County Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Commissioner's meeting for June 24th, 2026. We'll begin with a moment of silence followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Chief Clerk's report, Mr. Haggerty. Good morning, Commissioners. An executive session was held on Tuesday, June 23rd, to obtain the advice of legal counsel regarding insurance requirements, human services contracts, employee benefits, economic development contracts, and personnel matters. Today, we are joined by Kay Pickering from Neighborhood Dispute Settlement. In addition to the May 13, May 20, and May 27 Board of Commissioners meeting minutes and the purchase order packet, there are 29 items for board consideration today. We have one adoption assistance agreement, adoption of the 2026-2027 fiscal year human services budget, one retirement board agreement one prison agreement one public safety agreement one wellness committee agreement one grant award agreement amendment 18 human services agreements one legal services agreement one parks and recreation presenter agreement a satisfaction piece and the training pack that concludes my report unless there are any questions any questions for mr hagerty none for me we'll move to solicitor's report mr owens

Good morning. All matters requiring review by my office for today's action have been reviewed and approved for action.

Any questions for Mr. Owens? Hearing none, we'll move to public participation related to agenda items. This is a time for public participation on items that are currently on our agenda. You'll need to note which item you're referencing, and you'll have three minutes. And if you could state your name prior to speaking. We are being live streamed. Good morning.

Good morning. Good morning. good morning commissioners pamela parson city of harrisburg um i would like to uh reference item four on today's agenda um under general agreements uh the settlement agreement relating to riley et al versus warden clark et al um i would I'm really happy to see this here. Maybe happy is not the right term to use, but I am relieved to see this here. I think this brings important closure. Following the death of Tariq Riley in 2019, these kinds of settlements often happen in behind the scenes in quiet and with non-disclosure agreements and are never revealed so that the public does not know and families are not allowed to discuss what happened. to them or to their loved ones, or if they received any kind of compensation for that. I would like to acknowledge that in no way does this money make any difference in the loss of Tyreek Riley. It does not replace his place in his family or the greater loss to the community. I just wanted to acknowledge that this is here, that I appreciate that it is here, and that I hope that you will vote for it. Thank you.

Thank you, Pam. Anyone else for public comment on agenda items only?

Good morning.

Good morning, commissioners. My name is Robert Williams, Harrisburg resident. I'm here to address two specific items under section 12. item four, the $3.3 million prison settlement, and item two, the $134.5 million human services budget. Item four is listed as a $3.3 million settlement funded through insurance marked outside the operating budget. That framing is technically convenient, but substantially misleading. Insurance is not external to the public. It is a risk transfer mechanism funded by premiums, deductibles, and future rate adjustments that ultimately trace back to the taxpayers. A settlement at this level is not an isolated incident. It is a quantified failure of policy enforcement, supervision, documentation, and constitutional compliance. You do not reach multi-million dollar civil rights exposure without systemic breakdowns across multiple control layers. So the relevant question is not just what happened, but what controls were failed? Where were the audit gaps and what has been structurally changed specifically to address this situation? What policy revisions have been implemented? What supervisory or training deficiencies were identified and corrected? What new monitoring or reporting mechanisms are now in place to prevent this reoccurrence? Without those answers, that is not resolution, it is deferred liability. Item two, the $134.5 million human services budget, which roughly is 87% of coming from state and federal sources at a scale that is not just a budget, it is a compliance system. Every funding stream carries conditions, audit requirements, and documentation standards. If those are not met with precision, the county is exposed to clawbacks, findings, and further liability. And that is not a... So the question here is straightforward. What systems are in place to ensure that does not happen across human services? How is the grant compliance being tracked in real time? What audit trails exist for service delivery and outcomes? And where is the independent verification layers? Because at 134 million, general oversight is not sufficient. You need verifiable, audible control systems. Thank you. Anyone else for public comment on agenda items only?

We'll move to review and approval of the minutes. We have May 13th, May 20th, and May 27th meeting minutes before us for approval. Do I have a motion? So moved. Moved by Commissioner Hartwick. I'll second. Seconded by myself. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Directors and guests, we have Kay Pickering from the Neighborhood Dispute Settlement here today, along with a guest.

Good morning, Kay. Morning.

Morning.

Thanks for joining us today.

Well, thank you for having us. I'm Kay Pickering. was president of neighborhood dispute settlement for several years and at our annual meeting in may dr lyle gaines became our new president of our board and at that meeting we recognized the dauphin county commissioners for their long-standing support of neighborhood dispute settlement neighborhood dispute settlement has been around for more than 45 years We're a secret. We don't want to be a hidden secret because conflict is every place. And so we're here to help with that. So Lyle and I are both trained mediators. Actually, we've done some mediations together. And we're here to serve the county. We're initially just Dauphin County, but we also serve Cumberland County. We've reached out to Lebanon County, Northern York County. So we're a central Pennsylvania mediation center, and we encourage county staff and staff in municipalities to use us more. We do have good relationships with townships and boroughs. in all the counties. So whether it's custody issues, that's a lot of what the referrals are. Police make referrals. Any staff can make referrals when they get calls and see that there's an issue, conflict. And we'd like to be more widely known. So please spread the good word to everybody who's here.

Where can people find out more, like if people are watching this online right now?

Yes, so we have a website and we have a call-in center. Our office is actually located on North Front Street here in Harrisburg. We have a part-time staff person. We'd like to have a full-time staff person, but... financially we can only at this point afford but all of our mediators are volunteers so we have mediators uh lyle lives in carlisle he's a central pennsylvania native here and i live in harrisburg so we have mediators that live in all of central pennsylvania and we would appreciate We're known to human services agencies, so oftentimes managers of complexes call us and see that there's problems with tenants. So it's not just neighbors. It can be any conflict that arises. so i'd like to just read the plaque and present it to neighborhood dispute settlement gratefully honors and acknowledges the dauphin county commissioners for decades of meaningful financial support and without you we couldn't continue uh to do what we do so thank you very much and we thank you for the way you're serving the public in this i mean it's so important to have um

you know, in the midst of conflict for it not to escalate. Often y'all are on the front lines of that, you know, and helping mediate, you know, tense situations and bring some resolution maybe before it gets to us or it's already got to us. And we know we're trying to, you know, keep it from escalating to something where, you know, bad decisions might be made or outcomes might be more adverse. So thank you for all the work that you and your team does.

So we have a training coming up for new mediators and we encourage staff to take our training. That's the end of September and October. Our number is 717-233-8255. So.

it if i could okay it's great to see you again um i i became familiar with the neighborhood's dispute settlement when i was the mayor of steelton right when there were property disputes right disputes related to concerns and engagement with various parts of our borough and municipal government and i always thought it was a worthwhile investment for us to partner with neighbors who are specialized in mediation a lot of times getting involved with formal systems make it complicated you know access to information the idea of having real mediators working on behalf of residents in order to try to negotiate and mediate those complaints and concerns stop a lot of issues from having to go to court they stop you know they're able to find you know clear resolutions with the local municipalities And we're able to take action based upon shared agreement that happens with folks that are actively trained in listening, being able to be prepared to offer solutions, and then bringing those solutions forward to government. So I want to thank you for the work that you do. And I continue to think that the neighborhood dispute settlement, if used in the appropriate way, can really stop a lot of things from having to escalate to another level, and we can still find significant resolution to those individuals who are still locked in significant disputes. So I want to thank you again for all that you've done and continue to do, and you will have my continued support.

So magisterial district justices also make referrals when the conflict comes in front of them in addition to police referrals.

Thank you.

And thank you for your support.

And good luck, Dr. Gaines, as you're taking over. And again, thank you so much for your service, Kay and Cyril.

Appreciate it. Thank you. We'll get one of them up.

Thanks again to Neighborhood Dispute Settlement. We will move to, it looks like there's nothing for salary board, nothing for human resources. We'll move to budget and finances. This is for Davis.

morning commissioners morning morning um start with the purchase order packet i have no changes to the packet that was presented um that is ready for your approval i haven't answered any questions we have a motion for the purchase order so moved moved by commissioner hartwick i will second any discussion hearing none all those in favor aye motion carries all right now regarding the human service budget um that will be taken up under matters requiring board action The budget's been on display both in the lobby and on the website for the 20-day inspection period. I've received no questions, comments, concerns. The only one I'm aware of is the one brought in public participation here before the board. Just as a quick summary of what is under matters requiring board action, there's no changes from what was proposed. It shows a $3.8 million increase, or 2.91% overall, which correlates to a $784,000 increase in county funds, or 4.76%.

No questions for me? Sorry.

Go ahead, continue.

Oh, no, that's all I have. I'll keep it brief.

Any questions, Commissioner?

No, we've discussed this last week. I'm ready for action.

Thank you.

We have 29 matters requiring board action before us today. Do I have a motion for all 29 or does anything need to be pulled out? I'll make a motion for all 29. Motion made by Commissioner Hartwick for the 29 matters requiring board action before us.

I will second. Any discussion?

I'll just simply state that I want to thank Pam for her comment and just, I think it's a time of reflection on the tragic loss of Tyreek Riley. and i'll just leave it at that with that i'll call the vote all in favor aye opposed motion carries former business we have no former business before us any new business hearing no new business commissioner's remarks commissioner hartwood

yeah i'd uh just like to thank um anthea stebbins and michelle mckeown from parks and rec last night we had an incredible event for the volunteers who make our park system one of the nicest and best crown jewels anywhere in the commonwealth i know we are the envy of a number of places with the friends of fort hunter the friends of wildwood the friends of debtweiler park and i believe there were a couple of new additional partnerships that were talked about from botanist last night to disc golf but there were well over 150 volunteers that were in attendance and it's their contributions that allow us to be able to participate in a way and to have the level of programming events i know um A wildwood camp was last week. There are continual activities that are going on to be able to educate and inform our communities as well as use these valuable resources in a way that really prevent provide a, the highest and best use for a number of these facilities. So I want to thank. the parks and rec staff who do an incredible job also congratulate them i believe they are up now for a national award related to the connection of public trails which is certainly another valuable asset within this county and this region and thank them for all the work that they do Lastly, congratulations to YPOC and Aris Smallwood, who combined for a series of incredible events over the past week for Juneteenth. I know I was in attendance of the Taste of Black Harrisburg on Thursday night and the Juneteenth parade on Saturday. All which were extraordinarily well attended, brought the community together, help provide education and a sense of cultural awareness. And it was a pleasure to be able to participate in in those events over the past week. So, thank them for all of their efforts and putting them together. That's all I've got.

And I will 2nd, that does a fabulous job. So many events over Juneteenth and, uh. i was not able to attend taste and i was not able to attend the parade but i attended um the celebration of the park uh the day prior to the parade uh they do a great job and uh just uh very thankful for their leadership and that just continues to grow i feel like every year uh we continue to see more and more people coming out celebrating june juneteenth and That's great to see. Just a reminder, everyone, we wrapped up tourism grant hearings last week. And we just want to thank all those who applied for tourism grants and came in and went through that process. I also want to just take a moment to welcome. It's first day for Caroline, my summer intern. So she can wave. I'm not going to make her stand. But thanks for being here. And she's a Harrisburg High School student. You just graduated, right? or no, you're junior? Junior, sorry, junior, going into your senior year though, yeah. So excited to have her around, and I think we need more young people in county and local government to just kind of get a vision for how they might consider a career path this direction and just learn about what the county does. We need more educated constituents, and so I'm excited to kind of educate her and maybe even she can take that education back to her students and and share about all the great things that the county does with that I will move to public comment and I believe I have a list coming to me of those who signed up prior to the meeting this is general public participation so oh yeah sorry I apologize we do have correspondence before us we have items of correspondence that will be handled by the chief clerk's office With that public participation, just a reminder, it's a three-minute limit. You'll need to state your name prior to speaking, and we are being livestreamed. I will call off the list, and then we'll open it to the floor. Robert Williams.

Good morning again. Robert Williams, Harrisburg resident, here to address the same issues I've been addressing, which are the missing CCT footage regarding the incident in the Dauphin County District Attorney's Lobby. This board, hold on. I'm here today to address the critical failure to preserve the CCTV footage in the event that to remind this board that the statutory framework govern public data. When surveillance footage disappear or is allowed to be overwritten during an active dispute, it crosses the line from administrative error until serious legal violation. First, let's talk about statutory mandates under the Pennsylvania County Records Act. County officials are legally required to follow the strict retention schedule set forth in the county records manual. You do not have the legal authority to let public records, including digital and electronic data, to simply vanish. Furthermore, the consequences here extend beyond civil litigation and spoliation sanctions. Under Pennsylvania law, Title 18, PA consolidate Statute 4911, the intention of an unlawful destruction, concealment, or removal of public records constitutes the criminal offense of tampering with public records or information. If routine automated deletion is used as an excuse after the county has been put on notice of a dispute, it demonstrates a reckless disregard for the law that exposes individuals to criminal liability and exposes taxpayers to severe financial penalties, including adverse inference that structures the court. The failure reveals a breakdown across four distinct oversight bodies within this county. The Department of Public Safety, as the operational custodian, your duty was to isolate, lock down that data the moment an incident occurred and notice was given, preventing it from being recycled or overwritten. The county solicitors, your duty was to enforce an immediate, unyielding litigation hold That was the county solicitor. His duty was to enforce an immediate, unyielding litigation hold across all departments. If that hold was not issued or monitored, the county's legal defense has been severely compromised. The security committee of the courthouse, their explicit duties are to oversee the county's physical and digital surveillance infrastructure, evaluate systemic vulnerabilities and maintain strict access control. Where was a security committee's oversight when these recording systems failed? It is their job to audit these blind spots and ensure integrity and our security system. The county commissioner's duties was executive accountability stops with you. You find these systems, you fund these systems, you appoint the committees, and you answer to the public for its failure. When evidence vanishes, public trust goes with it. I'm calling on the commissioners to order a media investigation into this breach of county records act to bring in the security committee to review the technical system failures and to establish a transparent timeline of exactly when the litigation hole was issued. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Williams. Next up, we have Douglas Lynn.

Good morning. Good morning.

Good morning, folks. Douglas Lynn, Susquehanna Township. As a young man, I quite actively disregarded the wisdom of my elders, such as the way many young men. Now I'm one of those elders. I'm a grandparent. And it seems some of that wisdom sunk deep, even though I actively disregarded it as a young man. something my grandparents would have said has stuck with me and it seemed to be relevant they would say something along the lines that it's often uncomfortable and even more often tremendously inconvenient but it's always okay to do the right thing When the Dauphin County Welcome Resolution comes up, I strongly urge you guys to do the right thing. It is okay. We got you. We the people have you. Always do the right thing. Protecting our most vulnerable and most vulnerable members of our community is always the right thing. Be better. Do better. Thank you.

Thank you, Douglas. I'll open it to the floor now. We have no one else on our list.

good morning again commissioners pamela parsons city of harrisburg i'm grateful for the public passage of item four the 3.3 million dollar settlement in the matter of tyreek riley i'm hoping that this um continues our work for transparency and accountability at dauphin county prison we need to make sure that this does not happen again to anyone and that we continue to keep things way that that we continue with the work that we are doing i cannot imagine what the insurance premiums are and when we look at our budget and we're talking about budget constraints one of the things we as taxpayers are responsible for when we pay our taxes to dauphin county is that we're paying for insurance and so all of us who live in dauphin county are liable when something like this occurs at dauphin county prison so i think this is an important time to reflect upon all of the deaths that have happened at the prison and make sure that there are no more thank you ma'am anyone else for public comment

So I have many many hats Excuse me.

Could you please state your name for the record?

Sorry, okay So I have many many hats here in Dauphin County I live in the city of Harrisburg and I am the staff person at the Harrisburg Center for Peace and Justice, where on a daily basis, I deal with people who are homeless, about to be homeless. I interact with Randy and a lot of the county staff in the role that I play on a daily basis, helping people keep their lights on. the gas going, the water on. I'm a hands-on caseworker. And I'm also involved in the FCNL advocacy team, which monitors the Dauphin County prison and reentry programs. And so a lot of my clients are reentry people, have been in prison, and are facing employment issues because of their criminal background and their inability to find employment. It's so dire here in, not just Dauphin County, but I know it's a national problem, but so many people come to me on a daily basis who are looking for employment. They want to pay their rent. They want to pay their utilities. They are in dire, dire situations. So I'm just bringing to you a grassroots view of somebody who, I'm a full-time volunteer. I don't get paid for anything that I do. I actually pay to work. So we monitor the prison from Friends Committee on National Legislation. It's one of our advocacy things.

Very good. Thank you very much for your work. Thanks for bringing that to our attention. Anyone else for public comment? Seeing none, I'll entertain a motion for adjournment. So moved. Moved by Commissioner Hartwick. All second. All in favor? Aye. We're adjourned.