The best commission president ever UPDATED

I have always been a Dan Miller supporter. I Heart Dan Miller  He is a huge advocate of government transparency. Dan has had two informational sessions on government transparency and the PA Sunshine Law. I appreciated how he kept up his blog during his tenure as Mt. Lebanon Commissioner. (He deserves a capital C.) Joint steering committee meetings ended with the school board because they were not open to the public. Dan took control of the municipal budget with his series of commission financial reforms. He was totally engaged during all commission meetings. I voted for Dan on May 21, 2013 in the special election to replace Matt Smith as State Representative. I have voted for Dan Miller in every election since then. With that being said, I have not always agreed with Dan on every issue. His opinion piece in The Almanac is one of those times.

Yes, I reprinted Dan's opinion piece on Monday, January 23, 2017 here, but it wasn't until I saw the actual newspaper, that I had second thoughts. Three quarters of the page in The Almanac was allocated to Dan's opinion piece. I agree that sounds trivial, but I have never seen Dan publicly disagree with our present commission, when he had many opportunities to do so.

Dan was commission president when he tore into USDA Wildlife Service's Craig Swope over shooting deer in Mt. Lebanon. He argued that once a bullet leaves its chamber, there is no control over that bullet. Dan was very passionate about counting bullets. Yet, when constituents, including myself, went to Dan about the deer killing, he said that he couldn't do anything about it. Now, we have commissioners who don't want to know anything about the deer "management" program. They have hired killers to take care of everything and refuse to even learn what kind of bait is being used. Have a problem with the deer? Don't come to us, they say. Contact White Buffalo. Brumfield had the nerve to say in today's The Almanac, “We are not trying to keep internal municipal discussions private,” ironically printed on the back of Dan Miller's guest column.

Our commission has taken a 180º turn since Dan Miller left office. There is no transparency. There is no financial reform. Commissioners do not blog regularly, keeping constituents informed. Commissioners give carte blanche to anyone holding a weapon. It has all gone to hell. 

Transparency, financial reform, safety, and education for children with disabilities are all important issues, but the only one that Dan felt compelled to write about was Trump's choice for Secretary of Education. Nothing is ever said about his commissioners. That is disappointing.

Update February 10, 2017 8:53 AM Rep. Miller should focus on education standards here