Linda Thompson is president of Harrisburg City Council. She stunned the political world last May when she trounced 27-year incumbent Steve Reed in the primary. With a huge voter-registration edge in the city, it would be tough for any other political party nominee to wrest the mayor’s office from the Democrats. Nevin Mindlin, legislative director for the Pennsylvania Bar Association, will try to pull off an upset. He spent more than two decades of his career working on policy for the Republican caucus of the State House of Representatives and as director of policy in the state Department of Labor and Industry under former Governor Tom Ridge.
The latest campaign-finance reports show Thompson walloping Mindlin in fundraising and campaign spending. But she also has garnered far more negative headlines, broadcast media reports and blogs lately for a series of questionable practices. In 2000, Thompson launched LoveS.H.I.P., Inc., a faith-based, non-profit organization that purportedly helps low-income residents with job training, housing, and education assistance.
WHP 21 and bloggers raised questions last week about a housing “Success Story” publicized on LoveS.H.I.P.’s website. A home in uptown Harrisburg that was supposed to have been awarded to a needy family and rehabilitated through a LoveS.H.I.P. “First Home Dream ” program remains boarded up and uninhabited two years after LoveS.H.I.P. said a Harrisburg family had won a contest to own the home. That couple, however, never received the home which has never been renovated. The couple reportedly rents an apartment in Susquehanna Township. Linda Thompson and the chairman of LoveS.H.I.P.’s board say the couple “failed to qualify” for home ownership. Thompson says the fact that the home was listed as a “success story” on the website was “an oversight.”
Last March, Thompson filed financial papers that indicated the LoveS.H.I.P. board gave her an interest-free loan. Gerald Robinson, chairman of LoveS.H.I.P.'s board of directors, told the Patriot News the zero-interest loan for $5,000 was justified because LoveS.H.I.P. owed Thompson rent and salary. Thompson admits she has had personal financial problems but says she has worked hard to ensure transparency in her financial affairs.
The names of LoveS.H.I.P.’s former and current board members remain murky. Reporters also have attempted to get more details on Thompson’s employment and litigation history. She has said that she voluntarily left a job with the Urban League of Metropolitan Harrisburg in 1999 and received unemployment compensation. Thompson says she enrolled in an entrepreneurial employment program and underwent training. During that time, she says she continued to legally receive unemployment compensation and says she used the money to start LoveS.H.I.P. It is housed in Thompson’s childhood home which, she says, her parents gave to her.
However, reporters have uncovered a complaint Thompson filed with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission in December 1999 against the Urban League claiming she was let go because of her gender. The case was closed, according to a PHRC spokeswoman, in November 2003. And this week stories have appeared about a civil lawsuit she filed in 2000 against a Bucks County gas station. She alleges in the suit that a gas pump malfunctioned spraying her with gasoline, damaging her clothing, causing her physical injuries and “psychological and emotional illness.” The suit claims that Thompson now is fearful of pumping her own gas.
Eyebrows were raised and further questions surfaced about Thompson’s temperament when, in the wake of the negative reports on the “dream home” contest and her personal finances, Thompson ordered a Patriot-News reporter to leave a press conference she had called Friday to answer questions. She also excluded Channel 21 from the press conference.
As if the negative stories about Thompson weren’t bonus enough, Mindlin got a further boost this week when former Democratic mayoral candidate Les Ford endorsed him. Ford wrote in a statement released about his party-crossover endorsement, "I have chosen the candidate who, on the whole, exhibits the grasp of facts, clarity of presentation and quality of demeanor that we need as a city if we are to confront and resolve our serious issues around such matters as fiscal solvency, civic engagement and education improvement: Nevin Mindlin."
Harrisburg faces stunning problems including a crushing $300 million debt tied to its trash incinerator, a school district whose students continue to underperform in statewide assessment tests, neighborhoods running double-digit unemployment, and rising homicides and violent crimes. Each candidate has laid out a vision for how she or he would respond to those challenges. We will explore some of their ideas and their leadership styles on Smart Talk, Friday at 8:30 p.m. on WITF-TV. Please join us and share your thoughts on the race at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
LISTEN TO RADIO SMART TALK PROGRAM:
Smart Talk Man-on-the-Street Interview Segments
Interview Segment 2
Interview Segment 3
