Today’s news and information gleanings from here and there.
Today’s quote … “ … and I define middle class to be under $20 million.” – Jerome Hesch, a tax lawyer, in this Bloomberg article about the incoming POTUS’s nominee for Sectetary of the Treasury.
- “LEGAL NOTICE Columbia Borough is seeking a Columbia Borough Resident to serve on the Columbia Borough Council beginning February 2017 filling a term to expire 12/31/2017. Interested applicants should contact the Columbia Borough Manager, Greg Sahd, at 717-684-2467 Ext. 7318 by 4:30pm Thursday, February 2, 2017 . Gregory Sahd Borough Manager – Lancaster Online Legal Notice – BUT NOT SHOWN AT THE BOROUGH’S LEGAL NOTICES WEBPAGE.
- This February 2 SPECIAL MEETING , though, is shown at the Borough Legal Notices Webpage.
- Applause! NOW. – Vox.com
- OPINION: “Ethics 101, or how to stop a slow-motion train wreck of US democracy” – The Boston Globe
- VFW takes stand about mental health issues – VFW Magazine
- Sucks to be unemployed – especially now. There’s an article leading off LNP – Always Lancaster‘s page one about the long lines at CareerLink to file unemployment claims. A similar article from the Lehigh Valley is here.
- and legislators “appear unmoved” by everyday citizens’ plight – WITF
- Reminder from Columbia Borough: “The Columbia Borough Office will be closed on Monday, January 16, 2017 for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday.”
- Columbia does make it into the Municipal Briefs in today’s LNP – Always Lancaster with notes from Monday’s Borough Council meeting.
- “Big 33 closing its doors” – Central Penn Business Journal
- On comparison, the more they look the same – The Los Angeles Times
- “Investing in poor neighborhoods, as Lancaster envisions, pays off, says urban expert” – Lancaster Online
- Notice from the Columbia Library below:
- “Toxic Bosses Can Be Bad for Mental Health, Work Ethic” – PschyCentral
- “Pennsylvania allocates $65 million a year to provide tax credits to film and TV companies. But did you know that nearly every single tax credit dollar goes on to benefit companies that have nothing to do with film or TV?” – Public Source
Columbia news, views & reviews 
It is my understanding that the zoned editions in which the municipal briefs appear will be changing in the future. Columbia’s municipal briefs currently appear (usually on a Wednesday) in the West Edition, but in the future will no longer be in the zoned edition. It sounds like the briefs could appear on any day and be read by all of Lancaster County not just those receiving the zoned West Edition.
Actually, the zoned editions are ending. It sounds like the municipal briefs will appear randomly as space allows.
That means that whatever Columbia news that appears will be seen by readers across the county. That’d be a really good opportunity to get positive communications disseminated. To do that, though, that means that real sharing of communications has to happen.
In yesterday’s LNP – Always Lancaster, Columbia’s news did make it into the MUNICIPAL BRIEFS. This was noted: “Vacancy questioned: Resident Mary Wickenheiser said she will have to withdraw her letter of interest for the council seat left vacant when Stephanie Weisser resigned Dec. 1. Wickenheiser noted that candidates previously were being interviewed during regular council meetings and she was curious as to why a separate, special meeting was scheduled Feb. 6 for the interviews and vote. She said because of vacation she will be unavailable for the interview, even by phone, on that date. Weisser’s resignation was tabled in December and Wickenheiser questioned why this had to be delayed. Council President Kelly Murphy said it was due to the holiday season. Council then voted to change the date of the special meeting to 6 p.m. Feb. 2, at which time candidates will be interviewed and a vote will take place. All letters of interest must be submitted by 4:30 p.m. Feb. 2.”
According to the Pennsylvania Borough Code, Wickenheiser has a valid point:
Ҥ 901. Filling vacancies in elective borough offices.
(a) Vacancies.–If any vacancy occurs in the office of the mayor, member of council, auditor, controller or tax collector, by death, resignation under subsection (a.1) or termination of residency from the borough, or from a ward in the case of a ward office, or by failure to take the required oath, to give bond as provided by law or ordinance or to provide the affidavit required under section 801 (relating to eligibility), or in any other manner whatsoever, the council shall fill the vacancy within 30 days by appointing, by resolution, a registered elector of the borough, or of the ward in the case of a ward office, to hold the office, if the term continues that long, until the first Monday in January after the first municipal election occurring more than 60 days after the vacancy occurs, at which election an eligible individual shall be elected to the office for the remainder of the term. Except as provided in section 801(c), no individual shall be appointed to fill a vacancy in an elected borough or ward office unless the individual has resided within the borough, or within the ward in the case of a ward office, continuously for at least one year immediately prior to the individual’s appointment.”