Harrisburg Mayor Fasting In Hopes Of Solving City's Financial Crisis (VIDEO)

NEW YORK (Edith Honan) - Pennsylvania's debt-ridden capital of Harrisburg has tried every form of fiscal belt-tightening, from layoffs to furloughs to filing for bankruptcy. Now, it is turning to God.

Mayor Linda Thompson said on Friday she will join religious leaders in three days of fasting and prayer to encourage "a cooperative spirit among government leaders, the business community and citizens."

"I am open about my faith and will be participating in the voluntary prayer and fast," Thompson said in a statement. The city is now weighing a financial rescue plan presented by the state.

The fast and prayers, which will be facilitated by about a dozen Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religious leaders, will begin at midnight on June 21 and end on June 24.

On Monday, a team of state-appointed advisors recommended the city sell a deeply indebted incinerator at the root of its fiscal problems, renegotiate its labor agreements, cut jobs, sell other assets and assume $26 million in new borrowing.

The city council has until July 23 to adopt the plan.

(Editing by Greg McCune)

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

Watch video from WHTM ABC27 here:

Comments

[BoundedReality]

05:54 PM on 07/22/2011

We need good fiscal policy, not a bunch of people forgoing breakfast, lunch and dinner! So I guess the mayor won't be buying groceries for those days...bet the grocery stores and restaurants appreciate her fasting...hey every little bit helps...oops I mean hurts!

[phal4875]

05:44 PM on 08/04/2011

This mayor must have a huge appetite if her fasting is going to bring the city back to fiscal stability. Just how much can she cut back on meals while at work?

[D-Barger]

10:34 AM on 07/05/2011

Did it work? Or did she die of starvation.

One or the other.

Follow-up?

[bbriani3842]

02:58 PM on 07/03/2011

What a load of dung ... religion poisons everything.

[taoistpunk]

10:56 AM on 06/23/2011

Harrisburg Mayor Fasting In Hopes Of Solving City's Financial Crisis

Wow, was she really eating that much?!?!

[D-Barger]

10:45 AM on 06/23/2011

If they're lucky, she'll starve to death, making room for someone who went to college to study Economics.

[Skaterx999]

09:46 PM on 06/22/2011

She must have stayed at a Holiday Inn express last night.

[phal4875]

05:45 PM on 08/04/2011

I think they force you to eat the breakfasts they serve. That would end the fast.

[gomezrules]

05:55 PM on 06/22/2011

If this was a Republican saying that she's going to 'fast' and 'pray' for these problems to resolve themselves, the hatefest from the left would be 24/7 and result in umpteen threads being created so that the pol in question could be ridiculed. But this gal is a Dem, and black to boot, so there will be no outrage from those usual hypocrites.

[Travis Varner]

08:37 PM on 06/22/2011

Actually I am one of those leftist Dems who happens to live in Harrisburg and there is a significant amount of ridicule being thrown around about this woman. Most of my friends, myself, and a majority of the free thinking individuals in this area are ashamed that she is our mayor. We want her gone. And this is just one more nail in the coffin as far as I'm concerned.

[D-Barger]

10:46 AM on 06/23/2011

ANYONE, regardless of party, should be mocked if they favor prayer and fasting over education and application of real-world solutions.

PS: The two-party system is now a distraction from the real issues. Did you not know that both sides are owned by the corporations? Shame on you, if you didn't.

[Vic22]

05:16 PM on 06/22/2011

Pray to God, but tie up your camel

[mojave865]

02:10 AM on 06/24/2011

Just as effective to pray to the camel

[katykay]

04:17 PM on 06/22/2011

She should have the enitre city participate- good way of solving the obesity problem.

[awckid3]

09:09 AM on 06/27/2011

They'll just make up for lost time once the fast is over.

[dna user]

01:29 PM on 06/22/2011

Fast for better ideas to solve a fiscal crisis.

[biskitdaddy]

12:11 PM on 06/22/2011

Here in GA the previous Republican governor, Sonny Perdue, held a prayer vigil on the steps of the state capitol to pray for rain during the midst of a drought. Upon taking office for his first term, there were already plans on the books for reservoirs to be built, but because his predecessor was a Democrat the plans were cancelled. Mind you, this prayer vigil was held on a Tuesday; on the previous Friday the forecast was for rain on that day. God gave these people a brain and they need to use it.

[D-Barger]

10:47 AM on 06/23/2011

A god gave them a brain? Heck, all this time I thought that people were born with them.

[PrinceO]

11:55 AM on 06/22/2011

you got to do, what you got to do.

[D-Barger]

10:48 AM on 06/23/2011

It is what it is, and at the end of the day, it's all good. #Platitudes

[rsttho557949]

11:08 AM on 06/22/2011

There are many contrarians who mock the Mayor because of her faith. This has nothing to do with "seperation of church and state; this is a matter between her and God. Rather than being a rebellious woman, proudly representing filth, guilt and shame, she is a righteous woman who is turning to the ONLY PERSON that can change the hearts of others. God always works His miracles through people. It is through her faith that somoene will come to her city's aid.

Keep the faith Mayor Thompson... God does not forsake the righteous.

[greysells2]

12:02 PM on 06/22/2011

I don't think God is a person. I don't actually know what he is but he is not a person.

[el sistema]

01:08 PM on 06/22/2011

"This has nothing to do with "seperatio­n of church and state; this is a matter between her and God."

I believe you're completely wrong on this. Publicly supporting religious leaders in invoking God to solve the city's financial woes is integrating church and state. If she done this privately as she should have, this wouldn't be an issue.

[rsttho557949]

11:16 AM on 06/24/2011

Dear el,

With all due respect, you bare confuding freedom of speech with separation of church band state. The teo are entirely different matters. Whether elected or not allows one to voice an opinion. The concept of separating church from state was to eliminate tyranny by a pope, king or emperor since they were both church and state. Also let's clear this up, it was WE THE PEOPLE that grounded this country...not Washington, Jefferson or Franklin. The rights of the colonists-they said- was given by God - not Jefferson, Washington, Franklin, Adams or any other "Founding Father" that you might conjure up. If it weren't for WE THE PEOPLE, and if the Founding Fathers had "founded this country, it would not be a democracy but an Aristocracy!

[gdkzen]

10:45 AM on 06/22/2011

If you've ever been to the Harrisburg region, none of this should surprise you.

[D-Barger]

10:39 AM on 06/22/2011

How pathetic. Maybe she should have paid attention in Economics class. Now she has to take the easy way out. The people may be harmed by this, but that's what they get for voting with their bibles instead of actually learning about the qualifications of a candidate.