Delco Has A Spending Problem — Delaware County (Pa) Council, yesterday, June 5, was raked over the coals by commentators regarding spending decisions that are inevitably going to cause serious pain for taxpayers.
Spending is five or six times over budget on some items Carris Kocher of Concord said. She later noted that America doesn’t have rulers but elected servants.
A 19-percent property tax hike looms for next year, Media GOP Chairman Michael Straw said. He pointed out that Delco has entangled itself in numerous stupid and unnecessary lawsuits. He questioned the the purchase of electric vehicles.
Electric vehicles are a rather expensive fashion statement if one thinks about it.
The Democrats have blown $46 million in rainy day money, and another $8 million on the white elephant Health Department which did not exist five years ago, Straw said.
The spending is being funded by a property tax which Straw noted was a regressive tax.
Straw also called out Councilwoman Elaine Schafer for her continual failure to apologize for demeaning things she said about citizens expressing legitimate grievances.
County GOP Finance Director Dave Galluch of Newtown said the county has been ignoring spending consequences for three years, and has buried itself in a $70 million hole.
A 30-percent tax hike is possible, he said.
This means that the owner of even a small home could be paying $300 more next year in taxes.
Galluch said he grew up poor as the son of a single mom. There were times his mom barely had $50 in her bank account, he said.
Believe it or not, oh privileged council members, there are those who would be crushed in this county by having to shell out $300 more.
Hey, but electric cars are cool.
Charlie Alexander of Marple also expressed anger over the lawsuits the county has incurred. He said all the county does is raise taxes to deal with the spending crisis. Alexander said that this council is purposely trying to destroy Delco. He said they drove out legendary Upper Darby Police Chief Michael Chitwood to sow crime and chaos.
Alexander said he was going to run for County Council.
Cynthia of Upper Providence said that the health department was subsidized by pandemic money. She asked if council ever considered what would happen when the subsidies ended but the program remained. She also wanted to know if they were considering the inevitable pension bomb from the new employees.
When Council remarks rolled around Councilwoman Christine A. Reuther surprisingly conceded most of the points. Yes, she said Moody’s has lowered Delco’s bond rating because of its deficit spending and a tax increase is needed because of inflation.
She said the meanie state government restricts counties to using the property tax to raise money so the poor are going to just have to suck it up.
Neato parks and health departments and electric cars and all.
Delco Has A Prison Problem — Delaware County (Pa) Council, yesterday, June 5, was again ripped for creating the horror show that George Hill Prison has become.
Kimberly Brown of Colwyn, a case manager at Hill, said the facility isn’t “humane.”
Correctional officers are assaulted everyday, she said.
The cell doors still don’t lock and 70 percent of the inmates are constantly high.
The senior staff — she specifically cited the deputy warden – is indifferent to the problems and won’t do the walkthroughs and inspections expected of leadership.
Delco Council Told ‘Jihadist Graffiti’ At Don Guanella Buildings — Delaware County Council, tonight, June 5, was told that “jihadist graffiti” was found in one of the former Don Guanella buildings on the county’s Delco Woods park.
The site is being considered by the county for a mental facility but many suspect it there are plans to use it to house illegals.
Charlie Alexander of Marple told Council in the first round of questions of finding graffiti saying “death to infidels” in one of the buildings. He displayed a picture of graffiti which also included an anarchist symbol.
He said the building was unsecured and easy to enter. Alexander asked why Council is letting the facilities rot and why doesn’t the community have access to either the basketball court or a swimming pool on the site.
Jimmy Small of Marple told Council he was with Alexander when they found the graffiti. He said they saw a yellow Kraft bus leaving the property.
Howard Alexander, Charlie’s father and a contractor, noted that water and electricity remain on at the property. He said the buildings are in such poor repair it would not be cost-effective to renovate them. He recommended they be torn down.
Kevin Corrigan (phonetic) of Marple said he was ashamed at the anti-Biden clothing some in the audience was wearing but expressed despair the Council is willing to break their promise to keep Don Guanella a park. He said they have a “constituency of none” on the matter.
Kathy from Haverford noted that Councilman Kevin Madden had an article in the Delaware County Daily Times in which he is now saying a mental facility would house but 16 persons. The original estimate had been 28.
Delco Heard Comments On $7.4 Million Action Plan — Delaware County Council, tonight, June 5, took public comment on the proposed list of awards approved May 1 for the 2024 Annual Action Plan.
The plan calls for spending $7,441,187 in federal grants for housing and development projects along with an additional $996,818 in AHF money including $16,057 to rehabilitate a home in Haverford.
Media GOP Chairman Michael Straw noted the budget includes $368,370 in contingency spending. He suggested that council include the organizations receiving money in all the line items.
Joy Schwartz of Upper Darby said it would be very helpful to include information about any matching money the county is requiring for grants.
Kimberly Brown of Colwyn took issue with a grant being sent to her borough. She said the application was filled improperly as Borough Council did not have at either its February or March meetings to approve it. She said the application should be voided.
It was noted that cost overruns of less than 25 percent don’t need council approval for covering.
Petition Started To Remove Warden Laura Williams — A petition was started, May 16, on Change.Org to remove embattled Laura Williams as warden of Delaware County’s George Hill Prison.
“If there is no immediate change soon either an incarcerated person or a staff member is going to be seriously hurt,” Johnson says. “We are losing employees daily due to unfair treatment by administration, a grievance procedure that allows the warden to serve write ups at any given time even as far back as 2022, no active responses to complaints of harassment from staff, unilaterally creating new rules without bargaining with the union and an inability bargain a fair contract with the union.”
As of 2:10 this afternoon, May 20, it has 286 signatures with 251 signing today.
Ms. Williams’ tenure since her appointment Jan. 31, 2022, has been beset by suicides, murders, and general violence. Correctional officers have been speaking almost monthly at County Council meetings about declining conditions and increasing danger.
Ms. Williams appointment was itself problematic. It was made three months before the County took the prison over from The GEO Group. Hill had been privately managed since 1998.
Ms. Williams previous job had been as as chief deputy warden at Allegheny County Jail where she was the subject of numerous complaints. She started her career in corrections in 2014 as a substance abuse counselor.
So why did Delco hire her? Maybe the five who made the decision though it hip. It certainly has been unfortunate.
Delaware County (PA) Council, May 15, passed 32 consent items including the amending of a contract with Lewis M Hunt Irving, adding service and a three day bed hold to the agencies Agreement. Irving does business as Delco County Emergency Youth Academy
Councilwoman Elaine Schaefer had questioned the contract at the work session the day before, but still went along with the vote.
Also approved were the purchase of a 2023 Ford Bronco Sport vehicle from Fred Beans of West Chester not to exceed $32,459.94 for the Juvenile Court and Protective Services; a Ford F-250 Super Cab work truck with a snow plow from Pacifico Marple Ford for $77,127.04 for the Fair Acres Maintenance Department; and a Ford-350 Chassis Super Duty Regular Cab Truck from the Whitmoyer Auto Groupo using the COSTARS Contract for $81,495.
In other business, Karen Wilwol was introduced as the director of soil conservation.
Delco Prepares To Stop Use Of Covanta; Expect Trash Costs To Hike — Delaware County (Pa) Council, yesterday, May 15, approved two ordinances. One extends the existence of the Delaware County Sold Waste Authority to Jan. 1, 2074. The other incurs $35 million in debt for it.
The money will allow the authority to rip down its existing trash transfer stations and replace them with neato, shiny new ones.
More significantly it will allow it to expand its use of the Rolling Hills Landfill in Berks County with the goal of ending all use of the Covanta trash-to-steam plant in Chester.
Right now Covanta takes about 85 percent of Delco’s trash with the rest going to Rolling Hills.
Delco is not the only municipality that uses Covanta so it will not necessarily close when it stops getting Delco’s trash.
Covanta brings in about $8 million a year in revenue to Chester and provides electricity to power 48,000 homes.
Chester residents seem to want Covanta gone.
We sort of sympathize.
If we lived in Tinicum would we want Philadelphia International Airport gone?
If we lived in Marcus Hook, would we want the refineries gone?
Maybe.
On the other hand, if the closing of industry means wealthy Haverford Prep alumni get hip neighborhoods that produce nothing but hipness, and the not-so-wealthy are priced out of their homes, maybe not.
And if it means no air transport or gasoline, and the cost of garbage disposal doubles, definitely not.
The ones running Delaware County are not deep thinkers.
Black Mold And Shanks At Delco Prison, Council Told –Delaware County (Pa) Council was told last night, May 15, that problems continue to plague the county’s George Hill Prison.
Kimberly Brown of Colwyn told Council in the first round of public comments that they should fix the existing program at Hill before applying for a $833,000 Department of Justice reentry grant. She said the way the the program is now set allows eligible inmates to barter prescription drugs with other inmates.
In the second round of comments, Ms. Brown blasted Councilman Kevin M. Madden who is the board’s prison liaison for “bias”. She also said correctional officers were being beaten by inmates and said the chief deputy warden is never around, among other things.
Ken from Chester, identified himself as a correctional officer at Hill, thanked Richard R. Womack, for visiting the prison to investigate the concerns being raised at council meetings.
Ken said, however, that once he left the officers were targeted for retaliation by the prison administration.
He said shanks (homemade knives) are found all over the facility. Ken says the cells are filled with black mold, and the cell doors don’t work.
He said there are 250 inmates for every officer, and the officers are overworked and demoralized.
He said the general public must be told of what’s going on.
In Council remarks, Womack said he hasn’t forgotten the officers and praised them for coming to the meetings. He said they are making a difference.
He said that he can’t speak on some things that he has observed because they are under investigation.
Delco Election Issue Denials Haunting Council — Delaware County (Pa) Council, was told last night, May 15, that a mountain of evidence regarding vote fraud from 2020 is now in the public record and council should prepare itself.
Giving the news was nationally known election-integrity activist Greg Stenstrom of Edgmont.
The evidence was submitted during the successful defense by Stenstrom and Leah Hoopes of Bethel against a defamation suit filed by former Delaware County, Pa. Voting Machine Warehouse supervisor James Savage in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court.
Why Philadelphia?
Pennsylvania law gives flexibility to plaintiffs in filing suits.
It’s great for waging lawfare.
Stenstrom’s and Ms. Hoopes’ co-defendants included Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani but everything happened in and the plaintiff was from Delaware County.
The lawfare backfired this time because of an honest judge.
The lawsuit was based on The Parallel Election which says Savage helped rig the 2020 election for Joe Biden.
Stenstrom and Ms. Hoopes relied entirely on a truth defense, Stenstrom told Council.
They decline an opportunity to be released from the case in January because it meant abandoning The Donald and Rudy.
The result was complete, unambiguous victory.
Stenstrom told Council to start expecting legal action.
Council, on May 18, 2022, read into the record a letter from District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer. Stollsteimer said that he dismissed an election complaint from Stenstrom and Ms. Hoopes because their evidence was just three doctored videos downloaded from the internet.
What was submitted, however, were 37 videos and several audio files obtained directly from a whistleblower.
Robert Mancini of Media also spoke regarding Delco’s election system. He said the county failed to perform a required hash test and falsified public records.
Kathy Buckley of Edgmont, who is the Republican nominee for the 168th District State House seat, asked Council why she still has not received an election report she sought from two years ago.
Delco Council Faces Real Angry Mob This Time Over Delco Woods Fears — This time, Elaine Paul Schaefer, it was an angry mob but the crowd at tonight’s, May 15, Delaware County (Pa.) Council meeting had the attention of the lawmakers.
Councilwoman Schaefer left the May 1 meeting early to attend an event sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League. She claimed she was late because she had to face “an angry mob” spouting “hate speech”. The reality was there was no hate speech; the crowd was not particularly angry; and Ms. Schaefer left well before public comments started.
Many throughout the night called her out on her fabulation and demanded an apology.
Tonight’s anger stemmed from the County’s lawsuit against Marple Township which rezoned the entire 213-acre Delco Wood park as open space to foil a mental hospital the County is considering putting there.
The County is demanding that the 33-acres where sat the Don Guanella School remain institutional.
The county had promised to look for alternative sites for the needed mental facility which presumably would not be near a park or school
The filing of the lawsuit was seen by many as betrayal.
Kay Dugery, the Republican nominee for the 166th District State House seat, told Council that what they did was disturbing.
“Rather than listening to your constituents, you sued Marple,” she said.
Michael Straw, who heads Media Borough’s Republican Party wanted to know why Council is suing Marple if they plan to put the facility elsewhere. He also noted that the county is still accepting grants to create programs without having long-term plans for when the grant money expires.
Except raise taxes, he said. He credited Councilwoman Christine A. Reuther for honesty on that point.
He asked Councilwoman Schaefer to correct her record on describing those attending the last meeting as an angry mob.
He said she was better than that.
Glen of Marple accused Council of breaking promises. He thought it suspicious that the Don Guanella buildings were now boarded up.
Another Glen thought there was something deeper going on.
Joe Finio of Marple read from a two-year-old Daily Times story from when the property was purchased that quoted Councilwoman Schaefer saying county taxes would not be raised by the $22 million purchase and that the park would remain untouched.
He said the citizens are not going to stand by and let council break its promises.
Margie from Marple said she knew council was lying about looking for another site because of the lawsuit.
Illegals
Charlie Alexander of Marple, who is leading the fight to stop an institution in the park, was the first speaker in the second round of public comments. He said he hears from many who won’t speak out for fear of retribution. He noted that Council limited the audience to 55 despite the council room having an occupancy of 131 at the last meeting. Alexander accused them of doing it for optics. He was among those ripping Councilwoman Schaefer for the comments she made after the last meeting.
He passionately demanded that Delco declare itself to be a non-sanctuary county and prohibit non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from assisting those here illegally.
“How are you going to some day explain to your kids why you support human trafficking,” he asked.
NGOs are implicated in illegally bringing children into the United States for sex trafficking.
Charlie was followed by his father, Howard, who said while President Trump stopped the global elites Agenda 2021 plan their Agenda 2030 plan for mass slavery and impoverishment continues.
Sharon Devaney of Haverford Township again noted how illegals get benefits while she remains impoverished from a 2017 accident caused by an illegal.
The issue has taken off in Delco since she started speaking out against it.
“I’ve swatted the hornets nest when it comes to illegals,” she said.
She noted that speaking out has come at a cost. She says her phone has been hacked, as was her bank account.
Kathy from Haverford was among those pointing out that the Ms. Schaefer left the last meeting before public comments. She asked that she refund the $2,200 she got per meeting.
She also criticized Councilman Kevin M. Madden, regarding his performance as prison liaison. She said it was dangerous for inmates and correctional officers.
Period Poverty Week
Denise, a nurse from Marple, lambasted Council’s recognition of May 20-28 as “Period Poverty Awareness” week. It’s to teach women how to use menstrual products. The county is going to have a health fair for it 2-4 p.m., May 19, at the Pennsylvania Institute of Technology in Media. We are not making this up.
“When did that become the responsibility of Council?” Denise asked.
It was a question on the minds of many judging by the snickers — overwhelmingly female — heard when the event was initially described.
Denise also took issue with a group identifying itself as “Black Nurses” something.
“We are all nurses and I am so sick to death of being separated by race,” she said.
She also wanted to know why the county is wasting money suing Marple.
Ingrid from Marple wanted to know why the shuttered Delaware County Memorial Hospital wasn’t being considered for a mental facility. She also said our border is as bad as Afghanistan.
Frank of Havertown thought a facility at Delco Woods would be used for illegals.
Tevin Dix of Upper Darby said illegal immigration is a big problem in American and especially affects the Black community. He also shared the suspicion that the crowd was limited in the previous meeting for visuals.
Joanne from Brookhaven had some choice words.
“Period poverty, what in actual hell is that?”
Council Comments
Councilwoman Schaefer said she is on record as being opposed to any type of institutional or government use of Delco Woods and remains vehemently so. Regarding her unfortunate smear, she couldn’t bring herself to apologize.
Councilwoman Christine A. Reuther said she had nothing to say that would add to the dialogue.
Councilman Richard R. Womack addressed concerns raised about the county’s George Hill Prison during public comments (see story). He said he can’t speak on some things that he has observed because they are under investigation.
He praised the correctional officers for coming to the meetings. Womack said they really are making a difference.
He said he hears the concerns regarding Delco Woods and the county really is looking at other sites.
Chairwoman Dr. Monica Taylor promised that the county is looking at other sites for the facility. She said the county is suing Marple because the zoning it instituted would prevent the county from building a playground.
Ed Note: We are confident Marple would grant a variance to build a playground or skate park or allow a building to be used for a museum.
Chairwoman Taylor said the county doesn’t own Delaware County Memorial Hospital.
In response to another point, she said that the mental facility at Fitzgerald Mercy is not designed for the type of patient not being served. She said that these people are actually living free in communities now.
She said councilmembers aren’t paid by the meeting but get a $52,000 salary and that she works more than 40 hours per week on county business.
Solicitor Jonathan Lichtenstein earlier said George Hill Prison is in full compliance with all state and federal laws regarding illegals.
Council also got a pointed warning regarding election integrity. See here.
Delco unveiled a plan to stop using Covanta’s trash-to-steam plant which now handles 85-percent of Delco’s 400,000 tons of waste.See here.
Delco Council Faces Real Angry Mob Delco Council Faces Real Angry Mob
