By Tricia Pursell
HARRISBURG -- Two Snyder County commissioners recently appeared at a state House committee hearing about the state’s handling and oversight of federal stimulus money.
Commissioners Joe Kantz and Malcolm Derk, both Republicans, have expressed frustration that stimulus dollars are going to welfare-style programs rather than at efforts directly aimed at creating jobs or promoting commerce.
Thursday, the pair represented Snyder County at an intergovernmental affairs committee hearing in Harrisburg.
Kantz told the committee that he would like to see stimulus money flowing to the Central Susquehanna Valley Thruway project, which would bypass the commercial strip on Routes 11-15 in Snyder County and connect with Northumberland County via a bridge over the West Branch of the Susquehanna River near Winfield.
Kantz said he and Derk were the only commissioners in the state attending the public hearing, one of several scheduled across the state, as the committee tries to shape recommendations for improving stimulus spending.
The commissioners were invited there by e-mail from the committee, which consists of 10 Republicans and 14 Democrats. At this hearing, only two Democrats and seven Republicans were there.
Before the invitation, Kantz said the commissioners had no idea an oversight committee existed.
The committee “blasted the secretary (of the Department of General Services),” Kantz said.
“The governor’s administration got called on the carpet today,” Kantz said. “Which they should. This is a lot of money at stake.”
Others who were invited and who came to the hearing were a city manager from Harrisburg, and an official from Huntingdon County, among others.
Kantz said there were about 12-15 people in the audience.
He said this was the fourth public hearing the committee has held.
“For being a Democratic-controlled House, they were kind of negative about the whole thing,” Kantz said.
County and city officials are upset about not seeing the stimulus funds they’ve been promised, he said.
Kantz and Derk entered the fray over stimulus spending last month when they questioned the use of stimulus money for a program at the Union-Snyder Community Action Agency.
Speaking to the committee, Kantz said he believes the thruway would be a valid way to use of stimulus spending.
“It’s common sense,” he told them.
“If we are trying to create jobs, then we need to put all of these monies into the Central Susquehanna Valley Thruway,” he added.
