Board members:

• Fred Reddig, Administrator of the Office of the Receiver (Dept of Community & Economic Development employee designated to oversee the Office of the Receiver of the City of Harrisburg until a Receiver is appointed to replace David Unkovic who resigned March 30th).
• Governor’s Office representative: David Black, President of the Harrisburg Chamber of Commerce & CREDC
• Dauphin County representative (in place of primary appointee Commissioner Jeff Haste): Fred Lighty, Assistant Solicitor
• Harrisburg Mayor Linda Thompson
• Harrisburg City Council President Wanda Williams

See Roxbury News written summaries & videos:

• Municipal Financial Recovery Advisory Committee____Fred Reddig: “The cash flow of the City is stable.”

• Municipal Financial Recovery Advisory Committee______David Black: “The failure for implementation through normal processes.”

• Municipal Financial Recovery Advisory Committee______Wanda Williams: “At this point, we are not comfortable what the Commonwealth has requested that we do.”

• Municipal Financial Recovery Advisory Committee______David Black: “We’re breaking new ground here.”

• Municipal Financial Recovery Advisory Committee______City Council President Wanda Williams and Mayor Linda Thompson

• Municipal Financial Recovery Advisory Committee_____Harrisburg Mayor Thompson: “We are bending over backwards to communicate with Council.”

• Municipal Financial Recovery Advisory Committee______Neil Grover: “Otherwise, you’re not going to get buy in from the citizens of the City if they feel that this was done in the dark.”

• Municipal Financial Recovery Advisory Committee______William Cluck: Would Dauphin County commit that they will not lobby against Chapter 9?

Read the Status Report filed with the Commonwealth Court on Friday, May 11th. Fred Reddig refers to the report multiple times during the meeting: Status Report 05-11-12

On Thursday, May 24th at 10:30am, the Commonwealth Court has scheduled the hearing on William Lynch’s nomination as the next Receiver of the City of Harrisburg: The PA Governor Nominates a New Receiver for the City of Harrisburg. For a variety of news headlines on Lynch’s nomination, see also: May 6th through May 12th

For more information on David Unkovic’s March 30th resignation, read: David Unkovic Makes a Move

On May 11th, Governor Corbett submitted a petition to the Commonwealth Court asking for the consideration of former PA Adjutant General William Lynch.

Amongst other things, he served in the United States Air Force/Air National Guard from 1964-2004. He is no novice to State government having been appointed by Governor Ridge as Adjutant General and Secretary of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs in 1999. Then Governor Schweiker appointed him as Chairman of the PA Emergency Management Council in 2001, and Governor Rendell appointed him again as Adjutant General in 2003. As Adjutant General he was head of the Department of Military Veteran Affairs, overseeing the PA National Guard amongst other things.

A Republican, in 2004 Lynch ran unsuccessfully for Congress.

See his resume in this filing, starting on page 27.

Here’s the petition: Petition for Appointment of a Receiver

Roxbury News videos from the May 11th press conference introducing William B. Lynch:

• “William B. Lynch____The newly nominated Receiver for the City of Harrisburg”
• William B. Lynch____”Excellency has a nice ring to it.”
• William B. Lynch____ ”I’m here as long as it takes, and I don’t know how long that will be.”
• William B. Lynch________”I will be happy to speak to anyone that can help with this process.”
• William B. Lynch________”I am more interested in doing it correctly, than doing it quickly.”

Hearing Scheduled

Commonwealth Court set the hearing for the petition of nominated City of HBG Receiver William Lynch, May 24th at 10:30am in Courtroom 3001.

Today, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Court granted the Appellees’ Motions for Summary Disposition which means Mark Schwartz’ appeals are over. Initially he attempted to appeal Judge Mary France’s November 23, 2011 decision to dismiss the City of Harrisburg’s petition for Chapter 9 Municipal Bankruptcy, but he missed the deadline and was not allowed to file his appeal. He then proceeded to appeal that decision, which resulted in another denial by Judge Sylvia Rambo. So, Schwartz appealed that decision in the Third Circuit Court.

Initially filed by Dauphin County and followed by the State and the Office of the Mayor, they succeeded in their intention of having the case ended.

Technically, Schwartz could move for reconsideration by the Third Circuit Court, but that is a discretionary decision by the Court and not probable considering the judges’ decisions throughout this process.

Schwartz could also file what is known as a Petition for Writ of Certiorari requesting that the Supreme Court of the United States review the process. Again, though, this would be at the Supreme Court’s discretion since it is not required that the Supreme Court hear the appeal. The Supreme Court gets a plethora of these petitions a year, and it seems unlikely it would be granted in this case.

Thus, this path to the City of Harrisburg declaring bankruptcy is over.

Also, in this recent Order, the Third Circuit Court denied the requests for the County’s, State’s, and Mayor’s appeal process legal fees to be paid by Mark Schwartz as well as Schwartz’ counter motion for damages. Each party pays its own fees. Well, the taxpayers pay.

Read: Third Circuit Order

• today’s the day Harrisburg–“The PA Governor Nominates a New Receiver for the City of Harrisburg”
• CBS 21–“Leader of the PA National Guard nominated as new Harrisburg receiver”
• Central Penn Business Journal–“State nominates Lynch to become Harrisburg receiver”
• Fox 43–“Governor Tom Corbett Files Petition to Appoint New State Receiver for Harrisburg”
• Reuters–“Retired general named receiver for Harrisburg, Penn”
• Captiol Ideas–“Corbett taps retired retired USAF general for Harrisburg receiver post.”
• AirForceTimes.com–“Retired 2-star may oversee Pa. city’s finances”
• Roxbury News–
• “William B. Lynch____The newly nominated Receiver for the City of Harrisburg”
• William B. Lynch____”Excellency has a nice ring to it.”
• William B. Lynch____ ”I’m here as long as it takes, and I don’t know how long that will be.”
• William B. Lynch________”I will be happy to speak to anyone that can help with this process.”
• William B. Lynch________”I am more interested in doing it correctly, than doing it quickly.”

• A state of flux. City Council–in various ways–calls for a pause until some things are explained. Like, why did David Unkovic really resign as Harrisburg’s Receiver and what did he mean in his departing note?
• Bloomberg–“Harrisburg Officials Seek to Halt State Receivership Case”
• CBS 21–“Harrisburg City Council wants answers before moving forward”

• Touché. Mayor Linda Thompson calls City Council members out for their approach to the City’s recovery, and City Council member Brad Koplinski calls for her to resign.
• today’s the day Harrisburg–“Harrisburg City Councilor Brad Koplinski calls for the Mayor to Resign”
• WGAL 8–“Harrisburg councilman calls on mayor to resign”
• WHTM 27–“Harrisburg councilman calls for Mayor Thompson’s resignation”

• 17 vandalism
• 29 thefts
• 8 robberies
• 6th and Division St, 8:25 PM
• 1200 Derry St,  6:31 PM
• 200 Briggs St, 11:22 PM
• 1400 Green St, 2:39 AM
• 1700 Penn St, 9:46 PM
• 1500 N. Front St, 12:45 AM
• 16th and Zarker Sts, 12:55 AM
• 1st block S. 19th St, 4:10 PM
• 6 burglaries
• 20 assaults

The School Board of Directors is taking applications now to fill the vacancy left by resigned Director Tiffiney Penn. The deadline for application is Wednesday, May 16th by 4pm. Like last time, applications will be collected then public interviews will take place. They are currently scheduled for Monday, May 21st.

Previous applicants have been notified that they can re-apply but will not need to interview.

The date for voting has not been publicized yet, but again, similar to last time, the Board will vote to fill the position.

More details on how to apply:

Harrisburg School Board of Directors Vacancy Application Process

City Council has unanimously decided that they will take no action to approve aspects of the Receiver’s Recovery Plan until PA’s Department of Community and Economic Development discusses the abrupt resignation of former Receiver David Unkovic as well as reports on the process of the sale and lease of the City’s assets.

The Mayor response to their approach: “As elected city officials, we have our public duty, our agenda; we have our plan, and we will continue to implement the recovery plan, step by step.  Those who don’t, or refuse to understand the court ordered management process, are disingenuous and not responsibly serving the citizens of this city.”

City Council has called on the Commonwealth Court to hold a hearing on David Unkovic’s departure and his claims of “political and ethical crosswinds” that left him unable to fulfill his role.

Read: Harrisburg Mayor Linda Thompson’s Statement on Harrisburg City Council’s Approach to Recovery

have a say….click for the conversation

City Council has also called on the Commonwealth Court to hold a hearing on David Unkovic’s departure and his claims of “political and ethical crosswinds” that left him unable to fulfill his role.

Status of Court Ordered City of Harrisburg Financial Recovery Plan

(Harrisburg) — Mayor Linda D. Thompson said today that concerns about the resignation of the receiver and calls for investigations and hearings by some are simply distractions from the goal of fiscal recovery for the City of Harrisburg.

“Those council members who oppose the court-ordered financial recovery plan are simply stalling the process as much as they can get away with, just as they have over the last two years.” Mayor Thompson said today.

“There’s nothing new here. That’s why the legislature passed SB 1151 calling for a city receiver. That’s why the governor declared the city to be in a state of fiscal emergency. That’s why the court is driving the recovery process now instead of these elected officials. They continue to stall because they refuse to accept the law and the process they created for themselves over the last two years.”

On the other hand, Mayor Thompson said there are numerous initiatives in the financial recovery plan that city council is required by law to act upon, including staff allocations, which are part of the revenue generating process for the city, and many other revenue initiatives which fall to their responsibility for action.

“It is council’s responsibility by law to start moving these revenue generating initiatives forward,” the mayor said. “I suspect a court might look unkindly on any stalling tactics.”

As to ongoing investigations peripheral to the recovery process, the mayor called for investigations into the incinerator financing deals when she was a council member and council president years ago and she in fact appointed the current Harrisburg Authority Board of Directors fully expecting that they would aggressively pursue a forensic audit.

“This is one of the many good reasons why I named those individuals to that board of directors,” Mayor Thompson said. “I expect them to pursue the facts wherever the facts might lead them.” The mayor said that organizations like Debt Watch are helpful watchdogs that can assist parsing through the process.

As far as the reasons former receiver David Unkovic resigned, the mayor said it is up to Mr. Unkovic to explain his actions if he so chooses. “He requested state and federal inquiries and it’s up to those authorities to act on his request,” the mayor said. “I’m not going to speculate as to his personal decisions.”

“As elected city officials, we have our public duty, our agenda; we have our plan, and we will continue to implement the recovery plan, step by step. Those who don’t, or refuse to understand the court ordered management process, are disingenuous and not responsibly serving the citizens of this city.”

After this Mayoral statement was issued, City Councilor Brad Koplinski responded in his own statement: Harrisburg City Councilor Brad Koplinski calls for the Mayor to Resign

• 17 vandalism
• 27 thefts
• 11 robberies
• 1000 Market St, 2:30 AM
• 1st block N 13th St, 4:00 PM
• 1st block N 19th St, 1:14 PM
• 1100 Market St, 8:50 PM
• 1st blk N 14th St 11:18 PM
• 17th and Market  Sts 9:20 PM,
• 1700 Market  St 12:25 PM
• 2100 N 3rd St, 5:01 PM
• 14th and Walnut  Sts, 7:30 PM
• 200 Boyd St, 10:30 PM
• 1st block Crooked St, 11:42 PM
• 12 burglaries
• 37 assaults
• 2 of the assaults were rapes and one was propulsion of missiles into an occupied vehicle
• 3 shootings

It’s another complicated case for Harrisburg. It involves former Harrisburg School District Superintendent Gerald Kohn, former Deputy Superintendent Julie Botel, and the former Assistant Superintendent Rebecca Hostetler. In the Spring of 2010, the three of them were terminated from the School District, which was under the control of Mayor Linda Thompson at the time. During her campaign to become Mayor, Thompson had vowed one of her first actions as Mayor would be to fire Kohn.

Three months after taking office, as head of the School District under the Empowerment Act, newly christened Mayor Linda Thompson did just that. In March of 2010, the Board of Control voted 5-2 to rescind Kohn’s contract along with Botel’s. Two months later Hostetler’s contract was terminated.  The five Board of Control members who voted in favor of the firings were all Thompson-appointees, which included now sitting member of the current elected Board, Jennifer Smallwood.  Other Thompson-appointed members were former City Council President Gloria Martin-Roberts, Herbert Goldstein, Autumn Cooper, and Sanford Long.

Kohn, Botel, and Hostetler contested the firings to no avail.

Then they filed a lawsuit against the Mayor, the School Board, and the School Board of Control. The Mayor asked to be dismissed, and she was.

But then months later, the elected School Board filed a motion asking the Judge to have her reinstated in the suit. The elected Board also requested that James Ellison and the law firm of Rhoads & Sinon be included. In the midst of these filings, the former Board of Control filed a claim against James Ellison and Rhodes & Sinon for providing legal advise of how to proceed in the rescindings.

On May 7, 2012, U.S. Middle District Court Judge William W. Caldwell, issued his next steps orders. In the convoluted case, some claims are rejected and some are not. Most significantly, the Mayor has not been fully dismissed as she requested.

Legal terms like “tortfeasors,” malpractice,” “civil-rights conspiracy,” are sprinkled throughout the Judge’s discussion. James Ellison and Rhoads & Sinon tried to get out of much of it, but they didn’t succeed. Judge Caldwell is permitting a federal civil-rights conspiracy claim and a tortious-interference claim to proceed against the firm and its lawyer.

In regard to the Mayor, she proclaims she should be dismissed because of the “high public official immunity under Pennsylvania law.” The Judge simply says that reason is not valid because the claims against her are Federal, not State. The federal civil-rights conspiracy claim against Mayor Thompson is to proceed.

The Mayor’s back in the lawsuit and the case moves on.

One other notable thing to point out. The last line of the Judge’s Order states, “The stay of discovery imposed in the orders of February 27, 2012, (Doc. 95) and April 2, 2012, (Doc. 114) is vacated.” What does this mean? This means Rhoads & Sinon requested that there be put a stay on the turning over of certain of their documents in this matter. Judge Caldwell said, no. The documents must be presented.

Read: Judge Caldwell’s Memorandum and Order