Letter to the editor: Wolf administration striking a balance

I was perplexed when I read the editorial “Wolf needs to stop playing chicken” (Aug. 8, TribLIVE) regarding the administration’s suggestion that Pennsylvania schools postpone interscholastic sports until January. As the editorial board admits, the governor is labeled an overreaching tyrant when he unilaterally closes restaurants or doesn’t allow a Canadian baseball team to play in Pittsburgh. But then apparently he also “needs to suit up” and issue state level mandates. Translation: Wolf shouldn’t dictate reopening conditions for schools and sports statewide, but also he should.

It seems to me the Wolf administration is actually attempting to strike the perfect balance between state and local control as it issues guidance about what it would like to see occur but then allows localities to make the actual decisions as they see fit.

To continue the sports cliches, it does very little good for the editorial board to move the goalposts on an administration which is simply attempting to protect its citizens while balancing a genuine need for local decision-making. Wolf isn’t running “trick plays” and he isn’t “punting the ball”; rather he’s constructing a high-level game plan and allowing the local quarterbacks to call audibles as they see fit.

Jon Parker

McCandless