Jersey Mike

I don’t do this often- in fact, I don’t think, in the four years I’ve been blogging, I’ve ever asked the readers of this site to do anything.

But this, I’m going to urge you to support.

The wind of change is clearly blowing in Harrisburg. For the first time in nearly three decades, we’ll see a Mayoral race in November that does not include Stephen Reed on the ballot. Without a doubt, we’re going to witness an unprecedented change in the way that this city handles it’s business.

With that change, I want to turn up the heat on the Amusement Tax issue. What, to me, seems like a simple piece of legislation to be removed is, in reality, falling on deaf ears with City Council.

Last month, we witnessed GreenWorks Properties and Vartan finagle a piece of legislation that aleve them of a quarter-million-dollars per year in tax requirements.

Which lead me to conclude that- because little old Jersey Mike doesn’t own hundreds of properties in the city and doesn’t make thousand-plus dollar “contributions” to the campaigns of council members and Mayoral candidates that his voice doesn’t matter.

Sure, they’ve listened to me- but their inaction has left me frustrated, disappointed and, generally, bummed out about how our local government works.

So now, I’m going to ask you- the readers and supporters of this site to do a simple thing: copy and paste the following paragraphs, sign your name, and email them to all of city council and the Mayors office. Send more than one. Send one every day. But please- for the good of the entertainment of this city, send a simple email.

(If you choose to participate, please leave a comment below saying that you did it. Just so I can get an idea of whether or not this message is going through)

I’ve been harping on this for nearly five years now- and just as you’re probably sick of hearing about it, I’m tired of complaining about it. (A list of council members email addresses follows the body of the email)

Power to the people, right on-

Dear Council and Mayor of Harrisburg,

I’m writing today to urge you to please reform or remove city ordinance 32-1982 (Amusement Tax) from the rolls of the city charter.

We have concluded that this tax-which burdens independent concert promoters- is the single-biggest factor preventing the regular use of venues like the Forum, The Zembo Temple and City Island for larger, A-List concerts.

Driving to Philly, Lancaster, Baltimore, Reading and State College to see a great concert does zero-good for the City of Harrisburg- but benefits those communities in more ways than just a great concert. We patronize their restaurants. Stay in their hotels. Pay to park in their garages. And take all of that revenue away from the great City of Harrisburg.

Please support Mike Van Jura’s plight to reform this tax and create a level playing field for all local concert promoters.

Sincerely,

lthompson@harrisburgcitycouncil.com
wwilliams@harrisburgcitycouncil.com
sbrownwilson@harrisburgcitycouncil.com
bkoplinski@harrisburgcitycouncil.com
dmiller@harrisburgcitycouncil.com
gmartinroberts@harrisburgcitycouncil.com
kimpatty@hotmail.com
bgabler@harrisburgcitycouncil.com
mayor@cityofhbg.com

If you live or work in the City of Harrisburg, then you should be well-aware of the fact that a racial-divide between African Americans and Caucasians exists, but it’s not just a divide.

It’s like the Grand Canyon.

And during the latest round of Candidate Forums held at the South Allison Hill Community Center last week, the topic nudged its way toward the surface.

We can spend all of the time and effort we want pointing fingers at things like the incinerator, police and fire residency requirement, diminished public services like snow plowing and road repairs, a questionable annual city budget, and infighting amongst council; but the only way that we, as a city, will resolve any of those issues is if we are, truly, a unified community.

Acknowledging the fact that, yes, this is not just a Harrisburg issue, we can also make note that national change starts locally.

Don’t get me wrong- I don’t think that the national race issue will be resolved in Harrisburg. But we can try to do our part.

And it’s going to start at the top.

This is high time for all of the candidates running for Council, School Board or Mayor to pay attention to that giant elephant in the corner and talk about ways that we, as a city, can get past our differences and focus on our similarities.

We all have been oppressed in some way or another by the current administration.

The disparity between the percentage of black students and black teachers does affect each of us in some capacity.

And yes, we’ve all likely traveled to other cities where nationalities coexist relatively harmoniously.

Why can’t we do the same here?

Obviously, it’s going to take more than just talking about things. And there are abundant social and cultural differences between the black, white, Asian and Middle Eastern communities to acknowledge.

But it seems to me like we all want the same things in this incredibly heated political season.

We want transparency from our leaders. We want them to be held accountable for their actions. We want them to be beholden to the constituency which will elect or defeat them. And we’re all (black, white, Asian or ‘other’) tired of local government putting personal gain ahead of the good of the citizens.

Hope and change? Sure.

“The best way of saying is doing” and our candidates have been saying a lot these days.

But my vote will go to the ones who are going to do what they say.

And the number one priority should be getting the residents of this city to work together.

And that’s going to start at the top.

“The best candidate for elected office is the one who isn’t running”

There was a full house in the conference room at the Zembo Mosque tonight.

It was the Landmark Neighborhood Association’s “Meet The Candidates” night.

If you’re not familiar, the ” Landmark Neighborhood Association” covers, essentially, the fourteenth ward.

So the host was on home turf.

All of them were there.

Linda Thompson, Les Ford, Nevin Mindlin, Joe Brown, Fran Harris, Michael Thomas, Danielle Hairston, Patty Kim, Kelly Summerford, Eric Papenfuse, Pat Stringer…and in the last inning, Wanda Williams and Mayoral-incumbent Steven Reed arrived.

Each candidate was given five minutes to answer two questions- chosen by the Landmark Neighborhood Association and delivered to (most) participants at least seventy-two hours prior to the event.

The candidates were asked to answer (in five minutes time) the following questions: how to make sure residents across the city receive the same level of services, and how to improve the performance of the Harrisburg School district.

The way that I’m about to describe my analysis of the candidates replies to the questions is based on the following:

1. The candidates appeared preparedness for the questions.

2. The candidates answers’ relevance to the questions.

3. The candidates general demeanor while speaking to the attendees.

4. The candidates projected confidence, passion and honest energy.

5. And, ultimately, my belief in the candidates genuine motives for running for a new (or repeated) position serving his or her community-

The Mayoral candidates answered first…

(Enjoy)

Les Ford: I really like Les. And I really want to vote for him. But I can’t get past the notion that his wife Sheila is running (and writing) his campaign.

Obviously, anyone who’s paying attention knows full-well that Les and Sheila have an axe to grind with regard to the School District. Les Ford is a very smart man and has absolute leadership abilities…but based on the delivery of his answers tonight,  I really don’t know if he’s the right man for the job of Mayor of Harrisburg.

The strong point of his answers (though, I’m not sure how relevant they were) was that he’d like to “listen to the community”

That’s a strong point.

Nevin Mindlin was next.

Again…I want to believe in Nevin. But I didn’t hear the passion. I didn’t hear the gumption that I’m looking for in a Mayoral candidate. Nevin Mindlin said “This is why I’m not running for Mayor [of Harrisburg]. I’m not running because I need a career. I’m not running because I need a pension”.

He proceeded to throw obvious and slow-pitch hits back to the audience of roughly 150. Transparency and accountability. “Customer/Citizen” metaphorical-comparison focus. Manager/employee comparisons. But I’m not 100% sure his passion is there. He wants to run for Mayor…but I’m not convinced of what he’d do with the position if elected.

Linda Thompson.

Oh, Linda.

Your delivery is (almost) believable.

The vocal-urgency is there.

Most of us give you a pass with your pronunciation or complete fabrication of words.

It seems like your heart is in the right place.

But I can’t shake the “Kill Whitey” demeanor of your delivery.

Sure, poverty-stricken and crime-ridden neighborhoods need more attention than places like Shipoke.

But if you utter one more word about “minorities” in a city whose population is nearly seventy percent African American and twenty five percent Caucasion…I might just choke on my chicken wing.

And do us non-denominational a favor: leave the God shit out of the campaign forum.

My vote won’t go to the most-pastoral.

And then, we went on to the council-candidates.

(I’ll try to summarize these in a sentence or two)

Patty Kim said that her opinion of the best way for the future Mayor and Council to work together is to work out their differences behind closed doors.

And I couldn’t agree more.

Does a boss and his General Manager fight in front of the staff?

Of course not.

Neither should our Mayor and Council.

Do what’s best for the general-good of the city…and you’ll see a happy community.

In my experience with dealing with Council and the Administration, Patty Kim has been. hands-down, the most accessible, resourceful, and dependable public servant to hold a position in the current administration. Therefore, she’ll most likely get one of my four votes for council this coming May 19th.

Pat Stringer:

Do we need another Vera White?

Look…Pat Stringer would be a great candidate for Woman Who Most Resembles My Grandmother…with the Baking of The Cookies and the Cooking of The Pasta.

But I would never vote for this woman as a member of a representative council of the citizens of this city.

Fran Harris.

Has never run for- nor has she held a- public office.

She doesn’t even have kids.

But something about this woman exudes confidence. She has a warm and welcoming aura about her. I’m going to need to see her again, but so far…she’s off to a good start. Fran Harris has potential to be a great City Council member for Harrisburg.

Joe Brown:

Was this guy serious?

No, seriously..

Was this guy fucking serious?

Dude, I don’t care who your cousins are.

And yeah, you’re a physically-big guy.

But you can’t bully your way into a position of authority in this city. (Or maybe you can)

Michael Thomas:

So, look.

I heard about the pot-bust.

And most of us know about your bankruptcies.

And that mortgage?

Yeah, it’s no secret.

So it’s no surprise that your rambled, unrehearsed, forced replies to tonight’s questions left us all wondering: “He said what!?”

Your only saving grace was your support of reform to the Police and Fire residency requirement.

But even that was old-hat.

Mike Thomas needs to show some sincerity in his delivery if he wants to secure my vote.

Kelly Summerford.

Creepy and full of shit.

If you believe in what’s good for this city..do not vote for this man.

Eugenia Smith.

I really appreciated what she had to say about supporting the family unit. I was pleasantly surprised by her candor. I’d like to know more about “Gina” Smith.

Danielle Hairston.

Was my second surprisingly intriguing candidate of the night. Another ousted-school board member, I was almost moved by her sincerity in improving the overall environment of the school district. “I have integrity” and “I am an informed decision maker” were the two resonant quotes of her presentation.

Eric Papenfuse.

Eric is, without a doubt, my number one vote for Harrisburg City Council in the coming election. Everything about this man screams honesty, integrity and unfettered dedication to making the City of Harrisburg a wonderfully prosperous place to live.

And late to the game were-

Wanda Williams.

“I’m sorry I was late to arrive. There was a Budget and Finance committee meeting and I’m happy to report that we’re [the City of Harrisburg] operating with a 1.7 Million Dollar surplus!”

Really?

Are we, Wanda?

Posturing like that won’t win votes.

Sure, on your paper we may be in a surplus…but anyone who lives here knows that there are more potholes in our streets than Kettle Corn vendors at Kipona Fest. We know there are more prostitutes roaming the streets on an average Thursday night than there are police officers. We know that the Incinerator is costing this fine city more than one million dollars a month.

Pardon my Ebonics, but…who you tryin’ to fool?

Mayoral-incumbent Steven Reed.

Was on the muthafuckin warpath tonight.

Steve Reed delivered an 11th our missive (after arriving late due to a Thousand Dollar A Plate fundraiser at the Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center) which, no doubt, rattled the confidence of Ford, Mindlin and even Stone Cold Thompson.

The guy’s been in office for twenty eight years.

And it’s gonna take a heluva lot more than bible-thumping, education-touting and, well, passive income bragging to defeat him…

Still got four weeks to go.

And color-me-stupid if this ain’t one heck of an intense administration race in Harrisburg.