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PICA Board Chair Resigns As Pa. Gets New Governor

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Today's inauguration of the new Pennsylvania governor, Tom Corbett (see related story), caused a ripple effect here in Philadelphia, with the immediate resignation of a key state official appointed by Ed Rendell.

Attorney James Eisenhower had served the past four ars as chairman of the board of PICA (the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority), the state agency that watches over Philadelphia's often-shaky finances.

But Eisenhower was an appointee of former governor Ed Rendell, so Eisenhower has stepped down, two weeks before the end of this term, as a courtesy to the new governor.

"I thought it was the right thing to do, to give Gov. Corbett the opportunity to select his own person," Eisenhower told KYW Newsradio on Tuesday.

Corbett, though, has yet to appoint a new chairman.

The other four members of the PICA board also see their terms expire at month's end; their replacements will be chosen by the leadership of the two parties in the Pennsylvania House and Senate.  If none are named within two weeks, PICA will be, for a time, a vacant board.

Reported by KYW City Hall Bureau chief Mike Dunn.

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