Governor Ridge inaugurated in Harrisburg

HARRISBURG -- Surrounded by swirls of red, white and blue bunting, with the Capitol Building gleaming in the background, former Erie Congressman Tom Ridge was sworn in as Pennsylvania's 43rd governor yesterday. A six-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Ridge rose to statewide office in last November's Republican revolution. He defeated outgoing Democratic Lieutenant Governor Mark Singel in that race. Ridge, Pennsylvania's first-ever governor from Erie and the Commonwealth's first chief executive to hold his inaugural celebration outside the Capitol's East Wing, was sworn in at 12:15 p.m. by State Supreme Court Justice Ronald Castille. Following the oath of office and the traditional strains of "Stars and Stripes Forever" played by the Valley Forge Military Academy Herald Trumpets, Ridge delivered a 20-minute inaugural address, which focused on the themes of community potential, individual responsibility and governmental change. Thanking his predecessor, outgoing Governor Robert Casey, for his integrity and commitment to public service, Ridge vowed "to re-instill, to re-invigorate, a sense of community throughout all of Pennsylvania." He described the challenges that will confront his administration in the coming months -- creating a government intended to serve the people, combatting crime, implementing a balanced environmental policy and reshaping the state's educational system. "We must redefine the relationship between state and government, our communities, and ourselves," Ridge told a wind-whipped crowd of more than 6,000 supporters. "Woven together each thread strengthens the very fibre, the character, of our state." He added that he plans to call the state legislature into a special session today to "confront the violence" currently plaguing Pennsylvania. This provoked vocal protest from opponents of the death penalty -- which Ridge favors -- who had gathered nearby at Soldiers' Grove to bring attention to their cause. Ridge also pledged to preserve and create jobs in the Commonwealth, and "to create the most advanced partnership in the nation to promote and enhance our resources." Acknowledging that the change essential to progress is never easy to achieve, Ridge said his priority is to "get the job done" and to strengthen popular confidence in state government. "You did not elect a governor just to run a bureaucracy," he said. "As your steward it is my responsibility to listen, to hear your voice, to challenge, to manage and ultimately, to lead." At the conclusion of the ceremony, Harrisburg's first inaugural parade in two decades wound its way around the Capitol complex, with law enforcement divisions in squad cars and on motorcycles leading military color guards and high school bands through the streets of the capital. Ridge's Lieutenant Governor, former Bucks County Commissioner Mark Schweiker, took the oath of office in the state Senate chamber, which was packed with about 500 friends, family members -- including Schweiker's wife and three children -- and other well-wishers. President Judge of the State Superior Court James Rowley administered the oath to Schweiker yesterday morning before Ridge assumed gubernatorial duties. Schweiker's inaugural speech also emphasized the idea of change, invoking the examples of past political leaders William Penn, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin to encourage the development of a united, non-partisan state government. "These men are our mentors," he said, promising -- as he had many times on the campaign trail -- to make government work for the Commonwealth's citizens. "Our frame of reference, however, are the Pennsylvanians who hired us to do the people's business," Schweiker said.

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