Wows And Scowls
Scowl: If it was the intent of the governor and lawmakers to regulate the serving of free drinks in casinos, why now is that issue up in the air? Because the seven-member Gaming Control Board has in internal dispute over whether that should happen: Some think it should be regulated, others favor leaving it up to the individual casinos. We don’t care either way, but the confusion is what ultimately results when legislation is passed in haste, as happened all often in Pennsylvania’s recent past. Let’s hope that reforms currently underway greatly curtail or even eliminate sloppy legislation. Scowl: When will the Fayette County commissioners learn the value of putting clear specifications in bids? Ford Business Machines Inc. of Uniontown took the county to court this week, alleging that it should have been awarded a five-year contract for copy machine services instead of Ricoh Business Systems of Bridgeville. The hang-up was a provision that the bidding firms needed to separately contact the county’s Tax Assessment Office to discuss paper usage. As a result, Ricoh’s bid included free paper for that office, while Ford included a price for paper in addition to its bid. That’s like taking bids for a new car and telling the bidders to “check with our manager about the transmission.” The bid solicitation should have specified exactly what the county was seeking. Because that wasn’t the case, Commission Chairwoman Angela M. Zimmerlink was right in voting against the award of this particular contract.
Scowl: Uniontown Area School Board has rejected its Tax Study Commission’s recommendation that it not increase the earned income tax as a tradeoff for further real estate property tax cuts. Like the Albert Gallatin Area School Board, Uniontown will ask voters to approve a .4 percent hike in that tax, taking it to .9 percent, an 80 percent increase. What’s the point in having a tax study commission if you’re simply going to ignore its recommendations? Wasn’t citizen input why the state legislation created those commissions in the first place?
Scowl: Who’s telling the truth about whether they’re paying less to legislative staff, House Democrats or House Republicans? Both sides have presented dueling figures in recent days, with the GOP claiming its payroll is $3.5 million lower, and the Dems countering that they’re actually paying out $2 million less. The bigger problem is that because the legislature is exempt from the state’s open records law and has disclosure rules that require you to travel to Harrisburg, it’s not easy for anyone to get and decipher the information needed to find out the truth.
Wow: The U.S. Postal Service has come up with a good idea: The “forever” stamp,which would be good for mailing a letter no matter how much rates go up. How many times have you thrown out stamps because you didn’t have the 1- or 2-cent addition needed to make them valid? This would solve that problem.
Wow: Way to take the WPIAL basketball world by storm, Albert Gallatin Colonials and California Trojans. No matter what happens this weekend, both teams are champions in our book. The players and coaches are a real credit to their respective communities.