Chair, Seven Others from Southwestern Pennsylvania on Governor’s New Advisory Council

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett has tapped Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney CEO and Managing Partner John A. Barbour to chair his Advisory Council on Privatization and Innovation.

The council was promised by Corbett in his first budget address. Corbett said the goal of the council is to explore if any functions now performed by state government might be better and more cost-effectively performed by the private sector. “We have an obligation to taxpayers to find new and innovative ways to make government more efficient,” Governor Corbett said. “This panel will further evaluate potential privatization, public-private partnerships, or managed-competition opportunities with the ultimate goal of streamlining government and saving taxpayers’ dollars.”

Barbour is from Mars. The 24-member council also includes several other southwestern Pennsylvania residents, including former Congresswoman Melissa Hart of Bradford Woods, former Allegheny County Chief Executive Jim Roddey of Oakmont, and Allegheny Conference on Community Development President Dennis Yablonski.  Yablonski also served as the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development under the Rendell Administration.

According to a press release from the Governor’s office, the council’s mission is to “use innovation to achieve a combination of quality, cost savings, expertise and effectiveness. It will also examine roadblocks to sensible privatization, drawing on the experiences of past privatization efforts.” No deadlines have yet been put on the Council’s work.

Also on the council from southwestern Pennsylvania: Jerome Cochran, Pittsburgh; Laura Ellsworth, Sewickley; Gerald Feldman, Bradford Woods; and Mark Hanna, Venetia.

Rounding out the council: Robert B. Asher, Gwynedd Valley; Matthew J. Brouillette, Hershey; Peter N. Calcara, Mechanicsburg; Varsovia Fernandez, Ardmore; Charlie Gerow, Mechanicsburg; William P. Hankowsky, Philadelphia; Raymond W. Hoover, Camp Hill; Richard G. Jewell, Grove City; James E. McErlane, Malvern; J. Paul McMillen, Camp Hill; John D. Moran Jr., Lewisburg; Jonathan H. Newman, Bryn Mawr; Sue Schick, Merion Station; Andrew J. Sordoni III, Forty Fort; Robert S. Walker, Lititz; and Joseph P. Watkins, Philadelphia