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For consumer information, visit Fortis.edu. 2 | Erie Reader | ErieReader.com November 26, 2014 CONTENT — NOV. 26, 2014 Features 10 — Tom Wolf Ready to Take Over What the Governor-elect’s victory means for Erie and the Keystone State 27 — Penelec’s Tree Maintenance Leaves Much to be Desired Why some neighborhoods are manicured while others get chopped Editors-in-Chief: Brian Graham & Adam Welsh Managing Editor: News & Opinion Ben Speggen Contributing Editors: 4 — Exile on State Street Rebecca Styn Jim Wertz Waking up Erie’s Leadership Contributors: GOVERNOR FOR WOLF TOM Alex Bieler 5 — Street Corner Soapbox Mary Birdsong Governor-elect Tom Wolf at a Pen Ealain The Moral Bankruptcy of the GOP From The Editors Get Out the Vote rally earlier Rick Filippi this year Eric Kisner 6 — The Way I See It ritical times lie ahead for the James R. LeCorchick state of Pennsylvania and John Lindvay USPS and the Burden of the Postal the city of Erie. On the cover, manicuring versus chopping. It’s Lili Morton C we’re featuring the Keystone State’s a simple question: Why do some Dan Schank Reform Accountability Act Jess Scutella governor-elect Tom Wolf, because neighborhoods see pin oaks treated Tommy Shannon 7 — Just Toyin’ Witcha if we’re left with any question af- like bonsai trees while others fea- Ryan Smith ter the 2014 midterm elections, it’s: ture gapping Vs? It’s a rather simple Jay Stevens Your Guide to American Radio Stations What does his election mean to Erie answer: Communities with strong, Rebecca Styn — and to the state? unified voices send loud and clear Sara Toth 7 — News of the Weird by Chuck The Corbett administration bare- messages. In this case, that mes- Bryan Toy ly had a fighting chance of taking sage is that the aesthetics of a com- Jim Wertz Shepherd a second term — something every munity matter. Publisher’s Assistant: 8 — A Keen Perspective governor of Pa. had done before. Dan Schank writes about the re- Jessica Courter His probability of winning seemed cent Destination Erie community Cover Design: Edinboro Honors Student Marries Art and Math so slim that he resorted to ads fea- meets held throughout the county. Leah Yungwirth turing zombies and horror-film-in- As the two-year, $1.8 million plan Photographers: 8 — Considering The City spired murderers. But what was nears its completion, the ques- Ryan Smith more telling was the fact that major tion of What’s next is on everyone’s Brad Triana Made In Erie Marketplace media outlets announced Wolf the mind. The outcomes of these meet- Designer: winner at 8:01 — just sixty seconds ings in this community-driven pro- Leah Yungwirth 26 — Destination Erie after polls closed — with zero per- cess will help to begin answering Design Intern Key Recommendations Unveiled cent reporting. that. At very least, it’s a reminder Liz Venuto But did we elect Wolf because we that we should all be paying close Writing Interns: 30 — ER Sports believe strongly in him, or had we attention in the months to come, Michael Iverson just lost so much faith in Corbett? as they’ll influence the decades to Christopher Sexauer That’s something time — the next follow. four years to be exact — will tell. Rick Filippi turns his attention 1001 State St. Suite 901 Erie, Pa., 16501 Culture In this issue, Contributing Editor in this issue’s Exile on State Street [email protected] Jim Wertz breaks down key issues to local leadership in light of the Wolf ran on and talks to local po- midterm elections. He sounds the The Erie Reader is Erie’s only independent 14 — Calendar litical leaders to get a sense of what bell to wake Erie’s leadership from source for news and culture. The Erie Reader is a forum for ideas and discussion, and seeks January 2015 will look like. If any- what he calls a “comfortable slum- to drive two-way communication with its 23 — Reader Eater: Mad Mex thing, we’ve seen two good omens ber” and questions the age of “anti” readers. At the Erie Reader, we endeavor to highlight the best of Erie by providing in-depth, thus far: Wolf announced he won’t ideas and “anti” anything and how magazine-style journalism that cuts to the 24 — Music Reviews be collecting a salary, as a means of that may impede progress. heart of the issues that matter to Erie. The Erie Reader is published every other week at The budget tightening a la Bloomberg, If there’s anything to take away Corry Journal, 28 W. South St., Corry, Pa. 16407. 25 — Q&A with Pains At Being Pure At and Vice President of The Brook- from these pieces, it’s that collabo- The Erie Reader is distributed at over 250 high foot-traffic locations in Pennsylvania from Heart’s Kip Berman ings Institution Bruce Katz said ration — whether it’s a Democratic North East to Girard to Edinboro. In addition during the Jefferson Educational governor working with a Republi- to appearing in print, Erie Reader adds new content daily at ErieReader.com as well social 29 — Geeked Out Society’s Global Summit that “he’s can-controlled state congress, com- media sites. All rights reserved. All content © the kind of governor Pennsylvania munities uniting, citizens working Flagship Multimedia, Inc, 1001 State St., Suite First-person perspective changes everything 901, Erie, Pa, 16501. No part of this publication needs” and went on to emphasize together, or leadership taking ac- may be reproduced without permission. The Wolf’s strong background in man- tion rather than idly sitting by man- opinions of our columnists and contributors 29 — Tech Bits are their own and do not always reflect ufacturing. aging decline — will win the day, that of the editorial board or organization. Also in this issue are several piec- because if we don’t work together, Direct inquiries to 814.314.9364 or contact@ Google Experimenting with Removing Ads for ErieReader.com. es that articulate the importance of we’ll be asking the same questions a Fee community voice. First, we look at and addressing the same problems tree trimming — or in some cases, year after year. November 26, 2014 ErieReader.com | Erie Reader | 3 NEWS & OPINION Exile on State Street Waking up Erie Leadership from Its Comfortable Slumber By: Rick Filippi ow that the dust has settled on the 2014 election, I’d like to offer some Tom Wolf (pictured) one of the Nthoughts both on the national re- few bright spots in an otherwise sults and here locally. As everyone knows by depressing election. now – except maybe those who don’t vote, which is quite a large group – the Republi- politics, it’s not going to change soon. cans completely routed the Democrats in Let me provide some examples just in every major election, with the notable ex- case the point is not getting through. ception of Tom Wolf’s victory over Tom Cor- On the political front, as stated, Erie bett here in Pennsylvania. no longer has its own representative In my thirty years of political awareness, in Congress. We are now designated a I must say that this past election was the "rural" area by the state. Few national most surreal that I have ever experienced. political candidates visit Erie. For that My politics are well-known, but I believe matter, few statewide candidates make many would agree that the Republican na- Erie a priority as witnessed in the re- tional rout was largely the triumph of "no- cent gubernatorial campaign, particu- -ideas." Actually, it might be more appro- larly by the now governor -elect. priate to call it the election of the party of Economically, it’s very similar. Our "anti- ideas." probably cannot even get close to the votes two major hospitals are now affiliates of The GOP offered nothing in the way of any necessary to override a presidential veto. So Pittsburgh-based hospital networks. The forward-thinking, solution-oriented pol- we will have another two years, at least, of largest bank and the largest real estate firm icies, only the tried and true platform that blustering gasbags bemoaning everything are also Pittsburgh based. We continually anything that is or was anti-Obama was to Obama. It will be painful at best. see a reduction in state and federal invest- be voted for. Sadly, this was a vindication of And what of the local election? The guber- ment in the region. The list could go on. the GOP’s six-year effort to oppose, obstruct, natorial election aside, there really were no Sure, some of these things are due to and reject any meaningful proposals to deal surprises. How could there be? With the Re- changing economics. But because of our with America’s domestic and foreign policy publican-controlled state legislature’s reap- population stagnation, we are approaching issues. portionment plan now fully in place, were the loss of critical mass that enabled Erie to On the other hand, the Democrats might any of the elections really in question? Dem- be its own economic and political unit.