First Cappy, now Willey

The air smells fresher in Pennsylvania these days.

No sooner have reformers celebrated the unexpected exit of Ralph Cappy, the chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, when we get the news that Richard Willey, the handsomely-paid CEO of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, is joining Cappy at the retirement home.

Willey, who makes $289,000 a year (the highest paid state official in Pennsylvania), has been the target of reformers, Legislators and even Ed Rendell for overseeing questionable spending by the agency in charge of providing student loans.

Willey himself pocketed a "bonus" of $181,000 this summer as part of more than $500,000 in bonus money awarded to top PHEAA executives.

That didn't sit well with Pennsylvania residents struggling to send their kids to college. PHEAA also spent nearly $900,000 on lavish trips to resorts for its executives and the board members assigned to oversee the operation.

The retirement of Cappy, one of the architects of the infamous July 2005 pay raise, and Willey can be considered victories for the reform movement in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvanians not only have the power to get rid of greedy politicians at the ballot box. The bully pulpit, consisting of a handful of citizen activists, aided by the state's thriving blogger community, talk radio and a few courageous newspaper columnists, has been instrumental in helping clean up this state.

The job isn't done.