Posted on 11/09/2007 6:39:52 PM PST by tcrlaf
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- Halfway across the continent from where Buffalo Bill roamed and Custer made his last stand, the mayor of this debt-ridden city spent millions in public money on everything from six-shooters to covered wagons for a museum about cowboys, Indians and the Wild West.
And he did it without telling the City Council, whose members felt as if they had been hit by the swinging doors of a frontier saloon when they found out from a reporter in 2003.
On Saturday, the other dusty cowboy boot will drop when hundreds of the items go on the auction block in Dallas in a sell-off ordered by the City Council.
With Harrisburg hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, city officials will be watching closely to see how much can be reclaimed from the roughly $6.5 million Mayor Stephen R. Reed said he spent on the Old West collectibles.
"If we get less, then it's just a big mistake and it's unfortunate for the people of Harrisburg," said Councilman Dan Miller.
For sale are covered wagons, marshal's badges, boots, chaps, saddles, "Wanted" posters, letters, photographs, maps, furniture, pottery, artwork, pistols, rifles, knives and more. One item expected to fetch tens of thousands of dollars is a bright red Wells Fargo & Co. stagecoach, in working condition.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
At least one Harrisburg Authority official appointed by the council earlier this year, Eric Papenfuse, said some of the money should have been off limits for the museums. And he questioned whether the mayor, in a shopping frenzy, paid bloated prices for items that could be fakes.
Altogether, Reed shelled out close to $30 million on Old West, Civil War and other collectibles over 15 years - he even bought an Egyptian mummy and a 12-gun schooner that was part of Benedict Arnold's fleet during the Revolutionary War - while the city was sliding deeper into debt, said Papenfuse, who is the authority's treasurer.
The city is only beginning to catalog what Reed bought.
"The spending is staggering," Papenfuse said. "It's unbelievable."
Gotta love those whacky Democrats spending OPM(Other People's Money).... Has anyone had enough of this crap, yet?
Now; how can a mayor of city do this without the council or someone on the council not know this. I would think there would be a rumor or two.
Hey, the government can spend its money however it wants...
Now Saddle Up, pardner!
Gee...I’m SHOCKED, SHOCKED, I tell you, that a story on MSNBC failed to note, even ONCE, the political party of this corrupt piece of trash ‘Rat pol (ooops - sorry for repeating myself). Anyone want to bet a million that, had the miscreant been a ‘Pubbie, the headline would have brayed that fact? Anyone? Anyone?
Didn’t think so.
I would have liked to have visited that museum.
Is it 6 or 30 million spent?
Oh nevermind, it is only millions, not real money yet.
Not to worry, the replica covered wagons he bought have wording on the sides, “Invented by Al Gore”, “The Vehicle Emits No Carbon”, and “Doing Our Part in the Struggle Against Global Warming”.
Darn it. Had I known the mayor was ripping off the taxpayers by buying old west antiques, I would have...
...sold him all the stuff I got stored.
Anyone in the market for an original Wells Fargo 1880s pump shotgun? :-)
Seemingly everyone knew, unless they did not want to. I live about 2 miles away (as the crow flies) and it was no secret to the city council... at least it seemed.
Reed was not a dem mayor in fact. He was overwhelmingly reelected by pubs and dems. Reed is a bit weird but he did turn that city around.
It went from being one of the worst cities in the USA (by some typical lib organization) to being rated in the top 10 cities to live in (for several years).
City council loved it when he provided money for their pet walk around handouts. Where he got the money was fairly uninque. IIRC he got some grant from the Feds for an inflatable damn across the river.
The grant was one of those low pay-back rate type things. And he got it way back in the early 80’s and invested it. It was 100 or 200 million IIRC and the investments paid off big time.
He took the city from having like 5000 slum and abandoned properties, and got that number way down to like a 5th of that or so. He got the down town changed from strip joints to having the Hilton company invest in a large new hotel.
The private investors to to built 4 or 5 new large buildings and of course that brought in more development and money. He turned thee city around from a large state supported slum (which they were slowly pulling out of) to a relatively thriving small city.
Sort of a Guiliani in miniture. Then a couple of years ago city council and him lock horns and it has been downhill ever since. His party is democratic but the MSM is probably made because he was a real middle of the road type and now that Rendell is in power as gov the dems are trying to trash him.
Every governor has supported him and his successes at cleaning up the trash hole that was Hbg. Now for some reason they have been backing away.
Oh and he never built the inflateable bridge.
“I would have liked to have visited that museum.”
Good news! You can visit one of his other pet projects, “The National Civil War Museum”! That is the name but it is a made up name because it is not recognized as such by the U.S.
That is because he is a hybrid. He is a "Demo-ican". Both parties claimed him and worked with him but he just wisely used them equally. Officially I think he is list as Democrat but stopped advertising that decades ago.
He has done great things for the city though.
It looks like it’s $6.5 million for the stuff they are putting up for auction, but there is still a whole bunch of other items that they haven’t cataloged that will push the price tag up around $30 million.
A rat acting like a rat.
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