[Lancaster Online]

[Artie See]

In his editorial column (not available online), Marv Adams gives some fatherly advice to County Commissioners-elect Lehman, Martin, and Stuckey. It is obvious that Marv Adams expects them to be quiet and compliant.

Lancaster County faces major challenges over the next four years. The move of County offices must be completed, and additional court rooms must be built. The ultimate fate of Sunnyside will likely be decided. Funding for farmland preservation will be examined, likely to be cut significantly. And the population of Lancaster County will exceed half a million.

The final report of the "Government Study Commission" will be made public in a matter of months. Much effort will be made to convince the public to adopt whatever is proposed. The next election for County Commissioner will likely look very different than the election of 2007. And Craig Lehman may very well be the last Democrat to ever be seated as a Lancaster County Commissioner.

Four years from now, the convention center will have been open for two and one half years, assuming the current schedule is achievable. By then, the amount of economic development generated by the project should be at least partially known. The final cost of constructing the facility will be public knowledge, and some idea of the operational losses of the convention center will be known.

Will Lehman and Martin and Stuckey raise taxes to keep the convention center from closing, and violate their campaign promises? How will Lehman and Martin and Stuckey fund other County programs and initiatives? Will Lehman and Martin and Stuckey freeze or even shrink the size of County government? Or, will they follow in the footsteps of their spiritual forebears, former County Commissioners Paul Thibault, Terry Kauffman, and Ron Ford, and continue to increase County spending much faster than the rate of inflation?

But most important of all:

What will Marv Adams - or his successor - be writing about Commissioners Lehman and Martin and Stuckey two, three, and four years from now?

My prediction is that as long as Lehman and Martin and Stuckey toe the line drawn by Marv Adams (or his successor), they will be commended and praised. But if Lehman or Martin or Stuckey start asking hard questions, they will be treated every bit as slanderously as Henderson and Shellenberger have been.

Just wait and see.

This post has been edited by Artie See: 11 November 2007 - 09:24 AM