Things to ponder
From the windmill of my mind … A man who’s obviously no fan of mine wrote a letter to the editor (with loads of grammatical errors, but that’s not the point) and said that with my “large house” and “two cars,” I have luxuries that “the little guy making $10 an hour” can’t afford. We scratched that personal attack stuff from the letter, per policy. But after doing some quick research, I have to wonder which of us is the true “little guy,” since his house has 1,305 square feet of living space, which is 173 square feet more than mine. And if owning a six-year-old Oldsmobile Alero and a 12-year-old pickup truck puts me in the upper crust, I’d better notify the country club right away. I wonder what vehicle(s) this critic owns?
Is anybody surprised that Donna Vorrasi, who formerly worked for retired state Rep. Larry Roberts, D-South Union, has ended up working as a legislative assistant to his replacement, state Rep. Timothy S. Mahoney? Vorrasi basically offered anti-Roberts testimony in a 2004 Fayette Election Board case involving allegations of fraud on the nominating petitions of 20-year-old carpet installer Michael Ciampanelli. Now she works for Mahoney. That’s quite a coincidence.
I first met Albert Gallatin high school basketball coach Dan Andria back in 1981, when he was coaching the Fairchance-Georges basketball team. He was a class act then, and he’s a class act now. Congrats on a fine season, Dan, and here’s hoping your team goes deep into the WPIAL playoffs.
Does state Rep. Mark Cohen, Philadelphia Democrat who’s spent 32 years in the House, really think anyone is buying his logic that offering electronic (meaning computer and e-mail) versions versions of information would “discourage middle class people” from wanting to serve in the Legislature? Cohen doesn’t think expenditures should be too easily obtained because they are not “vital information.” Such comments could only come from a knucklehead whose purpose on the Speaker’s Reform Commission appears to be undermining any true reforms.
Contrast Cohen’s comments with those from state Rep. Tim Mahoney:”We are public servants and we are people who use public money.” Mahoney supports electronic versions of the information, so citizens don’t have to travel to Harrisburg to see how their money’s being spent by people like Cohen.
What does it say about the lack of openness in the state legislature when representative after representative has come out saying that he didn’t even know about the staff bonus system that’s been in place for many, many years? We asked new Speaker Dennis O’Brien, who’s been around for 30 years, if he knew about them. His answer was, “No.” If duly elected members don’t know how all the money is being spent, how can the press and the citizenry?
Anyone who thinks school district property taxes are going to go down and stay down because of gambling revenue or voting in a shift to income taxes is being delusional. If school districts want to do a great public service, they should have their business managers give a report on how much local pension costs are projected to rise in the next three or four years. That number would be a real eye-opener.
Paul Sunyak is editorial page editor of the Herald-Standard. He can be reached at 724-439-7577 or at psunyak@heraldstandard.com