Dauphin County announced a new chief clerk and chose a new lobbying company on Wednesday, marking yet another change in the county’s leadership.
Harrisburg native Eric Hagarty, who was Pennsylvania’s acting secretary of education from 2022 to 2023, will take over as the county’s top clerk on February 3.
Additionally, One+ Strategies was chosen by the commissioners to be the county’s lobbying firm.
Both actions were approved in favor of by Democratic Commissioner George Hartwick and opposed by Republican Commissioner Mike Pries and Democrat Commissioner Justin Douglas.
The three commissioners continued their acrimonious infighting during the meeting. At a public hearing last week, Hartwick bemoaned the recruiting process for Hagarty and reiterated that he was not given enough advance notice of the selection of Hagarty’s or One+ Strategies.
Hartwick stated of the One+ Strategies option, “I didn’t know this was going to be an agenda item until noon, actually 11:55 yesterday.”
“The commissioners used to regularly discuss important decisions behind closed doors,” Douglas said. According to Douglas, however, the county solicitors recently informed the commissioners that they must hold those discussions at public meetings because failing to do so would be a violation of the Sunshine Act, which attempts to guarantee government openness.
Pries pointed out that at a public meeting in December, the commissioners had already talked about the timetable for hiring a new lobbyist.
Pries said, “Welcome to my world.” Last year, I received more notifications about items being added to the schedule than I can count on two hands.
Hartwick retorted cynically, “And I just want to make sure that it’s clear that it’s okay to do it when it involves one commissioner, but it’s not okay when it involves another.”
According to Douglas, Hartwick attended the interviews and was given access to all of the proposals the county received.
Since we don’t now have any representatives on the Hill due to budget negotiations, we won’t wait, Douglas stated.
The county’s long-standing lobbying firm, Greenlee Partners, was fired in November after PennLive questioned a covert business relationship that Greenlee Partners co-founder Stanley Rapp had with former Dauphin County Commissioner Jeff Haste while Haste was in office and Rapp was representing the county. This change in lobbyists comes next.
According to a county press release, Hagarty was former Governor Tom Wolf’s deputy chief of staff before taking over as acting secretary of education. In that role, he oversaw projects in the areas of education, healthcare, human services, and infrastructure, including establishing Pennie, Pennsylvania’s State-Based Health Insurance Exchange and increasing Medicaid access. Before that, Hagarty served as chief of staff at the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, where he managed approximately $5 billion in financing while supervising over 300 workers.
Hagarty has been on the boards of the Harrisburg Housing Authority, the Broad Street Market Alliance, and the Harrisburg Area Community College Foundation, which generates money for HACC.
Serving as the chief of staff to all three county commissioners, the chief clerk holds a significant position in the county government.
Commissioner Mike Pries stated in the press announcement that Mr. Hagarty contributes a great deal of expertise, experience, and in-depth knowledge of government to the county team.
Justin Douglas, the commissioner, agreed.
According to him, Eric is a great fit for this position because of his background, leadership skills, and commitment to public service.
During the hearing on Wednesday, Hartwick stated that the county will have to pay about $212,000 for Hagarty’s employment, which includes his $160,000 salary and benefits. Based on pay data previously provided to PennLive by the county, Hagarty is expected to earn the second-highest income in the county, second only to District Attorney Fran Chardo.
Douglas retorted that previous chief clerks had received higher salaries after accounting for inflation.
With Hagarty’s hiring, the chief clerk and deputy chief clerk posts will be filled for the first time in months. Following the resignation of his predecessor, Steve Libhart, in April, Vince Paese, the current head clerk, will return to his previous position as deputy chief clerk.
“I believe that Dauphin County has suffered from having just one person in our chief clerk position without a deputy,” Douglas stated during the meeting on Wednesday.
During the meeting’s public comment period, Hagarty also spoke.
Commissioner Hartwick acknowledged that change is frequently challenging. Over time, I want to be able to gain everyone’s trust.
Would you mind sharing any information you know about Dauphin County? Contact reporter Juliette Rihl by encrypted email at [email protected] or at [email protected].
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Juliette Rihl