Mark Singel announces bid for Murtha's seat.

[femmocrat]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10051/1037396-178.stm

Former lieutenant governor to run for Murtha's seat
Mark Singel now a Harrisburg lobbyist

Saturday, February 20, 2010
By Daniel Malloy, Post-Gazette Washington Bureau
Associated Press/Clyde Williams/Johnstown Tribune Democrat

Former Lt. Gov. Mark Singel announces at a news conference in Johnstown on Friday that he will run for the 12th District Congressional seat vacated by the death of John Murtha. Former Lt. Gov. Mark Singel officially announced Friday that he will seek to replace Rep. John P. Murtha in Congress.

Mr. Singel, now a lobbyist in Harrisburg after serving as lieutenant governor from 1987 to 1995, made the announcement at a news conference in his native Johnstown. He joins former state treasurer and auditor general Barbara Hafer, Westmoreland County Commissioner Tom Ceraso, Navy veteran Ryan Bucchianeri and former Johnstown newspaper reporter Ron Mackell Jr. as Democrats vying for the seat.

The executive committee of the state Democratic Party will choose a candidate to put on the ballot in the May 18 special election.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10051/1037396-178.stm#ixzz0g7SoTCiT


So, DU, what do you think of this development?

[livetohike]

1. The field is getting crowded - I guess that's a good thing

I wasn't living in PA during the years Singel was the Lt. Gov. I don't know much about him.

[PADEMJES12]

2. Ed Cernic from Johnstown too...

I think given the climate, hafer is probably the better selection but the field may grow. Singel is a lobbyist?
Man not too sure what to think about that. Cernic will do well in Johnstown.

[PADEMJES12]

3. thanks for sharing

[Bunny]

5. Did you just thank yourself for sharing?

:shrug:

[MrMickeysMom]

4. Please tell me about Hafer...

Being sincerely here... I think you're a supporter of the family (remember Beth's race in the primary for the 18th congressional).

I want to give her the benefit of the doubt, heard about all a bitter race in her bid against our former Lt. Gov.

Thanks... MMM

[PADEMJES12]

6. 12th Congressional race

Bunny-

I wanted to thank the poster... femmocrat for sharing with all of us.

MMM-

I did support Beth Hafer. Beth lost in the primary and ODonnell
got beat handily in the general. In terms of a bitter race...
im not sure thats in the best interest of the dems although
id place Hafer or Singel as a slight favorite to hold the seat
over the GOP. The IS NOT meant to discredit any other candidate.

To be fair, I will likely support Hafer or Ed Cernic. I dont
particularly remember a whole lot about singel except the Reginald
McFadden incident, when he approved pardoning the guy that then raped
and murdered someone in NYC. That was from the 94 race. I did not even
know Singel was a lobbyist.
Im not too sure Hafer is worried about Singel as theres likely to be several
men in the race. She's fine to stick to the issues as this election
is about financial reform and the economy. If i see any events, ill send them along
so you can go check them out.

Who r u taking in the 18th? Connolly or Kennedy?

Id recommend the candidates to stick to the issues and have a positive vibe in this special
election.

An aside... Hope the office you are holding is going well for you.

[MrMickeysMom]

8. Thanks...

I'm favoring Connolly, though I don't know much about Kennedy, since I'm so taken up in local govt.

While starting the 2nd year of this position (the 1st of 4, since I won the 2008 year's special and then last year's term race)... I've learned a lot and my skin is thicker. I'm going to give a big plug for something that was started by a Monroeville mayor (Lynch, back int he 70's) called Local Govt Academy. I'm about 3 weeks away from finishing the Newly Elected Official's Course. I can't say enough for what this has done to add to that knowledge base, plus, I have two other new council members starting with me this year to make life much better... still a long way to go here, as with many municipalities.

But, the more I learn, the more I need to learn. What a complex and interesting view of reality local govt is.

Take care,
MMM

[purifypolitics]

9. ...

it is a bit of an insult to condense mark singel's many years in politics, both as a state senator, and former lt. governor,
to one tragic event that occurred during his run for governor.
details revealed afterwards showed that the man pardoned had passed multiple parole boards and psychological tests, and on paper, appeared deserving of being released.

[PADEMJES12]

11. No pun intended...

I am not "insulting mark singel", the only thing i remember is
when that was the big issue and the election hinged on it and
Ridge won 45 to 39.

Im not naive enough to think it wont be used again. Details
may have revealed that, but details also reveal that the guy Singel voted to pardon
did what i menioned above and the election hinged on it.
Hopefully we'll have a positive race.

In terms of good lobbyists and bad lobbyists... it remains to be
seen. Like i said, I know little about Singel.

[livetohike]

16. Thanks for the analysis of candidates

:hi:

[howaboutme]

7. Just what we need - a lobbyist

We need people in Congress that have experienced and understand the real problems facing Americans, not more connected lobbyists or lifelong political hacks. The fact that the executive committee of the state Democratic Party will appoint their choice pretty much assures the 12th that it will be a continuation of the same ole political process of payback for favors. The people want a fresh face of idealism without entangling alliances -- not more of the same.

[purifypolitics]

10. lobbyists can be good...

it may be a good thing for the people of johnstown to elect a 'connected lobbyist' and experienced politician.
how else do you expect to retain the jobs murtha has brought to the district?

there are many different types of lobbyists and lobbying firms.
i think you will find once the race gets underway,
that because mark has constantly kept open the option of running for office again in the future, and is not a 'political hack', that the definition of lobbyist to him likely is closer to 'being paid to fight for causes that you believe in'.

...which is not a bad job to have,
and certainly something incredibly hard to put on the line for a race for congress...

[howaboutme]

12. I could be wrong but the way I look at it

is simply like this.

Until the concept of lobbying for high pay, on behalf of influential and wealthy self serving, self interested groups is looked upon by the masses as something scorned upon and akin to publishing child porn, the ex-politicos and their staffers will still gravitate in that direction, and every American will pay a price because of their lobbying $$$$$ and undeserved attention and access.

So I have no respect for lobbyists (regardless of Party) unless they are lobbying for organizations that serve a common good and generally are not involved in handing out campaign bribes.

http://www.wintergrouppa.com/Clients.aspx These are a list of clients from his firms webpage.

[PADEMJES12]

13. im inclined to agree w your insight on lobbyists...

thanks for providing the link for us.

[purifypolitics]

14. i'm looking at that list and thinking...

save the children, march of dimes, biofuels, and,
an overwhelming amount of healthcare organizations stand out.
i'd expect to hear more about these in the future weeks.

...and conversely,
deloitte, home depot, and penn national gaming,
could potentially be negative conversation topics.

...i don't see the likes of halliburton, or large conglomerate interests in this list though,
so that's something to be optimistic about i suppose.

[livetohike]

15. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[femmocrat]

25. Welcome to DU, purifypolitics!

:hi: And welcome to the PA Forum. Hope to see you back here often.

[howaboutme]

17. JP Morgan

Here is the actual "sampling" list from Singel's Lobbying group as of today. JP Morgan stands out as the most emblematic of what is wrong in politics. We don't need another Congressman that has current lobbying and business relationship with the largest too big to fail firms of Wall Street.

Does anyone else agree that it would be appropriate if every Senator and Congressman and their staff were required to wear the corporate and special interest sponsorship badges (just like NASCAR drivers and Tiger Woods) as seen at the bottom of the web page below.

http://www.wintergrouppa.com/Clients.aspx

Here is a sampling of the clients we have represented:

Advanced Living Management and Development, Inc.*
Aker Philadelphia Shipyard*
Albert Einstein Medical System*
Alpine Rose Development
American Lung Association of the Mid-Atlantic*
American Massage Therapy Association of Pennsylvania*
Arthritis Foundation
Babcock and Brown
Bariatric Surgeons Group of Central PA
Community Reinvestment Advisors*
Conemaugh Health System
Consumer Electronics Association
Corrections USA*
Cory Pull Tabs
Crosslinks Strategy Group
Citizens United Reciprocal Exchange (CURE)*
Deloitte Consulting*
Digital Ink*
East Hanover Township, Dauphin County, PA
Erdman Anthony*
Fairham Development Group
First Health
Greenman Pederson
GTL Communications
The Hillier Group*
Home Depot
Information Services Group
ItLinkz.com*
JP Morgan*
Juniper Network Systems
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society*
March of Dimes*
Medical Recruitment Solutions International*
M&T Bank
NorAm Biofuels, Inc.
Penn National Gaming
Pennsylvania Alliance to Control Tobacco
Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists*
Pennsylvania Association of Licensed Midwives*
Pennsylvania Coalition of Charter Schools
Pennsylvania Coalition of Independent Museums*
Pennsylvania Concrete Pipe Association*
Pennsylvania Dental Association*
Pennsylvania Society for Respiratory Care*
Pennsylvania State Perfusionists Society*
Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association*
Pennsylvania Utility Contractors Association
Preservation PA
Public Health Management Corporation*
Queen Street Development Partners 1, LP*
Sanolite*
Save the Children
SGS Testcom
United Healthcare
US Fireworks Safety Commission*
Vanguard Energy, Inc.*
Vision Screener, Inc.
Worth & Company, Inc.*
10,000 Friends

*indicates current client

[PADEMJES12]

18. thanks howaboutme... found a couple interesting links.

Singel's most current campaign finance report:

http://www.campaignfinance.state.pa.us/CFReport.aspx?CFReportID=66319&Section=Cover

http://www.crewsmostcorrupt.org/node/2071

John Murtha’s network included four former staffers — Carmen Scialabba of KSA Consulting Inc., Colette Marchesini Pollock of GSP Consulting Corp., Scott Harshman of Harshman Consulting LLC, and Gabrielle Carruth, who works directly for defense contractor Argon ST Inc. — representing six defense contractors. Those contractors — Advanced Acoustic Concepts, Argon ST, Coherent Systems, KDH Defense System Inc., Nokomis Inc., and Sabeus Sensor Systems — received a total of eight earmarks, worth a combined $18 million, for such items as a detection system for improvised explosive devices, waterway threat detection, and computer systems for small combat ships. Murtha and his Majority PAC received $51,100 from their corporate PACs, $111,600 from key corporate executives, $2,500 from GSP Consulting’s PAC, and $26,900 from the lobbyists’ own personal checkbooks — $192,100 in all. The treasurer of Argon ST’s corporate PAC is the very same Gabrielle Carruth. David Herbener, president of KDH, claimed in an e-mail that Scialabba has never represented his company, though KSA Consulting has filed more than a dozen public disclosure forms since 2003 declaring Scialabba’s lobbying work for KDH.

Murtha’s richest earmark largesse was saved for a former appropriations subcommittee staffer who had a long-standing personal relationship with the congressman, but never technically worked for him: Paul Magliocchetti of the now defunct PMA Group Inc. (PMA stood for Paul Magliocchetti Associates). Magliocchetti represented seven defense contractors — Concurrent Technologies Corp., Conemaugh Health System, the aforementioned DRS, Goodrich Corp., MTS Technologies Inc., Parametric Technology Corp., and ProLogic Inc. The companies received an impressive $30,200,000 in earmarks from Murtha and Murtha received $83,800 in PAC contributions and $209,050 in donations from executives at the companies. Murtha also received $7,000 from PMA’s PAC and $2,000 from Magliocchetti himself.



Singel and the Winter Group, I believe lobbied for Conemaugh Health System (mentioned above), ironically also represented my Paul Magliocchetti at one point, as well as in pretty sure he did work for KDH Defense Systems in Johnstown too also mentioned above. Im pretty sure that was in 2007. I will supply this later today.

[purifypolitics]

19. conemaugh is not a defense contractor

that article incorrectly lists Conemaugh Health System as a defense contractor.

Conemaugh Health System is associated with the Conemaugh hospital in Johnstown,
and has a website here: http://www.conemaugh.org/

...

and if he did lobby for KDH Defense Systems and Conemaugh,
am I wrong in saying, awesome?
so he already has one foot in the door of knowing the jobs that Johnstown stands to lose,
should someone with less experience and political clout attempt to fill Murtha's shoes.

[purifypolitics]

20. "actual" sampling?

"actual" sampling?

i wasn't trying to hide anything if that's what you were implying.

you are entitled to your opinion.

in truth,
the laws governing what lobbyists are allowed to do and say on behalf of their clients have tightened considerably in recent years, whether you realize it or not. and there has been in an increase in what they need to disclose and file.
.. asking them to wear badges would be downright laughable and insulting.

i don't agree with your statement on JP Morgan,
but regardless, it's impossible to know at this point just how much work mark singel did for them.

i think this is a fairly impressive list of clients.

[PADEMJES12]

21. I never made a statement on JP Morgan.....

however, i see you are referring to howaboutme. Nonetheless, we see that Mr. Singel may not be a breath of fresh air. I think howaboutme is referring to a system of kick backs for earmarks that CREW's analysis suggests. I do not think thats too awesome myself. Its a self- sanctioned system of winners and losers controlled by the size of the check you write. Or atleast thats the appearance it gives to some. Ed Cernic is now in the race. Yay!!!! So is Mark Critz. Saty tuned for others. The more the merrier :)

[purifypolitics]

22. ed cernic looked terrible today.

why are you so happy about ed cernic?
he looked like an idiot today, struggling and stuttering while attempting a ridiculous comparison of himself to apolo ohno.
http://www.wjactv.com/video/22634026/index.html

[PADEMJES12]

23. Welcome to DU by the way pp :)

maybe changing your name from "purify politics" to
"paytoplay politics" might be a better fit. 

I am glad happy the voters will have a variety of selections
to choose from, and glad cernic has decided to throw his hat
in the ring. I heard the former controller for cambria may get
in too.  Any news on this?  Stay tuned for more candidates, i
suppose.  

Anyone know anything about Mark Critz?  Never heard of him,
but saw on CQ he may be coming into the race too.

[JPZenger]

27. Oh, yes, the state grant for the Porsche-owners' racetrack

The above list of Singel's lobbying clients reminded me - Alpine Rose. That was when he tried to get a State grant to help pay to build a racetrack in the Poconos for owners of Porsches. It was on a wooded mountainside right below the Appalachian Trail, along a natural creek on a site full of wetlands and springs. It was the subject of numerous legal challenges and a State law passed to try to make sure that type of project is impossible in the future.

I seem to remember Singel had some involvement too at the time when the Hershey Trust was trying to sell off the Hershey Chocolate Company.

[purifypolitics]

28. i was there... and mark singel has a residence in hershey.

small world. i happened to be at one of the many town hall meetings, discussing the possibility of building the race track you mentioned.
from Singel's perspective, it was a company that could have brought both jobs, and income to a predominantly rural area.
my recollection, was that, in one of the final town hall meetings, numerous scientific studies were shown that the noise dampening and position of the track would keep it out of sight of the trail, and keep it from endangering any of the trail's wildlife or travelers with its noise pollution.

these were scientific studies done over many months. carefully, and iteratively.
and at the request of the county board, many of the studies had been repeated to ensure their validity.

still. what i witnessed at that town hall meeting,
was a company, and a lobbyist, trying to bend over backwards to cooperatively work with the desires of the community,
to best facilitate a win-win situation for both parties.
...
and what i witnessed, was staunch, uncompromising, irrational, opposition.
with members standing up, out of turn, shouting the most ridiculous counterarguments to scientific studies and a complete disregard for the effort being made to acknowledge and work with the public's concern.
...
at one point, i remember distinctly, the county officials in that meeting, cut off the company's spokesperson midway through his presentation,
and opened the floor to statements from the frothing crowd that had gathered to protest,
without the possibility of listening to the facts, or reaching any sort of compromise.
it was an ugly sight.

..also, in my opinion, if, as you say,
the land was "on a site full of wetlands and springs".
if this fact was so important to that particular poconos community,
they should have never sold the land in the first place.
problem averted.

....
....

and yes, Mark Singel was involved when the Hershey Trust was trying to sell off the Hershey Chocolate Company.
he marched down chocolate avenue in protest, with the rest of the town.

[PADEMJES12]

29. so singel was willing to bend over

backwards for porsche owners to get that state grant for their track. Singel probably lined his own pockets w his work.
Looks like he also lobbied for the gaming industry.

What is he going to bring to Johnstown AND THE REST OF THE DISTRICT, now that there's NO Seniority or NO appropriations spot... ramped up
Bingo????

[purifypolitics]

30. ... more than bingo.

if you're asking that as a serious question,
i do believe he recently had a hand in bringing the new technology park and riverwalk in the center of johnstown into existence.

also, you may not be aware (not many people are), during his time in office, Mark Singel was instrumental in originally creating the first folk festival, which has continued annually to this day.

and i believe a few years back he attempted to lobby for the privatization of a part of johnstown's sewage system, because it was operating at a loss to the community.

...
the point i am making is that,
it doesn't necessarily take seniority or an appropriations committee to continue to bring prosperity to a district.
it just takes hard work, creative thinking, and a little help from your friends.


the gaming industry, despite what you may think about it,
brings a large amount of revenue into the state coffers.
... which is desperately needed considering the state of the budget at the moment.


also, it's really foolish to suggest that Mark Singel "lined his own pockets w his work".
it's my understanding that anyone who runs for office and is put on the ballot needs to disclose the last three years of tax returns and income statements as public information, is that right?
he wouldn't be running if he had anything to hide.

[JPZenger]

26. Did Singel Ever Stand for Anything?

Singel always struck me as a self-interested opportunist. I don't remember him ever standing up for any real principle. The last thing we need in this election year is to run a professional lobbyist.

[femmocrat]

24. Thanks everyone for the informative posts.

I read today that John Murtha's widow will not seek the seat.

I'm kind of leaning toward Mark Singel because he is from Johnstown and has plenty of experience to bring back (pork) projects to a district that needs all the help it can get. One man's pork is another man's (or woman's) job, after all. He has good name recognition, too. Cernic is unknown outside of Cambria Co.

Westmoreland Co. Commissioner Tom Ceraso is also interested in the race, which would be good for other areas of the far-flung district.

It has also been mentioned that this district could be eliminated after the next census. Sorry I don't have a link handy. Murtha was my congressman for many years before the last re-districting. Unfortunately, I'm now in Tim Murphy's ( :puke: ) district.

[JPZenger]

31. Singel dropped out of the race today

[femmocrat]

32. Thanks. That was quick!

Too much baggage?

[purifypolitics]

33. no. too much at risk,

when it's clear that certain other primary candidates have nothing to lose,
and will not back out of the race even if they are not the special election candidate that is chosen.

'
“It would behoove the party to unite behind one candidate for both elections,” Singel said. “This is going to be a very tough (general) election. It is going to require a concentrated focus.”

He said he may have been a front-runner to be the party’s nominee on the special election ballot.

“I know most of the people on the executive committee,” Singel said.

“There are those who suggested that I had the inside track. By setting the tone and being the one to yield, I hope to set an example for others.”
'

http://www.tribune-democrat.com/archivesearch/local_story_056234106.html

[howaboutme]

34. Open primary is good for democracy

I'm still a big believer in using the open primary process as much as possible. This selection will determine the Democratic candidate in November. It is not good for democracy when back room deals are made between the party and candidates to whittle down the selection? It might be good for the Party, but not for the people. The people need a selection of candidates on the primary and not just one hand picked candidate who has best demonstrated to be a player for the Party elite.

I still can't figure out how Specter (R) became the chosen one for the Ds just because he turned out to be incumbent. I'm glad to see Sestak duke it out instead of caving to the machine.