Molly Henderson

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Lancaster County Commissioner
Molly S. Henderson
In office January 5, 2004 – January 5, 2008
Preceded by	Ron Ford
Succeeded by	Craig Lehman

Born	September 14, 1953 (1953-09-14) (age 54) Cumberland, Maryland
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Alex Henderson

Molly Henderson (born September 14, 1953) is one of three Commissioners of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. ^[1] The Commissioners are the chief executive and legislative officials of the County, which has 500,000 residents spread over 940 square miles and an annual County budget of $300 million. ^[2] Molly Henderson was elected in 2003 to a four year term ^[3] and is the lone Democrat on the Board of Commissioners in a County where Republicans outnumber Democrats two to one. ^[4]

Henderson was previously Head of Public Health for the City of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the County seat. ^[5] She is a former high school and college teacher, holding a doctorate degree from Temple University, a master's degree from West Chester University and her B.S. from James Madison University. ^[6] Henderson is also a Respiratory Therapist and worked at Lancaster General Hospital prior to her teaching ^[7] and government careers. Henderson is married to Alex Henderson and has two children, Alexander "Ander" Henderson and Leslie Henderson. ^[8]

Henderson is a notable opponent of the Lancaster County Convention Center Authority’s controversial $170 million hotel/convention center in downtown Lancaster on the site of the former Watt & Shand building. ^[9] ^[10] The project's supporters believe it would promote the revitalization of the city's center. Its opponents, however, feel it poses an unacceptable risk to taxpayers. ^[11]. Henderson is married to Alex Henderson and has two children, Alexander "Ander" Henderson and Leslie Henderson. ^[12] [1] The hotel portion of the project is owned 50% by Lancaster Newspapers, Inc. which have been accused of using their monopoly print position in the County to promote the project and stifle opposition. Henderson has been referenced in more than 2,200 newspaper articles, over 700 of which concern the Lancaster County Convention Center project, many of them attacking her position. ^[13]

Henderson, along with fellow commissioners Dick Shellenberger and Pete Staub, pleaded guilty to violating Pennsylvania's state Sunshine Act in 2007.^[14] The guilty pleas stemmed from the Commissioner's controversial 2005 sale of a Lancaster County owned nursing home and a lack of public disclosure.^[14]

Henderson was not re-elected as Lancaster County Commissioner on November 7, 2007. ^[15] Henderson was succeeded by Craig Lehman as the minority Commissioner.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ {{Cite news | last=Susanna M. | first=Blain | author-link= Susanna M. Blain | title=“Lancaster County Public Officials Directory” | newspaper=[[Latter Day Sa… | year=2006 }}
^ Harris, Bernard. "“New Commissioners get ready by Dividing Duties”".
^ Nurse, Tom. "“Shellenberger, Shaub, Henderson Win. Why it Happened and What it Means”".
^ Quinn, Justin. "“Democrat Henderson Wins, Joins 2 from GOP as Commissioners"".
^ Caldwell, Carrie. "“Henderson Named Recipient of Jean Royer Kohr Award”".
^ Caldwell, Carrie. "“After Years of Preparation, It’s Time”".
^ Keever, Wythe. "“College Tackles Growing Number of Cases”".
^ David, O'Connor. "“She’s Learning on the Run”".
^ Colwell Adams, Helen. "“Good Golly Molly! Democrat Who Had Republican Support Acts Independently. Henderson’s Questions on Downtown Project Rile Her Friends in Both Parties”".
^ Hart Nibbrig, Christiaan A.. "Lancaster Convention Center Battle Shatters Amish Country Calm", Budget & Tax News, 2007-02-01. Retrieved on 2007-04-27.
^ Keever, Wythe. "“College Tackles Growing Number of Cases”".
^ Staff, Staff. "“'Yellow Journalism' … Intell Uses Shaub as Puppet to Attack Commissioners”".
^ Editorial, Editorial. "“Demo Henderson’s Role as GOP Spoiler”".
^ ^a ^b Pigdeon, Dave. "Shellenberger, Henderson: We're not quitting", Lancaster New Era, 2007-01-16. Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
^ Pigdeon, Dave. "Lehman wins over incumbent Henderson", 2007-11-07. Retrieved on 2007-12-19.