Wows & Scowls
Wow: Seemingly ageless Penn State football coach Joe Paterno says his doctor recently told him he could coach 10 more years. That may not sound impressive, unless you consider that Paterno is currently 79 years old. Paterno says he’ll keep coaching “as long as I feel I can do the job,” and after redeeming himself with last year’s 11-1 record and Orange Bowl win, it appears that he’s still up to the task. Scowl: While everyone’s innocent until proven guilty, if it’s true that the former director of the Greene County Tourist Promotion Agency forged checks and bilked it out of $2,200, as alleged by the Green County District Attorney, that’s a sad occurrence. This is the latest in a long line of cases where officials are charged with putting their hands in the public’s cookie jar. And when that happens, it erodes public confidence and taints public servants as a group.
Scowl: More on this later, but can you see the long hand of politicking stretching from Harrisburg to Masontown in state Rep. H. William DeWeese’s effort to influence the selection of a new tax collector in Masontown Borough? Demonstrating support for nepotism at its finest, DeWeese sent a letter to the Fayette County commissioners advocating that they pick either the deceased tax collector’s wife or son for the job. Problem is, borough council gets first crack at naming the replacement – and neither Arlene Rossini nor Anthony Rossini says they asked DeWeese to intervene. You’d think DeWeese would have enough on his plate to keep him busy, but then again, the “full-time” legislature is in its traditional three-month summer recess.
Wow: As we predicted, U.S. Rep. John P. “Jack” Murtha, D-Johnstown, is no lightweight when it comes to those attacking him for political reasons. The so-called Veterans For Truth, an itineration of the Swift Board Veterans For Truth that attacked presidential candidate John Kerry’s military record, will have a much tougher time trying to undermine Murtha. Already, a counter group, the Veterans’ Alliance For Security and Democracy, has fired its opening salvo, calling October’s impending rally against Murtha “a sad commentary on the state of our political process today.” It also says that attacking the distinguished 37-year Marine on personal and military record grounds is “a cowardly and transparent act,” and adds, “If this group of slime peddlers gets away with this yet another time, Americans might as well forget about their freedoms, because this group will be the front-men for those who would take those freedoms away.” Well said, because after all, we do live in the United States, don’t we?
Wow: It could be construed as politicking, but even if that’s so, it’s shrewd politicking. State Sen. Richard A. Kasunic wants the state to stiffen its penalties for motor fuel theft, permitting a court to punish a first offense by suspending a driver’s license for 30 days and imposing a fine of up to $250 if someone drives off without paying for fuel. Under current law, a driver’s license can’t be suspended until a third fuel theft offense, and even then it’s only for 30 days. Kasunic’s get-tough approach would boost the suspension to 60 days for a second offense and a year for a third offense.
Scowl: It’s a pattern repeated all too frequently, but only two residents attended Uniontown’s West End neighborhood meeting to provide public input into the city’s master plan for city parks. It was one of six much meetings being held to gather resident thoughts and opinions. While it’s encouraging that 150 residents have completed surveys related to the plan, it would be beneficial to have more citizens actively involved in the process. The best time to make your voices heard is before something is settled, not after.
Wow: State Sen. John Pippy, an Allegheny County Republican, wants to downsize the state Legislature from 203 representatives to 102, and from 50 senators to 30. “We just can’t do business as usual and expect things to get better. We have to shake up the whole system,” says Pippy. Supporters of the effort say it would shave between $77 million and $92 million from state operating costs. But while they’re at it, reformers should look at Pennsylvania’s staff-to-lawmaker ratio, which at 11.6-to-1 in the third-highest in the nation, and which has led the nation with a 106 percent increase since 1979. Too bad we haven’t led the nation in tax reform, job growth, lobbyist disclosure and open records legislation in the same period.