Hollidaysburg Community Watchdog

07/14/2025

It's been a long struggle, but tracking the long-hidden flow of public money through SAPDC (and similar government agencies masquerading as non-profits) just got a whole lot easier.

https://www.altoonamirror.com/news/local-news/2025/07/judge-rules-local-agencies-must-follow-state-public-records-law/

02/17/2025

https://www.altoonamirror.com/news/local-news/2025/02/explore-altoona-back-on-chopping-block/

The Watchdog would normally have nothing to say about Explore Altoona, or how the County spends its money on tourism promotion generally. Such policy questions are entrusted with the Commissioners, who are perfectly entitled to pursue a new course if they see fit, presumably with broad-based public input. If eliminating Explore Altoona turns out to be an unpopular mistake, no real harm done. The election is only two years away.

Explore Altoona has been around for a long time, meaning it has experienced, well-paid people long-accustomed to setting public policy and spending agendas. Unfortunately, EA simultaneously claims to be "private" — even though it relies nearly entirely on local taxpayer funding, and exists only through official mandate — and thereby exempt from Pennsylvania's transparency laws. It simply filed a statement with the IRS claiming to qualify for tax-exempt status and voila! All private now, according to its legal people. It is, in essence, a government body now masquerading as a private charity.

Worse yet, the fake charity model has quickly become standard among government-funded enterprises that wish to avoid public scrutiny all across the country. That's a trend that should end. Fully transparent public money flows are a priority for the Watchdog. For the first time in our 10-year existence, at least one Blair County Commissioner appears to agree.

Explore Altoona is either a public entity subject to state transparency law, or it isn't. If it's private, then it is simply a contractor being paid with public money. That's fine, but such contracts should come up for frequent competition in full view of the public. Contracts also are made at the full discretion of the Commissioners. Contractor employees are not entitled to civil service benefits, either, unless the Commissioners decide to offer them, or their employers forgo profits to pay for them.

We won't comment on whether Explore Altoona does a good job attracting visitors to the area, whether it is too deeply and comfortably entrenched to be reformed, or if tourism marketing should be a taxpayer-funded function at all. We will say, however, that Mr. Kessling is entirely within his rights to try something new. Given what's happening in DC, the timing may be fortuitous.

HOLLIDAYSBURG — Blair County commissioners are again asking municipal leaders for votes in support of decertifying Explore Altoona as the county’s tourism promotion agency. The proposal, which surfaced in September and was put on hold in November, is tied to what Commissioners Dave Kessling and ...

01/25/2025

This is a loser case. The complainant is essentially arguing that Hollidaysburg's zoning ordinance, which controls and restricts the placement of adult-entertainment businesses, is unconstitutional. That's quite wrong and the courts have said so many times. Municipalities have every right to enact and enforce zoning restrictions. Adult entertainment enjoys no special constitutional exemption. The Borough should be confident about this, defend its rights in court if necessary, and refuse any nuisance payments. The case is so preposterously weak that costs and sanctions should be considered against the plaintiff.

Gary E. Vaughn, the proprietor of an adult-oriented business called Bodies in Motion, argues in a federal lawsuit filed this week that Hollidaysburg Borough has violated his constitutional rights by issuing cease and desist orders to adult cabaret shows at D’Ottavio’s Italian House on Allegheny ...

01/06/2025

Watchdog report on Catherine Township.

https://watchdogrtk.org/catherine-township-municipal-vehicles/

06/18/2024

This ruling by the Credentials Committee of the Pennyslvania Republican Party puts an end to the ignominious tenure of disgraced former DA Bill Higgins as chairman of the Bedford County Republicans. A ruling by the Bedford Court of Common Pleas earlier this month restored voting privileges to elected members of the committee, who can now set things to rights by electing a chairman with the requisite integrity for the position.

06/06/2024

An attempt by the disgraced former Bedford District Attorney Bill Higgins to de-certify his opponents from the county Republican Committee has failed. (Click the link in the comments for Judge Livengood's ruling denying the requested injunction.) While Higgins can appeal to the Commonwealth Court, there are vitually no prospects for success. It is now only a matter of time before his election as Bedford County Republican Chair, which has caused significant embarrassment to the county, is reversed.

Higgins was convicted in 2018 of abusing his position to routinely extort drug defendants for s*x. Although disbarred, Higgins escaped prison time thanks to inexplicable leniency from the trial judge, his longtime colleague Thomas Ling.

04/10/2024

After former Blair County President Judge Elizabeth Doyle lost her retention bid in the November 2023 election, she wrote the attached letter to Senator Judy Ward, cc'd to Governor Shapiro, telling them that it was *not* necessary to appoint an interim judge to replace her on the Court of Common Pleas. We find that very odd, as her campaign said repeatedly that it would be irresponsible of voters not to retain her because the workload at the courthouse was overwhelming.
In the letter, she claimed that four judges rather than five would be enough, and that voters "recognized this in their vote not to retain the fifth judge position" (funny, we thought they voted not to retain *her*). Doyle goes on to say: "The current political climate in Blair County is split, fractionalized and hostile. The infighting that would result over an appointment would be distracting to the work of the court."
Uh huh. Color us unimpressed.
Here's the best part: "I'm happy to report that in 2023 the court of four, myself, Judge Wade Kagarise, Judge Jackie Bernard, and (Judge Ilissa Zimmerman), were able to do the people's work ... with no backlog or undue delay in getting cases done. We worked hard, but we still had sufficient free time to attend judicial conferences and take personal vacations."
The truth is that 2023 was a miserable year for the county judiciary. Blair County had the highest case load of any fifth class county in the commonwealth.
If you're wondering how the Watchdog obtained the letter, we got it through a Right-to-Know request to the Governor's office, which at first declined to release it, but reconsidered after the Watchdog filed an appeal to the Office of Open Records.

03/14/2024

At the Hollidaysburg Borough Council tonight, our representatives will rubber stamp a substandard & incomplete Comprehensive Plan, submitted by a no-work, non-representative committee made up almost entirely of government officials loyal to the former Borough Manager. The plan, originally drafted by Gannett Fleming, has potential, but the Borough mismanaged the public input process. It also lacks any viable implementation plan — see letter from the Blair County Planning Commission, below. Borough Council made clear at the February meeting that it had no intention of correcting the deficiencies. Note also that Gannett Fleming declined to sign off on the final draft, available here: https://www.hollidaysburgpa.org/getmedia/d6814387-cd87-41d9-8c0f-0626c103d1e0/Hollidaysburg2035_ComprehensivePlan_Final_Draft.pdf.

02/28/2024

The corruption in Hollidaysburg's Phoenix Volunteer Fire Department (PVFD) must end. After the convictions of its senior leadership on federal embezzlement charges, Borough Council failed to take any action to clean up the fire company and protect the community. Hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars remain unaccounted for. A man with disqualifying criminal convictions under the state arson statute remains an active PVFD member, in stark defiance of the law. The chaos & malfeasance at PVFD have led to increased insurance costs for everyone in the Borough.

If you're a resident or business owner in the Borough, please sign this petition demanding that Hollidaysburg Borough Council take immediate action before any more taxpayer money is spent.

Corruption in the Phoenix Volunteer Fire Department