At the suggestion of a reader, amnesty will be given if the stolen NewsLanc circulation box is replaced by the end of the week on the SW corner of Marietta Avenue and School Lane from which it was stolen.

The postponement of the opening of the Convention Center and Marriott Hotel is regrettable, especially since events have to be canceled.

Getting thousands of things done simultaneously and all necessary approvals from officials and Marriott is a formidable task. Yet scheduling an extra 60 days for sitting empty as a precaution would have lost revenue and idled workers.

NewsLanc does not envy the the contractors, Penn Square Partners and the Convention Center Authority the task of meeting a tight deadline. After all, prudence has always been missing from the Project.

The red NewsLanc newsletter circulation box at the South West corner of Marietta Avenue and School Lane was stolen on Wednesday morning and its contents strewn across the lawn.

Newspaper circulation boxes are permitted on public ground and right-of-ways as freedom of speech under the U. S. Constitution.

NewsLanc is offering a thousand dollars reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction on felony charges of those illegally removing the box.

We are pleased that Commissioner Craig Lehman will be attending board meetings for the various libraries to learn more about their special circumstances and ideas.

But we are disappointed that, at his first stop, Lehman rejected out of hand the idea of library consolidation into an authority on the assumption that the various libraries would not go along.

A leader won’t hear ideas and learn much by stating preconceived notions at the outset.

By Cliff B. Lewis

Yesterday County Commissioner Craig Lehman attended a meeting of the Board of Lancaster Public Library (Duke St). This was the first in his tour of all the county libraries, which will continue into the summer.

Lehman explained, “I thought it was a good time to get out and visit with the different libraries to really get a sense of what you all are facing. My instincts tell me that, since every library in Lancaster County is unique, you’re probably all facing different stuff.”

Tuesday’s visit yielded a lively and substantive discussion between the Commissioner and the City Library’s leadership.

During the meeting, Board Memeber John Havrilla described the problems encountered by the library: “…We are an urban library, an inner-city library, as opposed to a rural or suburban library, and to some degree, we have our own set of needs that are unique…”

Board President John McGrann asserted that these unique needs are not being matched with appropriate funding. Based on a rough analysis of County Library System funding, the City library has seen a 35% funding decrease between 2006 and 2008, while the rest of the County libraries experienced a funding increase of around 40%.

The Board attributed much of the funding problem to an inadequate formula employed by the Library system, which is driven by factors such as circulation, collections, local financial effort, and a share that is distributed generally to all local libraries. The formula, however, does not account for the needs of the City library, where books are often used in-house and do not as easily influence circulation numbers. Also, the current formula does not sufficiently recognize the City library’s unique use of public computers.

Treasurer Karen Haley Field recommended serious consideration for a restructuring of the Library System. The current organizational structure is a “Federated” system, in which each library has its own board which then sends one representative to the County-level board. Field recommended the implementation of a consolidated system where each member library in the County would be treated like a business branch. In this system, all government funds could go into “one pot” which could then be distributed by expert leadership with an eye toward the individual needs of each member library.

Commissioner Lehman did not agree with the notion of reorganizing the Library system, but recognized the need for changes:

“I think it’s a nice theoretical idea, I just don’t believe that it’s a very practical solution here in Lancaster County. I think part of what makes each library unique is that fact that they are connected to their local communities, and I think the best we can hope to do is figure out how to keep our Federated system and make it work the best it can…. I think our challenge here is, how do you collectively come together to make what we have work the best that we can?”

A report from Reuters appearing at NEWSMAX.COM states that U. S. Senator Benjamin Cardin has introduced a bill “allowing newspaper companies to restructure as nonprofits with a variety of tax breaks.”

According to Cardin, “This may not be the optimal choice for some major newspapers or corporate media chains but it should be an option for many newspapers’s that are struggling to stay afloat.”

Presumably contributions to such a non-profit would provide a tax credit against incomes from other sources. Given the Steinman family’s history of philanthropy and the rapid deterioration of the financial viability of newspapers throughout the country, such a option may someday prove useful, especially given their other investments.

Nevertheless, even nonprofits need to meet payrolls! Local news websites due to their lower costs, usually offshoots of the newspapers, may benefit more from being nonprofits than the print media.

At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Director of Administrative Services Patrick Hopkins reported to the Council regarding the Administrative Ticketing system now in place to enforce the City’s updated Property Maintenance Code.

According to Hopkins, the ultimate goal of the new system to improve neighborhood quality of life, to improve the efficiency of City inspectors through technology, and to reduce court time through alternative enforcement of related problems.

The new system, Hopkins explained, works in a manner similar to vehicle-related ticketing. When a violation is recognized by an inspector, the site will be captured by digitally timed-stamped photographs and the property owner is issued a $25 ticket.

If the violation qualifies as “non-abatement,” the fine must be paid, but there will be no subsequent inspection. Trash-can or recycling violations are examples of this category. If the violation qualifies as “abatement,” the City will revisit the property after a specified period of time to confirm that the violation has been corrected. If not, the City will hire a contractor to correct the violation and bill the property owner for the work (approximately $250.00).”

Under the new system, over 400 property violations have been dealt with, with a total of only 10 appeals.

At today’s County Commissioners’ Planning Session, James Cowhey, Executive Director of the Lancaster County Planning Commission, discussed a land preservation resolution to be adopted at tomorrow’s public meeting. Under the pending resolution, $525,000 would be granted to the Lancaster County Conservancy “through the 2009 Natural Lands Preservation Fund to acquire and preserve … natural areas” in Lancaster County. The list of lands to acquire is topped by the New Holland Watershed tract, according to Cowhey.

Carrying over land preservation funding from 2008, this resolution represents an effort to put the County’s new Greenscapes Plan into action before officially lining up funding for the plan. One of Greenscapes’ core values is the preservation of “Green Infrastructure,” the network of nearby ecosystems that both tangibly and intangibly contribute to quality of life in Lancaster County. Tomorrow’s resolution would serve to preserve a few tracts of such Green Infrastructure.

Although a step toward preservation, the resolution was considered meager by some. John May, a Manor Township Supervisor and a member of the Lancaster County Conservancy Land Preservation Committee, addressed the Commissioners, expressing his concern that as much funding as reasonably possible be allocated toward the protection of natural spaces: “If there was ever an issue that you wouldn’t get an argument on from County residents, it would be land preservation….I know that you would need a fine pencil to do this, but I’m here to ask if you could a little better than $525,000.”

The Intelligencer Journal reports the resignation of Scott Feldman as head football coach at McCaskey High School.

According to the report, Feldman implied what NewsLanc reported over a year ago when he said he was unable to secure what he felt was the needed cooperation from the McCaskey High administration.

“I saw this coming two-and-a-half years ago,” said Feldman. “But I don’t think anybody believed it would happen. Last year, they saw it could happen. We’re going to have to put in the hard work like everybody else.”

Although Feldman was critical of school administration for not giving him sufficient time and resources to work with football players throughout the year and to help oversee their academic progress, the real fault lies higher up with the offices of the School Superintendent.

In the winter of 2007, NewsLanc broke the story of how Assistant Superintendent Drew Miles had ignored the System’s athletic and physical fitness programs as it slipped into dysfunction, not even requiring the detailed report from the Athletic Director that had been prepared annually, describing each teams results and explaining plans for the future.

In addition, NewsLanc published the sad win / loss results of most of the McCaskey teams in competition and called for the replacement of Allen McCloud as athletic director whom we deemed unqualified and unsuited for the position.

With the departure of McCloud soon thereafter, NewsLanc urged incoming School Superintendant Pedro Rivera and also the School Board to conduct a thorough search and to allot sufficent funds to engage an experienced athletic director, preferably from outside the SD of L. NewsLanc even passed along a recommendation of one outstanding candidate from the region.

Instead Rivera and the Board chose to jump a SD of L wrestling coach and dean of the Lafayette elementary school into arguably its second most challenging administrative and leadership position.

When NewsLanc interviewed the newly appointed Jon Mitchell, it was apparent that, although he may have been material for an assistant athletic director, prematurely putting him into the lead position was both foolish and a disservice.

Being a successful athlete or even a coach does not make someone a leader and executive. That only comes with time and experience, assuming latent ability. And even if one knows what to do, it is very difficult to alter peer relationships long established.

NewsLanc has repeatedly pointed out that the main problem with many of the McCaskey teams is lack of knowledge on the part of coaches on how to run drills, train skills, and conduct active and vigorous practices. We have recommended the services of the local OneOnOne Soccer organization to assist the soccer coaches and identified outside funding for the purpose. Nothing has occurred.

Athletics are an important part of education and play a major role in providing exercise, building character and helping to retain students in school until graduation.

Given the large size of McCaskey’s student body, given proper coaching, there is no good reaon why the school cannot be fully competitive.

It appears the School District of Lancaster’s athletic program will remain in a rut until and unless Mitchell and Rivera learn the hard way how to turn things around, and that will start by training the trainers — the coaches — on how to be prepare their teams.

The current situation is unfair to the students, to the community, and does not reflect favorably on Rivera or the School Board. It is time for the public to raise hell!

An article from the Associated Press reports: “Gov. Ed Rendell ousted the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission’s chairman Monday, citing ‘overwhelming’ evidence that Mitchell Rub accepted $150,000 in taxpayer-paid work that apparently was never done and makes it inappropriate for him to stay on the commission.”

WATCHDOG: NewsLanc’s investigation of over a million dollars in payments to Dan Logan raises a similar question of what work was performed. The State provided over $20 million in funding for the Convention Center Project. Does it take a conviction for Rendell and his attorney general to take notice?