HARRISBURG – A high-level Corbett administration adviser resigned his $104,470 position Tuesday after questions were raised about his outside role as editor of a conservative faith-based journal.
Along with disclosing welfare adviser Robert W. Patterson’s departure, the administration swiftly distanced itself from the views expressed in the journal he edits.
Patterson was hired in October by Welfare Secretary Gary Alexander as a special assistant to help set policy for services provided to millions of Pennsylvanians through the Department of Public Welfare (DPW).
Last week, The Inquirer began asking about Patterson’s side job as editor of The Family in America, published by an Illinois-based research center that advocates for the “natural human family . . . established by the Creator.”
In the journal, Patterson has weighed in on everything from what he called “misguided” programs that grew out of the 1960s War on Poverty – programs now administered by DPW – to what he described as a woman’s ideal role in society: married and at home raising children.
For instance, he wrote about research that he said showed that if women wanted to find “Mr. Right,” they should shun birth control pills; and if they wanted to improve their mood, they should not insist that their men wear condoms lest they miss out on beneficial chemicals found in semen.
Asked this yesterday – what rocks are Santorum, and now Corbett, turning over to find these people?
