That's Nutts!
Corbett turnpike hire should raise questions.
That's Nutts!
John Baer, Daily News Political Columnist
(A brief discussion twixt Baer & Baer's editor, a.k.a. BE)
JB: Didya see that Gov. I'm-gonna-change-the-culture-of-Harrisburg Corbett just hired the father of his closest advisor for a fat state job? Here's today's Inky story.
BE: Well, sometimes you feel like a Nutt. So, the 70-year old pop of Corbett's campaign manager gets to run that well-known patronage bin known as the PA Turnpike Commission. Maybe cultural change means different things to different pols.
JB: Maybe so. But this sounds pretty familiar. I mean I'm certain the experience that Brian Nutt's dad, Roger, had as head of the state Highway Authority in Jersey makes him qualified to knock back $196,700 (more than Corbett makes) to watch the easy-pass traffic go by. But, come on, there's nobody in the U.S.A., not to mention in Pa., who can do the same?
BE: Apparently not. And wasn't the Nutt son gonna be Corbett's chief of staff?
JB: And was so named until he pulled out to take a job with the political firm, Brabender Cox, that did media for Corbett's campaign. Brian said at the time, he'll continue to advise Corbett.
BE: Guess he advised that his dad would make a good appointee.
JB: He should have advised, since this looks like the same old favoritism that Harrisburg is famous for, that his dad do the job for half the price.
BE: Yeah, that would make it look a little less same-old, same-old, a little more like Corbett means it when he says he's cutting the cost of government.
JB: As it is, Corbett is inviting criticism for not living up to the kinds of reforms he promised. Check out today's editorial in the Harrisburg Patriot. It asks simply "where's the change?"
BE: Well, Corbett did always say the jobs were out there. He's just proving it.
JB: All he's proving is that he's not getting (or not taking) the best advice. Grrrr.
John is the author of the book "On The Front Lines of Pennsylvania Politics: Twenty-Five Years of Keystone Reporting" (The History Press, 2012). Reach John at baerj@phillynews.com.
