HARRISBURG PATRIOT-NEWS Op Ed: …What does this sordid history have to do with the optimistic tone now emanating from the receiver? Only this: Harrisburg descended into darkness due to a lack of transparency regarding the decades of deals that created its debt; there is no reason to believe that secret negotiations with AGM will produce a better result now.
AGM’s record demonstrates its “take no prisoners” approach to debt reduction. It will likely never consent to reducing the principal amount it is owed. It challenged Stockton’s right to file for municipal bankruptcy, because it feared that city’s debt to its state retirement system might get priority over it; a federal court dismissed its challenge.
In our city, concessions and sacrifices have been made by every other stakeholder: through an earned income tax increase on our diminishing tax base; reduced pay and pensions to municipal employees; and by the city government which has eliminated the parks department and cut other services… (more)
