O'Gara deal approved despite protests

Westmoreland IDA approves deal with O'Gara even though angry crowd shouts its disapproval

BY FRANK DELANO

Date published: 6/30/2009

BY FRANK DELANO

An uproar of protest last night failed to stop the Westmoreland County Industrial Development Authority from approving a new contract to sell county property to The O'Gara Group Inc. for a security training operation near Montross.

Six county deputies arrived at the raucous meeting after one O'Gara opponent stood on a bench to shout his opposition to a closed session called by the IDA to discuss a lawsuit filed against it by other O'Gara critics.

"We're tired of you going behind closed doors!" yelled Harry Scott of Mount Holly to the cheers of other angry citizens who had packed the General District Courtroom. "I know I'm out of order, but you're the ones who are out of order. We want you to listen to us!" Scott said.

The passage of the closed-session motion met a loud chorus of disapproval. "You'll go down in history as the people who destroyed Westmoreland County!" said one voice in the crowd.

"You're not going to leave this room!" Scott yelled as he ran to a side door of the courtroom to block the exit of the IDA members and other county officials.

They left the the room through another door. Loud boos and cries of "Shame! Shame on you!" followed the officials out the door.

The county officials were out of the room about 20 minutes. O'Gara foes used the time to read letters critical of the firearms, driving and combat training that O'Gara plans to conduct.

Norma J. McGuire questioned O'Gara's association with DynCorp, a major defense contractor. Some DynCorp personnel have been involved in crimes and scandals in Iraq and Afghanistan, she claimed. "What are we getting ourselves into?" she said. O'Gara "is another DynCorp!"

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Date published: 6/30/2009

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