Berks Democrats

Our Very Disturbing Weekend in Harrisburg (Democratic State Committee)

This is a guest column by Ron Stouffer.

Our Very Disturbing Weekend in Harrisburg (Democratic State Committee)

As observers to the Dem. State Committee on Saturday, June 9, 2007, we witnessed sausage being made!  Friday night in the Rules Committee we were allowed to observe and even give our opinions on 3 resolutions which the gatekeepers at the Rules Committee decide to bring or not to bring to the full floor on Saturday. 
Universal single payer passed 4-0 (there are 14 members supposed to be there).
There were no language changes to this Chester County initiated resolution.  We thought, wow, slam dunk for passage on Saturday!

Wrong! When Saturday arrived, a mysterious metamorphosis occurred!  First the 250 members of the whole body were told language changes occurred.  This can kill or table a resolution since the body wants to see what those changes are on paper.  Second, the name was now "universal" not universal single payer.  Remember the insurance industry and Rendell don't really like single payer because the insurance industry would no longer be hawking(selling) their over-priced, deductible and co-pay laden policies!  They would be unable to compete with the superior benefits and efficiencies of a publicly administered single payer.  (I don't know if this had any influence over the process or not).  So, in the end, "universal" passed, another example of pusillanimous pussy-footing by a timid state party apparatus. 

A similar fate befell the resolution to impeach Bush.  It would be "premature" we were told!  As for verifiable paper trail voting, so many language changes occurred in Rules that it had no chance on the floor.  Impeachment failed 3-1 in Rules but they took it to the floor anyway where the party hierarchy pretty well stabbed it to death. Verifiable paper trail, with all the amended language, likewise passed Rules only to be tabled at the general meeting.

So, 3 resolutions intended to give our candidates an idea of where the "people" stand on issues were put through the sausage grinder.  It seems the candidates will continue getting their platforms from the powerful corporations who have a vested financial interest in seeing their agendas pass.

I must report that Tom Herman and the other Berks Dems. who made it to the meeting served our county well!  Tom advocated for the 3 resolutions effectively and with vigor.  He stood up to the Party hierarchy and carried our message.  All members appeared to have voted "correctly" on the several votes and motions.  The lesson learned is we need to keep building the party from the base up.  Currently a large portion of the 250 people are being taken for fools by the hierarchical system. The other portion go along with the hierarchy for many reasons, probably patronage, ignorance, obedience to authority, etc. and who knows what else!  So, rather than quit the Party(which they'd love), we need more people with pure motives and a grounded progressive philosophy. Progressives who want real change must JOIN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY BECAUSE YOU HATE IT--a title I saw on an email somewhere.   The more it progresses, the more we can start liking it again!

Finally, let's use the vote for "universal" in a positive way.  Since universal can only be achieved through a single payer (or an ultra-highly subsidized, inefficient, costly privatized "system" like we now have that will break the bank and continue denial of care and other unethical practices leading our society to bankruptcy), let's market it this way:  We all agree on universal care(coverage for all people).  Do we want universal privatized with profits skimming 20-25% of each health dollar spent or  universal single payer with only 5% or less in overhead and no profits involved.  Do we want superior benefits, like no co-pays and no deductibles plus long term nursing care included as in universal single payer, or do we want stripped down plans from 100s of profit driven privatized insurers whose benefit package can't come close to  a universal single payer?   The choice is clear--guaranteed health care for all citizens through a universal single payer system.

This Week's Commissioner's Meeting

I'm a bit tardy writing my memoir on this week's meeting.  I stupidly left my notebook in Commissioner Gajewski's office on Tuesday.  So here goes...

In some good news $700,000 in new revenue grants are going to be used for employment and training.  These were unanticipated revenues.  Also the use of so called "club drugs" remain low on the radar scope of officials involved in alcohol and chemical abuse.  The top four drugs of choice in Berks are alcohol, cocaine, heroin and marajauna, respectively.

Commissioner Gajewski reported on several important initiatives.  The first is the prescription drug card being made available next year.  This will provide discounts to Berks Countians caught without any coverage.  It will also provide discounts on pet medicines according to Judy Schwank.  That's good news as I have to pick up meds for my beagle today.  Being able to save on them in the future would be nice.

Meetings will be held around the county to explain the program on January 8th at the following locations:

9 am:  St. Paul's UCC church, 1312 Old Swede Road Douglassville

11 am Grace Lutheran Church Shillington

2:30 pm Senior Citizens Council West Wernersville

Tom also reported on a meeting he had in East Orange New Jersey about an anti-crime initiative called Shot Spotter.  He and Reading Deputy Chief Chuck Broad went to learn about the program and decide if it's worth looking into for the city.  East Orange has reduced its violent crime by up to 60% partly due to this program.  They are willing to come to Reading to explain how it works.  I'll go more in depth about the program in another article.

Also, a report was provided about a loan the County made to the Childrens Home a while back.  They are on schedule with payments and the balance is now only around $28,000.

Rates for private pay residents at Berks Heim were raised.  The daily per diem goes up $5 and the ancillary services another $5.  This is, essentially, a $10/day increase.  The Heim is almost paying its own way after years of operating at a deficit.  Having a county retirement home is important and the move to the new building has resulted in countless efficiencies which have eliminated its operating deficit.   Costs for food and energy along with medical equipment and prescriptions (I'm sure) are a regular problem.

There was some discussion, especially by Mark Scott, about the individual endeavors taken by members of this Board.  He decried the tendency of individual Commissioners to want full credit for their own projects.  He seemed to be critical about this but he is the first to take credit every possible time he can for things he has done.  This was the pot calling the kettle black.

This Week's Commissioner's Meeting

I'm a tad late getting to reporting yesterday's Commissioner's meeting.  After the session I was in the Prothonotary's office doing more research on Billy Reed.  There will be an article about him this afternoon on The Pennsylvania Progressive.

Controller Sandy Graffius and President Judge Grim made a presentation on the newly developed constable's manual.  The constables were a big non-issue last year after the Eagle reported some of the incomes a handful of them were earning.  The coverage was very deceptive because it led people to believe these guys were making large incomes off the taxpayers.

Constables serve warrants and court document, by and large.  Each instance is billed to one of the parties in the action:  for example criminals in court must pay these costs of part of their court fees.  Constables work pretty autonomously, meaning they can do as little or as much as they decide.  Some of the men like Bart Ganster work several days non stop, sometimes three consecutive 24 hour shifts. 

It can be dangerous work because people aren't usually happy having legal papers served upon them or being arrested.  Berks County has the highest rate of warrants served in the state, 73%.    95% of the fees for constables are recovered statewide.  This means constables serve the public at negligible cost to taxpayers.

The other major part of the meeting dealt with a new county human resources affirmative action policy.  The idea is to widen the pool of people applying for county jobs to include all segments of our diverse population.  This includes veterans and the disabled in addition to women and minorities.

I was expecting Mark Scott to begin one of his patented tirades against minorities but he disappointed me.  I suppose he wasn't going to open a big can of political worms the week before election day.

This Week's Commissioner's Meeting

Yesterday's County Commissioner's meeting was more normal with a three page agenda.  The focus of the meeting was a presentation to create the position of Agriculture Coordinator for he county.  It was recommended by a group called the Agriculture Coordinator Committee.  The position would be filled on a three year trail period with a budget the first year of $120,000.  Funding is being sought through state and federal grants.

The new position would be designed to facilitate farmers and the agriculture industry to keep it viable and profitable.  The thinking seems to be that with all the open land preservation done in the County we also need to keep farming viable.  Farmers have little time or expertise in developing new markets, new concepts and may need to consider new crops.

The Agriculture Coordinator could develop marketing plans, coordinate resources, find niche markets for agricultural products, teach basic marketing concepts, encourage the formation of new farmer's markets or whatever else is needed. 

It sounds like a very good idea.  Having worked in food marketing myself I appreciate the need for such a position.  Farmers need markets for their crops/animals/products and consumers prefer locally grown food.  Restaurants are an untapped market and small grocery stores are at the mercy of large wholesalers.  A Coordinator might even create a local food distribution center where local farmers can bring their products and local grocers and restaurateurs can purchase them.

The remainder of the meeting dealt with routine, though important funding programs, things like the food bank and the Department of Aging.  One item that caught my eye was the appointment of Wachovia Bank as the County's primary bank for general fund and payroll accounts.  Berks County has used Sovereign Bank for most of its business in the past. 

This Week's Commissioner's Meeting

Another short agenda another interesting meeting.  It all revolved around Human Resources.  First Beth Schiepan, HR Director, told the Board of Commissioners the County will begin having to pay some interns minimum wage.  This wasn't welcome news because many young people work for the County as interns.

New labor standards are out because of court decisions restricting what free labor is available through the use of interns.  Basically, if they do work that's of material benefit to the County they have to be paid.  I guess this is the beginning of the end of the free labor era.  Interns have been taken advantage of for years by all sorts of organizations.  It used to be they'd be used as gophers and for grunt work.  Bit by bit it was discovered they actually had brains and could perform meaningful work and cooperate on projects.

I don't have a problem seeing interns being paid.  The least we should do is see they get minimum wages for all the free time they've been devoting.  If they're doing the same work an employee would be performing they ought to at least get $5.15 an hour.

Then things got really interesting.  Commissioner Mark Scott put his lawyer hat on and called Beth to the stand, er, microphone.  He began pontificating about what he termed "a defamatory attack on a former county employee."  He began cross examining her about claims in a direct mail item mailed by the state Democratic Party about Hal Baker and his salary while working as Beth's predecessor. 

I haven't seen the mailer though I understand it was based on a newspaper article.  It probably could have been worded better because it seems to have missed its point:  why is Hal Baker is criticizing Dante for his salary when he made far more working for the County?

This charge of defamation is serious.  All Scott established was that Baker's income of $64,000 for 6-9 months filling in as County Administrator was less than Bill Dennis began at in that same position and that several County employees earn more than the Commissioners.  Yes Mr. Baker was a good, dedicated public servant.  Mark established that point.  The point Dante is making is that Baker also made a lot of money on the taxpayer's dime and his position now as a "reformer" is hypocrisy.  Is that true?  I suppose the voters will decide that question.  Was it defamation?  No.  It spun the facts to put the GOP candidate in the worst possible context but it didn't amount to defamation.

Mark Scott called this a cheap political shot but his stunt was the same thing.  Where was his outrage about the vicious mailings the Republican Party has inundated Berks County with for Jim Gerlach?  He's being extremely hypocritical.  Involving Beth was a cheap political stunt.  He had all the pertinent information and could have made his points without putting her on the spot.  His was also a political ploy and involving her in it was despicable.

Mr. Baker has made pay for public employees the central issue in his campaign against Dante Santoni Jr. for State Representative in the 126th District.  Hal Baker is the one who is going around criticizing others for earning too much money on the backs of the taxpayers.  This makes his income working for the County a legitimate issue.  The fact is Hal Baker earned far more money on the public dole than Dante does.

His campaign is calling voters and asking them if they know how much money and perks Dante makes.  That means the salary he earned working for the County is also a legitimate issue.   

Mark Scott said "It's a cheap shot, he's owed an apology."  So are we Mark.  You used the Commissioner's meeting for partisan political purposes.  You then dragged Beth Schiepan into it and used her as your foil.  You owe her an apology. 

By the way I'll be holding you to your own high standard of political conduct next year. 

This Week's Commissioner's Meeting

Short agenda/long meeting.  It's almost become a mantra for those of us who attend the workshop meetings of the Commissioners.  Tuesday's agenda was about as short as I've ever seen.  Of course it took an hour anyway.  An hour isn't long for a workshop session but looking at the agenda before leaving home I could have guessed a half hour tops.  I know better though.

The main policy discussion had to do with personnel.  Human Resources has developed a plan to solve a nagging problem:  salary creep among the union work force has resulted in no salary scale differences in some departments among the regular employees and supervisors.  As a result it's become more difficult to entice County emploees to become management.

There are some instances when moving to a supervisory role means taking a pay cut.  With no differential  there's no incentive.  Why leave a position with union benefits and protection to one with more responsibility and stress if there's no difference in salary?  This is the problem the county has been facing.

Beth Schieppan, who does an excellent job as head of HR presented a plan to fix this situation.  It's an important policy change and will help make county government more effective.

At the end of the meeting Dave Baker of the Green Party used the public comment period to address his concerns about the methods being used by Reading City Council to fill Donna Reed's vacant seat.  Dave is about the worst person the Greens should use for this purpose.  He forgot to explain to the home viewers what the controversy was even about and made some serious accusations.  Some were valid and some weren't. 

His abrasive and confrontational manner isn't effective though.  He droned on and on well past the usual time limit for such comments and the Board allowed him free rein.  Of course this was pretty smart because Dave is usually his own worst enemy.  He made what I thought were some legitimate claims but they were lost by the bad ones.  The Greens have stomped on the toes of some important Democrats in recent years but they continue to expect our cooperation when it suits them.  Politics doesn't work that way and Jennaro is discovering this now.

County Commissioners Meeting

I attend many of the County Commissioners meetings and thought the blog might be a place to provide my impression of what's going on at the County level.  All three Commissioners are up for election in 2007 so this should be especially relevant.

This week's workshop (the Tuesday meetings) was rather bizarre.  It dealt with the routine of county government:  labor contracts, moving budget line items, contracts, etc.  There was news that a grant from the state for Children & Youth Services (CYS) for over $1 million is available.  This is significant because the feds have withheld over a mill in funding because of a disagreement with the state.

The bizarre part came late in the meeting.  A while back Judy Schwank and Mark Scott decided to rearrange the order of business at the meetings.  Since several department heads need to be present each week to give reports they moved the ceremonial proclamation presentations to the back of the agenda.  This enables the county employees to give their reports, answer questions then get back to running their departments. 

When I first began attending the meetings I thought it was strange these high level managers had to sit there, often for 45 minutes, until the ceremonial recognitions were done.  While important to recognize community leaders and volunteers I think taxpayers would rather see their management working than watching someone get a proclamation.

So what happened Tuesday is that Commissioner Gajewski was giving proclamations to both the Polish-American and Italian-American communities and the people had yet to arrive.  With BCTV's cameras rolling Judy and Mark began talking about the countywide police force study and addressing some concerns that have arisen.  The bizarre part was they were basically filibustering, trying to buy time for Tom's guests to arrive for the proclamations. 

The Italian Americans never did get there.  The Columbus Day presentation will have to wait until next year.