Election Concerns Again Expressed In Delco Pa — Election concerns were again expressed In Delaware County, Pa. and County Councilwoman Christine A. Reuther again, last night, Feb. 7, angrily dismissed them.
Joy Schwartz of Drexel Hill said it is impossible for ballots to be certified at the central counting center at the Wharf in a trustworthy way. The counting center is where the mail-in ballots are processed.
Mrs. Schwartz implored these ballots be returned to precincts where the counting can be observed by poll watchers and the election workers are familiar with residents.
It is not widely known but poll watchers do not have the same rights and powers at counting centers as they do at precincts.
Mrs. noted that our security for our elections have been practically outsourced to the corporations that make voting machines and writer their softeare.
She demanded that the counting center be closed and the counting of mail in ballots be returned to precinct
Also expressing concerns about our elections was Barb Lewis of Radner specifically regarding the SURE system which is how Pennsylvania tracks registered voters.
Ms. Reuther said it was unfortunate that people still spread doubts about elections in Delaware County.
We say look in the mirror. We say it is pretty weird to fight open record requests regarding business correspondence especially when the state arbiters rule against you.
Also Carris Kocher of Concord pointed out that oaths of office are required by law at the prothonotary office. She said she looked for those of several Delaware County officials but was unable to find them.
Laws being ignored about small things is a sign that laws are being ignored about big ones.
Could MLK’s Upland Dorm Room Become Public Place? — Delaware County (Pa) Council, yesterday, Feb. 7 approved a $10,000 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant to study turning the Old Main building on the Crozer Chester Medical Center campus in Upland into the MLK Center for Peace and Justice.
The Old Main was part of the Crozer Theological Seminary where Martin Luther King Jr. studied. His dorm room was in the Old Main.
Janet Lloyd Murphy of Middletown, whose idea the center is, gave a short presentation about the seminary before the vote.
Mrs. Murphy said the facility began as a teachers college but became a hospital during the Civil War. Union and Confederate soldiers were treated there and a Confederate soldier was actually housed in the room Rev. King would come to use.
Many of those treated had fought at Gettysburg.
Rev. King’s room is now apparently as storage space.
Mrs. Murphy has an excellent idea.
The building and surroundings are now owned by Prospect Medical Holdings, Inc. which desperately wants to get rid of them.
In other business, Council passed resolutions amending and restating the establishment of the Delaware County Heritage Commission. Council members described this as a routine bookkeeping matter.
Council also recognized February as Black History Month and American Heart Month.
Locks Don’t Work At Delco Prison And Inmates Are Making Shivs — Delaware County Council, last night, Feb. 7, faced a contingent of correction officers from George Hill Prison who told them the locks on the cell doors don’t work and the prisoners are tasked with fixing them.
Which they don’t seem to be doing albeit they are making shivs from the materials they are given as per Officer Al Johnson of Morton.
Johnson, a 14-year veteran, said he has never seen it this bad. He blistered Councilman Kevin M. Madden who is on the county’s prison oversight board and has made comments to the media that conditions there were peachy.
He said suicides have increased as have assaults on staff and other prisoners
He said sexual abuse is heaped on the staff by the prisoners and the complaints are ignored by Warden Laura Williams.
Frank Kwaning, president of the Delaware County (Pa) Prison Employees Independent Union, reinforced Johnson. He also said Madden’s claims that everything was fine were false.
He said the facility is not safe for officers. When the staff makes complaints the warden retaliates against them.
He said he wants council to visit the prison and meet with staff without administrators present
Harriet Burgess of Drexel Hill said she was one of the victims of retaliation.
She had been a sergeant at the prison and was fired because she wouldn’t falsify documents, she said.
Ms. Burgess blasted Madden saying he was unfit to serve on either the oversight board or council. She also Warden Williams was not fit to serve, and that officers fear entering the cell blocks because the doors are not fixed.
She said there are thousands of OSHA violations at the prison.
When it came time for council comments, Elaine Paul Schaefer blithely thanked the correction officers for coming in but said they were wrong about conditions at the facility.
She said she knew because she used “data points”.
She then talked about the county trail system and how wonderful it was.
Madden, who was attending virtually, attempted to defend himself.
He accused Kwaning of making the claims as a union bargaining ploy. He said the prison wouldn’t let him tour without senior staff present.
One of the speakers claimed that Delco hired Warden Williams despite her being fired from Allegheny County Prison.
Madden defended her saying she had not been fired.
Madden said the prison is much improved since the county took over from GEO Group on April 6, 2022 in response to some of the speakers pointedly saying otherwise.
The only councilmember that seemed to give a fig was Vice Chairman Richard R. Womack.
Womack said he was not going to take the correction officers at their word but that he will investigate. He said it was inexcusable for someone to be fired in retaliation for making a complaint. He said would visit the prison.
While he did not expect to be able to tour it without administration present, he would request that a union member accompany him, and that he would speak to the officers outside of the hearing of senior staff.
The officers in attendance gave him loud applause.
The growing crisis regarding the prison have been reported for more than year. The incompetence and indifference that led to the agonizing death of paraplegic inmate Mustafa Jackson did not get near the publicity it deserved.
Speakers say they expect a guard will eventually be killed.
For a story on the single moms and other parents who, last night, described abuse committed by the county’s Children and Youth Services visit here.
Locks Don’t Work At Delco Prison And Inmates Are Making Shivs
CYS Horrors Revealed To Delco Council — Correctional officers appeared en masse, last night, Feb. 7 to berate Delaware County (Pa) Council, about conditions at George W. Hill Prison
And numerous parents — including several single moms — gave them horror stories about the county’s Children and Youth Services (CYS)
If the CYS stories are even half true, council should resign en masse.
Actually, the same holds true for the prison. See other story.
Regarding CYS, Rael LaPenta of Upper Chichester described the nightmare she was put through when her ex-husband sicced the agency on her.
She had custody of the children but says her ex cooked up a complaint and the county people took her son from her ignoring established protocols.
Ms LaPenta fought and was able to get him back but the removals happened twice again. Again, she fought and regained custody but the legal battles continued. She began reaching out to public officials for help including Councilwoman Christine A. Reuther. After months of trying, she finally met with her in December. Ms. LaPenta said she has since ignored her.
She asked council to intervene as they had direct oversight of the agency.
Ms. LaPenta had more to say but speakers are allowed just three minutes.
Ashley Green of Ridley Park followed her. Ms. Green is a teacher. She said she lost nine months of her child’s life along with her teaching certificate because CYS accepted allegations of abuse from the child’s father.
They placed the child in the custody of someone who was the father’s choice before she managed to get him back after nine months.
She said she had an active protection of abuse order against the father when the agency took her child.
Sharon Poole of Glenn Mills cried whe she told her story. Ms. Poole is a registered nurse. She said CYS took her son after accepting unfounded allegations from the father. While in the father’s custody they made the boy wear a dress and the father’s girlfriend abused him including penetrating his anus with her finger, Ms. Poole said.
Ms. Poole also asked the county to impose direct oversight and create a clear policy as to when children may be removed. The policy should provide detailed formal explanations to parents as to why it is happening, and what their recourses are.
“How many kids not safe in this country?” she said. “When will this change?”
Bill Ruane of Springfield said that while living Westbrook Park in Clifton Heights he called CYS when he saw a child lying on a bare bed frame amidst vomit.
He said he was told an investigator would not be able to appear for several days despite the apparent danger to the child. Apparently CYS did contact the family but nothing was done.
Anyway he and his wife had a child just before a recent Christmas and they received a surprise visit from CYS agents. They explained that they were following an anonymous report that the couple was using meth and heroin.
The Ruanes let the agents tour and consented to a swab of their mouths to test for drug residue.
They hadn’t heard back for a period and that after New Year’s the checked back and were told that the wife had tested positive for meth.
It was a false positive but obviously the claim by a government agency is terrifying.
In the Ruanes’ case, they never lost custody.
Anthony Mix (sp) of Chester told council the CYS was wrongfully taking kids
The only council member to show any sincere concern was Vice Chairman Richard R. Womack.
Nana’s Attic Has Moved To Drexel Hill; Will Be Renamed — Delaware County Council, yesterday, Feb. 7, hear an update regarding the Domestic Abuse Project from its executive director, Michelle Brown.
Ms. Brown noted that the Project’s thrift shop Nana’s Attic has moved from Lawrence Park in Marple to Drexel Hill where it will be called Thrift and Thrive.
Council approved a $25,000 grant for the Project.
Council unanimously approved 20 consent items. These included:
Buying 300 gross 12-by-16-inch American flags for Memorial Day for $35,856
Amending an agreement with Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson for construction inspection services for County Bridge #7 on New Road in Aston. The value of the contract will increase from $393,243.47 to $602,150.56.
Advertising a request for proposal for a temporary emergency shelter
A contract with Eastern Highway Specialist Inc. for rehabilitation of County Bridge 72 on Maple Avenue over Darby Creek connecting Clifton Heights and Upper Darby
A Memorandum of Understanding with Villanova University to submit their Covid-19 for housing for Covid-19 affected students to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for reimbursement.
Nicholas Penza of Aston during public comments question the agenda items regarding Villanova the Aston bridge and the emergency shelter.
He was told the university needed a government agency to make the request by federal law and the county obliged. Regarding the others, he was told the county couldn’t do a question and answer at the meeting but members could be contacted afterwards via email or by phone.
He, along with a woman who also had questions, were told the could also watch yesterday’s work session on video where the items were discussed in detail.
Pennsylvania Lincoln Dinner Gossip — Here’s some gossip from the Pennsylvania Republican Party’s Lincoln Day Dinner, Feb. 2.
When keynote speaker Ben Carson threw a zinger at Nikki Haley, 10 state committee people stood up and left. This included Philly GOP Chairman Vince Fenerty and his table.
York County District Attorney Dave Sunday was solidly endorsed in his bid to become state attorney general. Tough break Craig Williams who reportedly is still circulating petitions.
Bucks County Chairwoman Pat Poprik anticipates strong voter turnout. It was revealed, though, that she and others in leadership are being sued by “the far right MAGA group there” over access to petition signing meetings.
Whoever could they be? Betcha they are friends of ours. Go get ’em Barry, Dawn and Andy.
There are primary battles in Bucks for delegates, committee seats and, of course, congress.
A primary battle for congress looms in Delco as well for the the 5th District seat held by Democrat Mary Gay Scanlon. It’s between Dasha Pruett and Alfie Goodwin. The Delco GOP has endorsed Alfie.
In Philly, Sam Oropeza-backed Patrick Gushue is taking on party-backed Aizaz Gill to unseat Democrat Kevin Boyle in the 172nd District State House race.
The competition is good news and shows that Pennsylvania’s GOP is far from dead.
One point of concern, however, is Montgomery County. They are short committee people and can’t find candidates for four State House seats in the eastern part of the county.
On the other hand, there is battle for the Swarthmore Western committeeman seat between Bob Small and Jim Rivello.
It is speculated that Rivello is being backed by “far right MAGA groups.”
Bob, however, is one of the excellent writers at BillLawrenceOnline.com and we hope all vote for him.
Senate candidate Dave McCormick gave an hour-long speech which was apparently well received. We are going to have trouble filling in his block, and we mean for the general election.
We like air conditioning and we don’t want crickets on our menu.
By the way, Oropeza, who just ran for Philly Council, and David Oh, who had been a long-time member of Philadelphia Council, are moving to Delco this year. They cite better schools for their kids and less crime.
Pennsylvania Quashes Poll Pad Pact — Pennsylvania quashed its $10.7 million contract, Dec. 4, with KNOWINK.
The firm had been tapped to replace the benighted Statewide Uniform Registry of Electors (SURE) system for managing the state’s 8 million voters’ registration information.
“Unfortunately, the department has concluded that the vendor will not meet those timelines and contractual standards,” said Deputy Secretary for Elections and Commissions Jonathan Marks in an email to county officials.
Leah And Stenstrom Want Answers From Pennsylvania AG — A right-to-know request was filed, yesterday, Dec. 21, with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office by Leah Hoopes and Greg Stenstrom. They seek information regarding events that happened shortly after the 2020 Election.
Ms. Hoopes and Stenstrom are Delaware County poll watchers and the authors of The Parallel Election which alleges massive vote fraud in the county.
Their demands include:
The names, along with their orders, of attorney general agents who were directed to their homes and that of Joe Driscoll around Nov. 17, 2020.
Communications between then Attorney General Josh Shapiro and William McSwain who was then US Attorney of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Non privileged communications between the Attorney General’s Office and the Duane Morris law firm.
Communication between Shapiro or his agents with the FBI, US Attorney’s Office, the Delaware County District Attorney, the Delaware County Board of Elections and Delaware County Council.
Communications provided by Mike Vereb and Katie Muth to the attorney general, or any media outlets.
Geofencing and metadata of any tracking of Ms. Hoopes or Stenstrom.
Fort Orange Press, What’s The Secret Delco? — Robert Mancini of the good-government group Delco Deepdivers sought, in December 2022, records concerning Delaware County’s dealings with ballot-printer Fort Orange Press.
Mancini of Media wanted emails between the county and the Albany, N.Y. printer along with the names of those requesting the ballots.
Delco said no, the people may not see!
Considering the suspicion that is dividing our nation regarding elections, that was probably unwise but maybe there was a legitimate reason.
Perhaps the correspondence contained nuclear codes. Perhaps there were plans for an invasion of Russia. Who are we to judge?
There is a way to appeal via the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records, however, and Rob did so in January 2023.
The Office said let the people see.
At this point, a sane and competent government would have conceded, grudgingly or not, and the people would see.
But why do it? It does make one go hmmmmm, after all. Really, what’s the big secret? There is a logical explanation, of course, but it’s not one the county should want its citizens to reach.
The hearing scheduled for this month has been postponed.
Rob says the contract with Fort Orange specifically says the dealings are subject to right-to-know.
