Write-in guidelines scrapped
At the October 21, Election Board Meeting, Mary Stehman, Chief Clerk and Registrar of the Election Office, announced that recently proposed write-in policy guidelines would no longer be put to a vote before the Election Board. In place of the guidelines, Stehman explained, the Election Board has decided to design a new education process for write-in candidates, “to let them know what their responsibilities and obligations are to win the write-in campaign and to accumulate their own votes and any variations of their names.”
Stehman will present the Election Board, made up of the County Commissioners, with plans for the new program at a later date.
The originally proposed guidelines were brought to the Commissioners for approval at last week’s public meeting; however, during that meeting, a West Lampeter resident raised concerns about the implications of certain parameters. The Commissioners postponed their vote, asking the Election Office to reevaluate the written guidelines before taking further action.
According to Stehman, the Election Office gathered representatives of area political parties at a Tuesday, October 20 meeting to discuss the revised policy. After this hour-long “academic discussion,” Stehman said, the group determined that educational measures for write-in candidates would be more effective than the written policy guidelines.
The Commissioners affirmed the Office’s decision at the Wednesday meeting. Commissioner Scott Martin called it a “very good move,” and Commissioner Craig Lehman added that “the education piece makes a whole lot of sense.”
County office plaza renovation to come
At the Commissioners Meeting, which took place directly before the Election Board Meeting, the Commissioners approved a $125,575 contract with Greenfield Architects to “provide design and construction phase services for the exterior plaza on the Chestnut Street side of the County’s 150 North Queen Street Administration Building.”
According to Construction Administrator Barry Garman, the purpose of the project will be to “provide a visually appealing, functional outdoor space for the north side of the building,” as well as to define the building’s entrance, to provide a clear drop-off area for constables and deputies accessing the forthcoming first floor District Court, and to visually associate the area with the nearby Binn’s Park.
The proposed project, as Garman summarized, would include the following changes:
- Raised planter beds
- New flag poles
- A new bus stop canopy with seating (to be reviewed with RRTA for possible cooperative funding)
- Heated walkways
- A new vehicular drop-off
- Raised deputy parking along the alley
- Enhanced bollard lighting
Lehman noted that the renovations should assist visitors in locating the County facility; often, Lehman, said, “people don’t know where to go.” The Commissioner also asserted that the project would “add to the overall streetscape of the Chestnut Street side of this building….I think it will be not only great for people coming to this building, but I think it will be a great asset for the city.”
Would that be the same Greenfield Architects owned by PSP and High Associates grand poobah Dale High?
Would he be part of a group of high profile Republicans and local power players who took dead aim at former Commissioners from both parties for acquiring that building in the first place?
If my memory serves, they objected to that building, but not the Watt & Shand building, being removed from the tax rolls? I see he does not object to another fat contract now that most of his CC contracts, F&B notwithstanding, have run out.
Watch out Dale, don’t bang your head on the bottom of the trough!