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When Sen. Lisa Baker and 14 of her colleagues voted against Gov. Tom Wolf’s pick to represent the northeast region on the Pennsylvania Game Commission board, it shed light on a problem with the process.
Commissioners for the PGC board are nominated by the governor for confirmation by the state Senate, which is done through a majority vote.
Last week, Wolf’s pick of Stanley Knick Jr., a Dupont Borough resident, was sent to the Senate along with five other individuals for other seats on the PGC and Fish and Boat Commission boards. Five of Wolf’s nominations were approved with a unanimous vote, which is typical for such posts. Knick, however, passed with a 34-15 vote.
It’s unusual to have 15 Senators, including three out of the five whose districts encompass the northeast, vote against a candidate.
So what was the problem?
Baker and Sen. Mario Scavello both commented on the Senate floor that Knick made no effort to contact them, no sportsmen’s clubs or conservation organizations voiced any support for him and, as a result, the Senators knew nothing about him. When a person applies for a board seat, they usually reach out to their local legislators to introduce themselves, answer any questions and seek support. That’s the way it works, but Knick said he wasn’t instructed to contact anyone.
But I think there’s a bigger issue.
Knick himself isn’t the problem. When I spoke to him he came across as a nice guy who loves hunting.
Is he qualified for the PGC board?
We’ll find out after he takes his seat.
And that’s the problem: Transparency is lacking when it comes to the process to appoint people to the PGC and PFBC boards. Rather than learning about Knick’s qualifications after he was nominated by Wolf and confirmed by the Senate, we should have been able to learn about his background, views and goals when he applied for the seat.
Instead of debating if he was the top candidate or not, those names should’ve been released to the public.
By doing so, it would give hunters, trappers, bird watchers, nature lovers and anyone else with an interest in the outdoors a chance to lobby for or against a particular candidate. Public input should be part of the equation when it comes time for the Governor’s office to make a nomination.
If there were more transparency in the process from the start, maybe Baker, Scavello and the others who voted against Knick would have known more about him if the public had a chance to offer input.
And while we’re talking about transparency, it would be nice to hear from the Governor’s office about the reasons for nominating Knick for the seat. What qualifications and views does Knick possess that made the Governor’s office decide he was the best person for the job?
Was Knick one of the people recommended for the post by the advisory council? Honesdale resident John Kretschmer said he was the recommended candidate. If so, then why wasn’t his name submitted to the Senate?
Seats on the Game Commission board are essentially volunteer positions. Commissioners aren’t paid, aside from travel and expenses, and they donate their time, a lot of it, to attend meetings and represent their districts.
There’s no reason not to know who applied for a vacant board seat or, at the very least, who were the top candidates.
When I spoke to Knick it was clear he’s a passionate hunter and he said getting youth involved in the sport is one of his goals.
That was good to hear.
But I agree with Baker and Scavello. How can they vote for someone they know nothing about? How do they know if the person they’re voting for is the most qualified candidate?
More importantly, how do we know?
We don’t.
Transparency would solve that problem.
