She ain't even preachin' to the choir no more

Linda?  You could probably use a break from all that exhausting no commenting you've been doing.  Let's join hands and skip down memory lane to happier times.

Remember your inauguration when everything was all exciting and you were the center of attention?  Good times.  That's when you looked out over the half-empty Forum auditorium and uttered these words:

"My prayer is for our city to come together, united in our common purpose, finding strength in our unity and together assuring the resurgence that will take place.

"With neither malice nor blame, as neither has any place in civil discourse, but with love for our city and for all of our fellow citizens, we must join hands in recognition of our collective future."

It would appear to us that God did not just say "no" to your prayer, he smote you for good measure.  Unfortunately innocent citizens are being endangered by the celestial schrapnel.

Linda, you know those pre-meeting prayers where much mention is made of those who have hardened their hearts against you?  Knock it off.  Not only have many hearts hardened into diamonds, God already told you "no" and now you're just pissing Him off.

What's that?  Fine.  We'll leave God out of it for the moment.

Let's just look at the facts after the election.  You won by 842 votes.  Yes, yes, we know one vote is enough, but it should have been a landslide.

The city is Democratic, majority black and you had the endorsement of the Ministerium.  You had money, consultants and a Get Out The Vote (GOTV) machine.  Your opponent was an underfunded, white, Jewish, male Republican who received no support from the county committee.  You should have creamed him, but you didn't. 

Could that cold, hard fact not penetrate your breathtaking hubris?  Could you not grasp your surprisingly slim margin of victory was empirical evidence of a city deeply divided?  You should have been building coalitions with citizens who weren't singing in your choir.

But that reaching out and building bridges thing isn't really you, is it?  You've got your own "special" style.

We tried to warn your advisors/handlers/wranglers in October 2009:

. . . given her “style” the citizenry may disinclined to join hands and sing “Kumbaya” and more interested in uniting to storm City Hall with torches and pitchforks.

See Linda?  We can prophesy too.  Just like Rev. Martin Odom of Bethel Village AME Church.

The Patriot-News seems to lack the gift.  It's hard to be a prophet when you can't see the trees on the wall or the writing in the forest because your head is up your ass. 

In its tiresome continuing series of Sunday editorials begging you to play nice, the newspaper wrote:

When she campaigned against then-Mayor Stephen Reed in 2009, Linda Thompson promised a new era of transparency and inclusiveness.

Instead, Mayor Thompson has hunkered down, literally, behind a locked office door.

In last week’s Patriot-News-WITF State of the City Poll . . . only 19 percent of residents viewed her favorably. Pollster Terry Madonna called it the worst job performance ratings he’d seen in 30 years of state and national polling.

As our State of the City Poll made clear, Mayor Thompson has few chances left to lead.

She can continue to hunker down like Steve Reed — but with none of his dynamism or vision — and watch events spin out of her control. Or she can open her locked door and be the transparent, inclusive leader she promised to be.

Linda, you're in serious trouble.  According to the the poll the bedrock of your base is eroding.  The choir is starting to leave and your inner circle has shrunk considerably.  To put it bluntly, you're so toxic that you can't even pay people to tolerate you.

After the Valentine's Day protest and the release of the poll you've made two highly controlled public appearances where you took no questions from the media.

One was the "keynote" speech for the annual meeting of the Harrisburg Young Professionals (HYP) where you read flatly from your prepared remarks and the second was when you promoted  Elija Massey from Detective to Captain, skipping several pay grades in the process.

Seems the newly captained Massey, who for the past year has been on your security detail as your driver and purse holder, raked in enough overtime to put his salary almost equal to yours.

At that event you dodged questions from the media with the assistance of Dr. Rev. Apostle Brenda Alton, Ombudsman, Acting Communications Director and Chief Enabler, who is more accustomed to chancel prancing than dealing professionally with the press.  Apostle Brenda managed to become the focus of a story when she got all high handed with a reporter attempting to get a comment from you.  Remember that transparency you promised?

We can see the scene from a completly different angle thanks to the Abraham Zapruder of Harrisburg media, the inestimable James Roxbury.  We are in awe that Mr. Roxbury always seems to know where the story is.  As he once explained to us, "No one ever looks around.  No one ever looks up."  We think that's good advice.  The Sword of Damocles is always overhead.

Which brings us to the present.  On Wednesday you decided to play the victim because who doesn't feel for a martyr?  This morning on PennLive the Patriot reported you had received communications you felt were "harrassing."  By afternoon they had trasmorgrified into "death threats" and according to the (corrected  from an earlier version) current story they have now been downgraded to "threats with racist overtones."

Wow.   If you can't get the harrassment/death threat thing straight, how can we have any confidence in your pronouncements we might actually give a shit about like boil water advisories or flood warnings?  You need to work on that. 

The Patriot's editorial viewpoint

John Kirkpatrick's opinion piece published on Sunday leaves no doubt the Patriot's editorial board and Linda D. Thompson have found common ground.  Both are clueless.

The Patriot-News continues to believe if only Linda "would reach out to others in this time of crisis, helping those of us in the press to communicate (her) ideas and plans for the city" everything will be just fine.  Trouble is, Linda doesn't have a plan or any ideas or a Communications Director/Translator to prevent her from taunting angry citizens. 

Incredibly, Kirkpatrick writes:

Candidate Thompson was different than Mayor Thompson. She was continually out and about in the city sharing her vision. She expressed strong opinions but also surrounded herself with smart and dedicated people, including local business leaders. She offered hope and excitement to many city residents who felt cut out from the city’s successes. Our editorials at the time expressed reservations about her personal style but also reflected and honored the faith that people from different races, parts of the city and walks of life had placed in her.

Really? To express surprise that a candidate is not delivering on promises strikes us as supremely naive. We also had quite a different take on the editorials at the time. 

If John really wants to honest, perhaps he will address rumors that days before the election a coalition of black clergy met with the editorial board and demanded the paper back off coverage of Thompson.  The Patriot caved and imposed a moratorium on any reportage of the Harrisburg mayoral contest as election day approached.

Kirkpatrick slogs on in the Patriot's defense,  "In our editorial columns, we have continually pleaded with Mayor Thompson for the transparency she promised on the campaign trail."

John, what ever made you think Linda Thompson who has veiled parts of her past in secrecy had any intention of being open and transparent?  While on the campaign trail promising transparency she threw one of your reporters out of a press conference. Pleading for transparency now seems a bit beside the point. 

In case we haven't been paying attention, Kirkpatrick catalogs examples of Thompson's questionable and erratic behavior in his piece including her belief the Patriot has bugged her office and the "forces of evil" voicemail she left on a citizen's cellphone.



We get it John.  No one who hasn't drunk Linda's Kool-Aid thinks the Patriot is "out to get" her.  In fact, many who have been paying attention think the Patriot has shirked its journalistic mandate. 

The sooner the editorial board realizes there are some truisms in life, the better for all of us.

• You can't appease a tyrant.
• You can't negotiate with terrorists.
• You can't reason with the insane.

These are absolutes and, in a given situation, one or more of the above may apply.

Ever optimistic, we cling to the hope the Patriot ran this Neville Chamberlainesque codswallop as yet another trial balloon. Sadly for the Patriot, the Central Penn Business Journal's courageous editorial published the previous Friday was already garnering praise on PennLive from commentators who urged the venerable daily to "grow a pair."

The Patriot insists it cares about " . . . Harrisburg’s future. This has been our home for more than 150 years and will continue to be our home." 

For 150 years, from President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address to . . . terrorism on the home front, The Patriot-News has reported and recorded the joy and despair of life's individual moments and humanity's collective experience.

-- From The Patriot-News "Our History" webpage

One thing is certain. The Patriot is still getting it as spectacularly wrong today as it did then. Here's what it printed after Lincoln's speech at Gettysburg:

". . . we pass over the silly remarks of the President: for the credit of the nation we are willing that the veil of oblivion shall be dropped over them and that they shall no more be repeated or thought of."

Linda, this isn't working out.



A week starting with a Valentine's Day rally outside City Hall that showed little love for Linda ended with the Central Penn Business Journal declaring it was time to break up.

The editorial pulls no punches.  "Thompson has in one year dragged the city into a considerably worse situation. Her reckless actions and combative personality have caused residents, city leaders and staff to abandon hope that she can pull Harrisburg from its economic dregs and heal its divisiveness."

Cataloging Thompson's numerous missteps, the Journal concludes, "Harrisburg is too volatile and has too little time to gamble on whether the mayor can recover from her errors or even govern effectively."

The Business Journal has finally declared there is no way to fix Harrisburg with Linda at the helm.  For the good of the City, Linda D. Thompson must resign and, "allow a true leader — one who can unite, fairly represent, take responsibility, keep promises, work selflessly and correct the city’s blemished image — to lift the city from being a national mockery to one of unification and prosperity."

The current issue of the CPBJ includes an analysis of Thompson's first 13 months in office, a timeline of her Greatest Blunders and a primer on "How to Remove a Mayor."  The editorial is the cherry on top of the double-scoop crap sundae that is Thompson's political career.

None of this will matter to the Thompson faithful who will continue to parrot her claims that any criticism of her is racist, orchestrated by Reed, because of her gender, a plot of little evil gay men, etc., etc.  But Linda's supporters don't read the CPBJ; the demographics are polar opposites.

The Business Journal is only available by subscription and not sold at newstands although single copies are available at the Journal Publications' office.  No, you may not borrow our copy.  Get your own. 

The business community pays close attention to the Business Journal. Over the years the publication has become a respected source of information and opinion.  Reputation is everything.  The Journal has always known it;  Linda will never learn it. The Journal's stance will certainly impact Thompson's "plan" to call on businesses to volunteer their help and resources for the city. Not to mention jobs and investment.

Linda doesn't give a damn about working with businesses or even meeting with them unless there's a campaign contribution in it for her.  Now more canaries are singing and we hear Linda loves meeting with church folk -- gotta keep those prayer circles spinning. But meeting business people?  Not so much.  Unless there's a check.

We have too long seen the local media shirk its civic responsibility.  Yes, Patriot-News.  We're talking to you.

For the  last remaining newspaper in the city to call for the resignation of its sitting mayor -- especially one known to be incredibly childish and vindictive -- took a measure of journalistic citizenship that a Hampton Twp. publication ought to emulate.

The current issue of the Business Journal is available here free of charge.  It is a very large file. Please be patient as it downloads.

Mean girls. Our money is on Linda.

A headline on the front page of the February 16 issue of the Paxton Herald screamed: Move Over Egypt! Unrest Ferments in City of Harrisburg...Sentiment To "Get Reed Back" Grows! Apparently Annette A. Antoun is a trend spotter.

After we recovered from our surprise that the weekly shopper is still in business, we reluctantly plopped down our 35 cents to benefit from Annette's insight.  We're not quite sure what it was because the article rambled a bit, but Annette boldly claimed:

"A move is underway in several different levels of people in the City to replace Mayor Linda Thompson with the former Mayor, Stephen R. Reed."

Annette has always had fanciful notions, but her current scenario --whether "fermenting" or "fomenting" -- sounds highly improbable to us. 

Minimal searching on the Internet paints an interesting picture.  Seems you can't kick over a rock in this town without all sorts of unsavory connections coming to light.  Unlike in days past, it's much more difficult for the creepy-crawlies to scurry off and hide. 

Input "Annette Antoun" in a search engine and a number of links pop up; including one to a website called PaxtonHeraldSucks.com which has been around for more than a decade.  Developed before the advent of blogs, the site details Antoun's involvement in Reed's Museum Mania and is maintained as an historical archive.

It seems Annette, a long time real estate speculator and Reed crony devised a scheme to build the "National African-American Museum of History and Culture" in some historic buildings in the 1000 block of N. Sixth St.

Why there?  Much ado was made of a house at 1006 that once served as a hotel of sorts, but that was only the cover story.  The motivating factor was not honoring African-American history in buildings with national historial significance, but Annette's owership of three properties -- one purchased in 1976 for $500 -- that would be acquired for the proposed museum.

Before the project was even annouced, Antoun quietly purchased the old Curtis Funeral Home at 1000 N. Sixth St. giving her control of three of the five required properties.  The price?  $30,000.  The seller? Historic Harrisburg Association.

Fast forward a decade and development of  the National AA Museum is well underway.  On the National Mall.  Not at Sixth and Boas Sts.   

Meanwhile 1000 N. Sixth St., once the residence of Rev. Dr. Silas Comfort Swallow a religious conservative who ran for mayor on the Prohibitionist ticket and lost, remains undeveloped and unmaintained.  According to neighborhood residents, the historic building has been under a City-issued condemnation order since April 15, 2010.
Condemnation Notice issued to Annette Antoun, publisher of the Paxton Herald

But wait, it gets better. 

The condemned property is right across the street from Townhouse Apartments at 660 Boas St., Linda D. Thompson's legal residence.



Perhaps Linda wasn't aware of all these curious circumstances.  But she is now. 

On another, ironic note, Historic Harrisburg Association is currently seeking nominations for Harrisburg's Most Endangered Properties List 2011. According to the organization's website:

Our mission is to advocate for the preservation, restoration and stewardship of Harrisburg's architectural heritage. Historic Harrisburg Association monitors many challenging preservation and development issues facing Harrisburg. Over the years we have had success when local residents become involved and make their voices heard. HHA is here to support local efforts. We cannot do it without your support. Your participation will help us continue the perservation movement.

In case you have any nominations for HHA's Endangered Properties List you can submit recommendations to info@HistoricHarrisburg.com.

Taunt not the angry mob

The media was all over the protest rally and not just the local media, but some from very far out of town.  This will soon become a national story further distracting an incompetent adminstraton during a very critical time in the City's history.  On a lighter note, we'll be surprised if Linda's performance today doesn't make The Daily Show.

A cardinal rule of communications professionals is: Don't taunt the angry mob.  This is a lesson Linda Holder-of-a-communications-degree  Thompson obviously never learned.  Maybe she skipped class that day. 

Not able to remain discreetly offstage during the rally protesting her, Thompson felt compelled to make an appearance which quickly morphed into spectacle. 

We know hindsight is 20/20, but even Linda must admit if people think you can't do the job because you're mentally unbalanced, probably the best way to calm their fears isn't to open the blinds and do a crazy dance.  There's just no way to spin that.  Chuck got out in the nick of time; applicants for the Communications Director position, take note.

This is how Valentine's Day 2011 unfolded on the plaza in front of the Martin Luther King City Government Center in the middle of Black History Month.  We wonder if the editorial board at the Patriot still believes Linda is capable of "change."

The media begins to stage at the Hilton, across the street from City Hall.

The crowd begins to gather, including homosexual evil little men.

Thompson supporters stake out their position.

  



Rehearsing the chants.



Pithy protest signs.



Most elaborate protest sign. This one is almost like a school project.  Very science fair.



We thought this the most poignant of all the sentiments, because of the woman holding the sign.  Those who think the African American community is solidly behind Linda Thompson, do disservice to people who can think for themselves and possess the courage to stand for their convictions.  Linda lead or leave.  Just four words and the bravery to stand for what is best for the entire city. 



Media interviews Thompson supporters.  Conveniently at one time.  



We were somewhat taken aback by this Thompson supporter who started shouting at the protesters, accusing them of being nonresidents.  We wondered, how does he know?  We were in business attire since we have a job that requires it and have lived and owned property in the city for more than 30 years.  Then the horrifying thought occured to us:  we were being racially profiled.  We half expected Rod Serling to intone, "Welcome to the Twilight Zone."

If this is the kind attitude of Thompson supporters (and don't think for a minute that James Ellison didn't vet every one of the counter demonstrators) you can bet a commuter tax is an element in Linda's oft-promised, but yet-to-be-produced plan. 

Like a vision, Linda appeared through the new vertical blinds in her secure office and the crowd went wild.  Then our Municipal Goddess began a mystical ritual of gestures and facial contortions intended to call down the wrath of heaven upon the multitudes below.  A highly targeted Sodom and Gommorah event to pick off the evil little homosexual men with pin point accuracy. 

Oh, the snowball hits the lower right corner of her window at 1:24 in. 

The crowd reaction to the snowball strike is instructive -- it would seem there's a untapped market out there.  If LT really loved the City, she could solve the City's financial crisis over Kipona weekend if she volunteered to be in the Harrisburg Debt Dunking Booth. 

"Are you happy Linda?  Are you happy?" 



With a final queenly wave, Linda vanishes into her lair.



The cowardly Patriot

"In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot."

-- Mark Twain, 1904 Notebook

On Sunday, February 13, the ironically named Patriot once again spectacularly failed to grasp the gravity of Harrisburg's situation in its City on the Brink editorial.

While acknowledging "concerns about Mayor Linda Thompson’s ability to lead grow with each new resignation, revelation and stumble" and admitting  "her operating style has been a failure since she took office last January," the editorial board is not "ready to join the resignation chorus."

Safe in their Hampton Township offices, the expatriate Patriot opines "the mayor has one final opportunity to turn things around for herself and, more importantly, the city of Harrisburg."

All she needs to do is . . . change.  Really?  That's it? 

According to the delusional editorial board, Linda can still turn things around if she just changes "not only her governing style but her belief that people who don’t agree with everything she says or does are out to get her."

That might work if Linda Thompson were capable of the Saul-on-the-road-to-Damascus transformation the Patriot naively hopes is possible.

On Saturday, the Patriot ran a transcript of a Chuck Ardo interview which paints a frightening picture of a mental breakdown. 

Chuck told the newspaper, "The mayor has fundamental distrust of The Patriot-News. ... She truly believes that you guys have her office bugged. I am absolutely dead serious."

But wait.  There's more.  According to Chuck, God thinks Linda is doing just fine, thank you very much, and has told her so. Personally.

"I went to see her and told her that I had breakfast with the controller and there was an opportunity to find compromise. It must have been a Friday afternoon because she went home, came in Monday morning, then came into my office and she said, 'I prayed on this all weekend long, and I had a vision this morning telling me not to trust the controller.' It’s indicative of her very fundamental religious beliefs. I really believe that they are a central part of this story."

Paranoia and visions as reported in their own newspaper, yet the editors think if Linda just "changes" she can turn it all around. 

The editorial doesn't factor in the underlying cause for the epic failure of the Thompson administration.  It has become increasingly evident based on first hand accounts and simple observation that Linda Thompson is struggling with some serious mental health issues. 

But don't take our word for it.  Take Linda's.  Through the yeoman efforts of James Roxbury at Roxbury News who has hours of video from meetings no other media attends, we have chilling evidence that Linda D. Thompson is unfit to bear the weight of her office. 

Herewith is Roxbury's highlight reel of Linda on Linda:
 

This is not the first time the Patriot has shirked its editorial duty.  There was the infamous waffle nonendorsement the paper ran before the mayoral election.  That, coupled with a virtual news blackout in the days immediately prior to the election, helped LT ascend the throne of power. 

We weren't fooled then, and we're not fooled now.  Comments  about today's editorial posted on PennLive cast universal doubt Linda has the capacity to change even if she has the will.  Hope for change in Harrisburg?  Not with Linda Thompson at the helm.

While we don't readily subscribe to Signs from God -- if there is a divine being, He, She or It has quite enough to do without being distracted by our insignificant concerns -- but we happened to find ourselves in the book section of Ollie's Bargain Outlet when two titles caught our eye.  What was exceedingly odd was they were adjacent to each other. 

While not rising to the level of  A Vision (which implies a level of celestial access we don't have, aren't likely to get and don't want) one might conclude the juxtaposition was at least A Sign. 



Lest anyone assume we are completely without empathy for Linda, that is not the case.  We agree with Joyce Davis' assertion that those who love Linda must intervene on her behalf.  We have no patience with sentiments expressed by the editorial board of the Patriot or anyone who advocates prolonging Linda's dysfunction. 

Harrisburg's situation is beyond grave and Thompson, flailing at her own demons, must not be allowed to drag the City into the abysss.

Train wreck at City Hall

The spectacular train wreck at City Hall has attracted the media and everyone is jockeying for a story.  There's lots of blood in the water and plenty of stories which all have one common denominator:  Linda Deliah Thompson.

City Solicitor Phil Harper who was juggling multitudinous lawsuits and negotiations for the city finally had enough and walked out on Tuesday.  With considerable restraint, Harper told the Patriot-News he had "philosophical differences" with our delicate flower Linda.

Harper told the paper, "she's just unaccepting of certain realities."  Wow.  When the city's chief legal council walks out the door because the mayor is in an alternate universe where does that leave us?

James Ellison, Linda's campaign manager, former chair of the Harrisburg Authority and a partner in the law firm of Rhoades and Sinon is coming under unwanted scrutiny from the Dauphin County District Attorney's office.  The Patriot reports The DA is looking into some questionable contributions to Thompson's campaign.  Likely there won't be any sanctions despite a growing righteous indignation by the proletariat, but the investigation pulls back the curtain exposing the backstage crew responsible for Linda's ascent to power. 

WGAL scored an interview with Joyce Davis, Thompson's first communications director, who elaborated on her experience in Thompson's Big Funhouse of Reality.  Joyce told the station "It is high time for people who love her to help her see that this is going to end tragically." We couldn't agree more.

Davis went on to say Thompson exhibits no leadership and suggested if she can't get it together, she needs to get out of the way for the good of the city.

We do take issue with Joyce's suggesting that the black clergy reach out to Linda and attempt to help her.  In our view, the clerics have done quite enough and need to stop meddling in politics. 

Extended clips of the Davis interview are on WGAL's website and Joyce chillingly articulates the situation. 

Dan "Evil Homosexual"  Miller was featured on Fox 43 where he responded to Thompson's epithets. 

CBS21 reports City Hall will be the site of a Valentine's Day rally at noon to demand Linda's resignation -- probably not the kind of Black History Month event Thompson envisioned when she became Harrisburg's first African American mayor. We can't help but think Martin Luther King would have approved as Thompson is being judged by the content of her character and not the color of her skin.

Chuck Ardo noted Linda has no concept of how the media works.  She's about to find out.  Harrisburg's financial situation is already on the radar of the major media outlets.  The crazy little sideshow she's created will land her front and center on national stage.

In at least one respect, Linda will achieve her lifelong dream:  it will be all about her.

Linda Thompson: Champion of Diversity!

Linda responded to Chuck Ardo's charges that she uses homophobic and racial slurs behind closed doors by posting a statement on the city's website. 

Glaringly absent from the statement is any condemnation of homophobia, racism or antisemitism.  Also missing is any denial that "Mayor for all people" Linda Deliah Thompson is prone to making such remarks.

 

Statement from the Mayor

“I have a passion for all people and have surrounded myself with a diverse group of people, both in my personal and professional life.

I value my responsibility for diversity and will let my work, as the Mayor of the City of Harrisburg, prove that I am a Mayor for all people.

The work that I have begun, the initiatives I have started, and the coalitions I have built around these initiatives represent diversity.

Those who have a relationship with me, both personally and professionally, know that I care about our City and all people.

Chuck Ardo may say what he wants, but the people elected me as Mayor and I will faithfully discharge my duties and let the people decide.”

Mayor Linda D. Thompson

Um, Linda?   We hate to point this out to you for fear you may throw your eyeglasses at us or whip your weave back and forth . . . but you didn't answer the charges. You may think you've cleared all that up, but nowhere do you actually deny you're a homophobic, racist, antisemitic asshole. To be fair, Chuck didn't actually use those words, but that's what we are all thinking.

You do use "diversity" as kind of a catch all code word hoping that we'll just assume your definition of "diversity" includes gay, white, Jewish atheists. But we're, well . . . skeptical. Having heard you mangle English everytime you open your yap, we never assume you say what you mean or know what the hell you're talking about.

Keeping the story alive, Chuck has revealed  further details, telling the Patriot News you habitually referred to City Controller Dan Miller as "that homosexual, evil little man."

Chuck also told the Patriot you have issues with Jews relating an instance where you talked about  the "Israel money" a developer was bringing to town.

Are you sure you want to "let the people decide?"  We could believe Chuck who came out of retirement to temporarily take the Thompson translator job and has no apparent motivation for lying.  Or we could believe you. Gotta tell you Linda, at this point many of us are convinced you don't even know when you're lying.  It's like you just start speaking in tongues.

As far as faithfully discharging your duties, any idea on when you'll be starting?  How's that audit coming?  It must have been awkward for you to request the assistance of "that homosexual, evil little man."

Lending credence to Chuck's allegations are the tales of horror other former high level staffers are telling.  Joyce Davis.  Phil Harper.  It's only a matter of time before other Lindacaust survivors tell their war stories.  It's not like we haven't heard horror stories starring you since you first pranced into City Hall.  The difference is now the allegations are sourced. 

We're guessing you'll not be riding on the lead float in Harrisburg's Gay Pride Parade this year.  That's a shame since you've worked so hard on your "queen wave."

Canaries in the coal mine

Historically canaries were carried into coal mines since the birds are especially sensitive to poisonous gases. If Tweety dropped dead, the miners knew to get out and get out fast.

Chuck Ardo was the canary in Linda Thompson's dark mineshaft of an administration. To our great good fortune, Chuck managed to escape before he succumbed to Linda's toxic atmosphere. He's been singing ever since and we'd be fools not to heed his warnings.

After his first day on the job August 10, Chuck told wwwABC27 News, "The Mayor's gotten off to a difficult start with the media. I don't think that's entirely her fault and hopefully I can provide a little bit of stability and work with the media to tell the Mayor's story and to make sure people understand what her point of view is."

Six months later Chuck told the same station, "She is learning as she goes, so I think she makes mistakes that are to be expected, but unfortunately, the city is in no position to have those kinds of mistakes happen. Decisions that need to be made quickly are not made, and the city ends up being worse off for that."

Chuck continued his exit interview with Fox 43 telling a reporter of homophobic comments Linda has made behind closed doors.  "I don't believe you can have a modern day leader who's got attitudes that belong in the cave."

 

Today another canary in the person of Joyce Davis, Linda's first spokesperson and founding member of the I Ran Screaming From City Hall Club added her voice to the chorus.  Joyce, an accomplished and gracious woman, had been closed mouthed about her reasons for leaving Thompson's gulag.  In the wake of Chuck's chirping, Joyce finally revealed the reason for her abrupt departure.

Joyce Davis felt physically threatened by The Honorable Mayor Linda D. Thompson.  Wow.  Just.  Wow. 

She filed a formal complaint with the Harrisburg Human Relations Commission but the Commission claims they lack jurisdiction.

A crazy week

After a hiatus of 459 days --  it only seemed fair to give Linda a chance to prove her mettle -- we have returned to comment on what has been a watershed week for the beleaguered occupant of City Hall's mayoral suite.

The last few days may have been Linda's Worst Week Yet and we can withhold our acerbic fingers from the keyboard no longer. 

A quick recap of Thompson's woes this week:

1. The media reported the Securities and Exchange Commission is poking around and asking for documentation.  Among other things, they are extremely curious why the city's 2009 audit is MIA.
2. An editorial in the Patriot-News excoriated Thompson's dalliance on completing the 2009 audit which has attracted the SEC's attention.
3. On Thursday Chuck Ardo, her third communications director in a year, threw in his turd polishing towel citing irreconcilable differences with Thompson. 
4. Linda, who has been fighting with City Controller, Dan Miller since the dawn of time, was forced to appeal to him for assistance in completing the City's 2009 audit, a tacit admission the task is beyond her limited skill set. The situation was made even more awkward after the revelation Thompson is prone to making homophobic remarks in private.
5. On Friday, the newly escaped Chuck gave us a peek inside the Thompson administration's bunker.

All in all a pretty rotten week for our Little Miss Linda who at the best of times was a little bit loopy.

Chuck gave a carefully worded, eyebrow-raising statement to the Patriot: "The mayor and I clearly have a different understanding of how the media works and their role in reporting on city hall. That difference led to my inability to continue on in my role.''

We suspect Chuck has a much better grasp of how the media works and its role in reporting on government based on his nearly eight years as Communications Director for the Governor of Pennsylvania.  Linda's media savvy?  During her campaign, Linda Holder-of-a-Communications-Degree Thompson tossed a Patriot-News reporter out of her press conference. 

In a followup story, Chuck gave a startlingly frank appraisal. “I believe the mayor is intent on doing the right thing, but the challenges are greater than her ability. This job would be difficult for absolutely anybody with experience, and here’s a woman who has no experience in management or managing crises.”

He also gave us a glimpse into Thompson's inner sanctum and the "real" Linda.  The picture Chuck paints is frightening but not surprising. 

He told the Patriot-News:

“The mayor views what she’s doing as a battle between good and evil. It’s true that good should never compromise with evil, but politics is the art of compromise. If you can’t compromise, you can’t make any political progress,” Ardo said.

He had also said the role of religion in the mayor’s office, along with inappropriate references to race and sexual orientation in private settings, made him uncomfortable.

“She has her views and tendencies that made me uncomfortable. She saw her opponents as representatives of evil as opposed to simply being those with philosophical differences,” he said.

Joyce Davis, a former Thompson press secretary, confirmed Chuck's assessment telling the Patriot, "I fully understand how difficult it was for Chuck to help Mayor Thompson. I'm sure he did his best, as did the many others who found they could not work in the environment that she creates in her inner circle.''

That inner circle is tightening.  People outside City Hall have noticed.  People outside of Harrisburg have noticed.  Wall Street has noticed.  In the February 14, edition of Forbes, there is a story on Harrisburg with an ominous opening paragraph.

Linda Thompson is a woman under siege in a city under siege. The mayor of Harrisburg, Pa. works behind a locked office door ("The mayor is very security-conscious," says her spokesman) on the second floor of a city hall where the lobby is piled high with the black garbage bags of homeless people who use it as a makeshift winter shelter.

This is not a good situation.  Linda is overwhelmed by the job, her personality alienates people, she reaches out for help yet refuses to follow advice, she procrastinates, does not accept responsibility, blames others, perceives people as "good" or "evil," exhibits paranoid behaviour, is increasingly isolated, makes homophobic and racist remarks in private.

At this stage in the game, we as citizens need to be mindful that some degree of mental illness may be underlying these behaviours. 

Seriously.  Just think about it. What if Linda is clinically mentally ill and in need of treatment?  How would she get help?  Is it possible the increased pressure and isolation will drive her to what used to be called "nervous exhaustion?"  More importantly; where in the hell does that leave us?

We were curious how frequently mental illness occurs in the general population and were shocked to find the National Institute of Mental Health estimates 1 in 4 Americans have a diagnosable mental illness in any given year.  For serious mental illness, the ratio drops to 1 in 17 or about 6 percent of the populace. People gamble the mortgage on worse odds than that.  Considerably more is at stake here.