Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Reed

courtesy:  WPMT 43
I've been reading a lot about former Harrisburg mayor Stephen Reed.  He died Saturday from prostate cancer.  70 years old.

Reed was Harrisburg's mayor from 1982 to 2010.  He's been given credit for cleaning up the city, creating a restaurant row, establishing City Island Park as a great recreational area, improving education, and more.

He was THE information source, appearing at just about every big fire and major crime.  He was the only one authorized to speak to the media, and I was warned about that very early in to my freelancing stint there several years ago.

Reed grew to be too powerful, spending millions of taxpayer dollars on artifacts for a proposed Wild West museum.  Yes, a wild west museum in Harrisburg.  Thank heaven Matt Dillon and Miss Kitty weren't around to see that one.

The museum never happened.  Investigators smelled something fishy.  Criminal charges followed. 

There were other problems, including a debacle over a trash incinerator that cost taxpayers millions.

Absolute power.

You know the rest.

I doubt we'll ever see another Stephen Reed type again.

I'm not complaining.