Leah And Stenstrom File RTK Request With Delco DA — Leah Hoopes and Greg Stenstrom submitted, Nov. 15, right-to-know requests to the Delaware County, Pa.’s District Attorney’s Office seeking all non-privileged records regarding criminal investigations pertaining to them initiated in November 2020.
They also want, among many other things, all sworn or non-sworn statements made pertaining to them by anyone involved with D.A.’s office
The D.A. responded by saying they needed until Dec. 28 to comply with the request.
Delco Dropbox Matter Resolved — Here’s some good news about a matter we reported yesterday regarding a Nov. 1 incident at a Lansdowne, Pa. ballot dropbox.
A citizen saw a Delaware County employee he thought behaving suspiciously at a dropbox on Highland Avenue and questioned him with his cell phone camera running.
Rather than offer an explanation, the employee waved his ID, said he was doing his job and drove off.
It now appears the employee was legitimately collecting ballots from the box and not shoving ballots into it as the citizen believed.
Don’t expect any garment rending for reporting this, and rather than condemn the guy who videotaped it, we are going to give him the highest praise.
We are going to chastise Delco, however, for its, expected, incompetence. Workers should be trained to make it obvious they are only removing ballots, not inserting them, and, if confronted, provide a calm explanation. This does not mean saying “I’m doin my job” and driving off.
They should also calmly pass on contact information to concerned citizens about making a report or getting details.
This isn’t rocket science. Telling employees to do this isn’t asking them to storm Omaha Beach.
The best solution, though, is to get rid of dropboxes.
Delaware County has much more than Philadelphia and Allegheny counties combined despite being smaller than both.
Mail-in ballots are meant to be used in US mailboxes and mailboxes don’t cost the county a penny.
Yes, the cost of dropbox maintenance is significant.
Mailboxes are accessible 24/7 and the county doesn’t have to pay anyone to collect from them.
Dropbox Mule Caught In Delaware County Pa? — Updated here.
This video is being passed around by the police departments in Delaware County, Pa. and the powers-that-be in the courthouse know about it.
The confrontation occurred after a resident thought he saw this fellow stuffing things into a ballot dropbox on Highland Avenue in Lansdowne about 9:15 a.m., yesterday, Nov. 1.
Police were called after he left and have his name. A report was taken.
“(George) Soros realized that you don’t need to change the laws, you just need to change how they are enforced,” Musk said. “If nobody chooses to enforce the laws or if the laws are differentially enforced it’s like changing laws”
Get out and vote Tuesday.
The higher the turnout, the harder it is going to be to steal the election.
Delco Council Won’t Condemn Hamas — We heard that despite requests from citizens yesterday, Nov. 1, and on Oct. 31, Delaware County Council has refused to issue a proclamation condemning the Oct. 7 terror attack by Hamas on Israel during which 1,400 of its citizens were killed and unspeakable atrocities committed; nor would it issue a proclamation in support of Israel.
This would be understandable if it had a consistent policy of restraint in expressing opinions but this bunch has declared June to be a month to celebrate homosexuality and has lighted the courthouse in the colors of a movement to convince children they can change their sex.
And yes, we remember Councilwoman Christine Reuther smearing Joy Schwartz for several months as an anti-semite because Mrs. Schwartz called out the Soros money being funneled to Democrats.
Karma happens and now Joy, whose husband is Jewish, is running against her Nov. 7 on the Republican ticket.
And she has a chance at winning.
For what it’s worth Hamas must be destroyed and every decent person must be willing to declare it.
Upbeat Delco Ticket Takes 2 Hours Of Questions In Havertown — Republican candidates had a two-hour conversation, tonight, Nov. 1, with Delaware County residents at the Nunan – Slook American Legion Post in Havertown, Pa.
They were upbeat and united. They happily noted how their opponents were dumping beaucoup dollars into advertising filled with over-the-top smears.
Jeff Jones
Jeff Jones, who is seeking a seat on County Council, said they were going to do to the incompetent incumbents what Buster Douglas did to Mike Tyson.
Granted, Tyson was never considered incompetent.
Jones grew up in Camden, N.J. but ended up in Delco after falling in love with a girl moving to Drexel Hill. He married her and that’s where he ended up raising his family.
He said those running for office either “seek power or seek principle” and all the county Republican candidates are in it for the principle.
“We are not doing this to be attorney general,” he said, giving a dig at incumbent District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer’s already begun campaign to be Pennsylvania’s next attorney general.
Jones talked about how Upper Darby schools are in decline and truancy has exploded. He said this happened when the district raised the start of the school day to 9:45 a.m.
Parents have to be at work hence not around to make sure their kids get to class, he pointed out.
He said former Democrat opponents are helping him in his council race.
Beth Stefanide-Miscichowski, who is running for district attorney, with county council candidates Joy Schwartz, Bill Dennon and Jeff Jones
Bill Dennon
Jones’ running mates for council are Upland mayor Bill Dennon and retired school teacher Joy Schwartz.
Dennon, whose full-time job is as a maintenance mechanic, grew up in the trades. He said his father, a truck driver, made him help him fix his cars as a boy before freeing him to play.
He said crime is out of control is his community which borders Chester due to the county Democrats’ woke policing policies.
Dennon said the D.A. is putting serious offenders on ankle bracelet monitoring due to closure of Delco’s juvenile facility. He said the youths are cutting the bracelets off without repercussions. The bracelets cost over $1,000 apiece.
Joy Schwartz
Mrs. Schwartz noted she is the daughter of immigrant parents who lived in tyrannies. Her father grew up in the Soviet Union and her mother in Franco’s Spain. She said her paternal grandmother spent nine years in a gulag and her maternal grandfather spent a year in a concentration camp on the Canary Islands as one of Franco’s political prisoners.
Mrs. Schwartz taught history in the William Penn School District for 20 years before retiring just before Covid. She took the school’s the mock trial team to state competitions.
The Democrats are attempting to frame Mrs. Schwartz as an “election denier” because she has been questioning the actions by Democrat-controlled council that do the opposite of creating confidence in voting.
Mrs. Schwartz said she prefers the term election verifier and has noted during her campaign that the council’s new spending will increase the tax bills of residents by 35 percent next year and the increases won’t stop if they keep power.
Beth Stefanide-Miscichowski
Beth Stefanide-Miscichowski, who is running for district attorney, said her long legal career has included being a Delco prosecutor where she convicted rapists and murders and ended up running the DA’s juvenile division; being a public defender; and having a well-established private practice specializing in elder law and estate planning.
She said crime is up 25-percent in Delaware County; murders are going unsolved, and that a murder in Upper Darby last week has caused the township to literally double its five-year annual average with two months remaining in the year.
She said Upper Darby has but eight police officers on the street at any given time when not so long ago the number was 20.
And Stollsteimer is refusing to prosecute petty theft cases, a point reinforced by Bill Dennon, who described his personal experience with an incorrigible local thief, and audience members who said Stollsteimer has directed police chiefs to not prosecute shoplifters.
She brought up the incident where the unstable Stollsteimer berated her at a public event for daring to contest the re-coronation to which he feels entitled.
She said the county legal bills were four times higher than under the Republicans due to its reliance on expensive outside law firms.
The only county-wide candidate missing was Dawn Getty Sutphinwho had a prior commitment. She’s running for Common Pleas Court judge. She is far more qualified than her opponent.
With regard to lack of concern about election concerns, why was this election cart in the Nunan – Slook American Legion Post, Nov. 1, almost a week before the election?
Delco Concedes Election Code Change Is Ambiguous In Hearing Before Judge Bradley — Judge James P. Bradley heard arguments this morning, Nov. 1, for a preliminary injunction to prevent the enforcement of changes to the election code passed by Delaware County Council, Jan. 18.
The Pennsylvania Election Code requires all county election boards to have a minority party member.
The law passed by the Democrat-controlled council requires the minority party to submit a list of three and allows them reject it if not satisfied with the choices restarting the process.
Attorney Wally Zimolong representing Delaware County GOP and GOP Chairman Frank Agovino, said that the state code says the county legislative body “shall” fill vacancies from a list provided by the chairman of the minority party leaving no ambiguity that the choice is the minority chairman’s.
The attorney representing the county argued that the request should be rejected as Agovino would no longer have standing if the Republicans should take control, Nov. 7.
Zimolong notes that Agovino has standing now which is all that matters and that the legality of the ordinance means it would be required to be addressed even if Agovino should become leader of the majority party.
Bradley asked the defense what would stop council from rejecting the minority lists in perpetuity or until they got someone who would be a true minority watchdog
The defense conceded that the law was ambiguous and maybe didn’t prevent that but council would never do that, well, because.
Judge Bradley did not promise a fast decision.
Democrat politicians and candidates have taken to smearing those concerned about election integrity as “election deniers” but the reason why so many have developed election skepticism is because of stunts like this.
Why change the election code to weaken minority oversight? Really, help us out. Give us an answer as to how that instill trust in government.
Monday, we attended a hearing before Judge John Capuzzi involving a suit by Robert Mancini of Media against Delco.
Mancini says the county is in violation of the state code because it fails to perform hash validation before each election.
The county argued that while it may be best practice to do so the county is only obliged to do so when installing new software.
If the county is right regarding the law, we expect the judge to rule in its favor.
But why isn’t it using best practices?
Mancini filed several right to know requests last year that the county rejected but that Mancini won on appeals to the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records.
Did the county concede things to put the issue to rest?
No, it appealed the appeal to Common Pleas Court.
Among the things that Mancini wants are the correspondence with Fort Orange Press of Albany, N.Y., which prints the county’s mail-in ballots.
Why the secrets?
Why isn’t Delaware County, Pa. making its elections as transparent as possible and doing everything it can to assuage all fears of fraud?
Sunday Stroll Along Darby Creek — We just finished a nice stroll along Darby Creek in Upper Darby, Pa. from Delaware County’s Kent Park on the left bank to the township’s Gillespie Park on the other side now connected by a nice, new pedestrian bridge.
The round-trip was about three miles.
We also managed to catch the season’s last tour of the Lower Swedish Cabin guided by Ray King –apologies if we misspelled or misheard.
He said another one recrossing the creek is planned another from Gillespie Park allowing the trail to reach Garrett Road.
Private property prevents a straight path from Kent Park to Garrett Road.
The cost of the bridges are reportedly $1 million each.
Here’s some photos of the stroll.
At the end of the trail by the Swedish CabinThe Lower Swedish Cabin was a frequent setting for movies made by Lubin Studios in the first decade of the 20th century.The trail in GillespiePark with the saplings.Darby Creek looking north from the new bridge.
Sun Valley Students Protest Boys In The Girls Room Despite Administration Intimidation — About 50 students left Sun Valley High School at 10 o’clock this morning, Oct. 25, to protest the Penn Delco School District’s gender fluid bathroom/locker room policy.
Penn Delco is in Delaware County, Pa.
The students were met by a similar number of parents and supporters along with encouraging honks from passing drivers.
The students braved warnings, then threats from administration for having the walk out, which was reportedly originally scheduled for Oct. 2.
And there was peer pressure.
About 70 percent of the students support the school policy with about 30 percent opposing, said freshman James Pantuliano.
On his way out the door, another student grabbed his sign defending safe bathrooms and tore it up.
He didn’t back down, though.
“You never know what their motive is,” he said regarding boys who enter the traditional private places of girls.
There were reports that students had to pass through a “wall of teachers” to participate. They reportedly received threats that their grades would be affected and they would be banned from school sports.
Freshman tennis player Taylor MacNamee-Graham wasn’t worried.
“Tennis is over so I’ll be fine,” she said.
She said she didn’t care about getting in trouble anyway.
A senior who identified himself as Pablo said the protest was the right thing.
“I don’t want males going into female bathrooms or vice-versa,” he said.
He said the faculty tried to keep the protest from being discussed.
“They tried to stop us from talking about it but we have freedom of speech,” he said.
An order was broadcast for the students to return when they left the building but was ignored.
Aston Police were at the parking lot entrances.
Community support for the students
Parents were reportedly never made aware of the change in bathroom policy, nor do they seem to be aware of sexually graphic books reportedly encouraging child-adult sex in the libraries.
Man In Dress Mocks Delco Council For Pregnant Person Wokeness — Sam Smith of Chester put on a dress and make-up, tonight, Oct. 18, and told Delaware County (Pa.) Council that he wanted a doula.
A doula is a professional trained in childbirth who provides emotional, physical, and educational support to a mother who is expecting, is experiencing labor, or has recently given birth.
Sam was taking issue with agenda item 7L concerning hiring five doulas to provide support to 14 “pregnant persons.”
Yes, they used the phrase “pregnant persons” and that’s what Sam was calling out.
Good for him. The twisted souls who cook up phrases like this are vandals no different than a kid spraying painting crap on the wall of a business. Well, they are far, far, far more destructive of course.
And when those like on Delaware County Council, in a moment of weak-minded thoughtlessness, submit to them, mocking’s necessary.
Sam did a fine job.
See below for the video.
In other matters, Giselle Cosentino made a presentation on behalf of the Garrett Williamson Foundation in Newtown Square. The foundation is seeking $45,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money to repair a 200-year-old barn damaged in a tornado in 2019 and to pay for the enrollment of 400 fourth graders from the William Penn School District in the foundation’s school to farm program.
The foundation is on a 250-acre tract on Bishop Hollow Road.
Council unanimously approved the grant.
Helen Kaplonski of the Child Guidance Resource Centers on Old West Chester Pike in Haverford Township sought $87,570 in ARPA money to replace copper window frames installed in 1963.
The grant was approved with Christine A. Reuther abstaining. Ms. Reuther sits on the organization’s board.
The board approved 28 agenda items including 7L and 7k which provided for the training of 18-20 doulas, which is a apparently going to be one per person. The county also want the doulas to be able to overcome language barriers..
Gotta look out for the “pregnant persons”.
Man In Dress Mocks Delco Council For Pregnant Person Wokeness
Ballot Envelope Questions Lead To Demand For Trial In Delco— A trial is sought to resolve apparent discrepancies between mail-in ballot envelopes photographed, July 18- 19, by citizens, and Delaware County, Pa.’s official records.
The request was made yesterday, Oct. 16, by Greg Stenstrom, Leah Hoopes, Paul Rumley and Joy Schwartz.
All are county residents. Mrs. Schwartz is a Republican candidate for County Council.
The envelopes are from the May 16 election which mostly concerned primaries but included a special election for the 163rd Pennsylvania House race.
The county claims that 26,000 mail-in ballots were cast but less than 10,000 were observed counted at the Wharf center on Election Day, says the filing.
All ballots must be counted under observation after polls close on Election Day.
Delco claims all envelopes were processed on a single BlueCrest sorter, says the filing. The timestamp formatting varied, however. This means other machines were used.
BlueCrest uses the time stamp increments for billing.
Then there is the envelope images released by the county.
“It is a material fact that the majority of MIB (mail-in ballot) envelope images provided by defendants to plaintiffs inexplicably have no date time stamps, while a considerable number of envelope images do have date time stamps, and virtually none match the photographs of MIB envelopes taken by plaintiffs,” says the filing.
The filing also says that there are hundreds of discrepancies between the electronic records and spreadsheets provided by the defendants, and the physical records; that envelope images of November 2022 and May 2023 elections show identical or nearly identical signatures; and that there are substantial reconciliation issues between the spreadsheets and electronic documents with the envelopes, National Change of Address database and “verified” electors.
The request to check envelope signatures was made a short time after the election and was bitterly contested by the county before it caved in July.
On the left was photographed by citizen activists and has a timestamp albeit not in the BlueCrest formatting. On the right is the image of the same envelope provided by the county.
