Hits and Misses

HIT: It’s not clear yet how good the working relationship is between Gov. Tom Wolf and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, but it’s almost certainly better than it was between Wolf and his previous No. 2, Mike Stack. Wolf held Stack at arm’s length on the best of days, and pulled Stack’s security detail and put parameters on how Stack and his wife could interact with their staff when it became clear the Stacks were being abusive to the people charged with their protection and care. Wolf had no say from the get-go in Stack becoming his second-in-command, because the governor and lieutenant governor are elected separately in Pennsylvania. That might change before too long, though. On Monday, the Pennsylvania Senate voted 46 to 2 for an amendment to the commonwealth’s constitution that would allow gubernatorial candidates to choose their running mates. If it passes in the House this session, and is approved again by both bodies again in the next session, it will be passed on to voters to make the final decision. Governors should have an ally they trust serving with them, and a hand-picked lieutenant governor would provide greater continuity if they end up ascending to the state’s top job.
HIT: Nico Pampena is a 9-year-old resident of the Westmoreland County community of Lower Burrell, and it would be fair to say he’s endured some trials in his young life. He has disabilities and and has been subjected to fierce bullying by his classmates. The bullying became so intolerable that Pampena tried to take his own life. He is recovering after a month-long stay in a hospital’s behavioral health program, and Pampena’s neighbors are showing how much they care about him by making him the focus of the city’s Anti-Bullying Day today. Pampena will also be Lower Burrell’s mayor for a day today. Rich Callender, Lower Burrell’s mayor, told Greensburg’s Tribune-Review that Pampena’s plight “touched part of my heart.” He added, “I want him to know there are people here in the community who want to reach out to him.” This is a gesture other communities should emulate.
MISS: Pennsylvania’s Motor License Fund receives most of its money from the state’s highest-in-the-nation gasoline tax, which sits at 57.6 cents per gallon. When the most recent increase in the gasoline tax was approved in Harrisburg, it was touted as a necessity to provide funding for repairs to the state’s crumbling roads and bridges. But as state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale noted in a recent audit of the state Department of Transportation, a big chunk of that money isn’t going toward road projects. It’s going to fund the operations of the state police. According to a report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, DePasquale said the Motor License Fund provided more than $4 billion for state police operations in the six years ending in 2017. That money, DePasquale said, could repair nearly all of the state’s structurally deficient bridges. “The state police need to be funded,” DePasquale said. “That should not come from the Motor License Fund.” We agree, but it’s up to the Legislature to correct this situation. We’ll not hold our breath.
HIT: Brian Tempest didn’t have a career in law enforcement in mind when he was drafted into the Army in 1971, but the Army chose that field for him and made him a military policeman. This week, Tempest retired after a 47-year career in law enforcement. He began his civilian career as an officer in New Eagle from 1974 to 1985, then became an officer in Monongahela, where he became chief of the department in 2007. Said Tempest in looking back on his years of service, “People skills are as important as ever. I used to watch police officers carry blackjacks, mace, zappers and Tasers. And I would tell them that their best tool was their voice. I always remind my officers that they should treat people the way they want to be treated.” Tempest left the Monongahela department in a better place than where he found it, and for that he is due a big “thank you.”