Fayette County should look at home-rule option
I paraphrase: county government is the worst form of government except for …
Oops, I’m at a loss. I have no zinger to add, like … “except for all the others” or “except for a dictatorship of the proletariat.”
No, quite truthfully, Pennsylvania’s traditional and historical form of county government -three commissioners, all equal, with the same responsibilities and powers — is bad, really bad.
As for electing a recorder of deeds, a prothonotary, a register of wills and the like — come on. That’s really ridiculous; doing so is as dated as a frock coat and a push lawn mower.
Two Republicans will, on paper at least, rule the roost in Fayette County, though as experience indicates, there is no guarantee the two will abide one another over an entire four-year term in office.
It doesn’t matter the county, county commission party majorities tend to disintegrate, whether for personal or political reasons. The result are often acrimonious. Oh, the arguing, the back biting, the expressions of remorse.
As often as not, what follows the acrimony is paralysis. Actually, inaction is customary in county government, or at least it has been under the three-commissioner method of government, both here and elsewhere. It takes an extraordinary amount of agreeing among the three of them to push a county along, and agreement doesn’t come easy.
Just as often, one of the three — either because of policy or political disagreements, personal animus, smarts, or laziness — becomes irrelevant.
The fallout is always the same: the county remains stuck in neutral. Things don’t necessarily get worse; as an arm of state government, that just doesn’t happen. But things don’t get better either.
What to do? Maybe try something new. Pennsylvania counties can exercise a home-rule option. To some extent, this would involve throwing off the shackles of state government. In the overall scheme of things, the county would take on more decision-making power. In short, county officials would have more leeway, for good or ill.
(Hey, let’s not get carried away here. A county is never sovereign, never the complete master of its house. State laws always supersede county ordinances. And there is the little matter of funding: the purse strings leading back to Harrisburg are impossible to cut. (Who would really want to?)
Above all, home rule frequently means changing the complexion of county government. In the handful of counties that have taken the home rule path, this has resulted in jettisoning most elected row offices — recognizing these for what they are: administrative jobs. Prothonotary, clerk of courts, register of wills, recorder of deeds, sheriff — these are not policy-making positions.
The most substantial change would likely involve the elimination of the three commissioners, opting instead for a county executive and a county council.
The advantage of a county executive armed with strong decision-making powers is obvious: it would invigorate county government, giving the county direction and purpose impossible with three county commissioners, all equal, all with the same powers and responsibilities.
A county council, with some members elected countywide and others elected by district, would be broadly representative, which is certainly not the case now. Come January, when the new board takes office in Fayette County, who will represent the interests or speak on behalf of, say, Point Marion or Masontown, Markleysburg or Henry Clay Township?
The short answer: no one.
In addition to adding vigor to county government, switching out the board of commissioners would help clarify the business of electing county leaders.
Voters, asked to choose from a field of four, face a perplexing task. It was worse this year with six names on the ballot, two of whom ran independent campaigns, finding it impossible to find a home in either party (for which they should receive zero sympathy).
Under the best of circumstances running for county commissioner is a chaotic affair — a regular four-ring or more circus. Candidates no less than voters confront a riddle wrapped inside a mystery: as a voter, should I vote for just one, my favorite, thus enhancing his, or her, chances?
As a candidate, should I run in tandem with this other candidate, even though we disagree on just about everything under the sun? Besides, the guy’s a dope.
Dumping the current mode of county government would hardly usher in the promised land. Leadership remains key. Leadership means everything — leadership in tune with today’s problems and in sync with the people of the county, as ornery as they sometimes are.
A recently much maligned former president, Woodrow Wilson, said it best. No one can lead, he said, “who does not act, consciously or unconsciously, under the impulse of a profound sympathy with those whom he leads — a sympathy … which is of the heart rather than of the intellect.”
More than anything, the county needs leadership. It just so happens that a three-member county board of commissioners is not constituted to deliver the goods.
Richard Robbins lives in Uniontown and is the author of two books — “Grand Salute: Stories of the World War II Generation” and “Our People.” He can be reached at grandsalutebook@gmail .com.