State officials filed an application Thursday in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania to vacate the receivership for capital city Harrisburg and to appoint a coordinator to continue working with city officials to implement the so-called Harrisburg Strong recovery plan.
The court approved the plan in September, and state-appointed receiver William Lynch's team closed on it last month. It erased $600 million of debt primarily through the sale of the city incinerator and a long-term lease of parking assets.
In the application, attorneys for C. Alan Walker, secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development, requested the appointment of Frederick Reddig as coordinator.
"Vacating the receivership and appointing a coordinator is a necessary and critical step in moving the Harrisburg Strong Plan forward," said Walker. "After decades of financial difficulties and nearly three years of fiscal emergency, this action represents the next step in Harrisburg's path to fiscal stability."
The application cited the statutory conditions that no longer exist which mandate a receiver to direct the city on all fiscal decisions. Gov. Tom Corbett declared a state of fiscal emergency in August 2011 after the City Council three times rejected a state-sponsored workout plan, known commonly as Act 47.
A federal bankruptcy judge in November 2011 dismissed the council's bankruptcy filing, to which then-Mayor Linda Thompson objected.
Walker requested the court allow for the transition from Lynch to Reddig March 1. Reddig now serves as acting administrator for the Office of the Receiver, working closely with Lynch, city officials and creditors in the development, negotiation, and support of the Harrisburg Strong plan.
"Harrisburg is well on its way to full recovery and I believe Mr. Reddig will serve brilliantly as Coordinator, should the Court authorize his appointment to oversee the implementation of the remaining aspects of the plan," said Lynch, a retired Air Force general whom Corbett appointed receiver after David Unkovic resigned.
Lynch's advisors would continue to work with Reddig, according to a statement from the state Office of General Counsel.
