New House speaker
chats with Parkwood

By Lauren Fritsky
Times Staff Writer

Nearly two and a half months after becoming Pennsylvania House speaker, Rep. Dennis O’Brien (R-169th dist.) still feels shocked that he got elected to the post at all.
"It’s the day that I’ll remember for a lifetime," he said.
O’Brien spoke about his new role in the state legislature at the March 8 meeting of the Parkwood Civic Association.
In January, O’Brien, 54, unseated former Speaker and political foe John Perzel (R-172nd dist.) after several Democratic legislators decided to vote for him instead of his colleague from Lexington Park.
In an attempt to prevent Democratic Rep. Bill DeWeese from securing the speakership, Perzel had convinced Democratic Rep. Tom Caltagirone to vote for him in an agreement that would allow Republicans and Democrats to share committee chairmanships and have an equal number of members on committees.
But in a surprise turn of events, 99 other Democrats decided to instead vote for O’Brien, who was first elected to the legislature in 1976. He seized the speakership from Perzel by a vote of 105 to 97.
While part of the agreement to elect O’Brien included allowing Democrats to head all legislative committees, the new speaker has set his sights on bipartisan legislative change.
Since assuming his new post, O’Brien has implemented the Speaker’s Commission on Legislative Reform, a 24-member, bipartisan group charged with reviewing rules changes to the legislature.
O’Brien said that the commission’s work thus far flies in the face of those who panned its creation.
"The reform commission was met with great skepticism by the media," O’Brien told Parkwood residents. "I’m proud to say that twenty-four-member commission has done an extraordinary job. We have since changed the way we do business."
O’Brien — who in 2005 voted for the middle-of-the-night legislative pay raise but was unopposed for re-election last year — said the commission has formulated 32 rules changes, including giving legislators more time to read through proposed bills and granting more public access to records and expense reports.
"If the public has a right to know, we’re going to make the information public," O’Brien said. "What we have to do over these next two years is make the (legislative) process open."
In other news from last week’s meeting, the Friends of Poquessing Creek Watershed needs volunteers to plant trees and flowers at Academy and Torrey roads and Academy and Thornton roads this spring. The civic group also plans to host its annual cleanup event in May. ••
The Parkwood Civic Association’s next meeting is 7 p.m. Thursday, April 12, in the basement of St. Anselm Roman Catholic Church, 12670 Dunks Ferry Road. The group’s Web site can be viewed at www.parkwoodcivic.com
Reporter Lauren Fritsky can be reached at 215-354-3038 or lfritsky@phillynews.com