The first thing visitors flying into Harrisburg see as their plane descends to the airport are the cooling towers of Three Mile Island. Three spew out steam as their nuclear reactors generate electricity for the central Pennsylvania area; the fourth tower looms in the background. No steamy cloud rises from its core, no electricity is generated from its dead reactor.
To say that the Harrisburg area has had bad luck with its utilities is an understatement. The city’s efforts to update its incinerator over the last decade has landed it in bankruptcy court and sent shivers of fear through the bond community as the city teeters on defaulting on incinerator bonds as well as its general obligation bonds.
These massive problems are just part of the story. At the heart of the matter is a dysfunctional political system that has tried to run a capitol city on the backs of taxpayers when vast swaths of land remains off the tax rolls because they are owned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. That, plus widespread corruption has added to the toxic mix.
The Sins of the City Fathers tells the story of Harrisburg and how it got to be the poster child for fiscal irresponsibility and exposes the shocking miscarriage of justice that still shadows the city. Publication slated for January 1, 2012
I am a political economist and I lived in this area, so I am eager to see what develops from this book project! Sharon Eicher
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