Harrisburg City Council Work Session - 02/18/25

I'd like to be mindful of everybody's

time this evening and call our legis

work session to order

Mr trusdale could you please call the

role Miss

Daniels Miss Davis

present Miss green present Mr Jones here

miss roll present Mr Rodriguez present

Miss Bowers present thank

you okay uh we have three committees

that

will share resolutions this evening for

discussion um I'll begin with the

administration committee we have three

resolutions this evening we'll begin

with resolution 7 of

2025 Mr trusdale could you please read

it into the

record resolution 7 2025 a resolution

appointing Robert C kenck thei director

of financial management for the city of

Harrisburg to serve as Dolphin County

tax collection committee Delegate for

the city of Harrisburg thank thank you

uh good evening Mr kenck if you wouldn't

mind joining us and pulling that

microphone very close to you so we are

able to hear you and those viewing are

able to hear

you testing testing okay I think we're

good to go

yes now I'll Reserve an introductory uh

question for the next resolution but um

if you wouldn't mind just sharing uh

stating your name and your role within

the city's Administration sure my name

is Robert C kenck II and I'm the finance

director for the city of Harrisburg

thank you and resolution 7 of

2025 um is a resolution appointing you

to serve as the Dolphin County tax

collection committee Delegate for the

city of Harrisburg I will

just read some of the resolution

here um you would serve as a voting

delegate

and I was trying to determine who you

replaced or your length of your term but

that would have been Miss Kelly okay so

he's replacing our

former um director of financial

management Miss Marita

Kelly so just to note uh section 505b of

act 32 requires the governing body of

school districts townships Burrows and

cities to appoint a voting delegate to

represent the entity on the tax

collection

committee so I I don't have any

questions for you again I'll Reserve

more of my questions uh for the next

resolution um but if you wouldn't mind

just sharing what impact you think you

would be able to make um as a member of

the Dolphin County tax collection

committee

[Music]

Delegate for Dolphin County I've only

attended one meeting so far and uh from

what I was able to observe uh they seem

to have their Ducks pretty much lined up

in a row uh there seem to be very little

dissension among the ranks um so for the

most part it looks like I would probably

just stay the course um within the

Dolphin County tax collection

outfit um unless something were to

surface here that would cause me to

think

otherwise okay thank you I'll open the

floor to my colleagues who may have some

additional questions for you I'll begin

with councilman Jones any questions

thank you president Bowers um no

questions at this time thank you

councilman

Rodriguez uh thank you madam president

thank you for joining us this evening I

have no questions either thank you thank

you guys for having me

thank you councilwoman RS hello good

evening thank you for being here today

uh I don't have any questions okay vice

president green any questions thank you

president Bowers thank you for being

here this evening um nice of you to come

before us uh I don't have any questions

regarding this resolution thank you save

for the next

one uh councilwoman Davis any

questions thank you president Bowers no

questions for this resolution and thank

you for being here this evening I'll

save my questions also okay thank you

well if there are no further questions I

move to add resolutions oh I'm

sorry that's okay good evening you just

um culate on the record any potential

conflicts of interest you might have um

between whatever your roles are right

now and on the position you're being

appointed

to uh I really have no other roles in

terms of employment uh so I can't see

any possibility of any conflict of

interest with the city of

Harrisburg I resigned my last position

effective uh December

31st and that's a long story which we

can get into if you want um although I

did help the my previous the owner the

previous company where I worked uh on

New Year's Day I finished a project I

was working for him but there's been

nothing since so right now the city of

Harrisburg is my only

occupation and that's it for me thank

you thank you I apologize I can't see

you but just to know councilwoman

Daniels has joined us uh via

Zoom if there are no further

questions okay I move to add resolution

7 of 2025 to our next legislative

session agenda for a formal vote next we

have resolution 8 of 201 25 Mr trale

could you please read it into the

record resolution 8 2025 a resolution

confirming the appointment of Mr Robert

C kenck II to serve as director of

financial management for the city of

Harrisburg thank you so now I'd like to

ask you if you could please introduce

yourself and if you wouldn't mind

sharing a little bit about uh your

background and how you arrived with the

city of Harrisburg sure

um again my name is Robert C kenck II

and um I graduated from University of

Maryland I with a bachelor's degree and

subsequently passed all parts of the

Maryland CPA exam on the first

attempt and since then I have had

numerous jobs in Industry the last five

of which were controller ships uh in

companies ranging in size from oh I

don't know maybe 10 million to 70

million uh depending on the company and

the positions lasted anywhere from 3 to

12 years uh and uh the ones that only

lasted three years there was a good

reason which we can get into if you want

uh with with each specif with each

specific job I think you guys do have a

copy of my resume I hope okay good yes

it ex it is exhibit a uh attached to the

resolution so we do have a copy of your

resume as far as what brought me here

um my previous employer's uh business

was winding down uh it's a privately

owned company and the owner was getting

out of the

business and um my last official task uh

with two members of my team was to U try

and help him get through the weeds uh

with whatever transactions were to

continue after he subsequently sold all

the well the K receivable in inventory

sold the assets of the company to to

another company and uh we worked

part-time to try and help him through

that

transition and what L me hear is that um

with that job well actually well I was

still working there part-time um I was

looking for something in the nonprofit

area or the government area simply

because it would be something new and

challenging to me um having spend most

of my career in manufacturing with a

little bit of distribution I was hoping

to Branch out and and get into different

aspects of the accounting

scene

okay I I don't have any other immediate

questions I guess well maybe one more

um since uh being hired with the city of

Harrisburg have you established any

goals uh within the

department uh the goals so far are for

me to try and um uh basically build the

team

uh try and understand because uh being a

finance director and being an account is

account it's not all about the numbers

it's about building relationships and

those relationships start with my team

and then they Branch out to all the

different departments within the city

that we will be supporting um uh the

goals that I have so far are to try and

get the audit completions back on

schedule um to make sure that we comply

with all of the requirements for the a

and uh various uh government reporting

that we have to do under act

47 and um eventually be able to Branch

out and meet all the department heads

and try and see what we can do for them

and let them know what they can do for

us thank you I'll now open the floor to

my colleagues who may have additional

questions I'll begin with uh vice

president green who serves as our budget

and finance committee chair

thank you president Bowers good evening

again um I have a few questions for you

um and then I'll pass on to my

colleagues that I won't try to hug up

all the time um the first question I

guess you kind of told us how you chose

to get into this field right um I guess

how did you hear about the job like was

it just a Google search or it was on

indeed it came up on

indeed and frankly I applied in

September and when I hadn't heard

anything through the of October I was

kind of disappointed and thought maybe

nothing was going to come to fruition uh

but then the contact came in November

and then we went through the formal

hiring process and everything went

smoothly as far as I know because I'm

here all right um do you have any

government experience as far as like

working for government or has all of

your work been in a private sector it's

all been in the private sector this is

the first and I'm grateful for the

opportunity okay

um what's the most number of employees

that you've supervised in your previous

employment uh probably 10 uh usually it

was somewhere between three and

six but probably the most was

10 okay pretty easy one here for you do

you live in Harrisburg no I do not live

in New

York do you plan to move to

Harrisburg uh not at this time no

um I always find it important to make

for sure that if someone would leave um

the information that they have doesn't

just leave with them and leave us

starting from the beginning uh do you

have a plan on how you would pass on

institutional knowledge yes one sorry

institutional knowledge if you would

learn things or or create new standard

operating procedures if you come in and

you change everything around and you put

things how you want you hit the lottery

tomorrow and decide you're not coming

back how do you make for sure that it

continues to run without you

well at this point I'm still learning

how how things are working uh so at this

point I have not initiated much of

anything other than the fact uh that we

were in the process of completing the

fuel funds uh tax report and um in the

course of doing that my biggest question

was why did we wait until January to be

able to do a report that covers a whole

Year's 12 months process and we're able

to find out uh that we don't have to

wait that we can take the information on

a monthly basis as becomes available so

that when we go to file the annual

report uh in January 11 months are

already done there's only one month to

do that's that's about the most

significant thing that I've been able to

change so far okay um I don't have any

more questions at the moment um I'll

hand it back to you president bers thank

you thank you uh councilwoman Davis any

questions thank you president Bowers um

thank you for being here again this

evening I don't have any questions I

have a a couple of comments I like to

make

um you I love first of all I love your

enthusiasm and looking forward to um

working and um and branching out and and

reaching goals and your pos positive

attitude and adventure and everything um

and helping the members of your team get

through the weeds so I just want want to

uh say thank you for being willing to be

here and uh you are definitely a uh a

positive role model and I want to uh

wish you luck in your your new role with

uh your goals and everything and I I

hope that you can reach them thank you

thank you very

much thank you councilwoman Daniels any

questions yeah it's just the same as the

last

one oh conflict of no I don't see where

there could be any uh because this is

the only job that I have I'm not

employed any place

else I have no relatives in

Harrisburg um as far as I know I have no

relatives and any of the vendors of

Harrisburg okay you that's thank you

councilwoman RW any

questions good evening thank you for

being here again tonight and for

answering our questions and um you

answered one of them by saying one of my

questions were How would how do you

believe you would be an asset um as our

finance manager here at Harrisburg but

you did say you changed um one system

with the um the all the Fus fund audit

you said and so far yes so far so I

believe that's being a great asset so

far

um my other question was um are you

having any trouble adapting or learning

the munis system that we have here at

the

city not so far I've gotten limited

exposure to the system and when I get

the

opportunity uh what I try to do is go

back and use it on my own and try and

hunt and Peck my way through uh because

eventually obviously I'm have to know

that pretty much backwards and forwards

I agree and I I don't want to be running

to somebody and say oh can you show me

that again so I kind of puts through it

the best I can um but it's it seems to

have a lot of benefits and a lot of

untapped potential I just don't know if

we'll be able to um I don't know how far

we'll be able to get to use all the

modules that has

available but you're you're you're

saying you're beginning to navigate it

okay but trying it out on your okay that

was my biggest question because I know

we've adapted to that system and wanted

to know how easy or hard it could be um

for you well I kind of have a benefit in

not being tied to the old system um one

of my previous jobs at um H Printing and

Graphics uh they had been stuck with the

Hagen system or not stuck with it but

theyve been using the Hagen system for

operations for a multitude of years and

the corporate guys came down and said no

we're switching you guys over to a

combination of PSI for operations and

Maka for accounting and the cringe went

through all the longtime users of Hagen

and long story short um when we got our

implementation

schedule um because all the divisions of

the company were all scheduled to go in

order uh I went to my boss who was the

president and I frankly told him I said

we're not ready I said if we do it now

it's going to be a disaster uh can you

buy us a couple more months and he did

and after we did finally do the

implementation I had a customer service

rep come after me and he had been there

for 20 years years when he came back and

said thank God you were here because if

you hadn't been here this really could

not have gone well uh so I took that as

a major compliment I would say yeah and

for whatever it's worth we had a sister

company who was supposed to go the month

after our original date and their

president was hellbent on hitting the

schedule he did and they lost it did not

go

well well thank you well thank you for

answering my questions and for being

here and I appreciate that and sharing

the stories they help so thank you

that's it for me I got a zillion of them

thank you councilman Rodriguez any

questions thank you madam president yes

I have a few um once again thank you for

joining us and your willingness to uh

come aboard um what's the largest budget

you've been responsible for leading thus

far uh largest was probably about 70

million that was my last job and

difficult any difficulties with that

disseminating staying up to it no but

frankly it was a much simpler budget

than what the budget is here at the city

of Harrisburg lot of line items yeah a

lot of funds a lot of expense accounts

um what challenges do you foresee if any

working in a third class City working in

the third class City yes sir um I think

the biggest thing is that I'm I'm going

to be wanting to try to see particularly

a budget time uh when times are tough

how can we get the balance bu the budget

balanced and what do we expenses that we

have to look at um and again coming back

to some of my experiences in

Industry uh when things got tough the

gavle came down from corporate and it

was even worse than freezing salaries

they would Institute or a couple times

they would in they instituted across the

board pay cuts for every employee and it

didn't matter what their position was

their

seniority uh how good a job they were

doing and um it's in the back of my mind

and I'm hoping it doesn't come to

something like that here particularly

for the police and the fire department

uh but for those of us who support those

guys and the citizens um I I don't know

I just hope it does not become a reality

that we have to consider that have you

had a chance to sit with M Mr Brooks and

Mr McCutchen um at all or how frequent

have you uh convened with them since you

started yes I I I meet uh with them

almost every day at least for part of

the day and um we did have an occasion

where we had a

resignation and um Alex Burstein was was

promoted into that position that was

vacant and I spent a lot of time with

him also because he's going to be an

assistant to the whole department and he

is versatile enough that he can swing

back and forth helped Tim with the

budgets help Brian uh with some of the

financial reporting help Hillary with

procurement uh so we're really trying to

um you know build him into an all around

kind of guy in your opinion would you

say you guys kind of gel well together I

think so yes I so far everything's been

going very well that's essential

absolutely that's great great to hear um

how will you ensure the I is included uh

over the budget processes that we have

um them being kind of U the overseer for

Harrisburg City well for right now I

have to refer that to Brian okay uh but

he and I have have been in touch we've

been to a couple of meetings together

and I'm familiar with the reports that

he's putting out um frankly that's one

of the things where we're going to have

to get a backup somebody else who knows

how to do that absolutely I'm big on

cross training okay uh and um Brian as

the most senior member of the department

uh is also one argu one of the most

valuable and one of the most I can't say

indispensable because nobody's

indispensable but he's probably pretty

close to it right now absolutely um and

I agree um and then last question um

this is a council that you know loves

information very proactive and

requesting information for the residents

so what will be uh a way you can

expedite information for us or did they

give you kind of a chain of command to

send to when uh Council requests for

items uh if if I get a request directly

from you guys yeah during a session or

hearing what I would do is try and put

it together as quickly as I could okay

and I would give a copy to Sam of course

he's my boss and um you know he is in

the mir's area so if there's any

conversation to be have between him and

the mayor that's that's between them

okay uh but I want to get the

information back to you guys as quickly

as possible absolutely all right that's

that's all I have thank you um no

further questions thank you councilman

Jones any questions yes thank you

president bers so far say it again I

said you guys are going too easy on me

so far well here comes a hard one um

here comes a hard went

um I want to give you a question and I'm

I'm what I'm going to preface this was

saying that I'm not questioning your

integrity but I'm going to ask a

question about integrity do that make

sense sure all right so you're in a

situation I seen in some of your um

stories that you gave the short stories

that you gave here thus far um you've

seen some issues in some of the uh

places that you worked um if there was

something wrong here if you saw

something wrong

here um how was your ability to speak

truth to power and if they weren't to

answer you I mean if they were like hey

just do it this

way um how would you how would you react

to something like that well in addition

to building re uh relationships I

believe in total

transparency so that if I were to come

across something um and then we've had a

couple of minor issues so far uh that I

came across things that were about to

happen that I wasn't too crazy about and

we aired the dirty laundry we talked it

out and we're able to come to a

resolution thus far are you saying so

far already of course welcome to

Harrisburg soen doesn't take long no

seriously that's a that's that's a

question I mean we just passed a budget

and we seen some things that weren't

right um there was some overspending in

some areas and um we questioned when the

those departments are who was

responsible um there was really we

really got nothing from that and there

was a spending overspending in the

department about

$91,000 and they knew about it in

September we didn't find out until

December which kind of put us at in a in

a tough spot is that question still

unresolved no no no I'm just I'm just

giving you a type of examples you know

um Harrisburg has a history of people um

doing I mean in your job I want you to

be respect of your job but doing what

they're told even when something is not

right Integrity is being able to do

something doing the right thing when no

one else is looking so again just making

sure that your your ability to speak

truth to power when you see something

wrong and if they're

not willing to iron it out or deal with

it and they're demanding you to just do

it are you willing to walk away and and

also let us know well based on my

experience so far I won so so that

didn't happen but uh how can I describe

that situation without giving it a why

um I saw a situation that could have

caused a severely looking spending

overage in the month of

January

now the department didn't want to show

that and I went to the department and

said

look there's one physical item in that

one line item in your budget so even if

you're over budget in January by say 20

grand the obvious question that you're

going to be asked is if you're 20 grand

over in January how far over you going

to be in December and the answer is 20

grand because that's the only thing

that's in there and I explain to them I

can run

interference if you don't reallocate uh

uh the mon the funds or transfer funds

from one account to another another I

said we can leave it hit and I can go to

Sam uh we can go to the mayor we can go

to the council and we can answer that

question before it even gets asked and

ultimately it came to a resolution

totally different than that but but

everything was fine so I guess to answer

your question uh yeah if I see something

that's not right I'm going to try and

make it right and if we can't make it

right then we're going to find somebody

at least knowledable enough to know that

something's not

right that kind of answers my question

um yeah you know because sometimes

people get put in positions and a lot of

times people won want to speak up

because of of retaliation or you know of

not doing what they're told to be doing

so I just want to make sure that you

won't run in if you run into something

like that um you know I think our city

deserves uh transparency to the fullest

so agree with that I think I have an

advant advantage in that

um I almost don't have anything to lose

uh the worst that would happen is I'm

going

toob I I'll take somebody off uh but but

it's it's you know I I don't I can't

imagine that doing my job would cost me

my job and I oh it can

happen it can happen thanks for the

warning yeah it can happen so thank you

uh for answering those questions man um

I hope they weren't too tough but I just

no wanted to dig a little bit you were

looking for not that you were looking

for but I hope you gave complete answers

yes yes I appreciate your time sir

thanks for having me again no further

questions thank you are there any other

final questions yes I have a question I

was wondering uh when I didn't get a

copy

of uh Mr uh Ken's resume so who was

responsible it's included I didn't get I

didn't get it in the

resolution it's exhibit a of the

resolution

yes okay um well this this isn't working

again so this is a problem

this this is computer is an ongoing

problem it's ongoing so I apologize M

DAV but it is get me a computer that

actually works thank you Neil I

appreciate M Davis if you have any

questions subsequent to this meeting

don't hesitate to call I will thank

you okay thank you very very much I

moved at resolution 8 of 2025 to our

next legislative session for a formal

vote before we move forward with

resolution 9 of

2025 I wanted to note for those watching

viewing um Channel 20 is without volume

so if you are watching there and you

can't hear anything I would recommend

the YouTube channel um there is volume

there there so thank

you thank you thanks again guys

thanks the final resolution for

discussion within the administration

committee is resolution 9 of

2025 Mr trusdale could you please read

it into the

record resolution 9 2025 a resolution

confirming the appointment of Mr Samuel

EV Sakowski to serve as business

administrator for the city of Harrisburg

thank

you we are joined by Mr

salowski if you wouldn't mind um

introducing yourself please sure my name

is Sam sakoski I'm the business

administrator Chief of Staff uh and I've

been in that position since early

October

2024 thank you going longer or or not I

would if you wouldn't mind sharing a

little bit about your background and how

you determined that the city of

Harrisburg was a good fit for um yeah

I'm a I'm a graduate of Indiana

University of Pennsylvania with a

bachelor's degree in in Finance and

Accounting um I also have a graduate

certification from Millersville

University in Lancaster County as a

certified public manager um I have about

15 16 years experience as in municipal

government uh all those has been as

Municipal managers bur managers and also

city manager in in the city of Duan uh

also spent almost five years in the

County government as a elected County

auditor and also as a as a business

manager I work for the state of

Pennsylvania in a couple different roles

but primarily with the Department of

Labor and uh with the employment and

compensation service center which was a

tough job especially when people sworn

at you at 7 o'cl in the morning so

where's my money at uh so I have U like

I said over 20 years experience um what

led me to the job in Harrisburg has

actually had some connections to the

city of Harrisburg I'm friends with the

prior um Financial Manager I think

there's actually a letter of

recommendation from her in front of you

um also partip iated in the Lancaster

County Sal Waste Management Authority

acquisition of the Harrisburg

incinerator um back in

20134 for 13 some million dollar when I

was the county auditor I was also the um

a member of Seiko which is Pennsylvania

State Association elected County

officials and I was a legislative

representative for the county uh

Auditors Association so I work with the

local government commission which is a

jointure between the State House in the

state senate uh to affect legislation

that was 2002 three and four until my

term expired and I had to go get

something else um so those are probably

uh my accounting experience I spent 18

years as a financial advisor also which

I think is important because I worked

with individuals uh families and small

businesses to um um do planning for tax

planning retirement planning State

planning uh also had all my insurance

licenses had Securities licenses series

6763 um so I did mutual funds stocks

bonds that type of thing did that for

about 18 years uh had offices uh in in

the Allentown Lehigh Valley area which I

covered all of eastern PA including the

Harrisburg Area itself uh so that's

pretty much my professional

background thank you thanks for sharing

about your um Financial

advisory experience I didn't for really

glean that from your resume I have

questions um it from the resume that

you've shared here um it does seem like

you have

varied um Municipal experience can you

speak to some of the Burrows and other

city that

you've um been employed by yeah I was

employed with the bur punks saton as the

interim bur manager I was a contractual

position until they hired a permanent

person which they did so um I was also

the part of that was the city manager in

Dain and um um and I didn't I left there

because I got offered the job in Punky

ton which is a 10 12 mile commute

instead of a two-hour commute each way

uh so it gave me three and a half years

three and a half hours on my life back

it's a much shorter commute they were

supposed to do a employment agreement

they didn't do so um and I was going to

relocate and without a contract I wasn't

unable to do that uh prior to that I was

the bur manager in Katanning burrow

until they eliminated the position of

bur manager and to this day they still

don't have a bur manager uh they went to

a back to a burough secretary form of

government which they've had for all of

three years of their their history and

um the last position in this area was

actually in Mount Joy in Lancaster

County for four years and I had a

complete change over in the bur Council

and they basically cleaned house and got

rid of about seven or eight Municipal

staff management staff including the uh

bur engineer the uh

um the codes officer they get rid of the

uh uh labor attorney they get rid of uh

um trying to think of some of the other

ones they get rid of um but there was

like six or seven positions they basic

clean house uh that was primarily my

fault because I actually did a reforment

of their WS so we got all new people

elected to council and end up having two

or three Council people run against each

other so that was sort of something that

sort of speeded up that whole process

which is you know neither here nor there

prior to that I was I spent time as the

bur Andre in Columbia uh that's where I

actually was involved with the with lu

swama um so I I spent a couple years

there until they decideed to sell their

wastewater treatment plant and um you

had to asked the question about what are

you willing to do in case something is

wrong I remember uh actually being in

the interview process here in Harrisburg

and they asked me that similar type of

question I said uh that uh I had a

previous um bur and I'm not going to

name them because I don't you pin it on

anybody um but iend up following a state

ethics complaint because they had

ordered me to break the Sunshine Law and

some other laws and I refused to do that

so um so I I think I have a very high

level of U um confidence and and

integrity so I'm going to walk away from

a job and and uh to do something I don't

agree with

so so did that answer your

question I I think so I'm satisfied with

the

response um my final question is so the

length of time that you stay in these

roles it it's some are just for a few

months it looks like the longest may

have been four years I think there were

two that were at least fouryear

roles um can you speak to that well

first of all it's the nature of the of

the position most Municipal manager job

only management jobs only last for four

to six years uh just just just average

someone who spends a lot longer period

of time is actually an anomaly uh it's

not it's not the normal thing um and I

mean you're an atwi employe um you know

you could have some philosophical

differences that could cause you to go

um um you know they could want to bring

in your own management staff if if the

if the board would change over um give

you an example here if you have a mayor

or election you got a new mayor coming

in next year you know that person is

probably going to clean house so I mean

that happens all the time uh just it's

the nature of the job um I accept that

and and uh you know but I like to be

someplace for 20 years absolutely uh but

it doesn't always work out that way so

um I can honestly tell you not a single

thing I've ever done in my Municipal

management career that I regret um

nothing I would change um one thing I

would probably change I would probably

would be I wouldn't have Rea portioned

when I did probably would have waited

till the next sentence which was

two or three years later so I could have

got a couple more years out of that that

particular job um so I mean it's there

it's a combination of factors there's

not one factor that contributes to maybe

leaving a position but um you know you

you deal with what you have in the here

and the now and and if that requires you

to find something else I mean there's

some jobs I left because I got another

job you know I left a job in nanigo

because I got a uh I got a job with the

state with paying full benefits and

retirement all that so so there were

lots of jobs I left because I had gotten

another job um so I hope that answered

your question that was fine but some you

were only there for a few months but

thank you for your responses I will now

open the floor to my colleagues who may

have additional questions for you I'll

begin with councilman Jones any

questions thank you president bers um

she asked a couple questions that I

would have asked so at this moment I

have no questions

thank you councilman Rodriguez any

questions thank you Madame President um

thank you for joining us this evening as

usual no problem um you had alluded to

Miss Kelly gave you the recommendation

for the position M um were there any

other candidates in line or waiting or

the recommendation Came Upon her kind of

exiting the city and um you kind of fill

right into the

position uh other candidates for the

position your role yes I can't answer

that question I have no idea okay I

imagine they probably got lots of

resumes but whether they interviewed

anybody else I can't answer that

question I don't know there there were

several interviews done there were okay

yes okay um no further questions thank

you councilwoman Ross any questions

thank you president bars um good evening

Mr Sakowski thank you for being here

tonight thanks for um you're welcome

sorry um most of my questions were asked

too as well I I was also when I was

looking at your resume wondering why

there were um you had stayed at some

places one or two months maybe just a

year um you have a wealth of um

experience on your your resume with the

many jobs that you've had so I too was

wondering why it was um why you had

moved around so much um so my only

question um that I have for you now

would be what is one significant change

you've made um to the city as a business

administrator so far since you've been

here well um a couple of things actually

uh I just did a a recent review and it's

actually an ongoing process of the

procurement policy um because I found

out that a lot of the uh procurement

policies from dates from back to 2021

it's online you can look at it anytime

you wish um um and a lot of our

department had weren't aware of it or

maybe had forgotten about it so um you

know I'm in the process of doing a

thorough review of the procurement

policy itself uh I think one of the

important reasons for that is making

sure we're abiding by all laws bidding

laws and so and so forth um I know the

solist does a very good job at keeping

us uh you legally in line um and

secondly it also I think it opens up by

uh having a competitive process uh you

you're allowing maybe you know vendors

and and hopefully minority vendors

possibly to to bid on things that they

are at least getting involved in

participating in getting contracts with

the city that normally don't do that so

so I think that that's a very very

beneficial beneficial thing uh also when

we went through the budget process and

the question of orer came up I actually

did in in a process of doing that now uh

done various staff meetings with

applicable departments to find out where

they are with the or money and that's

that's an ongoing thing also uh we're

also in the process of U looking looking

at the police pension and um possibly

bidding that out and you should build

bid things out such as that every few

years anyway so uh so those are probably

two of the three two or three of the of

the main things we're doing now okay

thank you very much those are all the

questions I've had thank you vice

president green any questions thank you

president Powers good evening Mr

Sakowski good evening to you uh a couple

questions for you here um first how did

you hear about the job actually I saw it

on I think it was the either psab which

is the Pennsylvania State Association

the Burrow's website or was on the

Pennsylvania municipal League I don't

recall exactly which one it was but it

was one of those two

websites all right um do you live in

Harrisburg I

do thank you for that I think it's

important for um our leadership to live

in the city limits because I think you

can understand the unique problems of

the city a little better as well as its

assets um third um looking at at your

resume you have had a lot of different

roles some shorter some longer um as I

said was a previous candidate I think

institutional knowledge is important how

would you ensure the institutional

knowledge is passed on if you would

leave I have a lot of practice and you

know as you mentioned I left a few

positions I've never had an issue with u

breaching confidentiality at all and

there's things I didn't tell my wife to

tell you the truth um because you know

you're dealing with personal matters

human resource matters contractual

matters and you know some of those

things aren't for public uh um repeating

in in the public I also spent many many

years and I thank Neil every day for

being uh his office being the right to

know

law office I used to do that my in the

past I don't mind not doing that um it

was one of the jobs I disliked but I was

very good at it uh so when you do write

the no request uh you know those uh

they're not fun so I I appreciate him

doing that so being confidential is is

is a sort of second nature because even

when you're a financial advisor and you

go into a person's house and you leave

two hours later with a check of $200,000

and you get all their personal financial

information I mean you don't repeat that

kind of stuff so so I I think I'm very

good at being confidential with with

information that's personal in nature

and I have no problem doing that okay I

think you answer the question um next I

guess what's the biggest difference that

you've seen so far between your previous

roles and working for the city of

Harrisburg U my previous rool is I'm

used to being sort of the chief

administrative officer and the chief

executive officer uh because when you

work for a burrow the burough has a very

weak mayoral form of government um with

a third class City it's not that way

it's actually the mayor council form of

government so um so the mayor serves as

the chief executive officer

I'm more of the chief administrative

officer so I'm used to having the door

roles I'm also used to wear used to

wearing four or five hats so so not only

are you the right to know officer but

you're the Hippa officer the human

resource director so um so I think the

biggest difference is is is you're able

to specialize a little bit more here

because you have other departments um uh

that are able to do things so so I guess

I've been learning more how to delegate

again than anything

all right and how are you adjusting to

that delegating more I like delegating

actually so and and and the biggest

thing is you have to know where to find

information if you have a if you have an

issue or question there was something

that came up at the at the last council

meeting I was actually able to go to the

right people get answers uh within less

than 24 hours um and I think those

people were satisfied with the responses

that they got um so but I've been I said

I've been in government

itself um since 2020 so you know it's

been more than 20 years and uh I started

off as an auditor so when you're an

auditor you're looking at every single

Department within a government structure

and you're also you know looking over 37

tax collectors and you're looking over

District Justice's offices uh if you

have a County nursing home you got to do

that you have a County Airport you have

to look at that so by being an auditor

you get to learn all the ins and anounce

what what what a government is so I

think I have a long history of uh of

being you know the broad width of of a

government structure so I have no

problem knowing where to get answers and

also working for the state working for

the county working for municipality I

know who should be doing what and so if

someone calls and asks the question I

can refer them to the appropriate agency

and I'm also very good at developing

good working relationships with state

legislators uh I've already met with all

three

legislators here in in the new state

senator so I think that's going very

well and they've been very helpful with

our efforts so um hopefully that answer

your question yes it did um since you've

been in the role a little bit of time

now uh you've been able to go through

the budget process kind of get your feet

wet I guess what are some of your goals

um and your

role so continuing to work on the ARP I

think doing the uh the police pension

and I'll probably later look at the

maybe the the other pensions funds but

you have to you can do everything all at

one time I think looking at the pilot

agreements that we have uh you know

there's 60% of our real estate property

being uh you know tax exempt most of

that belong to the state I think it

needs to be looked at uh I think the $5

million that we get as a payment from

the state is is an underpayment and

needs to be addressed um um urgently um

uh let's see

[Music]

um also the procurement policy I told

you about that already so I'm not going

to you know mention it again um you know

I think the the Governor Square um

situation uh give Neil a lot of U credit

for his efforts on that getting a

receivership in place I think we're

making some some progress don't want to

go into a whole lot of details uh I

think Bob mentioned about the accounting

system un system um unfortunately last

year we had delayed about 6 months after

Mr Hartman had left until I started in

October that whole effort sort of froze

in place um because the two people in

charge of that were both bacon positions

so we got it restarted back in November

and and we've been meeting on a regular

basis since so uh and actually talked to

Steve bner probably U last week about it

again so we are making some progress

just not as much progress I think the

Broad Street Market is uh get that

rebuilt I think that's that's a good

issue and also the senator stadium is

also a big issue and I think uh

affordable housing issue is is Al is

also a big issue and we actually meet on

a regular basis to especially with the

governor's office to deal with

affordable housing so I think those are

probably the big issues that need to be

addressed this

year all right thank you and then the

last one is more of a comment um I look

forward to continuing to work with you

um I will say working with previous

business administrators um one of the

things that made them the most

successful was um ensuring communication

between the administration but also uh

with Council making sure we're informed

and updated with what's going on um this

isn't our full-time job but we still um

have a lot of communication and

connection with the residents so we're

elais on to getting that information out

we make a lot of important decisions

here so um keeping us informed and in a

loop is very important um to make sure

we have a successful city um also

followup when we reach out or when

residents reach out making sure you have

that followup and in a good follow-up

time always makes everything run a

little smoother um and then just

balancing priorities because I know in

your office um you kind of get

priorities from every Department as well

as residents coun to Administration uh

so balancing those priorities and

following up on that um if you can do

those three things I think that you

could be very successful a job so thank

you appreciate it I appreciate your

comments agree with everything you said

and I have actually I have made over

chur to the council itself to improve uh

communication and then look forward to

continue doing

that okay councilwoman Davis any

questions thank you president Bowers um

president vice president green asked the

questions that I was going to ask in

terms of any additional goals and you

did elaborate on on other questions that

I was going to ask so thank you very

much for being here and I don't have any

further questions okay thank you if you

think anything later let me

know thank you councilwoman Daniels any

questions yeah it's just the same

question I asked uh the other um

appointee do you have any any conflicts

of interest or any issues that you could

see um impacting your ability to carry

out the the work uh no I don't see uh

expect to have any any kind of a um

problem like that

no thank you are there any other final

questions okay seeing and hearing none I

moved to add resolution 9 of 2025 to our

next legislative session agenda for a

formal vote this concludes the work of

the administration committee we will now

move to the Public Safety Committee I

would defer to our Public Safety

Committee chair councilman Jones Thank

You president Bowers I think we have DC

Young and commissioner Carter to discuss

resolution 6 of

2025 Mr trusdale can you please read it

into the record resolution six 2025 a

resolution authorizing the city of

Harrisburg to negotiate and enter into a

Professional Services agreement with WCA

Public Safety assessments for the

purpose of providing psychological

testing and assessment for the city's

Bureau of

police thank you uh gentlemen introduce

yourself I even though I did that but

I'll let you do it U for the record all

right thank you sir uh deputy chief

young uh thank you for having us

Thomas Carter commissioner I've been

here for 38 years probably longer than

what you guys have been

living thank you thank you thank you I

appreciate

that no um to break the ice

yeah this is a good one I'll be 50 on

the 27th so um can you just give us a a

a brief overview for my understanding

this is a a long-standing contract

that's just looking to uh renew so for

our uh viewers and listeners can you

just give a quick overview of what this

uh resolution is far as uh retaining to

uh pre-trial psychological

evales preh hire I'm sorry gotcha so

yeah we're required uh at at certain

stages uh hiring process uh would be one

to have psychological uh evaluations

completed on anybody we hire new um we

also use the Psychological Services uh

for uh a couple other different reasons

um but uh this would allow us to enter

into that agreement and we have done we

started with Dr lagona uh years ago and

I can't tell you exactly when that was

um but uh Dr Laguna sort of kind of went

into business with uh WCA um and now

they became the uh one of few people uh

in this area that that we founded are

able to provide these Service uh

services to

us okay got any commissioner good all

right yeah for for me um this is pretty

cleancut uh and clear um something that

was already standing uh for years so I

really don't have any questions and I

will open the floor up for my colleagues

and starting to my immediate right with

councilman

Rodriguez uh I have no question thank

you for joining us thank you

sir councilwoman Ross good evening to

you both thank you for being here I

don't have any question questions I was

just going to say um for the public who

may not be able to see this resolution

or may have questions in their own head

about exactly what it is it's basically

and tell me if I'm wrong um like if a

officer fires his weapon or something

happens on the job they will go to these

um have these psychology testing

services or Counseling Services as a uh

Proactive or kind of reactive way to

discuss what happened would that be

correct correct that would be part of it

yes but uh we're also when we hire

people and they go through the hiring

process that would be another one we're

required to have a psychological review

uh complete a violation psychologist so

that would be another one uh you also

have and like everyone else so you also

have those times where people aren't

right this gives us the ability if

they're not able to do their job they're

not up to their standards gives us the

ability or Avenue uh to see what that is

with Professional Services so there's a

whole list if you look uh it's towards

the back he provides a whole list of

services yes I did see it I just didn't

know if anyone who was listening or

public or anyone who was here who can't

get their hands on the resolution just

to make sure they understood exactly how

these Services would work if they're

familiar with like SVU and things when

something happens on there they go and

they sometimes have to have Services um

Psychology Services or testing done

after an incident so it's kind of like

yeah a little bit like that but also if

they're being h

that's part of it too okay thank you

that was it I was just clarifying for

everybody thank you that's it for me

president Bowers SVU is my favorite show

by the way but I don't have any

questions thank you vice president green

thank you very much thank you for being

here tonight um I think you might have

some more residency years on me

um and of course I appreciate you living

here I don't have any questions so thank

you thank you Council woman Davis thank

you councilman Jones good evening even

good evening okay how does the company

ensure consistency and reliability in

their evaluations across different

officers in the

department so it depends I will tell you

this the the test are set they could

probably answer that better yeah that's

that's better but I can tell you they

have a set a set test that they'll give

them so depending on what the situation

is if it's new hire they they run the

same set of tests on that so and then

they're for the most part um I I I

honestly couldn't tell you how the back

end of that would but yeah and if

something else happened again there's

there's a test or a uh something they

would administer to get that that

consistency how do we know that the

tests are

unbiased then we know

that question this is the new standard

of test because the old test they found

that

they were

biased and so you know the thing tank

came up with a way of asking questions

and test people on different subject

matter Fitness for Duty we get um T

when somebody any traumatic incident

that a police officer

into for

are proven

to best thing for right now but as you

know

like I hate but anyway you know just

like

that that ANW

question so we really don't know you're

saying that it is biased now the tests

before prior were okay they were biased

the the the preh hire test is is

prescribed by the police Chiefs

Association that we have to use the one

that they

dictate okay and then the support there

is support that's provided for officers

who might need to

improve uh based on their results of

testing yes there's support for that

okay but what skills and qualities uh

are these assessing

for just out of curiosity what what are

they testing for so on a new hire on a

new hire okay so I mean we got that one

um but it it it may be any number of

problems you

may I'm not I'm not going to try to get

too deep into the woods with this but it

may be a number of problems I mean we

may have an AER ball shooting obviously

there's a standard that does that

actually uh 59 covers that and how

that's and how that uh evaluation is

done um you have uh you may have some

personal issues you're dealing with that

are basically affecting how you're

working so obviously we want we want the

officers to be mentally prepared to be

out there it becomes a safe environment

for everybody so there and when we we

know that something like that's not

right obviously we need to turn to

somebody and this is I mean the the

psychologist and the tests that they run

and the evaluations that they do so can

uh also assess if there's some mental

illness or some mental problems going on

with the cor officer okay the

commissioner alluded to it I mean

they'll do a fitness for Duty and I mean

if if they're not fit for Duty based on

a psychological evaluation then they

don't go back out on the street okay

well that's important thank you that's

it

for

councilwoman

Daniels um no questions on this contract

but um while the commissioner while

commissioner Carter is here would you

mind um addressing questions about

cooperation with immigration enforcement

in the city what's happening with this

city with harrisburg's police department

and that

relationship we have no control over the

federal government we have no control

over ice uh we cannot stop ice from

doing their jobs uh we have not teamed

with ice ice that I know of to to um

extract anybody from their homes but I

understand that ice has been through the

city is that something all of the police

officers in the department or whatever

in terms of like the is that a city is

that a policy or is that just kind of a

practice it's not a policy but it's a

conversation I had with the um the

supervisory staff

okay thank you

yes thank you councilwoman Daniels um

anyone else have any other questions

before okay that will thank you

gentlemen I appreciate it um that will

conclude

um

the resolution 6 for 2025 is I apologize

and I will ask that this be moved to our

next legislative session for vote thank

you thank you

thank you our final Comm committee

business this evening lies with the

public works committee I will defer to

our Public Works committee chair

councilman Rodriguez thank you madam

president all right today for the public

works committee we'll be discussing

resolution 10 of 2025 Mr chale do you

mind reading in resolution 10 of

2025 resolution 10 2025 a resolution of

the city council of the city of

Harrisburg reestablishing hotspots

Saturdays a community beautification and

Public Safety initiative designed to

encourage City residents to participate

in six community cleanup events

throughout the summer of

2025 and um I just want to thank Council

and the city as whole um in the past

three years this initiative has really

just took on a life as a own um keep

Dolphin County beautiful actually

recognized the volunteers group uh and

recommended keep PA beautiful um give

the volunteer group an award and they

just won uh cleanup award for the 30 out

of the 150 tons that the group removed

so congratulations to Cil and the City

of Harrisburg we have an award-winning

blight mitigation you know initiative so

it's phenomenal um but the metrics as we

talked about towards the end of the year

we were able to remove 150 tons of waste

on the bill of LW so three and a half

years ago I met with some of the

directors of L schwarma and just wanted

to you know keep those promises we've

made and you know try to mitigate blight

try to curb some of the illegal dumping

happening and um keeping a volunteered

base over the past three years with the

support of council we've been able to

eliminate 150 tons and 18 days and we

look forward to kicking some more butt

this season and um we will kick it off

in April 19th in Ethel alley um May 10th

Midtown um June 14th in the the Uptown

area July 26th um that is in the north

Harrisburg Area 823 in Allison Hill and

9:13 in the Southside um so once again

this is an initiative that I drafted

city council supports and it is the city

of harrisburg's initiative so I

encourage everyone to come um but we

were benefited and blessed with a great

award for that initiative and uh I do

have a brief video to show Council um

with just some of the things that

happened crw jumped on as a sponsor as

well as many great

[Music]

entities an effort to get rid of trash

on the streets has returned to

Harrisburg we're out here doing a a

glitter Cleanup in uh Midtown um it's

important to our water systems because

all of our sewers in one way or another

connect to our natural Water Systems

either a little stream the Susana River

um Paxon Creek and all of those

waterways eventually flow to the ocean

the Susana river goes directly to the

ches Fay which goes directly into the

ocean so anything that you throw on the

ground here when it's carried by storm

water can be carried into a storm drain

an inlet and then make it into the river

and not only can It threaten local

wildlife and and recreators um visitors

tourist but it also can go Downstream

and you've all seen the videos of a a

turtle with a straw on its nose or a

duck with a six-pack ring around its

throat um that's all that all could

happen something you could throw in the

floor in Harrisburg could end up around

a peace of wildlife so we encourage

people not to litter uh it protects our

local waterways it protects our sewer

system it prevents blood backups clogs

things like that um we really appreciate

uh the partnership and uh we look

forward to doing more in different

neighborhoods absolutely thank you say

it's nice OG what part what part of is

nice what part if it's

nice help

absolutely keep them out of trouble so

so for those that saying that no one's

doing this is that true no no here here

this is the witness right here they are

doing

[Music]

J

[Music]

I want to thank councilman Rodriguez and

I really see what we're doing with this

as in partnership with the hotpots and

couldn't be more thrilled just to team

up collaborate and work together for the

good of the

city and that's the conclusion of the

brief video just to kind of catch

everyone up on what it is that we do out

there so get the Schoolboard involved

get the district involved I love to see

more out there um but um with that being

said we announced the dates for the 2025

season um the award which is completely

separate than um any member of council

or city just have to put that out there

as a preface it and you know anyone that

wants to take involved once again April

19th May 10th June 14th July

26 uh we have August 23rd and September

13th um and with that being said I'll

open up the floor just for any questions

oh and just for council's um edification

our old director of communications from

L schwarma actually have left their role

and I've been in touch with the new

directors for L schwarma and they're

just as excited if not even more so um

we have full support and once again I

had just sent Mr trusdale and said the

waiver for 25 Harrisburg city is not

responsible for the tilling fees which

is a huge discount when we do our

cleanup so um saving on Manpower Labor

amongst many other things I'll open up

the floor with councilwoman Daniels any

questions

uh no questions thank you thank you um

councilwoman Davis any questions no

questions just a comment to say thank

you for all you do it really looks fun

out there you know um everybody getting

involved teamwork cleaning up the

community I love it it's fun this is why

I got involved to make our community a

better place so thank you thank you for

all you do councilman I didn't add like

when we eat fun too I know that's the

best part Council woman green thank you

very much I don't have any questions

just a comment thank you for leading

this charge um it's always something

that's good for the city for the

residents and just getting people

involved so thank you thank you madam

vice president Madame President thank

you for your leadership and how can

people sign up uh to participate in all

of the dates some of the dates how how

is the sign up what is the sign up press

thank you great question they could

reach directly out to R Rodriguez at

Harrisburg pa.gov or call our great

clerk's office and talk to Mr trale

we'll get them the brief waiver just

very minimum like any other City

initiative just in case someone you know

Falls you know that that liabilities

covered but um very brief waiver and

they can just join us on any cleanup day

we usually run from 10 to 12 every

cleanup day thank you absolutely uh

councilwoman Ross thank you councilman

Rodriguez um I don't have any questions

just also thank you for leading this

charge and um for the Visionary thought

that you had for Hotpot Saturdays and

helping um continue to make Harrisburg

um beautiful so thank you thank you and

councilman Jones uh yes so you said how

much are we paying no thank you uh for

your service and I think this is a great

idea um to have um

volunteers um and that that shows that

they're not getting paid that also shows

their commitment to making sure and

ensuring that our community

is uh staying as clean as possible so

thank you for your service thank you um

and if there are no further questions

anyone before we uh move forward if not

I encourage um I move to add resolution

10 of 2025 to our next legislative

session and that concludes the work of

the Public Works committee thank you

madam president thank you we will now

open the floor for public comment just a

few housekeeping notes before we begin

uh please state your name and your

address for the meeting record if you

don't feel comfortable sharing your

address please share the vicinity in

which you live within the city you'll

have four minutes to share your comments

Mr trusdale will serve as our timekeeper

I'll begin to my right is there anyone

that would like to offer public

comment so my comments have uh kind of

changed from what they were before um

it's uh Curious after I'm sorry my name

is Brandon Bome um Third Street Uptown

um usually I'm here to talk about Street

safety and I still want to say that

State Street still hasn't been acted on

in years now but to get to my other

point uh commissioner Carter had said

that there is no agreement between ice

and the Harrisburg Police however there

are videos of Harrisburg Police

escorting and walking with ice like

through parts of Harrisburg so my

question is going to be is there anou or

a um an understanding now what I want to

ask is can we have an or can we have a

policy where haris police do not assist

ice in their activities in the city for

various reasons one of the main ones is

it makes us less safe as the city you're

taking a group of people who will now be

afraid to talk to the city come for

Services report crimes because they'll

be afraid the Harrisburg Police will

turn them over to immigration and custom

enforcement um let me see what else do I

have

sorry um oh I also think it's a poor use

of resources we keep hearing about how

the uh police uh are understaffed and

can't even get their essential jobs done

but now we're doing federal work which

honestly we have no business doing we

we're not in the business of you know

checking people as legal citizenship

status um let see it also intimidates

citizens who aren't recent immigrants

but may seem like them who might be

Spanish speaking who might be up in

oural bicycle I mean we have um you know

Afghan refugees we have all sorts of

recent immigrants people who their

families longstanding and they get swept

up into things just as quickly um you

know people don't feel safe coming to us

for services knowing that that's a place

where ice could hit and I mean we know

our rights we know we can deny the Maxes

without a warrant but the chilling

effect is terrible like our our city

businesses a lot of the like you know um

like ethnic groceries lose business

because people know that they can be

targeted so I'm I'm gonna say like I

said to end it

um honestly like I said I was going to

ask and try to get information about

agreement but now I ask that hopefully

health and safety or Public Safety take

some steps to make sure that our police

do not cooperate any of them like and if

you know what and if berter wasn't aware

of it and if other supervisors were we

need to make sure they all know that

that's a thing that we can't accept as a

city thank you if I

may president bars go ahead okay yeah um

thank you uh for that so I'll just make

my stance here right now I do not

support any of that them coming in and

taking people out and getting and I

don't I wouldn't like to see our

resources used in that capacity either

however um you know me as a public

safety chair I don't have enforcement

powers for the police so that would be

something that would have to come for um

come from Administration but it doesn't

I would have to talk with legal see if

there's something that that we could put

um on paper uh to make sure you know at

least have a stance on that and you know

that would take everybody's involvement

in it you know I'm just giving you mine

on record that I don't support what

what's happening with people getting

taken out of our community Community all

right thank you is there anyone else to

my right that would like to offer public

comment okay seeing and hearing no one

anyone in the middle

section okay seeing and hearing no one

anyone to my left seeing and hearing no

one the time is 6:45 p.m. I will

entertain a motion to adjourn don't move

is there a second second thank you we

stand a

jour

e e