Even those who did not call for resignations said it will be difficult, if not impossible, for the commissioners to function in office through the end of their terms next January.

The critical officials said their concern is not political or philosophical, but practical.

“There comes a time when you have to put the interest of the county above everything else,’’ said state Rep. Katie True, a Republican. “This is a huge distraction and they need to move on for the good of the county.’’

Former U.S. Rep. Bob Walker, former County Commissioner Jim Huber and former Lancaster Mayor Art Morris, all Republicans, also called for the commissioners to resign.

State Sen. Gibson Armstrong, a Republican who has previously and publicly urged Commissioner Dick Shellenberger to resign, reiterated the message this morning. “He should do the right thing,” Armstrong said.

Republican Commissioner Pete Shaub, who will resign next month to take a job in the private sector, declined to comment.

Shellenberger, a Republican, did not answer requests to respond.

Democratic Commissioner Molly Henderson said, “Those who do not realize that the grand jury report has confirmed and vindicated my position, have likely been misled by the incorrect statements about the grand jury report in the Intell and the New Era.’’

The New Era reported that the investigating grand jury said the commissioners avoided further criminal charges only because the grand jury lacked sufficient evidence.

Actually, the grand jury report presents no evidence to support further criminal charges against Henderson.

All three commissioners have pleaded guilty to violating the Sunshine Act while selling Conestoga View, the county’s nursing home.

The report cites a lack of corroborating testimony and documentation for its decision not to call for further charges against Shaub and Shellenberger.

True explained that, regardless of personalities or issues, county government must be able to govern. Under current circumstances, it can’t, she said.

“I take note of how hard it was to govern over the last year in Harrisburg with the pay raise,’’ she said. “A lot of energy goes into defending your position and constantly being on defense, instead of doing the day-to-day business of governing.’’

True did not support the pay raise. State Rep. Mike Sturla, a Lancaster Democrat, did. He said he felt the sting of criticism.

At some point, he said, criticism can crescendo into inefficiency.

“It’s hard to stay concentrated at that point,” Sturla said. “I think we still got stuff done, but it was way overshadowed.”

There’s “precious little time” for the current board (of commissioners) to mend its image, cautioned Sturla, who has not called for them to resign. “They would have to pull a rabbit out of a hat.”

Walker said the grand jury’s findings will be a constant distraction.

“Virtually every decision they would make would be questioned as to whether it was a proper evaluation of all the complexities of the decision,’’ he said.

The grand jury report, Walker said, questioned not only “the legal standing of what they did but the thought process that went into the decisions, and that will continue to be a problem. The level of trust that the public has in your capacity to decide is dramatically undermined.’’

Walker said he hears people everywhere he goes “bemoaning that we have come to this state. The public is yearning for something to get back to normalcy.’’

Former Democratic county Commissioner Ron Ford said Shellenberger and Henderson have lost the trust of the public and will find it nearly impossible to govern in that environment.

“I think they’ve probably reached that point,” Ford said today.

Ford advised that the commissioners should evaluate if they can still be effective in office. Part of that is acknowledging the volume and seriousness of public criticism, he said, which the current board “does not completely comprehend.”

“It’s almost a somewhat delusional aspect” of this board, Ford said.

Mistrust for the commissioners is certain to jeopardize their standing with business partners as well, Ford said. The current situation can affect private and state funding for county agencies.

It also could dissuade organizations from doing business with the county and scare off federal grants for “innovative and forward-looking counties, which we once were, but not anymore” Ford said.

Huber reiterated his call for the commissioners to resign.

“Dick Shellenbeger has indicated he is not capable of functioning as a commissioner,’’ Huber said. “He’s a disgrace to county government and a disgrace to the Republican Party.’’

He said Henderson also should resign.

“I think psychologically it would be more difficult for them to function,’’ Huber said.

At a Republican function Thursday night, Huber said, “all I heard from everyone was that there should be a resignation from Mr. Shellenberger.’’

Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray, a Democrat, said, “I don’t think it’s to the benefit of the county to continue the animosity and lack of trust.’’

Gray said the credibility beating the commissioners have suffered, culminating in the grand jury report, should prod them to reconsider their strategy for the remainder of their terms, although he stopped short of calling on them to resign.

The mayor reserved his harshest words for Henderson, calling her a “dismal failure as a minority commissioner,” who defied her watchdog role and became complicit in the secrecy surrounding the sale of Conestoga View.

To call the grand jury report a vindication, which Henderson has done, betrays a “Nixonian standard of ethics,” Gray said.

“If your standard is ‘I didn’t violate criminal law,’ that’s no standard at all.”

Morris said the commissioners can continue in office, but not effectively, because they have lost all credibility.

Even county employees cannot trust them now, he said.

“Every week these people stay in office is one less week recovering from this mess and digs a deeper hole for us,’’ he noted. “If they believe they were elected to serve the county for good, the best way they can do that now is to leave.’’

He said the damage done to county government “has been a team effort on behalf of the commissioners.’’

CONTACT US: jbrubaker@LNPnews.com or 291-8781