By Cliff Lewis

The Penn Square Grille, adjoining the new Marriott Hotel and Lancaster County Convention Center, maintains a thoughtful and tastefully engineered atmosphere; however, the cuisine too often lacks refinement enough to keep up with the restaurant’s decor. But, with its devoted head chef and clever selection of menu items, the Grille could one day mature into a genuine hit—instead of merely ‘hit or miss.’

Aesthetically and architecturally, the restaurant shows great ingenuity. The furniture and fixtures are designed in boxy, modernist angles while the entirety of the space is bathed in rich, earthy tones to achieve an environment that is both cool and comfortable. (The intrusive, ballroom style carpet would stand as one stark exception, however.) A long table for twelve is cordoned off in a private room to accommodate larger groups that could easily flood the common area with chatter.

A long table is provided near the entry to the Rendezvous Lounge, apparently for lone travelers who care to socialize over their dinner.

The clientele for lunch consisted largely of an upper-class, matronly lot—perhaps out on the town for market day —and business executives in expensive suits. Prices, however, were not exorbitant, with the most expensive entrée ringing in at $14.

The menu selection strives to serve up Lancaster County’s culinary heritage with an upscale flourish. This effort often amounts to copious references to our nearby market. The Central Market salad, for instance, boasts “hand selected fresh greens, Linden Dale goat cheese, dried cranberries, toasted almonds and citrus vinaigrette.” The Roasted Fresh Turkey—a Thursday lunch special—features a down-home spread of “cornbread dressing, seasonal vegetables, old fashioned country gravy and mashed potatoes.”

Although lacking the local color of other items, the Crab Macaroni and Cheese similarly works to serve a common dish in high style. The lunch special incorporated a larger, penne-like pasta with a creamy cheese sauce—far more in the neighborhood of Alfredo than Velveeta—and mingled in morsels of smoked bacon and lump crab.

The restaurant walks a fine line, and too often stumbles, in its tendency to fancy up the familiar. From the bland, tough dinner rolls, to the undrinkable Maxwell House coffee, to the filtered tap water served in sheik “Natura” glass bottles, the Grille shows an unfortunate propensity to throw a high-grade label on a low-grade item. The Shoo-Fly Pie Tart, for example, sounded like a clever idea; but the final product tasted like a sharply sweet layering of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and vanilla icing.

As noted by my senior lunch companion, the desert menu would do well to incorporate a few heart-friendly items. The sociable rhythm of dessert following dinner needn’t be a luxury exclusive to sprightly twenty-somethings.

The Penn Square Grille has only been in business for several months, and as such, shouldn’t merit any final judgment. There is plenty of time and room for this establishment to grow into its vibrant surroundings. And with a head chef like Paul Gusst, who eagerly seeks input and advice from each table of patrons, this restaurant may well learn to capitalize on its strengths and work out its weaknesses.

An Editorial “Uninvited guests at White House” harrumphs  “…Tuesday’s incident was a serious breach in White House security, made worse by the fact that threats against the president are up some 400 percent over his predecessor…. ‘Hopeful, the officers who failed o stop you will learn from this,’ said one comment to the Salahi Facebook site.’  That’s about the best that can be said about this sorry episode.”

WATCHDOG: Get a sense of humor!  The exploits of pranksters Michaele and Tareq Salahi presented no danger whatsoever to anyone, and this mischievous couple will go down in history as a minor P. T. Barnum!

The widely viewed color photograph of the glamorous couple decked out and prancing as though they were VIPs not only added mirth to the nation’s Thanksgiving celebration but gave us all a feeling that we too could have been (and belonged) at the State Dinner.

The Watchdog is still chuckling.  Two wags of the tail for this audacious couple!

[In response to the letter "The Blame Game"] Wow. Nearly a word-for-word quote of what I once wrote about the way the left treated President Bush.

Now, unlike most of the left, I will respond to the actual content, rather than indulge in an attack on the writer’s morals, intelligence and integrity.

The socialist-in-chief, who would obviously prefer that we had not noticed that glaring fact, has had his own way pretty much since January. Instead of whining about what he “inherited” you should carefully consider what he has DONE about what he supposedly inherited.

Let’s see, he’s thrown a trillion dollars of our grandchildren’s future resources at the so-called “stimulus” bill, most of which was not stimulus but was payoffs to his leftist backers. Oh, and despite the fact that only a third of the “stimulus” money has been spent he and his leftist cronies are talking about MORE.

He’s thrown billions at the financial system that was wrecked as much as anything by the lending practices put in place at the urging of Barney Frank; not only that, but he did it without any real controls on how the money would be used and/or paid back.

He’s single handedly dismantled the auto industry and largely taken over what’s left. Oh, and there’s the small matter of his attempts to take over and destroy the medical delivery system in this country, so he and his crowd can take over MY health care decisions. I’m inspired by that thought, let me tell you.

On foreign policy he’s been an unmitigated disaster as well. Yup, he really earned that Nobel Peace Prize. (See what a little charisma will do for you?)

What the Obama administration and the leftist-dominated congress are doing is mortgaging this country’s future to the Chinese.

I think I’ll continue the blame. Looks like people are starting to catch on to the clear fact that the centrist you thought you elected was a socialist in disguise. Had you fooled, didn’t he?

(Thirty-second in a series)

By Christiaan A. Hart-Nibbrig

“I’m asking you, Nevin, are we going to draw drawings?”

– Pete Shaub, Chairman of the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners, to Nevin Cooley, Penn Square Partners president, asking when architectural designs for the hotel and convention center would be completed; June 2004, nearly five years after the project began.

Paul Thibault and Ron Ford had very good reason to pass the controversial convention center county bond guaranty just before the midnight hour of their terms. The two lame duck commissioners who voted for the guaranty in the week before the November election were aware that if they didn’t get it done then, there would be no county guaranty under their successors.

Thibault and Ford knew this because the majority of what would be the next board of County Commissioners were on-the-record opposing the county guaranty. Both Republicans, Shaub and Dick Shellenberger, said unequivocally they were against county bond backing. Of the other three contenders for the minority seat, Democrat Molly Henderson and third-party candidate, Jim Clymer, similarly opposed the guaranty. Only Bill Saylor, the underdog Democrat, was non-committal on the issue.

If the Lancaster County Convention Center Authority (LCCCA) was going to borrow $40 to $50 million to construct a convention center, it needed the county and its AAA credit rating to guarantee the loan to achieve a low interest rate and to maximize the borrowings. Without it, according to the Authority, the LCCCA could only borrow half that amount. Given the candidates’ opposition to the county backing, it was clear the current board must pass the guaranty while still in office and it had the opportunity.

The October 29 vote and public meeting provided high drama for Lancaster County. More than 80 people crowded the Commissioners’ chambers on the fifth floor of the courthouse, many spilling into the halls. It was six days before the election, one day after the formal request to the county by the LCCCA to guarantee the bond, and two weeks after introducing the issue to the public by hiring bond counsel to look into the guaranty.

Many of the Lancaster’s political power elite were in the audience, most in support of the county guaranty.

“If you do not do this [guarantee the bond], you might as well drive a stake through the heart of Lancaster City,” said Rep. Mike Sturla.

Former Lancaster city Mayor Art Morris commented, “It bothers me that so many people stand up and try to throw things to try to kill the project. This [guaranty] is not unusual. It is elementary. It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone in government. It shouldn’t be a surprise to the commissioners. There is no financial reason to oppose this. You can’t be afraid of your own shadow.”

The Authority’s financial advisor, Tom Beckett, said the county’s hotel room tax revenues would cover the estimated annual debt service even if the bonds were called. In the worst case, said Beckett, the complete failure of the convention center would cost between $2.66 to $2.76 per resident, per year, for the life of the bonds.

Lancaster mayor Charlie Smithgall seized on Beckett’s language in typical fashion. “That $2.66 is less than a Happy Meal,” the fast-food loving Smithgall said.

Jim Clymer, the Constitution Party candidate for commissioner, attacked the hotel room tax, saying it was “fundamentally unfair to impose a tax on an industry that will finance its opposition.”

When the vote came, Republican Chairman Thibault, and Democrat Ford, voted to back the bond. Pete Shaub, who was about to be re-elected, voted against the ordinance, number 73.

The following Tuesday, November 4, Dick Shellenberger, Pete Shaub, and Molly Henderson were elected to the board of Lancaster County Commissioners. Jim Clymer garnered an impressive 18,000 votes. Shellenberger was the leading vote-getter, with more than 41,000 ballots counted.

A few weeks after the election, before the county-guaranteed $40 million bond agreement was finalized, Commissioner-elect Molly Henderson’s husband, Alex, was allegedly confronted on Queen Street by Lancaster Newspapers Chairman, Jack Buckwalter. Mr. Henderson was the managing partner of a prominent local law firm. He and Buckwalter knew one another, were professional acquaintances, and sat on some of the same boards of directors.

According to Henderson, an agitated Buckwalter berated him because of his wife’s position on the county bond guaranty.

So why were Convention Center Authority sponsors, like Buckwalter, concerned about the incoming board and its position on the guaranty? Wasn’t it a ‘done deal?’

The answer can be found in a buried subsection of the enabling legislation, the 1994 Third Class County Convention Center Authorities Act, which reads:

“If and to the extent that the authority pledges its share of the proceeds of the tax authorized by this section as security for the payment of bonds issued by the authority for convention center purposes, the Commonwealth does hereby pledge to and agree with any person, firm or corporation subscribing to or acquiring bonds to be issued by the authority for convention center purposes that the Commonwealth itself will not, nor will it authorize a county to, reduce the rate of tax imposed for convention center purposes until all bonds so secured by the pledge of the authority, together with interest, are fully met and discharged,”

–16 P.S. Chapter 1; Article XXIII; (n) Third Class County Convention Center Authorities; Section 2399.23; subsection (f)

The company Jack Buckwalter headed, Lancaster Newspaper, Inc., held a co-equal stake in the project with High in Penn Square Partners.

The $40 million Citizens Bank construction bond, although guaranteed by the commissioners, would be a debt of the Convention Center Authority. And, according to governing Pennsylvania law—the Convention Center Act of 1994—until that debt was fully discharged, including interest, there appeared nothing any subsequent board of commissioners could do about it.

Thus, as long as the majority of the LCCCA Board was unwilling to repay the relatively small amount drawn down (closing fees and $18,000 per month in ‘negative arbitrage’), the commissioners would be prevented from reducing or rescinding the hotel room rental tax, and therefore killing the convention center project.

The net result of the county guaranty and the issuance of the LCCCA bond effectively tied the hands of the new board of commissioners unless and until the LCCCA Board arranged to pay off the bond.

Howard Kelin was hired in 2006 by the County Commissioners as Special Counsel to represent them against a suit brought by the Convention Center Authority. In its brief filed with the court, Kelin writes of the 2003 guaranty and the speedy issuance of the bond in the waning days of the Thibault board:

“The county believes the 2003 financing was ‘fake financing,’ engineered to create debt to which the former lame-duck board of commissioners could adhere the County’s guaranty, and to subvert the right of future Commissioners to consider and decide whether county taxpayers should guarantee financing for the project…”

There is disagreement whether later boards of Commissioners would have the standing to revoke the guaranty and reduce or modify the room tax. There is precedent in Pennsylvania law with the courts setting aside a similar actions when challenged by their successors.

In the leading case, Lobilito, Inc vs North Pocono School Disrict, [562 Pa 380, 755 A. 2d 1287 (2000)], the Pennsylvania Supreme Court concluded that ‘lame duck’ elected officials could not artificially bind the hand of its successors.

In the Lobilito case, a construction company, Lobilito, had entered into a construction contract with the North Pocono, Pa, school board. The newly elected incoming school board opposed the controversial project. When the new board took office in 1994, they disavowed the construction contract. Lobilito filed a breach of contract suit against the North Pocono School District.

The Pennysylvania Supreme Court ruled that the newly elected board could disavow the contract of the previous board because it was inappropriate to ‘hamstring’ its successor board:

“With respect to those agreements involving municipal or legislative bodies that encompass governmental functions, we have repeatedly held that governing bodies cannot bind their successors.

“…The obvious purpose of the rule is to permit a newly appointed governmental body to function freely on behalf of the public and in response to the governmental power and body politic by which it was appointed or elected, unhampered by the policies of the predecessors who have since been replaced by the appointing or electing power.  To permit the outgoing body to ‘hamstring’ its successors by imposing upon them a policy implementing and to some extent policymaking machinery, which is not attuned to the new body or its policies, would be to most effectively circumvent the rule.”

–Lobilito, Inc vs North Pocono School Disrict, 562 Pa 380, 755 A. 2d at 1289-90

One Lancaster attorney, who has worked on governmental issues concerning the county (and who spoke on condition of anonymity), said that because a judge later found that the passing of the bond guaranty was a “proprietary” rather than a “governmental” action, that guaranty couldn’t be reversed “whether the new commissioners waited a year or two, or whether they did it the first day in office.”

Another Lancaster attorney with decades of experience in municipal law (who also declined to be identified) disagreed, arguing that challenging the guaranty immediately might have made a significant difference in having it revoked.

“Proprietary?” said the second attorney. “There were no architectural designs completed. Construction was years away. The financing was not secured. The public didn’t want it. I think it [the guaranty] could’ve been challenged and perhaps reversed. But there weren’t the votes on the board to do that at the time.”

He was right. The next board was not then interested in overturning the guaranty, or stopping the project at all. All three supported the project, and one of them was adamant that it get done sooner rather than later.

Despite being known for its Amish or “Plain” population, the players who occupy the political stage in Lancaster County are anything but ordinary.  From bellicose Mayor Charlie Smithgall, to his pompous, bow-tie-wearing successor, Rick Gray, to attention-loving “official observer,” Ron Harper, Jr., to pie-tossing LCCCA chairman, Jim Pickard, to the quixotic businessman, Robert Field (NewsLanc’s publisher), the place has its complement of eccentrics. But perhaps the wildest of all these unwieldy personalities was Howard “Pete” Shaub, Jr.

Pete Shaub was the former marine, auctioneer, building executive, and only incumbent candidate for commissioner. Shaub, with his natty, coordinated suits, fit physique, and crisp haircut, had a mounted sword above his desk in his office on the fifth floor. Message: Get out of the way.

It was during his first term, his first elected position, where Shaub got his reputation for unpredictability and abrasiveness.

Immediately after being sworn into office for the second time, in January, 2004, the new board voted to name Pete Shaub as Chairman. At the time, Shellenberger had no electoral experience, and didn’t have qualms about the vote.

“I was learning the job,” Shellenberger says today. “Pete had the experience. At that point, early in the term, we could work with Pete. It didn’t get bad until a little later in the year.”

The problem, later called “chaos” in the courthouse, was that many people couldn’t “work with” the combustible Shaub. Known for his insult-laden explosions, Shaub had alienated his own party to the extent that it declined to endorse him in his re-election bid in 2003.

“I can’t trust him,” said Jere Swarr, a Rapho Township supervisor. “You know how on your report card there’s a grade, ‘works well with others’? Pete got a report card, ‘He does not work well with others,’ “ continued Swarr, a former endorsed Republican candidate for county commissioner.

One former county employee who worked in the commissioners’ office, remembers Shaub’s frequent screaming fits, once banging his head on a table during a meeting when advised the meeting might be in violation of the Sunshine law.

Shaub, according to another former county employee in the Commissioners’ office, demeaned nationally renowned city planner, Ron Bailey, into resigning. “Shaub badgered, and badgered, and badgered that man until he quit,” said the former employee. “Shaub couldn’t handle another person taking his thunder. Ron Bailey was an asset to the county.”

Pete Shaub was a former construction boss. And as a man used to getting projects completed, he was upset at the pace of construction of the convention center.

“Pete was very concerned that the center was delayed for so long,” remembers Shellenberger, of the first months in office. “This was his construction background. He set timetables with the Authority and private partners to get things done. He wanted to move it [the project] along.”

Shaub gave the LCCCA a deadline of September 7, 2004 to complete the architectural designs for the hotel and convention center project.

Penn Square Partners had selected Atlanta-based Cooper Carry, Inc. to design the project. It was at a Commissioners’ meeting when a clearly perturbed Shaub publicly called out the private partners, Penn Square Partners.

“Nevin,” a clearly exasperated Shaub said to the Penn Square president, Nevin Cooley, “I ask you, are we going to draw drawings?’”

Cooley, longtime spokesman for High Associates, responded, “When we have a signed agreement on the King Street Garage,” referring to a pending contract between the Authority and the Partners regarding control of the King Street facility adjacent to the proposed project.

Shaub retorted sarcastically, “That is just an excuse. Folks, we have a very short time and very short lives. It’s time for Penn Square Partners to fulfill their end of the bargain so we can have those schematic drawings done by Sept. 7. We are behind as it is.”

Shaub’s behavior was not only upsetting those working around him. Sponsors of the convention center project and some of its key supporters—like Sen. Gib Armstrong and Rep. Sturla—were publicly rebuking Shaub for making it more difficult to keep the project going.

This was the first substantive rift between the public and private partners in the project. It would not be the last.

###

Chapter Thirty-Three: 2005 Part I: The Rift over the CC Hotel TIF

Are we going to blame Obama for starting the virus?

He is blamed everyday thru editorials, e-mails etc for every single thing that is wrong with this country. He has been in office less than a year and has been criticized for every single thing he has tried to do.

Wake up people. He is not responsible for ANY of todays problems, they existed before he was in office.

And in case your high school government classes didn’t stick, the president of the United States does not make any  decisions on his own. So instead of blaming him for everything why don’t we try supporting the man and fight against the partisan game playing that seems to be a the center of every issue he is up against, the issues he inherited.

A few eyebrows have been recently raised regarding certain actions of the Lancaster County Library System, led by Administrator Susan Hauer. The newly formed Public Libraries Task Force, at its meeting last week, had to take the System ‘to task’ for having negotiated a lease extension without consulting the County Commissioners’ initiated research panel. As Task Force Chair Terry Kauffman put it, “Quite frankly, [System office space] is one of the things that we identified we want to look at.”

Some area library officials have suggested that the System’s current space is unduly expensive for this component of library services in Lancaster County—especially as many local libraries are laying off staff and slashing services to cope with State-level budget cuts. The System, which had at one time operated out of the Lancaster Public Library on Duke Street, now absorbs about 50% of all state and county library-related dollars in Lancaster County.

At an October 20 meeting, more than a month after the Task Force was officially formed, the System Board voted unanimously to “move forward” on a lease extension for its Greenfield Corporate Center offices. The extension, adding three years to an existing 2013 expiration, was negotiated with landlord High Real Estate at the incentive of three months’ rent forgiveness—$26,751 in apparent savings.

In her remarks at a November 12 County Commissioners budget work shop, Hauer explains how the opportunity first came about:

“In the middle of the year last year we were looking for savings. We were talking to all our vendors, all of our providers, about—could they cut us a better deal? And, as part of that…we asked [Mike Lorrelli, Senior Vice President of Commercial Asset Management for High] for a 20% reduction in our lease for the year in 2010….He said, ‘I’ll get back to you,’ and he did, and he said, ‘If you extend your lease by three years, from 2013 to 2016, we will give you three months rent forgiveness—so that’s about $25,000. And he said, furthermore, ‘If, at the end of 2013, you decide not to extend your lease, you’ll just have to pay it back.’ And there’s no interest, there’s no penalty.”

This matter, however, was not made known to the Task Force in its early inception. After the System Board’s October 20 vote, Kauffman only learned of this agreement through a phone call from an individual who had attended the Library System’s meeting.

With both Hauer and Board President Bud Rettew present at last week’s Task Force meeting, Kaufman took a moment to address the lease extension: “Terry Kauffman,” the meeting minutes recount, “reported that he was contacted about an amendment to [the System's] lease with High, and he expressed objections to the extension….Kauffman especially objected to the breakdown in communication and the way he was informed.”

The minutes go on to note that “Hauer and Bud Rettew, who participated in the lease amendment discussions, assured Kauffman that extra effort will be made to assure better communication with the Task Force.” Rettew later specified to NewsLanc that “the lease extension proposal is still in the hands of the System and has not been returned to High, pending the Task Force’s review and recommendation.”

We did a press conference yesterday on health care. The focus was single payer health care system vs.the Democratic/Obama bills. C-SPAN taped it and played it at least four times yesterday.

The thrust of our press conference yesterday was we need to start from scratch and defeat this bill. I am particularly disturbed by the government forcing working people who are struggling in this economy to buy insurance (or any product). I don’t think that has ever been done before in U.S. history and doubt the Congress has the power to do so.

In fact, I’m considering putting together a lawsuit challenging that provision if it is passed.

You can see a video of the event on C-SPAN: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/290273-1.

As of Monday afternoon, NewsLanc was faced with a down-beat story for the Thanksgiving holiday. Maria Schaszberger, Director of Communications for Water Street Ministries, had reported that the Mission was coming up critically short in turkey donations received for its Thanksgiving dinners and food box program. With about 1,100 needed, the Mission had only received 300 turkeys, according to a count from last week.

But then, on Tuesday, Schaszberger checked the newly updated count and sent NewsLanc the following message:

“You won’t believe this—I don’t believe it yet myself!—but we received 2,000 turkeys in the last week! The count is up to 2,100! Absolutely amazing. If we would happen to exceed the 2,500 mark, the Water Street Mission will be able to provide more meals with good, quality meat!”

Schaszberger referred to this rush of donations as nothing less than a “turkey miracle.” The Mission, she said, had hoped to receive about a total of 2,500 for Thanksgiving and Christmas combined.

Schaszberger maintained, however, that general food donations remain a problem this year. According to Schaszberger, the Rescue Mission Food Drive—which comprises the Water Street Mission, York Rescue Mission, and Lebanon Rescue Mission—has only received 30 of the 112 tons of food needed for this holiday season. “That means we need to receive 80 tons in the next 3 weeks—about 25 tons a week!,” Schaszberger said, noting that “the giving has been steady compared to last year’s effort, but the need has increased so much.”

In 2008, the Communications Director explained, Water Street Mission served 14,000 meals each month; in 2009, that figure has risen to 15,100.

Since the onset of the recession, Schaszberger said, the Mission has seen a rise in the number of general donations while the size of those donations individually has decreased. Schaszberger asserted that this trend shows that many local residents have “a heart to give,” but simply may not be able to give as much in these pressing times.

For more information about the Rescue Mission Food Drive, click here; for more information about the Turkey Drive, click here.

“In a hopeful sign, the number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits fell below 500,000 last week for the first time since January.

“Consumer spending also picked up in October, and new-home sales hit their highest point in more than a year. Together, the reports suggested that the economy should manage to sustain at least a modest recovery. Some economists have worried that the economy was at risk of slipping back into recession.”

WATCHDOG: This is perhaps the first legitimate ray of sunshine.  A wag of the tail!

An article headed “Groups hatch $15 million plan to revive 2nd block of South Queen Street” opens “More than a year ago, Lancaster Alliance President Jack Howell identified the 100 block of South Queen Street as a neighborhood teetering on the edge.”

It later states “When completed, South Square will have 62 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments that would be on the “upper end of affordable housing,” Michael Carper said.

It continues “The units would rent for between $400 to $800 per month.”

WATCHDOG: That comes to $242,000 per unit, as much as the value of most suburban homes and twice as much for the typical Lancaster row house in good condition.

How can our society afford grants and funds in such large amounts for units that will receive so paltry a rental?

And is this location suitable for affordable housing?

Make no mistake about it. This isn’t relief for the poor. If they wanted housing for the poor, they could go buy an apartment complex at $60,000 a unit. This is relief for affluent bankers, lawyers, architects and builders.

Had the original smaller version of the convention center gone into the Brunswick and the Watt & Shand site been developed for mixed housing / retail use, both as originally envisioned, gentrification would have moved southward into this very block and private money would have accomplished more for half the cost.

So very sad. Growl!