We have a failure to communicate
If government seems distant, remote, and broken it’s because it is. There was a vivid demonstration of this a few weeks back.
It involved a letter from Gov. Tom Wolf to Monessen’s putative mayor Matt Shorraw. In the letter, the governor praised local leaders for “addressing the complex and challenging issues you … face every day as you strive to build stronger communities and create opportunities for your constituents.”
The governor, who was pitching his plan for infrastructure upgrades, wrote that “I am always impressed and humbled by the dedication shown by local leaders like you. Together, I believe we can build a stronger Pennsylvania.”
What Gov. Wolf didn’t seem to realize is that Shorraw hasn’t been at work for months. The mayor hasn’t attended a Monessen council meeting since May 2018. He is said to be fighting public “corruption,” which seems an odd way of going about it.
Instead of heading toward trouble, Mayor Shorraw has chosen to turn tail, scampering back to whatever corner he’s hiding in.
Acting mayor and city councilman Tony Orzechowski took exception to the letter. He said it was an insult, inasmuch as council “has sent numerous letters to the governor, asking and begging for help in saying, we can’t continue like this with the workload and we want (Shorraw) gone.”
I don’t know the first thing about Monessen politics. I sense it’s a mess. The word dysfunctional comes to mind, and probably that only scratches the surface.
This much seems clear: the governor’s letter was a mistake. Is there no one in the governor’s office in Harrisburg keeping an eye on things in southwestern Pennsylvania? Is there no one in Westmoreland County keeping the governor up to speed on local government and politics?
It appears not. Maybe the governor is just too busy, maybe he has his hands full running things in Harrisburg. Maybe he feels local politics is beneath him. Maybe he feels it’s not worth the trouble. Or he doesn’t want to get his hands dirty. Maybe it’s institutional: it’s the way things are done in the age of large bureaucratic, impersonal government
Whatever it is, it’s a mistake. Listen, Pennsylvania is a gigantic state. I wouldn’t expect the governor or members of his staff to know every little thing that is going on. But he should at least be aware that the mayor of Monessen is sitting this one out.
It wasn’t always this way. There was a time when governors were kept well-informed about local politics: the tricky interplay of people and policy, the maneuverings for advantage, and the currents of local opinion, both public and private.
At least that was the case with Governor Gifford Pinchot, who served two non-consecutive terms in Harrisburg ending in 1935.
Pinchot, a progressive and a Republican, had a man in Fayette County who provided him with political intelligence, who kept him up-to-date on local personalities and opinion. In turn, this individual – William Burchinal – looked after the governor’s political standing. He also facilitated contacts between average citizens and elected leaders and the governor and the governor’s top aides.
Judging by the volume of correspondence in the Pinchot Papers at the Library of Congress, I would venture that Burchinal was not alone. Pinchot men populated every corner of the state.
Around this same time, the Roosevelt administration in Washington was reaching out to communities across the country to deepen its understanding of the Great Depression and the impact of its policies on people.
Harry Hopkins, who was so close to Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt that he lived for many years in the White House, assembled a remarkable team of writers who reported directly to him on purely local conditions and people.
Lorena Hickok reported to Hopkins in the summer of 1933 from Fayette County. A year later another Hopkins correspondent, William Francis, reported in a nine-page letter to his boss that “thousands” in the county were “without adequate shoes, clothing, bedding …”
Francis went everywhere, he spoke everyone.
The point is, state and national leaders kept in touch, by various means, with the grassroots. They knew what was going on. In contrast, today’s leaders, both statewide and national, often seem clueless about conditions on the ground.
There’s a lesson here for local governments as well. I’m not sure when it started, but the mayor of Pittsburgh used to pay regular courtesy calls to other western Pennsylvania communities. Once a year, it appears.
Bill Peduto should resume this practice – hands across the parkway and all that. Just so, local leaders should be talking and collaborating with one another. There’s every reason in the world, for instance, for Uniontown, South Union, and North Union officials to be working together on matters of mutual concern, including policing and recreation.
Richard Robbins lives in Uniontown. He can be reached at dick.l.robbins@gmail.com.