One of the original intents of the authority was to “take politics” out of decisions. A great concept except that in America – decisions sometimes are sloppy. They are not neat or pretty, but that’s ok. It beats the powerless feeling that Lancaster Countians have had watching this project go on and on and on! No American should have to sit and watch public officials make dumb decision after dumb decision without any recourse. However, because of the “Third Class County Convention Center Authority Act”, that’s our only option.

The second reason that authorities were created has to do with financing. Basically, by creating a separate entity, more money can be borrowed. This is a silly reason to make Legislative Frankensteins that are Unamerican, Undemocratic and Unaccountable! As we have seen with this project, supporters simple change the law when it doesn’t suit them – let’s raise the limit that government entities can borrow.

The third reason that authorities were created had to do with corporate culture in the United States. Companies began focusing on “core concepts” and the idea was that an authority could focus on one thing rather than all the items that a government has to. For instance, the city of Lancaster created a parking authority. Did you know that the first responsibility of the parking authority is paying for the concrete? That means things like how parking fees effect economic development in the city takes a back seat to paying the bills. It might make sense for the general budget to underwrite the parking authority. What about the county trash authority? They have so much money that they could afford to give John Barley $4 million dollars for doing absolutely nothing! The trash authority is also spending $23.5 million dollars for the transfer station! But get this - they are paying for it out of the reserves! (they may borrow money so their reserves don't get too low!) If they have that much money to throw around, that surplus could be used for other priorities. For instance, if the county were to dissolve the trash authority and make it a department under the county, all monies over the cost of doing business could be used for the general budget. Or it could be used for farmland preservation – or whatever! These items could be discussed in public meetings and made by elected officials who would then face the electorate some day! That’s the way America is supposed to be!

The bottom line: Let’s do away with authority laws and force elected officials to make the hard decisions and be accountable.