HARRISBURG – Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Rob Gleason released the following statement regarding the waste of taxpayer dollars highlighted in The Philadelphia Inquirer article entitled, “Philly jazz festival a state-funded extravagance.”

“Dwight Evans must really love jazz… so much so that he is willing to flush one million taxpayer dollars down the toilet just to ensure that a jazz festival, which drew no more than a couple thousand people, has state funding to waste.  It is inexcusable to see our hard-earned dollars wasted in this matter, especially at a time when our state’s resources are limited and necessary cuts are being made to more worthwhile programs.

“Unfortunately, wasteful spending and mismanagement of tax dollars is a time-honored tradition for well entrenched Philadelphia Democratic elected officials.   At a time when many people living in Dwight Evans’ district are going to bed hungry tonight, they deserve to know that one million in taxpayer dollars was wasted on a festival that will do little to nothing to ease their hardships. Imagine one million dollars was invested in tax credits for businesses to hire new employees or in an economic development project to get some of his constituents into good, family sustaining jobs.

“The cycle of failure in Philadelphia must end.  Philadelphians must hold their elected officials accountable.  If they aren’t working for you, like Dwight Evans, it is time to vote them out!”

According to The Philadelphia Inquirer article, entitled “Philly jazz festival a state-funded extravagance,” $1 million from Pennsylvania’s taxpayers was awarded to the organizers of last month’s West Oak Lane Jazz Festival who had promised a crowd that would rival Woodstock.  In reality the crowd was at times no larger than three thousand attendees.
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Contact: Mike Barley
Press Release