Sexual Harassment Is Part of 'The Culture of Harrisburg,' Insiders
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A WATCHDOG PUBLICATION OF LNP MEDIA GROUP, INC. | TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2017 | $4.25 THE CULTURESILENCE OF Sexual harassment is part of ‘the culture of Harrisburg,’ insiders say DigiCode Data File Created on 12-6-16 at 15:04:23 » by NOTICE: COVER STORY PA G E 6 ACCOUNT : 8275701 LANCASTER NEWSPAPERS, INC. SYMBOLOGY, INC. This DigiCode file is considered original artwork. ORDERED BY : RORY MACKISON Maple Grove, Minnesota, 55369 It must be inspected and approved by the purchaser. P.O. NUMBER : LNP160931 763-315-8080 Use of this file confirms acceptance. INVOICE NO. : 1540728 0% 5% 25% 50% 75% 95% 100% See the back of the Symbology invoice for Limitation of Warranty ANALYSIS INTERVIEW (PCCOMMENTARY EPS via EMAIL) LANCASTER NEWSPAPERS, 1540728/1-217-1 Encode: 677490101007 PU 12/6/2016 3:04:23 PM MAG 140 NBAR .0182 BWA -0.0025 Audit obtained by The Caucus finds Education Secretary Pedro Rivera de- If we can’t get merit selection of excessive billing, cost markups and picts the fight for equitable funding judges, ditching partisan elections is failure to document expenses in and preparing the next generation of the next best thing for voters — and flawed radio project. PAGE 4 workers. PAGE 10 the bench. PAGE 12 GROUP INC GROUP LNP MEDIA MEDIA LNP PAID US POSTAGE US PRSRT STD PRSRT COURTESY COPIES OF THE CAUCUS ARE SENT WEEKLY TO STATE LEGISLATORS DECEMBER 12, 2017 12, DECEMBER deliver Please Postmaster: SUBSCRIBE AT CAUCUSPA.COM 6 77490 10100 7 WANT TO SEE YOUR AD IN THE CAUCUS? CONTACT US AT [email protected] CONTENTS DECEMBER 12, 2017 10 Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera laughs during an interview with The Caucus. DAN MARSCHKA FOR THE CAUCUS INSIDE THIS ISSUE BAD SIGNALS PARTY TIME IS OVER SEND US A NEWS TIP 4 Audit finds excessive billing, cost 12 If we can’t get merit selection of If you know of a good story, are holding a political markups and failure to document in judges, ditching partisan elections is event or fundraiser, or want to share information about flawed radio program. the next best thing for voters — and a new hire in your agency or firm, please send an email to the bench. [email protected] or mail to THE CULTURE PO Box 1328, Lancaster, PA 17608-1328 6 OF SILENCE CAPITOL DISPATCHES Sexual harassment is part of the ‘cul- Roundups of upcoming hearings, Please remember to include contact information 13 unless you wish to remain anonymous. ture of Harrisburg,’ insiders say. events and fundraisers TAKING THE LONG VIEW THIS WEEK IN PA HISTORY ON THE COVER 10 Education Secretary Pedro Rivera 14 Excerpts of noteworthy, Illustration by on the fight for equitable funding newsworthy and just plain odd Patrick Kirchner and preparing the next generation political news ONLINE caucuspa.com A PUBLICATION LNP MEDIA GROUP, Inc., A STEINMAN COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY ADDRESS 211 State St. Member of the Associated Press Harrisburg, PA 17101 The Caucus is protected by federal copyright statute. No part of this newspaper may be broadcast, re- produced or republished in any form or by any means without prior, written permission. 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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to SUBSCRIPTIONS visit caucuspa.com Patrick Kirchner ART DIRECTION + DESIGN LNP MEDIA GROUP INC, PO Box 1328, Lancaster PA 17608-1328. Alyssa Williams DESIGN or call 717-291-8888 Tuesday, December 12, 2017 T H E C A U C U S 3 ANALYSIS State police confer in north- east Pennsylvania during a manhunt in September 2014 for accused cop killer Eric Frein. The Harris Corp.’s statewide radio system mal- functioned during the hunt for Frein, forcing state troop- ers to find a workaround. MICHAEL J. MULLEN | SCRANTON TIMES-TRIBUNE BAD SIGNALS Audit obtained by The Caucus finds excessive billing, cost markups and failure to document expenses in flawed radio project » BRAD BUMSTED ing for bankruptcy, and rivalries among obligations under the contract, leading agencies. to disrepair at many tower sites. n internal Wolf administration audit found more than $1 Harris took over the project in 2009. In 2011, the commonwealth entered million in “questioned costs” among state-paid expens- It originally was awarded to M/A Com, a into a contract with Crown Castle Inter- subsidiary of AMP. It was taken over by national to locate private carrier cellular es for maintenance of Pennsylvania’s longest running Tyco Electronics, then Harris. equipment on the towers to generate and largest boondoggle, the statewide radio network. Senate Majority Leader Jake Cor- state revenue. Harris suggested private A man, R-Centre County, has called it carriers “and/or” the state police ap- The Office of Budget under Gov. Tom complicated by the litany of contractors Pennsylvania’s “Big Dig,” referencing parently embarked on a comprehensive Wolf cited the alleged shortcomings by involved over the years. Most are long Boston’s long-running highway fiasco. statewide inspection program to deter- the project’s main contractor, Harris gone. Harris Corp. challenged many find- mine the towers’ sustainability. (It is Corp., in a stinging audit that found ex- The radio system provides mobile ings, saying it appeared most of the data implied in Harris’ response this is about cessive billing, markup of materials and data and voice communication for the it provided for the audit was ignored. making more state revenue from private failure to document expenses. Pennsylvania State Police, which took Moreover, Harris stated, several findings carriers.) The audit was obtained by The over the project’s oversight in 2012. by the Office of Budget ignore the fact The state intends to charge Harris Caucus under the Right to Know Law. It It serves 22 commonwealth agencies, that 95 percent of the work was done for tower inspection and maintenance, covered a period from mid-2012 through business partners and local agencies. It correctly. The company says it conduct- Harris said. Under no legal theory can the end of September 2015. Harris has long been the target of complaints ed 14,500 maintenance inspections. that be viewed as Harris’ responsibility, strongly disputed the findings, but by law enforcement about dropped calls The Florida-based company’s work the contractor said. pledged cooperation. and blacked-out areas in mountainous is national in scope. Harris Corp. does Even if the state were to try to claw regions and cities. work for the Pentagon and NASA among DIRTY AIR FILTERS back the $1 million through negotiations State troopers said they couldn’t rely others. or a lawsuit, as critics have demanded, on handheld phones during the man- The audit found shortcomings rang- it would amount to only a fraction of hunt for convicted cop killer Eric Frein PAYING FOR TOWER ing from dirty air filters to overbilling. a percent of the project’s $800 million in 2014. MAINTENANCE For example, it cited: total cost. A state police spokesman said the — Deficient inspections of the air At issue in this audit is only about agency would not comment on the audit. The towers used for radio transmis- conditioning that keeps the radio sys- $25 million in maintenance and preven- Launched by passage of an appro- sion are a point of dispute between the tem’s electronic equipment at proper tive maintenance costs. But if the same priations bill signed by former Gov. Tom state and Harris. Most of the towers temperatures, resulting in dirty air fil- scrutiny were applied to the mainte- Ridge in 1996, the project ballooned were built in the early 2000s by Rohn ters and coils. As a result, the units work nance work and all contracts over al- to $800 million of late as a result of Industries, Harris said. Rohn Industries harder and their lifespan is shortened. most two decades, taxpayers potentially decades of dismal legislative oversight, a filed for bankruptcy in 2003. — Harris allowing a subcontractor to could have saved more. revolving door between contractors and The audit stated that Harris “failed to charge “questionable markups on mate- Any long-term recouping of costs is state officials, one of the contractors fil- comply” with preventive maintenance rials” billed to the commonwealth. 4 T H E C A U C U S Tuesday, December 12, 2017 ANALYSIS — Harris could not account for 38 PERSPECTIVE of 360 handsets, which cost $415 each. That’s nearly $16,000 worth of equip- Legislative committees have held ment. hearings through the years to decry — The state’s purchase of 4,300 train- requests for more and more money for ing sessions even though commonwealth the radio system. The questions often employees took only 590 courses. Harris focused on the system not fully working. was paid $15,770 for training sessions the The hearings provided plenty of political Harris Corp.