Tag Archives: Mayor Eric Papenfuse

Harrisburg, state officials prepare for possible armed protests this weekend

January 12, 2021 | by Maddie Conley Gittens

A pro-Trump rally at the PA Capitol in November.

Last week, the nation witnessed protesters, supporters of President Donald Trump, storm the U.S. Capitol building.

This week, Harrisburg braces for what could be marching into town this weekend, after talk of armed protests at state capitals surfaced online.

“We are coordinating with the Capitol police and police in the surrounding municipalities and will be ready for whatever comes our way this weekend,” said Mayor Eric Papenfuse.

Blake Lynch, director of community relations and engagement for the Harrisburg Police Bureau, said they have heard talk of possible activity in the city. A memo from the FBI confirmed there are plans in all 50 states, reported the Washington Post, which also said that there was information suggesting people may storm government offices.

Lynch said that police at the local, county, state and federal levels are in communication.

“We are experienced with demonstrations and protests, including armed protests,” Lynch said. “The mayor and commissioner are taking it extremely seriously.”

Troy Thompson, a spokesperson for the PA Department of General Services said that special response team members from the Capitol police have been patrolling the building.

“We have raised the visibility of the Capitol police,” Thompson said. “We will monitor the situation and make sure the appropriate resources are on hand.”

There have been frequent protests and marches in Harrisburg over the last nine months. Most have been peaceful, though several have had tense moments, including an April “Reopen PA” protest that gridlocked city streets, a Black Lives Matter march in late May that saw conflict between some protesters and police and a November post-election protest, during which Capitol police separated and stood between opposing sides.

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South Allison Hill Safety Project to engage community on addressing blight, crime

December 23, 2020 | by Maddie Conley Gittens

A view of Hummel Street in Allison Hill

It was back in June when staff at Tri County Community Action started noticing an uptick in crime in their Allison Hill neighborhood in Harrisburg.

Nationally, they saw a similar issue arise as the COVID-19 pandemic continued, leaving people unemployed, completing school virtually and with more time on their hands.

This is what spurred Tri County and six other organizations to create a plan to increase safety and quality of life for Allison Hill residents.

“In any community, these are natural needs and desires for the place that you live in,” said Veronica Kelly, neighborhood revitalization coordinator at Tri County. “We just want to make that very clear that we value that alongside of all these partners.”

The “South Allison Hill Safety Project” was passed as part of the city’s 2021 budget. Harrisburg gave $103,345 towards the first year of the three-year project.

The project aims to improve lighting, address vacant lots and homes and upgrade security, all while fostering community engagement, said both Kelly and Julie Walter, neighborhood revitalization manager.

A civic engagement organization, Power to the Hill, will lead efforts in trimming overgrown trees that cover light posts and exchanging out old bulbs. They also hope to distribute new LED light bulbs for residents’ front porches.

Tri County will also cut back overgrowth on vacant lots to increase visibility, Walter said.

“We are addressing the physical environment and how that plays into criminal activity being looked at as OK to be done in those locations,” she said.

Over the next three years, Tri County officials said they hope to repurpose two vacant lots, with one due to become a volleyball court with seating. The community organizations will also board up 10 vacant homes each year and cover the boards with murals, Kelly said.

Working with Brethren Housing Association, Tri County officials said they will increase surveillance on Hummel Street. Eventually, they will distribute 50 Ring Video Doorbell security systems for residents in Allison Hill.

Wildheart Ministries will work on creating a virtual neighborhood watch app for the community, as well.

“We want to make sure we are following the trends in the community,” Walter said. “We want to take the interventions to where the data and the community take us.”

The organizations may work with a new crime analyst that will be hired into the Police Bureau in the coming year, she added. This would help them determine what the needs are in the community.

Tri County expressed their desire to work with community members on the Safety Plan throughout the process. They plan to appoint “street captains” who can serve as communication agents for residents on their block in Allison Hill.

Other organizations collaborating on this plan are Tri-County HDC, Harrisburg Housing Authority and the Latino Hispanic American Community Center.

“We are hoping this project can serve as a model for other neighborhood organizations,” Mayor Eric Papenfuse said at his budget presentation on Nov. 25.

Ultimately, Walter sees the project improving the quality of life for residents in the neighborhood.

“Residents and organizations are all in to do what they can to improve the community,” she said. “That’s one of the greatest strengths of our neighborhood.”

For more information on Tri County Action Community Action, visit their website.

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Harrisburg temporarily bans evictions, moratorium to continue for another month

December 15, 2020 | by Maddie Conley Gittens

A sign on N. 3rd and Kelker streets.

Harrisburg residents facing eviction are safe for another month to remain in their homes.

At a legislative session on Monday, City Council voted 6-0 to approve a bill issuing a moratorium on evictions in Harrisburg. Council member Westburn Majors recused himself from the vote, due to a conflict of interest.

“I can breathe a sigh of relief going into the holiday knowing we are protecting our residents,” council member Danielle Bowers said.

City officials found that there would likely be hundreds of people facing eviction in the coming weeks, with not nearly enough shelter space available during the pandemic, city Solicitor Neil Grover explained. This could pose a danger both for newly homeless residents and for everyone else, as COVID cases continue to climb in Dauphin County, he said.

Currently, a moratorium from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control is in effect through Dec. 31, but the federal government has not yet released a plan to extend the declaration.

Harrisburg’s halt on evictions fills the gap for now, extending for 30 days into mid-January. The city may then choose to renew it for another 30 days if needed.

The bill states that no resident can be evicted for non-payment of rent or lease expiration.

Greater Harrisburg Tenants United, an advocacy group, believes that the legislation, focused on non-payment and lease expiration, leaves loopholes that still could lead to evictions.

“That opens the door to all kinds of petty technicalities that a landlord could deploy to terminate a lease and evict a tenant,” said Caleb Cossick, a member of GHTU, in a public comment on Monday.

Grover said that city enforcement officers will oversee compliance with the legislation, with the power to fine non-complying landlords up to $10,000 or 90 days in jail.

“The idea is to essentially make noncompliance something very unattractive,” he said. “We have essentially criminalized the violation.”

However, Grover did say that the ordinance does not take away landlords’ right to be paid, and they will need to receive payment once the moratorium or string of moratoriums ends. They may also still file for a court hearing, although lockout of a resident is banned.

Council member Ausha Green expressed concern for what will happen once the moratorium expires and tenants must pay their debts.

Grover said that, through state law, landlords are allowed to garnish tenants’ wages, meaning take owed rent directly from paychecks.

“I would say this solves the most immediate problem, but it doesn’t solve the other large problems that are being caused by the pandemic,” he said.

Grover added that, going forward, he hopes that the city, state or federal government will be able to offer landlord assistance.

Additionally, the bill does not apply to properly registered hotels and motels. It does apply to some rooming and boarding houses.

“The city is serious in our intentions,” Grover said. “We are not going to continue or start evictions in the middle of what is a dire situation.”

To watch past Harrisburg City Council meetings, visit the city’s YouTube channel.

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Harrisburg’s 2021 budget passes, includes new Police Bureau positions

December 14, 2020 | by Maddie Conley Gittens

Screenshot from the City Council legislative session.

Harrisburg approved a 2021 budget on Monday night, but not before making amendments to Police Bureau spending and personnel.

During a virtual legislative session, City Council approved a $79.2 million general fund budget, which does not include a property tax hike. The budget passed 6-0, with council member Shamaine Daniels not in attendance.

The budget utilizes about $15 million of the city’s large reserve fund balance, which will draw down that accumulated savings to $10.2 million by the end of 2021. The money will be used to add several positions, especially in the Police Bureau, and to pay down debt.

In budget hearings, a significant increase to the Police Bureau budget has been the most discussed of the many budget items and the one that faced amendments on Monday.

“The funding of public safety is so important,” council member Ben Allatt said. “You can’t put a value on the fact that we need to have effective public safety.”

Included in the budget is funding for seven new civilian positions within the community services division. These “community service aides” will assist police officers with “quality of life” issues and work to improve relations with the community, Papenfuse said.

Originally, 12 aides were proposed, but after receiving comments from residents concerned about the positions, council decided it would be best to give the program a trial run for 2021 and, therefore, reduced the number of positions.

In public comments, some residents stated that they didn’t want to see extra funding go towards the bureau at all, saying that’s not what the city needs.

“There are so many pressing needs in Harrisburg right now,” one resident said on Monday night. “More policing funding does not provide houses, food, education, medicine or security. More cops and more money for cops does not make communities safer.”

An additional amendment was passed 4-2 to remove the community policing coordinator position from the budget. This position is currently filled by Blake Lynch, but he will be promoted in the coming year to director of community relations and engagement, leaving his current job open. Council member Westburn Majors said that he believes the community service aides can take on the responsibilities of the coordinator position.

“To me, that could be seven heads being able to do a job that we had one individual doing,” he said.

However, Papenfuse said he did not support that amendment and that council “jeopardized the entire transition that we’ve proposed for community services.”

Council also passed an amendment to raise the city communication manager’s salary from about $66,900 per year to $68,000 per year.

Monday’s meeting was the final council session of the year, unless a special meeting is called before year-end.

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Harrisburg extends trash collection to Penbrook, Paxtang

December 11, 2020 | by Maddie Conley Gittens

Harrisburg trash cans

Harrisburg’s neighboring municipalities will soon see new faces on trash pickup day.

At a special legislative session on Thursday, Harrisburg City Council approved two resolutions to begin collecting trash and recycling for Paxtang and Penbrook boroughs.

In total, the city now has intergovernmental agreements with three boroughs for waste pickup. Since June 2019, Harrisburg has handled Steelton’s refuse.

“I really believe that this regional approach to the delivery of services is particularly well suited for Pennsylvania where we have so many different municipalities in close proximity,” Mayor Eric Papenfuse said during a previous council work session. “We don’t all need to be duplicating services.”

Over the next five years, the city will gain over $2 million in annual revenue from the agreements, Papenfuse said during his budget presentation on Nov. 24.

Services will begin on Jan. 1, according to Isaac Gaylord, deputy city solicitor. Trash containers will be distributed by the end of the month, Papenfuse added.

Both Penbrook and Paxtang will pay Harrisburg directly, and according to Papenfuse, the cost is less than they would’ve paid to a private hauler. Residents in those boroughs will pay for trash collection as part of their property taxes. Papenfuse said that this guarantees the city will receive the full amount due because they aren’t relying on individual households to pay their trash bills.

An additional six sanitation workers and one sanitation manager will join the city’s Department of Public Works to assist with the new routes.

“I totally agree with the vision of shared services within municipalities as a benefit to the entire region,” council member Dave Madsen said.

In other council action, Harrisburg will continue a professional services contract with Maverick Strategies for lobbying-related services. The resolution passed with a 4-3 vote. The contract will last one-year at a cost of $5,000 per month.

Additionally, council voted to apply for a Driving PA Forward—Level 2 EV Charging Rebate. If granted, the amount of $36,000 would go towards installing four electric vehicle charging stations on City Island.

Council also chose to continue an agreement with the Humane Society of Harrisburg Area to provide services to Harrisburg’s Animal Control Program for another year.

To watch past Harrisburg City Council meetings, visit the city’s YouTube channel.

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Residents push back on significant increase in proposed Police Bureau budget for 2021

December 9, 2020 | by Maddie Conley Gittens

Harrisburg’s mayor on Tuesday defended his proposal to add positions to the city Police Bureau, despite numerous public comments critical of increasing the department’s budget.

At the city’s first budget hearing on Tuesday night, Mayor Eric Papenfuse and members of the bureau explained how new non-uniformed positions would improve community relations, but numerous residents who submitted public comments disagreed.

Papenfuse has proposed investing more than $1 million in new civilian positions within the bureau. This would include the creation of a dozen “community service aides” who would assist the police with routine tasks, as well as foster relationships within the neighborhoods where they are assigned.

“One of the things we focused on, especially over the past months, was listening to the public and the feedback we received,” Papenfuse said during his previous budget presentation. He said that his administration wants to “restructure” the police department with a more robust community services department.

However, on Tuesday, some Harrisburg residents argued that the positions actually would be detrimental to the community.

“They may be civilian positions, but within the police department they would still uphold and carry out the violent and racist work of policing,” resident Amanda Arbour said in a public comment.

Other residents expressed similar sentiments, suggesting that funds would be better allocated to creating affordable housing or assisting tenants facing eviction due to the pandemic. Some demanded that the Police Bureau should make public certain documents, including ones with demographic information on those arrested and the police contract, before receiving any funds.

Deputy Chief of Police Deric Moody said that the bureau is preparing a new system that will make sharing police documents more accessible.

A proposed records management system manager position, part of the new funds proposed for the bureau, would also help with handling reports, Moody said.

In another effort to increase accessibility, the budget accounts for purchasing cell phones for each officer, as well as business cards, so that they can be directly contacted by residents.

In addition, the city hopes to hire two co-responders to work alongside officers who would bring greater expertise on mental health disorders. These city-funded positions will add to the one co-responder, already in the city, who works through a Dauphin County program.

While council members didn’t necessarily object to the proposed increase in spending for the Police Bureau, some expressed concerns. For instance, they wondered if it would be beneficial to have a more balanced number of co-responders and community service aides.

“I feel like a lot of people in the community feel like we need more people to co-respond,” council member Ausha Green said. “The [community service aides] sound more like police liaisons.”

Other proposed positions in the bureau include:

Technical Services Manager
Director of Community Relations and Engagement (Community Policing Coordinator Blake Lynch would likely fill this roll)
Body-Worn Camera & In-Car Video Manager
Community Policing Substation Manager
Captain-Community Services Division (Lt. Milo Hooper would likely fill this roll)
Captain-Technical Services Division (Lt. Todd Abromitis would likely fill this roll)

Adding to the increased budget for the bureau are 20 officer positions that are currently vacant.

“We are budgeting for those positions to be filled even though we know full well that we are not going to be able to fill all those positions,” Papenfuse said. “That’s just proper budgeting.”

Council members questioned whether those funds could be reallocated to other community needs, knowing they will most likely go unused.

“I don’t think it’s an either-or,” Papenfuse said. “I think we can address community needs in the budget, we are, […] but it doesn’t necessarily have to be redirected in that way.”

City Council will continue its two-day schedule of budget hearings on Wednesday night. A vote on the 2021 budget will follow later this month.

To watch the first City Council Budget Hearing, visit Harrisburg’s YouTube channel.

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Former M&T Bank eyed as new home for Harrisburg’s engineering, traffic departments

November 27, 2020 | by Maddie Conley Gittens

M&T Bank building on N. 7th Street.

N. 7th Street is slated for major construction next year and, if all goes as planned, Harrisburg engineers will have a birds-eye view.

The city expects to move its engineering and traffic departments to the former M&T Bank building on N. 7^th Street.

According to Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse, part of the Department of Public Works building will be lost to eminent domain as part of PennDOT’s I-83 expansion project. The city’s traffic department, which is housed in the building, will need to move.

In addition, the engineering department will move out of the public safety building downtown, freeing up space for the proposed community policing team to have its main base there, closer to Commissioner Thomas Carter’s office.

In November, City Council approved the reallocation of 2020 funds to purchase the M&T building for $375,000. Papenfuse said that they received a significant discount from M&T as the building was appraised at $675,000.

Renovations and remodels of the building are part of the city’s proposed 2021 General Budget. Papenfuse said it would likely cost around $192,000 for demolitions, renovations, HVAC replacement and security additions, among other things.

The annual cost of utilities and maintenance for the building would be around $60,200, he estimated.

“This is the first new real estate acquisition for the City of Harrisburg, I guess, since the public works facility,” he added.

Papenfuse also discussed the possibility of using spare offices in the M&T building as a satellite location for the city’s expanding community policing department.

Just this month, the mayor announced a plan to create 12 new civilian positions in the Police Bureau. “Community Service Aides” would work to assist offices and improve relationships with the community.

In addition, the city has numerous major road construction projects planned for next year, including work on N. 7th Street that includes a new traffic circle near the new federal courthouse at the Reily Street intersection.

Harrisburg City Council plans to vote on the proposed 2020 budget, including the M&T building funds and the new positions in the Police Bureau, on Dec. 10.

Click here to view Harrisburg’s proposed 2021 budget.

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Harrisburg may begin trash collection in Penbrook, Paxtang

November 25, 2020 | by Maddie Conley Gittens

Harrisburg trash cans

One borough’s trash is another city’s treasure.

At a City Council meeting on Tuesday night, Harrisburg announced a proposal to begin providing trash and recycling collection to Penbrook and Paxtang boroughs—a move the city administration says will pay off for the city.

“I think this is a really terrific story for Harrisburg,” Mayor Eric Papenfuse said. “This represents over $2 million in new revenue sources that would be coming to Harrisburg over the next five years.”

If passed by council, Harrisburg will collect trash from three local municipalities in all. In June 2019, the city inked a deal with Steelton as its first intergovernmental agreement for garbage pickup.

Papenfuse said that the arrangement with Steelton has been “very successful.” Penbrook and Paxtang, he said, took note of that and have already declined bids from private companies, opting for Harrisburg’s services.

“I think this is great news for Harrisburg, not only as a revenue source, but also for the region,” he said. “It is really an example of that type of regional cooperation that we really need to see.”

In its agreement with Steelton, Harrisburg must bill each household for services, but Paxtang and Penbrook will be billed as municipalities. Residents in those boroughs pay for waste collection as part of their property taxes. This assures there is no delinquency on payments.

In Steelton there is a payment collection rate of over 97%, Papenfuse said. Harrisburg falls behind with an 84% rate of collection. Increasing the collection rate in Harrisburg by just 3% would enhance city revenues by $500,000, he said.

As part of his 2021 budget presentation, Papenfuse also proposed hiring a new lien officer to improve revenue collection.

In addition, Papenfuse proposed added six new sanitation workers and one sanitation manager to the Department of Public Works. They will increase the ability to collect waste from the added Penbrook and Paxtang boroughs, the mayor said.

Council will likely vote on the new intergovernmental agreements in December, Papenfuse said.

“This is great news,” he said. “We will get the benefit of increased capacity in our Public Works Department to do even more.”

To watch past Harrisburg City Council meetings, visit the city’s YouTube channel.

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Harrisburg rolls out more funding for local businesses

November 24, 2020 | by Maddie Conley Gittens

Screenshot from the virtual City Council legislative session.

Struggling Harrisburg businesses received good news on Tuesday.

A second round of the “Neighborhood Business Stabilization Grant” that directs funds to businesses negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic is coming, Mayor Eric Papenfuse announced at a City Council legislative session.

“It’s intended to provide emergency operating funds to businesses that are closed or have their foot traffic significantly decreased,” he said.

Businesses can apply for up to $10,000 for expenses such as rent or mortgage payments, utilities, payroll, real estate tax and vendor invoices. Businesses that received money from the first grant are not excluded from the second round, Papenfuse said.

The grant comes through a partnership with the Harrisburg Regional Chamber and CREDC. The $500,000 in grant money is sourced from federal CARES Act funding.

Papenfuse said this round of the grant funding is different from the first, this being more “forward-looking.” For example, he said that these funds could be used for paying rent in the coming months. The previous grant was focused on immediate needs, he said.

“This is a grant to help businesses make it through to spring and summer when we expect to hopefully have a vaccine and hopefully have a much safer business climate,” Papenfuse said.

The application for the grant program will be available Dec. 1 on the Harrisburg Regional Chamber’s website.

Papenfuse also announced a proposed program that will be discussed as part of the 2021 general budget.

The “Microenterprise Grant Program,” if passed in the budget, would provide up to $20,000 in grant funds to start-up businesses with five employees or fewer. In addition to the financial help, the grant would provide technical support as well.

The source of $200,000 in funds would be Harrisburg’s portion of hotel tax revenue. The city’s economic development team will head this program.

“This is for businesses that were going to start up, but decided not to start during the pandemic,” Papenfuse said. “It’s a potential help for businesses in the early stages of their development.”

If approved by City Council in the budget, businesses can begin to apply early in 2021, he said.

To watch past Harrisburg City Council meetings, visit the city’s YouTube channel.

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Harrisburg revises police use of force order, requires officer duty to intervene

November 20, 2020 | by Maddie Conley Gittens

Screenshot from the mayor’s Facebook Live.

In June, Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse vowed to evaluate and make changes to the Police Use of Force General Order.

After five months of taking public comments and suggestions, he announced the changes the city has made, the main revision requiring officers to hold each other accountable.

Campaign Zero’s “8 Can’t Wait” challenge came out after the nationwide protests erupted after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. The campaign urged cities to look at eight policies they could adopt, claiming they may decrease police-involved killings by 72%.

“When we did that, we discovered that Harrisburg’s use of force policy was very progressive,” Papenfuse said in another edition of Community Conversations with Mayor Papenfuse, the city’s weekly Facebook Live.

The eight policy recommendations included:

banning chokeholds and strangleholds
requiring de-escalation
requiring warning before shooting
requiring exhaustion of all alternatives before shooting
a duty to intervene when excessive force is being used
banning shooting at moving vehicles
requiring a use-of-force continuum
requiring comprehensive reporting

The general order did not previously include a duty for officers to intervene when they witnessed excessive force being used. While Lt. Milo Hooper said it was practiced by officers before, it is now required by the city.

“Now there’s no question,” Hooper said. “If you see something that’s not right, now you have a duty, and you’re going to be held accountable as well.”

Other changes included altering the wording for the requirement of de-escalation, the use-of-force continuum and verbal warnings to make the goal of defusing conflict even more clear. One line was added to say, “the Officer should use the minimal amount of force necessary to reduce the immediate threat.”

“We spent a lot of time talking and thinking about how we can make sure that the general order reflects the language and the message from leadership that we want,” Papenfuse said. “It’s words that translate into action, and words and language are important.”

According to the Use of Force General Order, the city does not ban chokeholds (or neck restraints, as they refer to them) as suggested in the eight policy recommendations. The document does say they should only be used as “a last resort where deadly force would otherwise be authorized.”

The city also chose not to ban shooting at moving vehicles. They did, however, say officers shouldn’t put themselves in the path of a moving vehicle, which could result in a deadly force situation.

“We don’t want anyone putting themselves in a situation where they have no choice but to use deadly force,” Hooper said.

Overall, Papenfuse said he was proud of the changes the city made to the document and appreciated the community input throughout the process.

“I’m glad the challenge was put out there, and I’m glad we rose to that challenge,” he said.

To watch past Community Conversations with Mayor Papenfuse, visit the city’s YouTube channel.

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