This video is Chapter 3 in of our series analyzing the Harrisburg Incinerator Forensic Audit Report.

One of the most significant players in the Harrisburg debt story is financial advisor Bruce Barnes. Barnes was integral in facilitating the financial deals of not only the Incinerator, but also of the City and the Harrisburg School District. As Barnes himself declared, "We advise the City and the School District on what they should do."

In the Summer of 2006, Barnes advised the Harrisburg School District to enter into a series of SWAPS; however, the elected School Board of Directors refused to approve the deal because they felt they didn't have enough information on the complex proposal before them.

Because the School District was under the control of Mayor Stephen Reed at the time, the four School Directors who resisted the pressure to act quickly to vote on the SWAPs were removed from their positions. At the suggestion of Superintendent Gerald Kohn, the Mayor-appointed School Board of Control took power away from the elected Board, and ultimately, the SWAPs were approved.

by Tara Leo Auchey

Photo by Natalie Cake