Not Here
Voters won't get their say on home rule charter

Cameron County is going back to the drawing board in its efforts to cope with a worsening economic condition.

Eleventh-hour financial incentives from the state weren't enough to tip the balance Monday night, as township and borough officials shot down a plan to radically change the system of local government.

Only two of the county's seven municipalities agreed to sign onto the Cameron County Board of Commissioners' home rule charter resolution. A positive vote was required from all five townships and both boroughs in order for the issue to be put before voters countywide in November.

"I don't know that a meeting like this has ever occurred anywhere in Pennsylvania," Commissioner Tony Mosacto told a crowd of less than 100 at the Cameron County Courthouse.

Shippen Township and Driftwood Borough were the only municipalities to approve the ballot referendum, while Emporium Borough tabled the issue. The death knell sounded as the townships of Lumber, Gibson, Grove and Portage all turned it down, despite emotional pleas by dissenters to "let the people decide."

Commissioners Moscato, Glen Fiebig and Patrick Rodgers worked with a paid consultant, Alan Kugler of Pennsylvania Futures, and Penn State's Cooperative Extension Service to draft the plan.

After the meeting, Rodgers said he was undaunted and would push for a plan to bring the issue before the voters as early as May 2008. Meanwhile, he said, the board will try to educate the public on the plan.

The commissioners believe radical changes are necessary in the structure of Cameron County's local government, due largely to population losses and a stagnant economy.

Their argument is bolstered by an interim U.S. Census report showing that the county's population has plunged by more than eight percent since 2000, from 5,974 in 2000 to 5,489 last year.

Cameron County's unemployment rate stood at 6.2 percent in May, well above Pennsylvania's average of 4.1 percent. The county also has an aging population, with an out-migration of young people and an influx of retirees.

Kugler's study found that taxes could be reduced across the county by as much as $500,000 a year if the township and borough governments were dissolved and replaced with a consolidated system. Tax savings would have come largely due to a reduction of about 30 local government positions.

Opponents of the plan countered that the home rule charter would lead to less local government representation. They warned of reduced services - everything from snow plowing to garbage disposal -- and less local power to ward off unwanted developments, such as a hazardous waste dump.

Commissioner Fiebig, the only incumbent seeking reelection, said the county will investigate other options to reduce expenses or increase revenue. The county's real estate tax is currently at 25 mills, the highest rate allowed by state law.

Some elected officials who opposed the home rule charter said they are open to alternatives, such as the merger of two or more townships or the formation of a Council of Governments to represent mutual interests.

Max Narby, a member of Emporium Borough Council, said he wasn't opposed to the consolidation plan, per se, but added that the issue should be postponed until a new Cameron County Board of Commissioners is seated in January.

"It is not fair to the new commissioners to saddle them with a charter and consolidation that they were not involved in constructing," Narby said. " . . . I (also) don't feel the people are ready for it."

Lumber Township Supervisor Von Hause, who voted against putting the referendum on the ballot, said he feared an affirmative vote would signal to his constituents that he endorses the changes in local government.

Hause engaged in a heated discussion with Commissioner Moscato as to alternatives for getting the consolidation issue on the ballot.

A handful of municipal officials expressed disappointment at the turnout for Monday night's meeting and lamented the apparent lack of public interest in the issue.

Each time an audience member would support the citizens' right to vote on the issue, an enthusiastic round of applause could be heard throughout the courtroom.

"This proposal makes sense," said Joel Caldwell. "I feel as though I have the right to vote on this decision."

School board member and small business consultant Bill Bogart said, "I think the people should have the right to exercise their vote, whether they agree with it or not."

On the other hand, Sterling Run resident Bob Grief said he wasn't satisfied with explanations of the financial aspects.

In sparsely populated Grove Township, the supervisors polled the vast majority of the approximately 110 adult citizens and found little or no support for consolidation.

Another issue of discussion was the pressure put on the elected officials to "hastily" make a decision. Some said they felt they had been put on the spot.

Dennis Yablonsky, secretary of the Pa. Dept. of Economic and Community Development, said the Rendell administration was poised to approve funding in excess of $1 million for several economic development activities in Cameron County if the new system of government were put into place.

The plan called for a ninemember countywide council to be elected and seated as early as 2010. The offices of county commissioner, township supervisor, borough council member, mayor and several others would have been eliminated.