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Guest Commentary Anne Gardner tells us what she heard and saw at the County Commissioner's meeting on December 22. Some drama ! I attended the Commissioners’ regularly scheduled meeting Wednesday morning. Bombshells and brickbats were thrown, juggled and caught, all in an atmosphere of forced civility. Drama there was a-plenty, which was not reflected by the news reporters covering the event. Here’s a first-hand account, unbiased and fourth-row center. Pete Shaub presided; following a couple of routine resolutions for which there was no discussion and unanimous approval, the Commissioner Chair asked for “other business.” Molly Henderson announced she had five motions to enter, saying the first of which – clearly the most important – did not need a second and that she requested a roll-call vote for each of the motions. As she read the first motion, which would immediately replace Shaub with Dick Shellenberger as Chairman, Shaub's face assumed what you might call his trademark steely impassivity. (I've been on the receiving end of Shaub's apparent ability to compartmentalize – he hears or sees something that is best tuned out, from his perspective, and he mentally goes somewhere else. He never forgets…..but his listening is on some other level.) As Henderson's motions – indictments all of Shaub’s actions and management – rolled on, Shaub roused himself from time to time to swat at the annoying fly of her voice and words…..”pay the courtesy of getting this material to all of us more than five minutes before a meeting…..will of the board…..sky is not falling…….” Cant for the masses; clearly in Pete-World just saying something, no matter how farcically removed from reality or truth, makes it real. All motions passed – a foregone conclusion as Shellenberger is choosing to act independent of Shaub (not in opposition necessarily – but on his own initiative). Some things did not happen that, like the non-barking dog, are of note: after the vote was taken on removing Shaub from the Chairmanship, replacing him with Shellenberger, I do believe Dick should have been able to move to the center chair and moderate the rest of the meeting; the word was, after all, “immediately.” Pete bulled on. A question from the floor, pressing Shaub to present his vision for planning as it differs from Ron Bailey’s (given the apparent contradiction of Shaub’s forcing Bailey’s resignation and his joining in a standing ovation for Bailey at the budget hearing in November), and also to explain why he feels compelled to lump Paul Thibault, Friends of Better Government, and Ron Bailey together in a conspiracy to embarrass him, drew a dismissive “No commissioner acts independently – we’ll all share our vision for the county in January.” No further mention of conspiracy rationale. End of meeting. There is one thing that all residents of If Henderson's and Shellenberger’s procedural changes are followed, if public outcry of concern and indignation is listened to, if the new chairman's new-found independence holds, and if Shaub chooses to act as part of a team, subsuming his personal agenda below that of the county’s, then we can move through the process of finding a new planning chief who can follow in Bailey’s footsteps, and we can be assured that the county stays on its responsible ag-preserve track. This is all devoutly to be hoped for. I for How wonderfully refreshing, and intellectually demanding, to see business and governmental leaders actually challenging the reigning hegemony of libertarian/utilitarian thought in the Republican Party. For twenty years we have seen the gradual rise to power of conservative-leaning philosophical and political ideals at most levels of our society. Unfortunately, with that rise came the ugly step-sister: libertarianism. The most recent off-shoot of 19th century Benthamite utilitarian thought, libertarianism, stands to overtake the traditionalist influence on the Republican Party unless dissenters begin to speak up. In Lancaster County we appear to have bold leaders who are intellectually capable of understanding this "family feud" and calling it where they see it. I just hope there are enough citizens left willing to listen with their hearts and not just their wallets. Thanks Bill Adams and Paul Thibault! John Blowers "As I see Friends of Better Government", by Anne Gardner, Vice-Chairman FBG is a PAC. Let’s start over... Friends of Better Government is a Political Action Committee. It’s composed of Lancaster County Republicans who want to promote the idea and the actuality of local governance that is ever better. Better than? Better than it is when litmus tests and conditions are placed on the voices that can be heard and on the minds that can be put to work for the good of the county. We are formally structured as a political action committee because that gives us the ability to be a player in the political arena – we can raise money and spend it on partisan causes, and we can advocate for candidates and actions. How we came to be explains a good bit about what we are today. The PAC was formed after Paul Thibault’s County Commissioner reelection. His first term is cited by many as part of the most constructive, collegial commissioner boards ever, albeit he had run unendorsed by the county Republican Party. Now for the reelection – the county party declined once again to endorse him, apparently because he was outside the narrow ideological mainstream of the party hierarchy. The enthusiasm of the campaigns manifested itself in tremendous volunteer involvement and fund-raising success. New voters, young voters, voters who were disenchanted with entrenched ways of doing things – these people were Paul’s base…..and they became the base of our PAC, which was established to harness this enthusiasm for the good of the Republican Party and the good of the county. Why the good of the party? An entrenched party structure that is close-minded equals a moribund party. And in a county such as ours – faced with tremendous change and challenges – a party that does not step to the plate with its best and brightest is going to go down swinging. Fresh faces and ideas from another party will find audiences hungry for creative vitality. One need look no further than Montgomery County to face this reality. We’d like our party to connect bat to ball. Why the good of the county? Take that same change and challenge – how can we possibly meet them successfully with a roster of public servants representing only a narrow, and exclusionary, segment of the body politic? There are far too many people who simply won’t run for office or even be involved at local levels because of this. What a waste of talent and opportunity. The campaigns embodied Paul’s attitude of respect for a broad swath of opinions and ideas that, while diverse, are firmly rooted in conservative Republican principles. His idea always has been – and the thrust of the PAC is now – that adherence to these core principles leaves plenty of room for different strategies, divergent opinions, even conflicting stands on some issues. Debate is healthy – in fact is life-affirming – if conducted in a context of mutual respect and open-minds. Out of the interest and enthusiasm channeled to these campaigns came a more permanent organization that can advance this agenda of inclusion. The format chosen by this group of dedicated Republicans was the political action committee, Friends of Better Government. While its genesis was in campaigns to elect Thibault, its mission is much broader. The scope of our activity now includes this web site. Let the electronic debate begin! |
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Paid for by Friends of Better Government P.O. Box 8910 - Lancaster, PA 17604 717-393-3246 (T) 717-299-5692 (F) Legal