Smart Talk: Reporter Chris Papst’s new book on Harrisburg financial woes

 

What to look for on Smart Talk Wednesday, June 17, 2015:

Just a few years ago, the city of Harrisburg was making history and not the kind city government leaders or residents wanted.

Harrisburg had accumulated more than $300 million in debt.  Most of it came as the result of a botched upgrade of the city’s trash-burning incinerator.  The financial workings of the incinerator project have come under scrutiny as well.

The state declared Harrisburg a distressed city, appointed a recovery officer, and eventually took over the city.  

In the meantime, the City Council attempted to file for bankruptcy.

Chris Papst was a reporter at WHP CBS 21 at the time.  In his new book, Capital Murder — An Investigative Reporter’s Hunt for Answers in a Collapsing City, Papst chronicles the wheeling and dealing, a city government that borders on dysfunctional, the personality clashes, politics, and the roles of Harrisburg’s last two mayors — Stephen Reed and Linda Thompson.

Harrisburg has made a recovery but everyone was reminded that the final history hasn’t been written when former Mayor Reed’s home was searched by agents of the Pennsylvania Attorney General two weeks ago.

Chris Papst appears on Wednesday’s Smart Talk.