County Commissioners - Regular Meeting

I'd like to call to order the Dauphin County Board of Commissioners meeting for April 22nd, 2026. We'll begin with a moment of silence followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge of Allegiance. Chief clerks report, Mr Haggerty.

Good morning, Commissioners. There was no executive session held since our previous Board meeting. In addition to the April 8, 2026 Board of Commissioner meeting minutes, April 8, 2026 salary Board meeting minutes, personnel packet and purchase order packet, we have 19 agreements on the agenda for consideration today. one parks and recreation agreement one register wills agreement two controllers office agreements two district attorney's office agreements three grant risk grant agreements to receive state federal funding and i believe nine human services agreements as well as the training packet commissioner hartwig is not with us today as he is on vacation and that concludes my report unless there are any questions any questions for mr hagerty

Hearing none, Mr. Owens, solicitor's report.

Good morning. All matters requiring review by my office, which are on the agenda for board action, have been approved.

Thank you. We'll move to public participation on agenda items only. So this is for the portion of the meeting. There will be a time later for public participation as well. But if you have a desire to speak on an agenda item today, it's a three-minute time limit. You'll need to state your name prior to speaking and be our live stream. Anyone for public comment? Hearing none. Oh, sorry. Sorry. My apologies. Come on up to the to the microphone. Yeah. Hi, how are you?

I'm great. How are you? Good. So my name is Joy Pagan. I'm a third year student at HACC and I've worked with the HACC athletic program for about three years now. I served as team manager for the men's basketball team. And recently by community, we got the news leaked to us that the board wanted to cut all hack athletics. This was noticed without any foresight or any warning. The students found out through us, through other students instead of through board members or staff. AND THEY REQUESTED TO BE HEARD AT THE BOARD MEETING AND WE WERE LEFT WITH NO RESPONSE. BECAUSE OF THAT, WE TOOK MATTERS INTO OUR OWN HANDS AND DECIDED THAT WE WERE GOING TO ADVOCATE FOR OURSELVES. SO WE SPOKE TO ABC 27, WE SPOKE TO CBS 21, WE EMAILED A LOT OF PEOPLE AROUND THE COMMUNITY SOME ARE HERE TODAY AND THANK YOU GUYS FOR LETTING US BE HEARD TODAY. WE REALLY APPRECIATE IT. And I want to read one of the letters that the athletes wrote that couldn't be here today, if that's okay.

Sure.

Okay, it says, dear whom to make this concern. I just wanted to start out by saying, cutting off hack sports might look like an easy budget decision, but in real life, it would take away something bigger than just games and teams. Hack basketball gave me a second chance and purpose. It helped me grow as an athlete and as a man. Coach Sean Liu taught potential in me and helped me discover it within myself. I came in here as a 0.1 GPA student, and the discipline Coach Sean Liu had taught me turned me into a 3.8 GPA student. Basketball has led the way for me not only to grow as an athlete, but to become who I never thought I could become as a student. I see how this helped me in my journey, and I hope this opportunity is also available for people who came from hard places just like me. John McNeil. I am happy to announce that with our advocacy this morning, some of the board people called me and my twin sister and announced that they are saving the women's basketball, I mean, women's basketball, men's basketball and women's volleyball athletic programs for a year. We offered a business proposal during our advocacy and they looked at this business proposal and saw potential. So we're going to put this business proposal into action. And I wanted to speak to you guys today because Our basketball program, we started off from having zero attendees to 178 at max capacity several times this year. I see how it can bring the community together. We have free youth clinics from youth around the community where the players, oh, I'm sorry.

You're okay. Keep going.

Okay. For the players taught them how to play basketball and gave back to their community. You guys are voices that have really helped make an impact here. And if your voices can help us gather the community to these games that hack and even fundraise and create boosters or however you guys see fit, that would be greatly appreciated. And thank you so much for your time today.

Yeah, thank you for your passion and for your advocacy for the athletics program at HACC. We appreciate you. And I think even just those watching the live stream right now hopefully are more engaged in this issue. And thanks for standing up for your school and for the athletics. Thank you.

I appreciate that.

Thank you and good luck.

Thank you.

Anyone else for public comment on agenda items? All right, hearing none, we'll move to salary board. we have a salary board packet before us do i have a motion so moved okay i'm sorry is there minutes oh sorry i must have a do you have minutes on yours my agenda doesn't have that interesting okay just make sure i have the accurate agenda Thank you, I got it Sorry review and approval of the minutes we'll start there April 8th 2026 board of commissioners meeting that's do I have a motion I'll make that motion I'll second that motion any discussion Sorry, sorry, this is commissioners meeting my apologies. We're I missed I had the wrong agenda on Item number yes. Yes And then we'll go to salary board my apologies We have a motion, a second. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Now we'll go to Salary Board. And we have the Salary Board meeting that's before us from April 8th. Do I have a motion?

So moved.

Moved by Controller Bateman. Do I have a second? I'll second that motion. Seconded by Commissioner Preece. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Human Resources.

Good morning, Faye.

Good morning, Commissioners. There are just two transactions in the personnel packet for your consideration and approval today. Are there any questions?

None for me. So moved. Second. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Thank you. Budget and Finance, Chris Davis.

Commissioners?

I have no changes to the purchase order packet that was sent out. It's ready for your vote and approval.

do i have a motion for the purchase order packet so moved moved by commissioner priest i'll second new discussion hearing none all those in favor aye opposed motion carries thank you thank you we have 19 matters requiring board action before us today does anything need to be pulled for a separate vote i'll entertain a motion for all 19 items Yep, 18 plus the training packet. Yes.

I'll make a motion for items 1 through 18 plus the training packet item 19. I'll second that. Any discussion?

Hearing none, all those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Former business? None. New business? None. We'll move to Commissioner's remarks. Commissioner Priest.

Yes, I had the pleasure of attending a Gold Star Family Monument dedication last week with my two colleagues, and I want to thank Representative Joe Kerwin for his leadership and service, not just at home but abroad, and the amount of people he brought forth on both sides of the aisle and the great support for those families and those individuals who gave the greatest sacrifice to this country. Thank you.

I will echo those comments. It was great to be there with those Gold Star families and certainly an amazing monument at the Capitol that's now been unveiled. I also spent last week at Coronet Park right across the street from here is a brand new pocket park that we also have denim coffee going in next door. So it's good to see some new things downtown coming about. like an urban park is something that I think is unique and interesting and hopefully it'll continue to create community here downtown. I had the opportunity to go to Hamilton Health in Millersburg for their medical supply vending machine ribbon cutting, a vending machine free to the public to be able to access, you know, medical needs and supplies. Also, Laxmi Jewelers celebrated their second anniversary of their jewelry shop. Lower Paxton Police were there, so was the Bhutanese community of Central PA, and they made donations in celebration of their second year to Lower Paxton Police Department and to the Bhutanese community of Central Pennsylvania. And it was especially unique, You know, communication and commitment with lower Paxton as they dealt with a robbery and lower Paxton had done a lot of work to assist them and help them. And so that was good to be there. Yesterday I was at the downtown Harrisburg meeting for revitalization, and I just wanted to report back that it's amazing to see the survey results. We had a public survey and we had thousands and thousands of results on the amount of engagement in Harrisburg to want to see commitment to revitalization and commitment to really the potential that exists in our city and wanting to make sure that we work across all the different departments and all the different communities, all the different stakeholders to make sure that we're able to be successful in that. This morning I was with CJAB strategic planning summit that's happening at Penn State Harrisburg. They are currently planning, you know, the criminal justice advisory board for those who don't speak in acronyms. They're planning out their goals for the next four to five years. And so it was good to be with them. They'll be there the rest of the day doing that. And then just looking forward, we have a prison town hall meeting coming up Monday, May 4th, 6 p.m. right here at the commissioner's hearing. With that, we'll move to general public participation. So this is another, just a reminder, three-minute cap. We're being live streamed, and you'll need to state your name prior to coming up. We have a number of people signed up. Once I get through the sign-up sheet, I'll then open it to the floor. I think this is Nech El Shaf, if I'm reading correctly. I might be mispronouncing that, but I apologize if I am. Please correct me.

Michelle Shaf.

Michelle Shaf, sorry.

I'm going to place these here.

Thank you.

Where my son is. I'm going to be after the release before you can see. Good morning, it's good to see you again. My name is Michelle show. I have been a resident of dolphin county my entire life of 53 years aside from when I was in college in Pennsylvania. My son is 24. He has profound autism. He's nonverbal. He's not toilet trained. He urinates and defecates all over my house. He can become violently aggressive, but he also can be the joy of the world. We have I've come to you in October, as well as I came to Herwick, over the administrative entity, which I'll refer to as the AE moving forward, had illegally changed my variance while I was under the knife and I have guardianship of my son. That's bypassing a guardianship. It's a federal crime. They have yet to acknowledge it, send me anything in writing, or to give me a fair hearing, which I requested the month after that. So they are no longer following procedurals. And that's a huge concern. So I come first in that regards to that. But as a result of that and the change in the variants, we typically always had a two to one enhanced to go out into the community. And obviously we need to take him out in order to be able to clean his apartment from all the urine and the feces. So it's a safety health risk. On Monday, my DSP, my lead DSP, who's a grandma and a mom, was out with my son in the community so that we could clean his space to make it sanitary. She was at a one-to-one enhanced rate. Typically, we only go out with two-to-one or three-to-one. That happened because of said change in variance. During their departure, they did their normal things. They went to McDonald's to grab lunch, went to the airport to tailgate and watch airplanes, and then to the park where they would come up to the house for the transition home. At the park, a passerby saw my son in the van. He had chose not to get out of the van. The DSP asked if he would like to walk. He said no, he wanted to just people watch. So he was sitting in the van, enjoying his munchkins and his McDonald's, watching people at the park in an open recreational area while she was doing some of her notes. At this point, the cops showed up. Multiple cars. They asked for her license. She gave it to them. This was the Steelton Police, by the way, and they were in Lower Swatera. She was compliant, gave them their license. I apologize. I know I'm gonna go over. If you would like me to come back up, I can.

Please go ahead and go over.

She gave him license, she was completely cooperative. She shared what Squally's diagnoses were. I'm sorry, my son's name is Pasqually, call him Squally. She gave him Squally's diagnosis and they said that she needed to put the windows down. She said, before I do that, can I please preface that if you talk to him, if you speak to him, men and police are a trigger. It could essentially make him become aggressive. So if it's okay, I would like to open the windows and just not have you in too close of proximity to those windows. And please just don't engage with him. And if you want to continue to talk with him, may I please step out of the vehicle so that we're giving him a little space for his anxiety level. She got out of the vehicle. She then offered to give them anything she could. And she first asked them, can you please reach out to the co-responder, Jordan Rocco, who is the mental health co-responder of... those counties of those precincts. She was told by Officer Smith of Stilton, he didn't care who she knew. They weren't reaching out to anybody. She said, can I please reach out to mom? They allowed her to call me. I was down there in under two minutes. By the time I got there, there were eight police cars there, two canine units. for a grandma and a profoundly impaired individual. Now, she was told it was a wellness check. I don't know when the last time I heard of a wellness check requiring eight police cars. There was two from Steelton, two from High Spire, two from Lower Swatera, and two from Middletown. Six more stopped in as I was speaking to them. As soon as I got out of the vehicle, I asked them if they could reach out to Jordan Ruckel. At this point, I had not spoke to Melinda about what she had said. I just need you to know that. I had not spoke to her. I asked them to reach out to Jordan Ruckel, the correspondent. She's been on my case for five years. You know this, Commissioner Priest, because I spoke to you about her. I was told they didn't care what names I dropped. At this point, I need you to know they were angry. They were mad. They were aggressive. They were unwilling to listen. They were unwilling to just have a conversation. At this point, they were extremely reactive to us. We were terrified to even reach in our pockets for a phone. I asked them if I was allowed to go back and comfort my son and give him my phone so that he could watch YouTube to hopefully distract him. I then also asked them, would I be allowed to just turn the van around so that he was not in the back facing all this forced police presence, which was intimidating and traumatic. I said, can I please just turn it? Because then I can open the hatch and he can be facing the park. Five officers agreed to let me do that. Again, I say, I think there was 12 or 13 there. I got my van. I started to turn around. As I started to turn around, the two steel officers charged my pants with their guns at me and my son. The corrective action on this is very easy. It's training. And it's training in regard to that there is a protocol in place that anytime you approach a mental health situation, you're supposed to automatically reach out to a co-responder. She should have technically been there when I got there before they ever approached that vehicle. She should have been present. The corrective action is super easy. It's training. And it's them learning to call the co-responders. And if, God forbid, it's a request, that they follow through with it because they denied my son rights for the American Disabilities Act, for the Olmstead Act. They broke many, many laws. Many laws were broken on Monday. And more than anything, the trauma to my son, the now work we have to do to get him back to being comfortable in the community around police, we've gained back in two years. We've now lost. We now have to work two more years to get that back. The other corrective action that should be done immediately that has not happened since October, when I've had no fair hearing, I've had no documentation that's been sent to me in Change and Services, the correction to the AE, which you oversee, who are now putting you guys at liability risk. Please preserve your records. You can tell them that they need to correctively act my son's services and put those back in place because they illegally removed them until we have a fair hearing. That's called a stay in service as I requested. They're ignoring it and that's law. So my request is simple today and it goes right along with what's on your itinerary training. And we can't wait two years. I almost lost my son. And only by the grace of God and Melinda begging in tears, the one female officer to please reach out to the co-responder. And she answered her phone on a day off. And she immediately told all 16 officers to stand down, not to approach that vehicle, not to speak to my son, that they are to disperse, that she is extremely aware of this case and that they are out of pocket with what's happening and that they needed to stop being aggressive because she heard them on the radio. And she told me, Michelle, they're angry and they are not happy. You need to put me on the phone. Again, I say the corrective action is easy. The trauma that my son, my DSP, and I went through Monday cannot be put into words. I have not stopped shaking since Monday. I have never had two officers charge me with a gun over just trying out my child. There's no way to describe the damage that's been done with that. I'm asking you please for immediate corrective action for the four precincts, for the officers that were there in attendance. I'm asking you to get them trained immediately. They literally looked at me and said everything was fine until the two women were here and being emotional and overreacting. I ask you this, two officers charging my van, 16 officers and eight cars and six more that drove by, who was being overreactive? I thank you for your time. I look forward to possibly having a meeting with all of you about this. And I look forward to putting this on record and saying that I am open to anybody reaching out to me so that we can move forward to help this for the entire community and not just for my son. I thank you for your time.

Thank you, thank you for your courage and your advocacy for some training is certainly vital and it's something that we've committed a lot to for the co responders. And this is disappointing to hear. We'll definitely be looking into it.

And Mr chairman, just so you're aware, we were reached out to last year on this topic and had. human services department actively engaged and I'm gonna ask that our chief of staff and public safety director just get with you after the meeting to get some additional details and anything that maybe we could follow up on from our end and our human service agency to provide some assistance immediately next on the list we have Antonio Foster

How y'all doing? Antonio Foster, 594 Chambers. I actually have to switch up the things I'm about to say because I was here to speak to George today. But as a chameleon, I will adapt. Mr. Douglas, I want to talk to you about some things. Actually, I want to double down about some things, about the judges, a.k.a. lawyers. I'm pretty versed with the law and how things work and how things run. Now, when it comes down to detainers, Um, as I've said, you know, the people that have been released, the cover ups that have been happening. People being caught on county probation and parole. and being released just to go against me hurts a lot. I've been mocked, ridiculed, a couple other different things that I'm not even going to bring up at the time. But going along with that, when it comes with that, it starts with the probation officer, if you're not. I'm just saying this because maybe you're not averse, but it starts with the probation officer. They put him for a detainer to the judge. I'm sure the PO didn't say, you know what? This man just got caught with crack cocaine. I think I want to let him go. I'm sure that's not the way that it went. So I would guess that the PO was paid to even put the detainer in. Now, when you get down to the judge, I'm sure the judge didn't say, you know what? This man got caught with crack cocaine. He's on probation. I'm going to get the detainer lifted. I'm sure this is not the way that this process goes. But so I would say that somewhere along the line, these people were paid to put their careers on the line, is what I would say. Now, according to the director, he's like retired, but here. Maybe he's retired.

I think you miscommunicated when we had announced the directors. That's okay.

I don't know. We can wait until after my three minutes. Don't do that to me. Don't do that to me. I hate when you do that. Let me get my three minutes, please. I would like the tape. And I think that tape is very important because it shows that everything that I have came down here and displayed and spoken about is the truth. And I think that that tape should be presented to the public also. Because y'all mocked and ridiculed me to the public. It was publicly that I was 302'd and a bunch of other things that have taken place publicly. I think that tape should go to the public. Not alone, just that tape. It was another tape that was in the alleyway when the director was there. And I'm sure the camera can reach it. It might can't hear, but right now the director might as well swing the hammer with me. And he might as well tell the whole truth. I understand that people are under pressure because it seems like every time somebody makes a mistake, something happens to them or some type of form of punishment. But I don't want to get too spiritual down here. I wanted to keep it, you know, in the physical and speak the truth. But that tape, I think that is a part of crimes because it says that I'm saying the truth. And I just feel like that tape should be, you know what I mean, I should have it. Or it should be presented to the public. Or how should I go about getting it? Now, I would appreciate if you could talk and help me out with that.

What's the tape referencing?

A tape from... Are you listening to none of the last meetings?

From the courthouse?

I mean, you didn't listen to the last meeting either?

I listen to you every time you're talking, Antonio. I take detailed notes.

Oh, if you listen, it's the comprehension that's the issue because I pretty much broke it down about me and the director's conversation out there.

Yeah, out in the lobby. We don't take...

It's not in the lobby. It's right outside out front. There's two cameras on us, so there's no way you can't see us or hear us.

I don't believe we take audio of those tapes, so we would not be able to hear you.

I bet you you would say that under the circumstances.

I can double check.

I'm sure you would. I can double check and see. I don't believe that you can hear audio outside of a courthouse camera. All right. I'll double check for you. I just want to know how I can get the tape down.

you can speak to our right-to-know officer and see if that's right-to-knowable under the law.

Yeah, because I'll be back for George. I really came to lay down a law, but that was a good play y'all put in place, and I'm on vacation, though, and I was coming. We'll get back to it. I got time like y'all did, though.

thank you thank you mr. Foster just a point of clarification I believe when you heard us announce that our director was well I'm speaking it for I'm speaking it for the clarity of the public well I'm the chairman and I'll speak if I want to speak thank you sir so for the clarity of the public I would like to share that the director of economic development retired I believe there's confusion over the director of Public Safety being here in the capacity of retired he is not retired he is still with us Thank You mr. Anders and just for the record I have not publicly mocked or ridiculed mr. Foster moving forward Phyllis Bennett moving forward we'll also be sticking to our three-minute time limit

sorry miss phyllis i know you'll probably challenge me on it i get it i'm just that that was a little much for me take 11 minutes i'm sorry thank you sir lewis butts is the only individual allowed unlimited time good morning phyllis nice to see you good morning gentlemen

You need some new seats.

Okay. We'll get right on that.

Good morning again. And you know, Mr. Adenye, we're here today to talk to you about the Africa Culture Fest that will take place on September the 19th. And I'd like to talk to you a little bit about that. Last year, it was a roaring success. And I want to thank you both for your support and participation. When we had the African Cultural Fest last year, it was a real, true tourism event. People from all over the country and outside of this country came in. We had guests from Liberia, Nigeria, and we also had people from all over the country here. People from Texas, Arkansas, Baltimore. We had people from California. We had people that come in from Pittsburgh, Lehigh, Erie. Cumberland, York, Lancaster, the local counties. And we had over 200 heads to beds. And these people shopped in local stores, ate in restaurants. It was a real, true tourism. And so we're here today to present to you the fact that we are looking for your support again. And one of the things that happened, Commissioner Douglas got an opportunity to meet with the governor of Lagos, Nigeria, which was an awesome event. And I have been all over this country and I've been in different venues. And what happened at the forum on that Saturday night was something I had never anticipated, had never seen before in my life. It was a wonderful concert and it was absolutely phenomenal. The graphics were something that was just tremendous. So we're going to be doing that again. And we have... submitted an application for funding. And so we're here today to just say to you that we look forward to your support. And we also wanted to make sure that you understood where we had a true tourism event, because I know that tourism is important. And we are anticipating having guests coming from other countries as well. We also had some people coming from Canada. I forgot about Canada. And so it was just phenomenal. And the participant patient was just unbelievable. So I want to thank you for that. And I wanted him to say something. So he gets a different treatment.

Yes, he does. Good morning, commissioners. Good morning. Thank you so much for your support last year. We are not going to take that for granted. We had a very successful event last year. We started our event with a fashion show, we had a marketplace, we had a show at the Hack, and we also had a concert at the Forum last year. It was a great success, and we brought people from different places. Like Ms. Phyllis Bennett said, it was a great success, and people are looking forward to repeat the same thing this year. It's probably going to be bigger than that. We're just seeking support. We're excited about it. We've picked our date already. It's going to be the 18th and the 19th of September this year. And we're just here to, you know, ask you to support us again. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Now, we did the same record time.

Yeah, you did.

Did I get a hand clap? Yeah.

And is it Adewale? Adewale, yes.

Adewale, correct. Thank you, gentlemen, so much. Do you have any questions?

I have no questions.

Okay.

Thank you all so much. Appreciate it.

Thank you. Thank you. Look forward to hearing your support.

Next up, we have Joy Pagan. And I don't know if it's Joy and Stacey Pagan. I don't know if they're together. Oh, you already spoke. Okay, great. That's great. We'll open it to the floor for comment. Anyone for public comment?

just so you know your sister did a great job earlier didn't you say you have a twin sister i don't have my glasses on but you look like sisters okay um

My name is Butts, Lewis Butts, Harrisburg resident. I'm not from Lagos. I'm not from Guam. I'm not from Timbuktu. I'm from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I'm speaking on a project, the State Street Bridge, which is a memorial for our state park complex. It's been built over 115 years ago, and it needs some attention. The state of the bridge is a travesty, and the bridge represents all the wars that Pennsylvania fought in for freedom, including the Civil War. The designers, have passed away and there's still things that need to be done to complete the circle of their vision. I'm here to present a project for tourists that come in from all over the world. They come to Harrisburg and they really don't understand where freedom came from. where their liberties actually arose, were developed and centered. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania won the Civil War, and that's for the whole world. It started right here, and we need that monument to be fixed up. We're in our 250th anniversary, and as the capital of Pennsylvania, Um, this is a general assembly issue, and I will go in front of the general assembly. To get the funds to do this, but I'm here. To show our community, the diversity. And the complexity that our residents have for our own. area it's important that we pronounce our own self our own dignity our own identity for the world to see i'm going i i've heard that there was some rcat money i don't know i don't know but i i want these guys to know and to look within yourselves to get this funds for for this project i'm going in front of the state and i want the city to know, the county to know, as well as the state to know that our bridges are travesty. Our forefathers did not want our bridges to look like this. My project is to replicate the flags of the union from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and fly them on the post. In the future, I'll come with more projects, hydropower. I'm looking at Wild Wolf Park. and getting that dredged out and really put the emphasis on our infrastructure. Susquehanna Township is responsible for the silting of our Wildwood Lake that causes floods down along Paxton Creek, along Cameron Street. And they need to be held responsible for what they've contributed to the state of Harrisburg The state needs to be, it's blight, it's sheer blight, sheer disrespect for our cap.

Thank you, Mr. Butts.

Thank you.

Go ahead.

I have a couple questions, Mr. Butts. First of all, is this, if I'm reading this correctly, is this a $30 million project you're referring to? $30 million.

And you're going to make a request to the state? Oh, definitely. The assembly started the whole the Pennsylvania Assembly started the whole process of that bridge and it's not done yet according to the visionaries and architects that one of the bridge done and then if you if you may just for my knowledge here what ASACC alpha strategies and consulting. Oh, that's my that's my lobbying firm. Okay Got it Thank you. Thank you. You guys have a beautiful day and patience is key.

Anyone else for public comment.

Hearing none or I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved 2nd all in favor. Aye.