Is Coatesville City Manager Harry G. Walker holding up $250,000 of immediate help from Governor Rendell for police and firefighter overtime?

As the Philadelphia Inquirer article states; “the cash-strapped city is just a six-page, online application away from receiving up to $250,000 from the state, Mike Smith, a spokesman for Gov. Rendell, said yesterday.”

Is Walker deliberately holding up a grant from the state in order to make his case to the Coatesville City Council to withdraw $900,000 from the City Trust Fund?

Investigative reporting by the Daily Local News alleges that most of the $900,000 proposed by Walker was really an effort to hide $780,000 in unpaid bills.

Read between the lines in these two articles and see what conclusion you draw from them.

Manager hid city's debts, officials say
Some call for his resignation or firing
Wednesday, February 18, 2009 6:08 AM EST
By JENNIFER MILLER, Staff Writer

COATESVILLE — After learning the city has a hidden budget hole of nearly $780,000, some City Council members called for City Manager Harry Walker's resignation Tuesday.

Financial information that administrators presented to council last week and to the Daily Local News on Tuesday shows the city entered the new year with roughly $660,000 in outstanding bills. Since then, the sum of unpaid debts has grown to nearly $780,000.

That led some council members to say Walker acted deceptively when he claimed the 2009 budget was balanced.

More at: http://www.dailylocal.com/articles/2009/02/18/news/srv0000004726987.txt

Posted on Wed, Feb. 18, 2009
Coatesville grapples with covering arsons' costs
By Kathleen Brady Shea
Inquirer Staff Writer

While the emotional cost of Coatesville's unsolved series of arsons remains incalculable, the financial price tag continues to climb.

At a specially scheduled public meeting in City Hall at 6 tonight, City Manager Harry G. Walker III will repeat his controversial request for the release of $900,000 from a city trust fund to pay bills.

In the meantime, the cash-strapped city is just a six-page, online application away from receiving up to $250,000 from the state, Mike Smith, a spokesman for Gov. Rendell, said yesterday.

Smith said the state had taken steps "to expedite" the emergency funds by briefing city officials on the application process, which involves describing the city's needs and itemizing costs.

Smith said "a very quick turnaround" was expected once the application was submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development; however, he could not provide a more specific timetable.

More at; http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/39769152.html