Apr 21, 2006 4 min read

Interesting (and sometimes nagging) questions of our time … Why is it that elected officials practically adore you when from their perspective you’re covering what they want, how they want, when they want, but you suddenly become biased, untruthful and unprofessional when you write something they perceive as critical of them?

How come practically all candidates for the state House of Representatives that our editorial board has talked to thus far are for open records? We’re pinning them down now, for future reference, and it seems like they’re even trying to outdo each other in the “convincing” department.

Why don’t any of our incumbent legislators lick their finger, stick it in the wind, see which way it’s blowing, and become the first to break with that great Harrisburg tradition of keeping things hush-hush? Who will be the first to offer the public their itemized spending and phone records? Or could it be that what’s hidden there is best left buried, particularly in an election year?

Why on Earth would anyone think that a key reason to vote for any candidate is because he or she is a veteran? That’s a noble thing to put on your resume, no doubt, but it has absolutely nothing to do with what kind of public servant you’d be. It alone doesn’t guarantee that you’ll be honorable, uncorrupt or would hold the public trust sacred. I know a World War II veteran who went to jail for kickbacks and bribery.

Are you buying any of state Rep. Bill DeWeese’s apologetic campaign flyers, which are arriving in the mail of 50th District voters? One splashy photo shows DeWeese facing an elderly woman, who appears to be giving him heck, with the caption, “Yes Ma’am, I’ve made some mistakes …” and it continues on the next page, “… but I have never stopped fighting for the folks here at home.” It’s too easy to imagine a third page that adds, “… or the big-city members of my caucus who put and keep me in charge.”

When it comes to governance, don’t you think that actions should speak louder than words, and that results should count more than rhetoric? It’s rare to find a public servant whose primary interest is serving the public, regardless of the political fallout. Who do you think best exemplifies that standard? My list starts with Fayette County Commissioner Angela M. Zimmerlink.

Do you really think that any property tax reform plan hatched by Harrisburg will be fair to all concerned. It won’t be. Considerable deference will be paid to senior citizens, at the expense of younger workers and property owners. Pennsylvania has an older population and seniors as a group tend to vote a lot more than young people. Think those two facts will significantly shape the outcome?

Do you really think things in Fayette County are significantly better now than they were in 2003, the year county Commissioners Sean M. Cavanagh and Ronald M. Nehls lost re-election? The fiery Cavanagh took a lot of lumps from critics who apparently wanted everyone on the county political scene to join hands and sing “Kumbaya.” With him out of the way, are things any better?

Wouldn’t the best race of all time be Cavanagh versus state Rep. Bill DeWeese? I don’t care if it were for dog catcher, sparks worth watching would fly in that one.

Don’t you just love it that telephone companies led by Verizon Communications want to enter the cable TV business, providing much-needed competition to existing providers that basically have a monopoly on a given geographic region? Competition is a good thing, and state legislators should do what’s necessary to ensure it. If you’re wondering how your state senator or representative feels on this issue, you can join me.

Is it better for a prospective candidate for public office to make some noise in differentiating himself from the pack, or to try playing the game the old-fashioned way? A lot of candidates are fearful that slinging mud could backfire, but in truth some of them simply have others do the slinging on their behalf.

Paul Sunyak is editorial page editor of the Herald-Standard. He can be reached at 724-439-7577 or psunyak@heraldstandard.com