HARRISBURG — In anticipation of Tom Wolf’s anniversary as Governor, the Republican Party of Pennsylvania is taking a look back on some of the major issues that occurred during his first year in office.
Today, we look into the disastrous move by Governor Wolf to play politics with the State’s Fire Commissioner, naming recently defeated former State Sen. Tim Solobay to the position.
“While Tom Wolf was looking to fill positions in the administration, he could not resist playing politics with the state’s top fire official. Going against his pledge to root out questionable appointments, Wolf named a former State Senator who had just lost his re-election bid to the position of Fire Commissioner. Wolf’s appointee, former Senator Tim Solobay, was a top target for Wolf’s Fresh Start campaign committee. Wolf removed a highly decorated and qualified Fire Commissioner to give his buddy a job after he lost his bid for re-election.” — PA GOP Communications Director Megan Sweeney
Tom Wolf Political Games with the PA Fire Chief
After 14-and-a-half years of serving as the Fire Commissioner, Ed Mann was fired by Wolf. (Dennis Owens, “Gov. Wolf criticized for switching fire commissioners,” WHTM , 1/27/2015)
- Mann served under 4 different governors, Ridge, Schweiker, Rendell, and Corbett, and steered clear of politics, concentrating on public safety. (Dennis Owens, “Gov. Wolf criticized for switching fire commissioners,” WHTM , 1/27/2015)
- “No doubt politics played a part in it…” “‘There’s no doubt that politics played a part in it, but you know I knew that when I took the job 14-and-a-half years ago and I lasted 14-and-a-half years because I didn’t play politics,’ [Mann] said.” (Dennis Owens, “ Wolf criticized for switching fire commissioners,” WHTM , 1/27/2015)
Mann’s replacement, Tim Solobay, was backed by Tom Wolf’s Fresh Start campaign in his failed 2014 State Senate re-election bid. (Eric Heyl, “Wolf — once again — fans the flames of political promotion,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review , 1/18/2015)
The Wolf Administration refused to tell the public why they decided to fire Ed Mann and replace him with failed Fresh Start candidate Tim Solobay. “What prompted Solobay’s selection as fire commissioner? Jeff Sheridan, Wolf’s press secretary, provided no clues. ‘We do not discuss the personnel process,’ he said.” (Eric Heyl, “Wolf — once again — fans the flames of political promotion,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review , 1/18/2015)
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