shot, one-year deal. Meanwhile, there are numerous other issues emerging that could affect the capital city’s relationship with the many nonprofit entities that call Harrisburg home.

State of the State Funding

To say that John Campbell was surprised would be an understatement.

“I’ll be honest with you—I was shocked,” said Campbell, Harrisburg’s treasurer.

Campbell was speaking of the $5 million the state coughed up to the city, double the amount allocated in the 2012-13 budget. His surprise was heightened by the fact that House Republicans, in their budget plan, had already slashed the allocation to $496,000.

Most city officials, including Mayor Linda Thompson, expected the amount to increase once the budget bill was finalized. In the end, however, it surpassed nearly everyone’s expectations.

“It’s a figure we’ve never received before,” Campbell said.

State Sen. Rob Teplitz said he and Rep. Patty Kim had worked hard to get funding restored, hoping to reach $4 million, a figure most city officials had set their eyes on. Receiver William Lynch lobbied Gov. Tom Corbett and Republican legislative leaders for another $1 million, which is how Harrisburg ended up with $5 million for this fiscal year, said Teplitz.

“It really is a windfall,” he said. “But we’re not asking for extra payment. We’re only asking for fair compensation.”

That fair compensation is, technically speaking, for protecting state buildings from fire, thus the money is accounted for in the state budget’s line item for fire protection. In fact, according to Teplitz, the city had to pledge the money would go only for that purpose.

However, it’s a stretch to believe that 60 percent of the city Fire Bureau’s $8.4 million budget goes to safeguarding the 40 buildings that constitute the Capitol complex. The money, in fact, flows to the city’s general fund, which does include the Fire Bureau, but also includes most other parts of the city government. So, money that goes into the Fire Bureau budget simply frees up funds elsewhere for the financially strapped, indebted city.

In the end, the state uses fire protection as a politically expedient way to compensate Harrisburg. It’s simply easier to fund a single, existing line item for a specific use than to transfer money into the general fund of the much-criticized and ostracized city. Besides, firefighters have hero clout lacking in, let’s say, the city’s IT department.

Harrisburg is happy to go along with this process because the state has habitually underfunded the city for services rendered: use of its roads, its emergency services, its public works and sanitation staff. Each weekday, the population of Harrisburg doubles, largely due to the presence of the state government, with the small population of the largely poor city left to pick up the tab of this white-collar invasion.

Until this year, the state has never owned up to its obligation as, by far, the largest employer and landowner in Harrisburg. Exempt from having to pay property taxes, the legislature allocated whatever it wanted, with the amount bouncing around from year to year. So, under the Reed administration, the state often provided just over $1 million. In 2010, that amount was cut to $987,000 and then to $496,000 in 2011. After the city’s financial crisis hit full-on, the state used the line item to assist the city to the tune of $2.5 million for 2012 and now $5 million.

City officials seem satisfied with that level—that $5 million finally compensates the city fairly. The problem, however, is that the funding level is not guaranteed going forward. It’s subject to the legislature’s annual horse-trading extravaganza known as the budget process. So, will the state reduce funding again once the city’s finances stabilize or when Corbett is no longer governor or Lynch is no longer receiver? No one knows.

Teplitz said he’s introducing legislation in the fall that would stabilize Harrisburg’s state funding, ensuring the city fair compensation in the fire protection line item that also would allow it to plan financially from year to year.

“The legislation would require the actual cost to get reimbursed,” he said.

Teplitz acknowledged passing such legislation would be an uphill climb, but vowed to put in a strong effort.

“Then we wouldn’t have to go begging every year,” he said.

PILOT Programs

In Harrisburg, after the state government, the next largest block of tax-exempt properties in the city belongs to PinnacleHealth System, one of the area’s largest healthcare providers, which is listed as a non-profit 501(3), the IRS’s designation for a tax-exempt organization. In the city, healthcare providers alone account for 11 percent of the non-taxable properties. If taxed, the PinnacleHealth parcels alone would bring in more than $1.13 million in property tax revenue, according to the receiver’s report.

But Pinnacle, like many other non-profits, instead makes Payments In Lieu of Taxes (PILOTs) to the city, amounting to more than $120,000 a year. Pinnacle spokeswoman Kelly McCall said in an e-mail that a 1998 court settlement prevented her from discussing specifics.

“Our PILOT was established through the Settlement Agreement, and the Agreement contains a confidentiality provision. We do make PILOT payments to the City of Harrisburg, Harrisburg School District and Dauphin County,” McCall’s e-mail said.

“PinnacleHealth provided more than $14.8 million in community benefits and reached more than 2.1 million people through programs and services, such as free screenings, community health education and chronic disease management in fiscal year 2012.

In addition, PinnacleHealth has supported numerous initiatives within Harrisburg, including increasing access to healthcare for the underserved through the Keystone Continuum, donating to maintain extracurricular activities and athletic programs in the Harrisburg School District and providing nutrition and physical activity education and meals to Harrisburg School District students,” she continued.

Overall, Harrisburg received a total of more than $420,000 in PILOTs in 2009, $410,244 in 2010 and $420,286 in 2011. According to city records, Harrisburg anticipates, in its 2013 budget, receiving about $425,000 in PILOTs. Next to Pinnacle, PHEAA, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, state is the second biggest PILOT contributor, sending in $107,444.79 each year for properties in the city.

“Under the Purely Public Charities Act, (Act 55), any PILOT payments are totally voluntary on the part of the non-profit,” said Cory Angell, a spokesperson for city receiver Lynch.

While a noteworthy addition to any municipal budget, PILOTs rarely constitute more than 1 percent of any total budget, according to an exhaustive 2010 nationwide study of the issue conducted by the Lincoln Institute for Land Policy. In Harrisburg, PILOTs account for about three-quarters of 1 percent of the budget, a figure largely unchanged for the past decade.

Tony Ross, president of the United Way of Pennsylvania, which has members who partner with more than 5,000 not-for-profit social service agencies statewide, said that standardizing a definition of what is and what is not a non-profit in Pennsylvania would help eliminate the fear that smaller non-profits—which have fewer assets and resources than the healthcare behemoths—end up bearing an undue share of the tax burden if stripped of their tax-exempt statuses. It would also help clear up the issue of just what qualifies as a non-profit from county to county.

“We’re concerned that non-profits are getting lumped into one group,” Ross said.

Ross explained that many of his affiliates, which tend to be smaller, community-based organizations, lack the assets and resources of the healthcare giants. What is a PILOT to PinnacleHealth could be a life or death situation to a smaller organization, he said.

“From what I can tell, those sorts of distinctions aren’t being made,” Ross said. “Whatever is done, it needs to be uniform across the state.”

“This tension has been going on for a long time,” said Joe Geiger, who until recently was the long-time director of the Pennsylvania Association of Non-Profit Organizations. “It wouldn’t even be close to enough money to offset the deficit. And there are some unintended consequences that could occur where some non-profits who are currently operating in Harrisburg may decide they need to find a more favorable environment in which to operate.”

“Poor decisions like that are what happened with the incinerator. That’s where the problem is. It’s not the fact that non-profits aren’t paying taxes,” Geiger said.

“Very few non-profits are property tax-exempt,” Geiger explained. “Most of them rent their properties and pay their taxes through the rent that they pay. So, when you look at the amount of debt that Harrisburg is in and you look at the amount of money that they could leverage out of charities, it’s not going to come anywhere close to the solution.”

“Non-profits and the local government ought to be working together to look at solutions, not taking each other to court,” he said.

Baseball & Bathrooms

After the state and PinnacleHealth, a host of smaller nonprofits dot the Harrisburg landscape (see map). In fact, you can walk through much of downtown and Midtown and hit one after another.

Did you know that Metro Bank Park is still owned by the city, so is tax-exempt even though Harrisburg sold the Senators baseball team in 2007? The team now leases the ballpark from the city.

The restrooms at Sunshine Park on Herr Street are also tax exempt, as is the controversial Forum Place building on Walnut Street, even though it’s valued at more than $63 million.

Rep. Patty Kim, a first-year Democrat representing Harrisburg’s 103^rd district, said she thinks it’s time for a public hearing as legislators have been getting lots of mail from the public. She also said she thinks that the non-profit designation should be made closer to home.

“I think it should be a municipal decision if it comes to that because, if the state does it, it’s going to be like a cookie-cutter formula that doesn’t fit with everybody’s unique situations in the city,” she said.

Kim said she was working with Rep. Robert L. Freeman, a Democrat from the 136^th district representing Easton and Northampton County, as a future co-sponsor of a proposed bill that would ensure additional resources to cities like Harrisburg that have a disproportionate number of tax-exempt properties.

Speaking of legislation, a legislative solution is brewing that could expand the definition of a non-profit in Pennsylvania, which might further impact Harrisburg.

In June, the House Finance Committee stopped short of a vote on a proposed law that would amend the state constitution to give the General Assembly the power to define a tax-exempt non-profit statewide. The House was taking its look at the proposed new standards, known as Senate Bill No. 4, after the Senate approved it in March.

Pinnacle’s McCall said that Pinnacle is also closely watching the progress of the proposed constitutional amendment, which likely would lead to a more liberal definition of what qualifies to be a non-profit.

“PinnacleHealth supports the legislation, as it will provide clarity and uniform treatment of charities throughout Pennsylvania,” she said.

In Pinnacle’s case, its payments are made as a result of a 1998 settlement reached with the Dauphin County Board of Assessment Appeals after the hospital appealed the county’s decision stripping the hospital’s tax exempt status in 1993. The reason the tax board took the hospital off the tax-exempt rolls? The county was not satisfied that the hospital had continued to meet the five-prong “HUP test”—established by a 1985 court decision to help determine what is a non-profit—because it engaged in competitive practices with other local healthcare providers.

Dauphin County Judge Richard A. Lewis later agreed, ruling that Pinnacle’s acquisition of local private physician practices as part of its expansion of an integrated healthcare system evidenced a private profit motive on the part of the hospital.

“The taxing authorities argue that the physician practices compete with private physicians and that such competition is evidence of a private profit motive. This court finds that [Pinnacle] cannot compete while still maintaining its charitable mission and charitable nature,” Lewis wrote.

Eric Montarti, senior policy analyst with the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy, a Pittsburgh-based non-profit taxpayer interest research group, said that hospitals, in a sense, are placed in a vulnerable position since no one wants to be seen as wishing to start taxing churches and schools.

“Take away these things that you’re never going to tax. Take away these things that the politicians are never going to go after, and what are you left with?”

Pittsburgh, like Harrisburg, has an Act 47 problem, the legislative term used to describe when the state appoints an outsider to oversee a city’s finances because the municipality is so far in debt that it has been declared a financially “distressed” city. In 2004, Pittsburgh began grappling with a $34.3 million deficit.

“It obviously didn’t solve the city of Pittsburgh’s issue,” he said.

Harrisburg, a city with a $56.3 million budget, currently faces an operating deficit of about $12 million and a $350 million debt tied to its botched incinerator retrofit, which has pushed the city to the brink of bankruptcy.

Montarti said that trying to, in effect, indirectly tax tax-exempts is the wrong direction to take as nonprofits attract people who, for example, buy properties in the municipalities and therefore later end up paying property taxes. Montarti said that those same people also end up paying taxes on local services while otherwise helping to support the local economy. The city, instead of trying to tax non-profits, should first get its own fiscal house in order, he said.

“Our argument would have been, ‘Well, okay, the city of Pittsburgh really needs to look at what it’s spending and what it’s doing in terms of how many services it provides, how many people it employs, how much cooperation there is between it and the county on similar services,’” he said.

People have made the same point about Harrisburg. Over the past few years, however, Harrisburg has slashed and slashed and slashed. The once-bloated city government now is down to its bare bones, challenged to deliver even basic services.

After years of underfunding its obligations, the state government has finally stepped up—at least for one year. PinnacleHealth also has shown that it’s willing to be civic-minded. Will other nonprofits follow suit? Given the city’s vast financial needs, PILOT payments may never amount to too much. However, Harrisburg does provide these nonprofit organizations with vital services. Given its desperate shape, the city is searching for every penny it can find.

Reggie Sheffield is a freelance reporter in Harrisburg. He may be reached at [email protected].

Citizen Bill: Midtown man makes his piece of the planet a little more colorful.

July 31, 2013 | by Dan Webster

Former Mayor Reed calls this man “The Mayor of Cumberland Street,” an earned and well-deserved nickname.

He takes care of the whole block, spraying down weeds, doing leaf clean-ups and planting and tending to the trees he’s installed for himself and neighbors alike. He’s personally taken on the role of chief steward and designer of the memorial garden in Riverfront Park at the foot of the Taylor Bridge.

You may not know him personally if you aren’t a resident of his curated block in Midtown Harrisburg. But you may have looked up and recognized his colorful pinwheels spinning in the wind, a feature that brings both wonderment and some joy for the passerby.

Bill Fritz is an energetic and important citizen of this neighborhood, a mainstay of Harrisburg and an import from nearby Lebanon, Pa. He and his business partner Patrick Brady migrated from Philadelphia, citing this city as a “nice blend between Philly and his hometown.”

Upon arrival, Fritz and Brady got to work, founding Classic Groundskeeping, now a 26-year-old business providing facelifts and sweeping changes to home and commercial environments around central Pennsylvania and even to places as far away as Florida.

Fritz said his obsession for both the built and natural environment stems from his Boy Scout days. He also started cutting grass at the age of 11, which provided supplementary family income for his father, who worked as a concreter in the Cornwall iron ore mines of northeastern Pennsylvania. After studying ornamental horticulture at Delaware Valley College, he transferred to Lebanon Valley and received his bachelor’s degree in business administration.

This marriage of business and know-how is Fritz’s jam along with a tireless work ethic. He meets for the interview in his work boots, tank top, jean shorts and an NRA cap; his mustache, crew cut and landscaping tan, along with his hurried movements and chatter, is a clear indication of the hard-nosed handyman he is.

I ask how many clients he has, and he looks at Brady, who has assumed the office work as of late. “Too many” seems to be the nonverbal, but that hasn’t stopped them from starting a pest control business this year.

“We wanted to get into something that was year-round, and it seemed like a natural transition,” Fritz says.

Comprehensive Pest Control uses safe methods like integrated pest management and organic applications, because, he says, “you’re dealing with family and children,” a pragmatic and progressive alignment.

On a more informal note, Fritz really likes his logo. “It’s a rat that’s cross-eyed in the crosshairs, and lots of people get a big kick out of it.”

He immediately gets back to business and chalks up their workmanship and success to their motto, a quote from one of our founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin: “The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.” This paradoxical aphorism is the motivating force behind all their landscaping and pest control initiatives.

Beyond his business acumen, he clues me in on another one of his athletic undertakings.

“I didn’t get into any sports [growing up], so when I’m not working, I’m working on a house,” an irony that is not lost on me.

His true architectural passion is of the Victorian type, calling it the “epitome of society.”

The family room I sit in and the dining room adjoined showcase his carpentry and interior design artistry. He started from scratch in many of the rooms, installing the wainscoting, finding and hanging the chandelier in the dining room—a purchase from one of the Wannamaker mansions in Philadelphia—while the one in the family room is from the former Ephrata Mountain Springs Hotel’s receiving room, a place where Lincoln and Grant once stayed.

Portraits from bygone eras encircle the furniture. They aren’t just mere vintage, but photographs of their respective family members; a remarkable one of his grandmother in flapper garb catches the eye. Fritz is a maximalist, so it’s hard to keep your eye on any one thing in this house, especially when his beautiful gray cat, Sequel, vies for your attention.

After showing me his Caribbean themed patio—complete with palm trees, purple railings and yellow fencing—a shocking transition from the under-lit but gracefully adorned first floor, Fritz decides to reminisce, retelling, albeit quickly, a powerful narrative about his father (an MP during the American occupation of Germany) and his mother being wed overseas, a military ceremony that was purchased through soap, cigarettes and linens. He shows me the picture, and, sure enough, MPs line the aisle, his mother and father completing one of the first post-war nuptials between an American and German.

As if an aside, he called to mind the days that he and Brady owned Sweet Passions, a coffee shop that was located at 1006 N. 3rd St.

“It was ahead of its time. We had Tarot Card readings on Monday. Poetry night on Tuesday. On Sunday, we served Belgian waffles with fruit compote and had chair massages out back. We also sold exotic flowers out of it.”

A man of many passions and skills, he doesn’t give me an indication of what’s next on the plate for his frenetic life, but he does strongly suggest that I mention his 2013 Reader’s Choice award for landscaping and lawn care that Harrisburg Magazine is bestowing upon him.

I make a mental note of the irony of mentioning another Harrisburg publication, but the Mayor of Cumberland Street certainly deserves his title and his choice standing in the community.

You can reach Bill Fritz at Classic Groundskeeping at 717-234-2415 and at Comprehensive Pest Control at 717-712-2520. Learn more about his businesses at www.classicgroundskeeping.com and www.comprehensivepestcontrol.com.

Up to Us: It’s time to begin thinking about our city, post-receiver.

July 31, 2013 | by Tara Leo Auchey

The debt solution is imminent.

That’s what we in and out of the city of Harrisburg have been hearing for the past three months. While another month has come and gone with no official pronouncement, punctuated by grinning politicians posing in photo ops, there are declarations made here and there.

One was made on July 11 at the Harrisburg Regional Chamber of Commerce and CREDC Community Forum on Economic Development by outgoing Mayor Linda Thompson. She said, “In the next several months, there will be a solution that will not only take care of the incinerator debt, but will also leave no stranded debt on the backs of the taxpayers of this city.”

Thompson also declared that the solution will include a plan to balance the city’s budget and assure it stays that way over the next five years. Giving credit to her own administration, she said that whoever is next mayor “will find things in much better order than what I did when I took office.”

We’re not exactly sure if this is true because, for the most part, the public has been kept out of the loop. Key phrases like “agreement in principle” and other scuttlebutt trickle down to the street, but, overall, we don’t know what’s going on, when it will happen or what the terms of the solution will be.

That’s the design of receivership, though. State takeover of the city’s situation dictates there is really no room for public input. Our elected leaders, we are told, have failed us. Thus, the structure of authority has spoken and is setting up to fix the problems. The state law was written and swiftly implemented to account for the crisis. All the while, the people of the city are stuck in the middle like children in a divorce, pawns in some conceptual game of power.

As a result of this alienation, there is a prominent attitude that the state, in its infinite wisdom, is failing the people of Harrisburg because it is neglecting to be sensitive to the citizens’ sense of democracy and freedom. We the people of Harrisburg are being done to. This is happening to us under the guise of for us. The message implied is that this is unavoidable, that this is what must be done. Officials have flunked, so a receiver needed to be put in their stead to fix the situation.

Indeed, there are some absolute challenges on the table that have nothing to do with the public and can’t be solved by the public because the public was never consulted in the first place. “The public” was used as collateral. “The public” was placated and made apathetic. “The public” didn’t give enough input when it perhaps could have made a difference.

Thus, it’s easier for many people to withdraw, shrug shoulders and say “c’est la vie.”

Unfortunately, for Harrisburg residents, that seems a viable survival mechanism as so many feel they are being dragged along this ride of bureaucracy and politics. It’s a challenge to understand what happened, what could happen or what didn’t happen. Even more onerous is attempting to process it and develop a stance on it.

These macro issues may be the headlines and proclamations that grasp the most attention, but, if the city is to have true recovery, it will need the public to be aware, engaged and optimistic about the city’s future. When it comes down to it, what’s broken will not get fixed by the receiver, but by the people, not only those who live within the city’s limits, though. The people of the region will have to play a part in it, too.

We must keep in mind that the receiver is here for one thing and one thing only: to solve the city’s debt problem. The other problems of the city—the deficient governance, the messy infrastructure, the lack of a community-based comprehensive plan, the social tensions, the distrust and the lack of collaboration to address all of it—that’s on us.

The receiver will leave, and, hopefully, the story of the debt with him. Then the slate is left for us to do what we will with it.

If the Thompson administration foresees its own legacy, there’s a better way to set it up than to give itself accolades for the upcoming debt solution that a state team will ultimately make happen.

Rather, in her final months in office, the mayor would do well to concentrate on the basic needs of Harrisburg. She is in a position to use her bully pulpit to educate residents and visitors alike on taking care of this urban core. Discuss ordinances about trash receptacles, vermin prevention, noise considerations and blight. Move beyond the podium at the press conference and travel around the city to talk about what’s already on the books and what already exists as codified ordinances of Harrisburg. Educate the public on community responsibility, on residential duties whether a homeowner or a renter, a landlord or a business. Generate leadership, goodwill, action, attraction and hope.

Undoubtedly, the debt solution will be put before us soon. It will be a done deal given to us in its whole form no matter what we have to say about it. That doesn’t mean there’s nothing left for us to do. Once the solution is complete, it will be the people’s turn to take over and fix this city.

Tara Leo Auchey is is creator and editor of todays the day Harrisburg.

News Digest: July News in Review

July 30, 2013 | by Lawrance Binda

Financial Agreement Near

The major parts of a deal to resolve Harrisburg’s financial crisis are nearly in place, receiver William Lynch announced last month.

These include sale of the city’s incinerator, lease of the parking assets, negotiations with creditors and final agreements with the city’s trade unions.

Lynch expects most of the remaining issues to be resolved this month, including the sale of the debt-laden incinerator to the Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority.

“All the stakeholders involved in the sale of the incinerator are in agreement,” said Lynch, who added that the city’s creditors also finally understand that they must negotiate in earnest and might have to accept less than they’re owed.

In addition, the city must finalize an agreement with the firefighter’s union. The city’s police union finalized a new contract in June.

The goal, Lynch said, was to pay off about $600 million in debt, including $350 million related to the incinerator, while allowing the city to regain fiscal solvency over the long-term.

“This plan will create important new revenue streams to help the city reduce its structural deficit and spur economic growth,” said Lynch. “The parking agreement may very well become a national model.”

Many aspects of a final plan must be OK’d by City Council and then approved by the Commonwealth Court, actions that should begin to take place this month.

HUD Funds Distributed

The Harrisburg City Council last month dispersed nearly $1.8 million in federal funds designed to assist housing and community development.

In the annual distribution of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, 13 social service organizations received a total of nearly $500,000. Another $550,000 went to various city housing programs.

Community-based organizations that received funds were:

The Fair Housing Council of the Capital Region: $45,000
Community Action Commission: $25,000
Harrisburg Police Athletic League: $25,000
Latino Hispanic American Community Center: $25,000
Christian Recovery Aftercare Ministries: $20,000
Christian Love Ministries: $10,000
Camp Curtin YMCA: $100,000
YWCA of Greater Harrisburg: $25,000
Broad Street Market Corp.: $47,739
Rebuilding Together of Greater Harrisburg: $25,000
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Harrisburg: $75,000
African-American Chamber of Commerce: $10,000
Harrisburg Housing Authority: $65,000

City programs that received funding were:

Homeownership Opportunities Program: $100,000
Home Emergency and Lead Repair Program: $100,000
Home Improvement Program: $200,000
Emergency Demolition: $150,000

Lastly, a large part of the funds were used for administrative/debt obligations. Debt service ate up $367,567 of the CDBG grant, while $353,826 was allotted for administration and “indirect” costs.

Auction Proceeds Tallied

Harrisburg recouped about half of what was spent on museum artifacts following a weeklong auction last month on City Island.

Auction sales totaled about $3.1 million for the 8,000 or so items, according to New York-based auctioneer Guernsey’s. Minus the auction fee, the city kept about $2.57 million, money that will pay off a loan taken out in 2006 that used the artifacts as collateral.

Harrisburg had received $1.6 million during two previous sales of another 2,000 items, bringing the proceeds from museum artifacts to $4.17 million. A follow-on auction of historic documents in September should increase that total some more.

Former Mayor Stephen Reed spent at least $8.3 million in public funds on these artifacts in his dream to turn Harrisburg into a museum mecca. Most of the artifacts auctioned were for an “Old West” museum he wanted to build, while some were for a proposed African American history museum.

Zoning Board Rejects 3 Projects

The Harrisburg Zoning Hearing Board last month turned down several proposals, all of which had generated neighborhood opposition.

Bethel AME Church had wanted to re-establish a surface parking lot at its site at the corner of N. 6^th and Herr streets.

The historic church, located on the 1700-block of N. 5^th St., long occupied the 6^th Street site, but its building burned down in 1995. It then ran a commercial parking operation there until 2010, when its special exception, under challenge by the community, was not renewed.

The church’s new pastor, the Rev. Micah Sims, pleaded with the board to allow it to resume renting out parking until it could execute a redevelopment plan. The board, however, sided with members of Fox Ridge Neighbors who argued in opposition, stating the church would have no incentive to sell or develop the property.

In other action, the zoning board:

Rejected a variance/special exception request by developer Gary Wilson, who wanted to construct two two-family houses on vacant land at 1308 Green St. Neighbors testified in opposition, saying that four rental units were not in the best interest of the community.
Rejected a variance request from developer Paul Peffley to locate a convenience store/deli on the ground floor of an historic building he’s redeveloping at the corner of N. 3^rd and Hamilton streets. That application met with opposition from residents of Engleton, who feared a negative impact on their neighborhood.
Approved a variance to turn the ground floor of the former Barto Building, at N. 3^rd and State streets, into restaurant and retail space. Brickbox Enterprises would like a restaurant to locate in the former Barto Building, which the company is transforming into the LUX condominium building
Approved a variance to allow a church, Iglesia Pentecostal Jesucristo La Roca, to locate at 913 N. 2^nd St., which once housed La Kasbah restaurant.

Mayor, Treasurer Clash over Fund Transfers

Harrisburg Mayor Linda Thompson last month asked for a significant increase in the amount of money her administration can reallocate without approval by City Council, a request that drew strong opposition from city Treasurer John Campbell.

Thompson asked for permission to transfer as much as $50,000 within the approved budget without the consent of council, up from the current level of $20,000.

The request prompted Campbell to write a strongly worded memo, urging council to deny the request.

“While this legislation may seem like an opportunity to allow for great flexibility in spending by the administration, it is my opinion that this legislation will only reduce the proper controls that are presently in place and exercised by City Council,” Campbell wrote. “If this legislation were to be approved, budget transfers would begin to become more frequent and thus negate the importance of passing a proper and reasonable budget annually.”

Every year, the council approves numerous reallocations, as some departments spend more or less than budgeted during the year. Campbell fears that increasing the reallocation threshold to $50,000 would give the administration too much leeway to transfer large sums of money outside of the regular budget process and without proper oversight.

The administration’s proposed ordinance was sent to the council’s Budget and Finance Committee for further review and possible action.

$5 Million for Fire Protection, $0 for Revitalization

Harrisburg received a split decision from the state last month, as the legislature approved a record $5 million in fire protection funds, but excluded the city from a new revitalization program.

City officials were pleasantly surprised—even shocked—by the $5 million allocation in the 2013-14 budget, meant to offset the city’s costs of protecting the Capitol complex from fire. That figure is double the amount allotted last year and far more than the $496,000 that House Republicans had approved in their budget plan.

Harrisburg’s state legislators were pushing for $4 million, but late lobbying by receiver William Lynch upped that amount by another $1 million, said state Sen. Rob Teplitz.

The money technically goes to secure the state’s 40 buildings from fire, accounting for the bulk of the Harrisburg Fire Bureau’s $8.4 million budget. However, it actually flows to the city’s general fund, which frees up money for other uses by the highly indebted, insolvent city.

As the state was giving, it also was taking away, as it purposely excluded Harrisburg from participating in a just-launched revitalization program.

The new state budget funded a City Revitalization and Improvement Zone program, which will funnel money to small cities each year to assist in the redevelopment of distressed areas. However, language in the law prohibits any city under state receivership from participating, a designation that applies only to Harrisburg.

Kiosks, Online Payments Come to Harrisburg

Harrisburg bill-payers have several new options available to them, as two computerized payment kiosks, as well as an online payment system, came on line last month.

The two kiosks are located in City Hall outside the city treasurer’s office and at the Giant Food Store in Kline Village, said Treasurer John Campbell, who added that a third kiosk would be located in a yet-to-be-determined location Uptown.

Denver-based EZ Pay Corp. is providing the kiosks at no cost to the city, said Campbell.

In addition, bill-payers now can pay online at www.harrisburgpayments.com or by calling 888-243-3456. Campbell said he expected the online bill-paying portal to be integrated with the city’s website soon.

Through these mechanisms, residents can pay most common bills, including for utilities, property taxes and traffic fines. A convenience fee will be added to each payment based upon the amount of the transaction, averaging $3 for most utility bills and $1 for most parking tickets, said Campbell.

Campbell expects the city, the Harrisburg Authority and the school district to save “at least” $80,000 a year by not having to pay the credit card transaction fee.

City to Receive State Loans

Harrisburg last month was awarded state funding for two major infrastructure projects, including for utility repair at the Uptown sinkhole site.

Harrisburg received a $900,000 low-interest loan through PENNVEST for repairing water and sewer infrastructure damaged by the sinkhole on the 2100-block of N. 4^th Street, said state Sen. Rob Teplitz.

In addition, the Harrisburg Authority received a $26 million low-interest loan, administered by PENNVEST, for upgrading the city’s wastewater treatment facility, said Teplitz.

The improvements will bring the plant’s ammonia and nutrient reduction requirements into compliance with U.S. Department of Environmental Protection regulations. This $53 million project also will receive $26.7 million in outside financing and a $973,000 H20 PA grant, Teplitz said.

MLK Street Renaming on Hold

Harrisburg’s financial crisis seems to have doomed another proposal: the effort to supplement the name of N. 2^nd St. downtown by adding “Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.”

Last March, the administration made the proposal, which the City Council then sent on to the council’s Public Works Committee.

Committee Chairwoman Sandra Reid said she was in favor of the change, which would give the historic street both names from Chestnut to Forster streets. However, the $6,000 to $8,000 cost of replacing 63 street signs could not be justified, she said.

“We have an ongoing concern that our parks and waterways are not being maintained,” she said.

Last year, park maintenance was transferred from the city’s Parks and Recreation Department to the Public Works Department, which since has been criticized for lax maintenance, particularly in Riverfront Park.

Miller: Still In Mayor’s Race

City Controller Dan Miller last month took a step towards running for Harrisburg mayor as a Republican, filing an affidavit affirming his eligibility for the office.

Miller lost in May in the Democratic primary to businessman Eric Papenfuse. However, he won the Republican nomination by gaining 196 write-in votes.

As of press time, Miller hadn’t yet paid the $25 filing fee, which must be received by the Dauphin County Office of Elections and Voter Registration by Aug. 12.

If he decides to run, Miller will face independent candidates Nevin Mindlin and Nate Curtis, in addition to Papenfuse. The general election is slated for Nov. 5.

Leak Won’t Close Jackson-Lick Pool

An Uptown pool will be open for the remainder of the summer after a major leak was quickly repaired.

City officials feared the Jackson-Lick pool, located at 1201 N. 6^th St., would have to close after it lost about 450,000 gallons of water in a week.

“The city considered closing the pool,” said COO Robert Philbin. “However, we were able to keep the pool open while resolving the problem. City Engineer Paul Francis was able to locate and stop the pool water leakage with the assistance of a diver from the Harrisburg River Rescue.”

The city’s other public pool at Hall Manor on Allison Hill has been shut since last year after persistent leaks led to the finding that its foundation must be rebuilt.

The city’s Engineering Bureau is preparing a maintenance and repair plan to bring both pools back to full operation next season, said Philbin.

Farmers Co-op Debuts

Harvest, a new farmers cooperative, opened last month in the brick building of the Broad Street Market, bringing fresh produce and other goods to Harrisburg from more than a dozen area farms.

The co-op is the brainchild of developer Josh Kesler and chef Matthew Hickey, who is managing the business on a day-to-day basis.

“Our commitment is to build a relationship between the farmers and local consumers, providing healthy, sustainable local food, as well as helping to revitalize the Broad Street Market, which we believe will regain its position as the breadbasket of our region,” said Kesler.

The stand itself is unique for the Market, built from reclaimed lumber from the Stokes Millworks building across the street. Kesler recently bought that building and has begun renovating it for a farm-to-plate restaurant, which should open late next year.

New School in Strawberry Square

This month, the nonprofit Aegis Education Endeavor (AEE) will open in Strawberry Square, offering a new cyber charter school that “combines art, athletics and industry.”

The 2,800-square-foot facility will take space at 306 Market St. in downtown Harrisburg. Aegis is partnering with Achievement House Cyber Charter School, a public online school chartered by the state to serve students in grades 7 to 12.

In addition to an education program, Aegis will offer activities to cyber school students and to students learning at home, public or private schools, said founder Denni Boger.

“Strawberry Square is the perfect site for AEE because it is centrally located to be available to students from surrounding school districts who may wish to use public transportation to access the facility,” said Boger.

Aegis will hold an open house and orientation at its new facility on Aug. 7, 1 to 7 p.m.

Changing Hands

Adrian St., 2256: Burner Properties LLC to B. Britton, $57,000

Bellevue Rd., 1921: A. & S. Jawhar to CNC Realty Group LLC, $63,500

Cumberland St., 114: B. Cohen to L. Larrieu, $132,000

Green St., 1925: F. Shannon to W. Gonzalez, $215,000

Mulberry St., 1158: E. Grill to S. Elazouni, $59,900

N. 3^rd St., 1702: Fannie Mae to M. Mayhew, $75,000

N. 5^th St., 1732: Freddie Mac to B. Harris, $100,000

N. 6^th St., 2559 & 2561: Deutsche Bank Trustee & Company Americas Trustee to V. Acosta, $31,500

N. 20^th St., 32: U.S. Bank Trustee & Pa. Housing Finance Agency to G. Carter & V. Diaz, $52,400

N. Front St., 1705: Rolleston Corp. to WCI Partners LP, $400,000

N. Front St., 2515: Centric Bank to 324 Mishika LLC, $175,000

Penn St., 1716: B. Andreozzi to D. Rhodes, $131,000

Reily St., 311: R. Heath to S. McLearn, $85,500

Rudy Rd., 2465: P. Lemmo to R. Harper, $75,000

Sayford St., 235: R. DeLong to JLS Rentals LLC, $35,000

Showers St., 612: D. & S. Hickethier to M. Murphy & V. Halchak, $166,000

S. Front St., 317: M. & J. Hankins to M. Homa, $115,000

Swatara St., 1321: D. & J. Boyle to J. Rodriguez & J. Vasquez, $33,900

Sycamore St., 1520: L. Miller Jr. to M. Brunner, $97,500

Wallace St., 1529 & 1531; 1513, 1515 & 1517 N. 6^th St., $144,100: Buonarroti Trust to U.S. General Services Administration, $144,100

Source: Dauphin County, for sales exceeding $30,000. Data is assumed to be accurate.

You May Also Like

You May Also Like

You May Also Like

You May Also Like

You May Also Like

You May Also Like

You May Also Like

You May Also Like

You May Also Like

You May Also Like