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Sentinel Lunchtime Blog (The Fourth Estate): Cooperation in the county
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Article RatingVoters last week decided they wanted another four years of Cumberland County’s triumvirate of commissioners — Republicans Gary Eichelberger and Bruce Barclay and Democrat Rick Rovegno.
(My write-in campaign, unfortunately, failed — voters apparently didn’t want a 21-year-old pseudo adult making decisions for them.)
They probably didn’t realize they voted for another four years of cooperation, too.
Because with one exception, the commissioners agree on everything.
Since I started covering them in mid-August, they have together committed to partially fueling the county’s trucks with bio-diesel, they’ve endorsed the county’s farmland preservation program and they have created a unique program to entice county employees to become more efficient.
Barclay and Eichelberger even backed Rovegno’s efforts to create an Interstate 81 coalition group.
Perhaps most notably, the commissioners agreed not to fund gypsy moth spraying. Any commissioner who advocated to pay for combatting Cumberland County’s little own leaf-eating plague would have immediately become the most popular elected official. But these three commissioners continue to stand unified against the fury of township supervisors.
The commissioners are practically singing “Kumbaya” around a campfire compared to the partisan venom spewed in Harrisburg and Washington.
County-wide reassessment, of course, is the one notable exception. Rovegno and Eichelberger probably want to battle mano a mano in a steel cage death-match (think “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” with Barclay playing the Tina Turner role) because of that disagreement alone.
They also disagreed last year over whether the county should raise taxes — Rovegno and Barclay voted for the increase over the objections of Eichelberger, Mr. Fiscal Conservative. But that disagreement melted away this year when they unanimously decided not to.
Think of the commissioners as the “Bronx Zoo” Yankees of the 1970s — they might not all like one another, but that doesn’t stop them from working together toward a common goal.
Harrisburg and Washington should take notes.
Alex Roarty covers county government for The Sentinel. You can read his Lunchtime Blog every Tuesday between noon and 1 p.m.
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Lunchtime Blog
We plan to be here every weekday at lunch between noon and 1 p.m. to take a look at what's going on in the news and what we have planned for our newspaper and Web site.
Feel free to offer any suggestions, questions or feedback to jpratt@cumberlink.com
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This morning's most-viewed stories on www.cumberlink.com:
1. Sentinel Morning Update: Gifts that keep on giving
2. Fallen trooper memorialized
3. Monday's Sentinel police reports
4. Winter sports: Winter practices underway
5. Hershey's top shareholder tightens grip over struggling company
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This morning's most-emailed stories on www.cumberlink.com
1. High school soccer: Local players show all-star skill
2. Officer killed in Iraq was due to return home soon
3. Sunday's Sentinel Guest Editorial: Remembering Sgt. York's heroism
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Yesterday's most-viewed stories on www.cumberlink.com:
1. Monday's Sentinel police reports
2. Fire leaves family homeless in Dickinson Township
3. Smile! You're on criminal camera
4. Penn State Football: Earning yards the hard way
5. Police investigate suspected arson at Messiah College (breaking news)
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Yesterday's most-emailed stories on www.cumberlink.com
1. Wash. state man uses shotgun to loosen lug nut, hospitalized with wounds to legs (breaking news)
2. Tasting "The Good Life" in Carlisle
3. Fallen trooper memorialized
4. Wildcats take third straight ACC title
5. Sentinel Lunchtime Blog: Does anyone know what this three-day weekend is about?
