The 2013 Harrisburg Mayoral Election

Sean Simmers of Pennlive took this picture of Lewis Butts speaking during the NAACP Harrisburg mayoral debate featuring him, Eric Papenfuse, Aaron Johnson and Dan Miller at the Allison Hill Community Center on 10/24/2013. His email address is (Sean Simmers) | ssimmers@pennlive.com

Let me start this blog by saying that I think that the City of Harrisburg is a cesspool of thieves, clowns, charlatans, and people whose only interest is to get over on someone. I know Mayor Linda Thompson, Lewis Butts, Eric Papenfuse, and Dan Miller personally. What I am about to say does not mean that I have anything against them.  Now that I told you how I feel about the place read on at your own risk.

I moved to the Central Pennsylvania area in 1985 and did not understand the hatred felt by the people in the city vs. the people in the suburbs.  As soon as I came here, I started looking for a house to buy. My realtor told me that I do not want to live in the city. It was not long before I found out that most realtor's steer their clients away from the city and its school district. Over the past 25 years I found out why these feelings are among the Central Pennsylvania population.

Then when I moved into the City in 2001, I found out that my favorite mayor, Mayor Reed was a crook and the City/School System’s way of life was corruption. I spent 6 years documenting the activities of its public and private officials and reporting their activities to the public. When Mayor Linda Thompson beat Mayor Reed, I thought that the old boy network would be over. I was wrong. It continued under Mayor Thompson and I am sure that it will continue under Mayor Eric Papenfuse.    

The City has a $600 Million debt. If you count every man, woman, and child in Harrisburg, that figure comes to about 48,000 people. If you divide that figure into $600 Million, the total would be $125 for every man, woman, and child living in the City. Keep in mind that not every man, woman, and child in the city has an income so the average working home owner/renter is on the hook for far more than $125.00. Here is something else to through into the resident debt equation. The City is made up of 48% tax exempt property. Not everyone that owns property is current on their taxes. Here is the reason why Dan Miller wanted the City to declare bankruptcy. Here is the reason why I suggested to state officials that Harrisburg should be a “District” of the state. 

On top of all this, Mayor Reed spent much needed money buying junk to create museums that he just knew would draw people here to spend money in Harrisburg. He tried to create a monopoly around garbage collection, a business that was not practical or sustainable. A side show of the incinerator disaster is the fact that the project was never audited, millions appear to be missing, and the City lied when it issued its Municipal Bond Issue to fund the Incinerator to investors.

Good thing Dan Miller did not win the election. Dan is a CPA and can audit the City books himself. Not only would he be in a position to force a bankruptcy but he would be in a position to know how much money is missing from the City Treasury.  I will be surprised if Papenfuse will audit the books and go after the corporations that put the City in the situation that it is in. We already know that the SEC is not going after anyone.           

On Tuesday, 11/6/2013, Eric Papenfuse received 3,618 votes or 61% while Dan Miller received 2,333 votes or 39% of the vote. Papenfuse spent $94.00 per voter to get elected. The money came from people who have an interest in keeping the City out of Bankruptcy. As long as the City runs with high interest rates and contracts that it can't maintain, these people will continue to do well. The average citizen will see higher and higher taxes and fees.

Dan Miller should have known that Republican candidates do not do well in the City. Since Aaron Johnson and Lewis Butts ran as “write in” candidates, 1,334 are probably divided among them as well as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and anyone else that people can think of. Rarely do “write in” candidates win elections. 

So why did these two "write in" candidates run in the general election when history shows that "write in" candidates don't do well?  If the primary election can be a guide to how many votes Butts received in the General Election then he probably got no more than 80 votes.

The Spoiler

When I was in Junior High, I played basketball. We were not that good but as our couch told us, “We may not be able to win the division but we have a say in who does!”  This was the position of Lewis Butts. In the primary, Dan Miller was winning in the poles until in day light and in front of witnesses, Lewis Butts decided to deface one of Eric Papenfuse’s signs. The media put this all over the news giving Eric Papenfuse much needed recognition and sympathy votes. Butts may have single handedly given the Mayor’s position to Papenfuse. Was this on purpose?

Harrisburg is overwhelmingly Democratic. That means that whoever wins the Democratic primary will win the General Election. Dan Miller was nominated by the people of the Republican Party to run for Mayor in the General Election. Dan thought that he had a chance and ran. In the end, he found out that it is not about having the right qualifications, talent, or brains that people vote for. The people in Harrisburg vote for party in the General Election. 

Listening to Dan Miller on election night, it sounds like he finally learned that the people really don’t care about the situation in the community. All they care about is their day to day situations in their own lives.  Eric Papenfuse has not learned his lesson yet.  He will.

Good luck Harrisburg, I am out of here!