Harrisburg Mayoral Hopefuls Fielding Questions For First General Election Debate

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Dauphin County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

HARRISBURG, PA – Three mayoral candidates are fielding questions during the general election’s first debate.

The event started at 6 p.m. at co-sponsor Harrisburg Area Community College’s student center, 1 HACC Drive.

Democrat Eric Papenfuse, Republican nominee Dan Miller and write-in hopeful Lewis Butts will participate.

Whoever wins the election will lead Harrisburg as the city emerges from financial recovery.

Read more:  http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/10/harrisburg_mayoral_hopefuls_fi.html#incart_river#incart_m-rpt-2

Former Harrisburg Official Slams $86M Premium For City From Incinerator Sale

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Dauphin County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

HARRISBURG, PA – The capital city will pay an $86 million premium for garbage disposal under the proposed terms of sale for its incinerator, a former local official warns.

Those numbers are based, in part, on the city’s disposal rate starting next year at $190 per ton, former Harrisburg Public Works Director Ernie Hoch said.

Hoch sent a letter and supporting spreadsheet to City Council on Sunday afternoon lobbying them to vote against the transaction, then forwarded copies to other contacts including PennLive and City Controller and mayoral candidate Dan Miller, who sent his own cautionary correspondence last week.

Hoch noted the rates and tonnage minimums for the city and Dauphin County are based not on service costs, but the Lancaster Solid Waste Management Authority’s anticipated debt obligations related to its acquisition of the facility.

Read more:  http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/09/former_harrisburg_official_sla.html#incart_m-rpt-2

Harrisburg Mayoral Race: The Bottom Line On Bankruptcy

Harrisburg mayoral candidate Eric Papenfuse has suggested entering bankruptcy would hand control of the city over to an unelected federal judge, but that’s just not true.

Even in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy for businesses, the judge does not take over operation of the company, notes Widener law professor Juliet Moringiello. In a Chapter 9 filing for municipalities, the powers of the judge are even more limited.

Separating fact from fiction is not always easy as bankruptcy becomes a talking point in the Harrisburg mayoral election.

The Patriot-News has talked to a number of bankruptcy experts, including people involved with the Harrisburg Receiver’s negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak on the record about the process.

Read more:  http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/04/harrisburg_mayoral_race_the_bo.html

Harrisburg Leaders Believe Bankruptcy Is Inevitable For City

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Editor’s note:  How very sad that the capital city of this great Commonwealth has deteriorated to this extent!

The Patriot-News Editorial Board met Thursday with City Controller Dan Miller, Council President Wanda Williams and City Treasurer John Campbell.  Below is an excerpt of the conversation.

Q: Where do things stand in the city now?
Dan Miller: We’re going into bankruptcy.  The question is will we have the assets or won’t we have the assets [when we do].  Just because we adopt a plan, that’s not going to solve the problem.  I think [receiver] David Unkovic knows the same thing.

Wanda Williams: I had an opportunity to talk to Jefferson County, Ala., officials last weekend.  They tried to derive a plan there similar to Unkovic’s, but the people were up in arms and they said no, we are not going to allow you to sell our assets.  What you’re going to do is sell our assets and we’re going to be left with nothing, and we’ve been telling Unkovic that.  Where do you derive the revenue from after you sell all our assets?  Now Jefferson County has filed bankruptcy, and the judge is making that determination.  Their assets are safe for the time being. I see this as a ploy — Gov. Corbett has asked [Unkovic] to come in and do a plan, but in the interim, we’re going to be selling assets and filing for bankruptcy.

 Q: How significant was the city’s general obligation default on March 15?
Miller: I suspect we’re not paying any more debt for the rest of the year. I’m not the decision maker, but if you’re not going to pay it now, you’re not going to pay it anymore.  Unkovic is projecting a $9.5 million deficit.  I’m calculating $15 million.  We’re both acknowledging it’s a big deficit for this year.  Our general debt service is about $11 million a year.  Even if you sell the assets, it’s not going to impact the budget. We’re out of money.

Read more:http://www.pennlive.com/editorials/index.ssf/2012/03/harrisburg_leaders_believe_ban.html

Harrisburg City Controller Reveals Incinerator Debt Recovery Plan

Harrisburg Controller, Dan Miller revealed his plan this morning (as promised) for Harrisburg to avoid bankruptcy from the incinerator debacle.

The major points are:

1. Turn over control of the incinerator to Dauphin County thereby giving Dauphin County the $5.5 million dollars needed to apply toward the incinerator debt from the operating profits.
2. The City of Harrisburg would apply its annual profits from city parking garages and surface lots, approximately $4.5 million dollars, to the incinerator debt.
3. Negotiate lower interest rates from bond holders with the promise that the principal will be paid.
4. Dauphin County Commissioners would raise the tipping fees for non-city residents who pay LESS than city residents (what’s wrong with this picture?).
5. Future revenue could also be gained from increased incinerator use and higher parking rates.
6. The painful part will be the city would have to make up the $4.5 million dollars they are no longer getting from the parking authority (can anyone say spending cuts?).

Sounds like this plan has a chance of working and if it can avoid Harrisburg’s bankruptcy, I say full speed ahead.  Hopefully all interested parties will do what is right and put politics aside at this time!