“Obviously flawed.” “Ill-conceived.” “Problematic.” “Lack of transparency.”
These are some of a Pennsylvania grand jury’s descriptions of Harrisburg’s incinerator deal debacle that cost the city upwards of $300 million and sent it spiraling toward insolvency.
Much of it is laid at the doorstep of then-Mayor Stephen R. Reed, who made a practice of paying off old debt by borrowing anew. He applied this technique to absolute budget-busting perfection when it came to the city’s trash incinerator, which not only spewed smoke, but red ink, for decades.