Meeting of the Minds

We had our eyes and ears out last week and frankly, even got pretty excited about the concept of the Boiling Springs Civic Association's planned debate. While the South Middleton township supervisors' debate looked more like a cliched cowboy movie where the good guys wear white and the bad guys wear black, the commissioners' debate proved as interesting as we had hoped.

Maybe its that we're psychic. Or maybe the topics were just so predictable that we could've seen it coming weeks ago. Either way, the township supervisors got some batting practice with the softballs that they fielded during the debate. While there's no question that the issues were matters of public interest, we'd think that you'd want a little more to go on when voting than opinions on a dog park. And, in all fairness to the League of Women Voters, it was the responses that were far more bothersome than the questions themselves. Asked about dog parks, Democrat challenger Marti Green responded, "Well, I like dogs. And people like dogs. So I'd be for it." The wisdom of Socrates in government these days. Our prediction? Incumbents Tom Faley and Ron Reeder hold their seats. Nuff said.

The second half of the double header, much to our chagrin, only featured 80% of the Spring slate. Where was Bruce Barclay? Putting a fresh coat of wax on his jet, maybe. Our guess is that he was as far away from questions about clean air and higher taxes as he could be. With a massive media blitz that looks like he's setting up for 08, you'd think the commish would have no problem fielding a couple, but no. And what's even more amazing to us is that the other Republicans continue to latch on to him like remoras on sharks. Gunnison and Barclay: the endorsed team. Barclay and Eichelberger: the commissioners team. We're waiting for Gunnison and Eichelberger: the team that shows up.

The other side of the coin? Rick Rovegno. He was literally so full of facts that he reminded us of this guy. Yikes. Numbers, and figures, and projections, oh my! He took on every issue head-on and even went so far as to defend Eichelberger against Gunnison and her evil, evil MTP. Keep your friends close, I guess.

The outright winner: Rick Rovegno. Overall, we're just downright impressed with everything he's been doing lately. He knows his stuff and can back it up when he's on the spot. Also, unlike Eichelberger, he's the human cucumber. As in, cool as a. And Barclay, well....Rovegno DID show up - that's got to be worth something. And the biggest props? Rovegno's campaign strategy seems to be simple: attend every event everywhere in the county. All the time. Whether its a civic association debate, or a Farm Bureau dinner, or a Little League game, Rick will be there. No internet, no radio, no newspaper. Just pure people-to-people. And he does it so much that we've got 500 bucks that says Rovegno has found a way to clone himself.