Harrisburg’s City Council tabled its vote to approve the hiring of chief operations officer Ricardo Mendez-Saldivia, citing its concerns over the receivership plan for Pennsylvania’s distressed capital.
But state officials may ask the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania to force the hiring of Mendez-Saldivia, who arrived from Miami last month at a $125,000 salary, as part of former state-appointed receiver David Unkovic’s financial recovery plan.
The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development coordinates the receivership position.
Unkovic abruptly quit as receiver in late March, citing “political and ethical crosswinds.”
City Council attorney Mark Schwartz urged Unkovic to discuss his resignation before the Commonwealth Court. Unkovic’s words “cry out for elaboration and investigation,” Schwartz said in a letter to Unkovic’s attorney, Howard Bruce Klein of Philadelphia.
Klein responded by saying Unkovic would testify if the court asks him. "Beyond that, we have no further comment in response to your letter," Klein told Schwartz.
Council member Brad Koplinski wants answers from the DCED on the status of the financial plan, including asset sales.
He also is seeking information from federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Justice, about bond deals involving the incinerator, where cost overruns have left Harrisburg with $310 million in debt that it cannot pay.
