Outdated system to blame for chaos at Dauphin County Clerk of Court’s Office

Before anyone blames the elected official (who recently resigned), it’s important to look at the situation she found herself in when she took office. Her selection as district clerk was part of a tradition that goes back centuries to colonial times, when all communications in the office were handwritten and the workload was a fraction of what it is today. At the time, selecting an administrator made sense.

Dauphin County has long awaited a modern form of government. The change in local government will make that change possible, and the likely outcome (as with other Pennsylvania county governments) will be either an elected CEO and merit-based appointments to top administrative positions, or a full-time manager hired based on skills.

Dauphin County is larger than Erie County and Lackawanna County, both of which have home rule charters, meaning county voters choose the form of government. Pennsylvania’s seven home rule counties are typically governed by an elected chief executive officer or by an elected county council that appoints a full-time manager or executive director.

We, the citizens, deserve a county government shaped for the 21st century, with administrators appointed on the basis of merit: competence, skills and professional knowledge.

When I worked for the Pennsylvania Department of Community Affairs and traveled throughout the state, I saw many well-run local governments in which the vast majority appointed administrators based on merit and competence rather than elected them.

Let this be an opportunity not to blame, but to recognize that change is needed. Dauphin County needs a modern form of government that meets today’s demands, so we need local government.

James L. Cavenaugh, Harrisburg Pa.