Category: Delco

Anne Coogan Steps Down To Universal Praise — Anne M. Coogan is retiring from her post as Delaware County (Pa) clerk and she was sung off with universal praise at last night’s, June 18, County Council meeting.

Councilman Richard R. Womack called her a “priceless jewel.”

Councilwoman Christine A. Reuther said she helped her even before she took office and that it will take three persons to replace her.

Councilwoman Dr. Monica Taylor was near tears in her tribute. She noted that Ms. Coogan started with the county in 2003 and had been county for 16 years.

But that’s not the full tribute.

Joy Schwartz and Sharon Devaney — vocal opponents of this present council — were equally effusive in their praise for Ms. Coogan.

Mrs. Schwartz even said she got along with Rob Mancini.

We think it’s safe to say she’ll be missed.

Kudos to Womack for his unifying comments at the meeting’s end.

Anne Coogan Steps Down To Universal Praise

Councilwoman Reuther Ripped For Sneering At Citizens — Delaware County (Pa) Councilwoman Christine A. Reuther was ripped, June 18, for the dismissive, disdainful and patronizing way in which she has been treating the public.

Kimberly Brown of Colwyn expressed concerns at Council’s June 5 meeting that procedures weren’t properly followed in a grant application by her borough.

Last night, Media GOP Chairman Michael Straw asked in the first round of public comments if Council acted her concerns. He suggested they table Colwyn’s grant until it investigate the matter.

Straw was followed by Ms. Brown who provided a checklist of what Colwyn failed to do.

When this round of public comments ended Ms. Reuther launched into an attack on Ms. Brown.

“Ms. Brown is known for making extensive comments at public meetings quite often in Colwyn in addition to here at the county,” Ms. Reuther said . She condescendingly granted her right to make then dismissed concern she expressed. She said regarding grants they just accept what is submitted by the municipality and if Ms. Brown still had a problem she should take the matter to the district attorney.

Chairwoman Dr. Monica Taylor also addressed Ms. Brown’s concerns but more respectfully. She said she had looked into the matter and found that there was flexibility regarding the dates for municipalities to submit their applications.

Charlie Alexander of Marple, in the second round of public comments, brought up a social media post by Ms. Reuther describing commentators as “dispensing misinformation about elections” and expressing “paranoid delusions.”

Suspicion is not paranoia, however, and seeing inconsistency is not a delusion. Alexander noted that Council’s claims about the proposed facility at Delco Woods changed several times.

Ms. Brown returned to the podium and noted she proved everything she claimed about the process.

“Now they are making exceptions,” she said.

She also noted that she never saw Ms. Reuther at a Colwyn meeting.

“So how did she know I was so outspoken,” she said.

Tevin Dix of Upper Darby took Ms. Reuther to task for social media comment.

Vote fraud is real in Delco and Delco is a sanctuary county he said.

“Please, we are not trying to be jerks here,” he said. “I want you to just take this very seriously because illegal immigration is destroying this county.

Election Concerns

And again others brought up concerns about elections.

Robert Mancini of Marple said he has filed criminal complaints again on county official and asked that he be placed on administrative leave due to his proximity to elections.

He said Delco was in violation of federal election laws.

Laura Lewis of Radnor said that Puerto Rico had serious issues with its voting machines and wondered why Delco’s should be trusted.

Ms. Lewis also noted that professional protesters from New York City will be bussed to Malvern during the week of July 1 to picket Vanguard, ostensibly because of its investment in oil companies.

Tom Flocco brought up the documentary regarding Delaware County’s 2020 election featuring The Parallel Election authors Greg Stenstrom and Leah Hoopes. The video was made with assistance from Project Veritas. It uses hidden cameras to capture Delaware County election officials illegally destroying records, breaking chains of custody and other things. It can be found here.

Kathy from Haverford and Joy Schwartz of Upper Darby and others criticized the temporary appointment of County Solicitor Jonathan Lichtenstein as open records officer. County Clerk Anne Coogan, who had held the job, is retiring. The county has approved the hiring of a separate “right to know” officer.

Delco has been fighting “right-to-know” requests even after Pennsylvania’s Office of Open Records has ruled that they should. These requests often involve election issues.

Other Matters

Ms. Schwartz also threw shade at Delco’s flying of the LGBQT flag which celebrates rejection of the Bible and the depopulation of the planet. She said the county should only be flying the US and Pennsylvania flags. As Council rejects that tradition, she asked that it fly the Pine Tree Flag.

James Small of Broomall said he wanted the county to fly flags honoring Ireland and straight, white men.

In fairness, the County is celebrating Juneteenth.

Andrew, a worker’s rights advocate, told council that government agencies are pressuring him via intimidation to cease his activism. He says they are doing so on behalf of company unions and fake labor activist.

Francis Earl Reed of Colwyn described an issue of unfairness.

A woman from Media praised Delaware County Council for keeping the Don Guanella a park. She said county elections are fair and Delco is not a sanctuary.

Another woman praised Democrats in general.

Executive Director Barbara O’Malley said that the county rejected a Don Guanella building as long-term structured residence for those with mental disorders because the money available wasn’t enough for the required renovation. She said Delco is seeking another site the needed facility but has no plans to build one.

She said residents can now make online appointments for a passport at the Office of Judicial Support.

Councilwoman Reuther Ripped For Sneering At Citizens

Victim Wears Short Dress To Confront Delco Council About Illegals Crisis — Sharon Devaney of Haverford, last night, June 18, again confronted Delaware County (Pa) Council regarding the misery inflicted by a “migrant” in 2017.

She wore a short dress this time to bring the point home. It was mid-length, actually, but it revealed her knees and the scars on them.

She hadn’t worn a dress that short since her Toyota Camry was t-boned by a car driven by an illegal alien at at Lawrence and Ellis roads in Haverford Township.

Police let the illegal walk free, she says. The illegal was uninsured and obviously ignorant of traffic laws.

She demanded Delco stop being a sanctuary county.

Council claims the county is not a sanctuary because it has never been declared so.

Others say it is because it avoids arresting illegals.

There’s nothing stopping Council from declaring that illegals will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Charles Alexander of Marple said that the graffiti he found in one of the old Don Guanella buildings in Delco Woods has been traced to languages used in two Mideast nations.

Rose Marie of Marple said it was obvious there were illegals in Delco.

Gary Rider of Marple expressed suspicion that Council’s real plan was to use Don Guanella buildings to house illegal immigrants rather than mental patients. He said Council was “close to pushing treason” and most oppose illegal immigration.

A earlier commentator also brought up treason. Bill from Upper Darby made another plea for Council to listen to the public and then read from the Gospel of John. He told Council to search their hearts and pray. He said Jesus is coming and they may all be tried for treason.

Public comments ended with Scott Thomas of Marple describing Christian celebrations traditionally held in June. Solicitor Jonathan Lichtenstein ordered that he not speak about religion. Thomas responded that he would just continue.

And he did.

Victim Wears Short Dress To Confront Delco Council About Illegals Crisis

Delco OKs $17.7 Million No-Bid Contract For Prison Project –Delaware County Council, last night, June 18, unanimously approved a $17.7 million dollar no-bid contract to install new HVAC at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility and fix its roof.

Getting this peach was Weatherproofing Technologies, Inc. of Ohio.

And this drew the ire of the crowd.

Charles Alexander of Marple, a general contractor, said he couldn’t find square footage mentioned on the contract. This was peculiar, he said. He also questioned that no bids were sought as he said bidding was the norm for projects of this size.

Alexander also wondered why one of the many Delco contractors wasn’t picked.

“I assure you would have gotten a way cheaper price if you hired locally,” he said.

Good question, Charlie.

Charlie’s father, Howard, also of Marple, noted the price should be at least 30 percent less and also wondered why it didn’t go out for bids.

Robert Mancini of Marple blasted the council’s strange indifference to fiscal matters.

“You people are spending way too much money,” he said. “I’d say you are spending money like a drunken sailor but that would be unfair to drunken sailors.”

Kathy from Haverford also expressed concern about the project.

After this initial round of public comments, Councilwoman Christine A. Reuther said the project was not put out to bid because Pennsylvania says they didn’t have to as long as they picked from a list of approved vendors.

She said the prison work would be a “turnkey” project.

She said that making it a “turnkey” project takes stress off the county’s poor, overworked staff.

We’re sure your constituent labor force understands.

That was sarcasm.

Round 2

In round 2 of public comments, Charlie Alexander brought up the swarm of tax-siphoning lawsuits entangling the county. He noted Delco’s use of prominent Philadelphia law firm Ballard Spahr and said it was appreciating the taxpayer dollars.

Ballard Spahr is chaired by Mark Stewart who is the husband of Delco’s congresswoman, Mary Gay Scanlon (D-5).

Michael Straw, the Media GOP chairman, said Councilwoman Reuther claimed, last meeting, that Delco won’t get a 19-percent tax hike and this contradicts what she told the Delaware County Daily Times in April.

He said a huge tax hike is inevitable due to the county’s fiscal incompetence. He cited its use of rainy day money and temporary federal grants to create permanent programs.

Joe Finio of Marple said he was familiar with the concept of pre-approved vendors from his printing business. He said it wasn’t automatically a good thing.

Delco OKs $17.7 Million No-Bid Contract For Prison Project

Change Coming To Delco Prison Councilman Says — Delaware County (Pa.) Council was berated, last night, June 18, once again regarding conditions at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility but this time one council member promised action.

“Change is coming,” said Vice Chair Richard R. Womack.

In public comments Kathy from Haverford blasted Councilman Kevin M. Madden, who is prison liaison, for public comments he made saying they were false. She brought up the death of inmate Andrew Little and said there was a cover-up of how it happened.

Kimberly Brown of Colwyn, a case manager at Hill, said that Madden will believe anything Warden Laura Williams tells him.

She said the jail is “melting” and the temperature was at least 100 degrees in one cell block

Frank Kwaning, president of the Delaware County (Pa) Prison Employees Independent Union, told the board that they have a petition with 500 names declaring no confidence in Ms. Williams.

He said that the prison has become a place of chaos in the two years the county has been in charge.

Kwaning blasted Madden for telling what he called “half truths and lies.” He said workers at the prison suffer harassment and retaliation for speaking out.

Correctional Officer Albert Johnson of Morton praised Womack and Executive Director Barbara O’Malley for visiting the prison but said what they saw didn’t reflect what was happening.

He said “the officers and sergeants and lieutenants and everyone” are demoralized.

He said Delco residents shouldn’t have to pay for the lawsuits coming up.

A woman named Carter, who was an investigator at the prison, said discrimination was rampant there.

“I never worked on a place where people could be fired so easily,” she said.

People are written up for minor offenses without being told, she said. These write-up are used against them if they should upset those in charge.

“That jail feels like a cult sometimes,” she said.

She said good people are either being fired or quitting.

It’s supposed to be a career job, she said.

She said certain people shouldn’t be in certain positions without training or experience.

This sounded like a dig at Warden Williams whose career in corrections in 2014 as a substance abuse counselor.

Womack said that it is undeniable that people are being fired or leaving.

“You ain’t going to tell me something is going on,” he said.

He pointed out that he was just one of five councilmembers but he was not going to let the chaos continue.

“Change is coming,” he said.

Madden, who attended the meeting remotely, declined to defend himself when his turn came during council comments.

Delco Prison Deaths Attributed To Incompetence Says Memo — A memo obtained by Broad + Liberty has revealed that incompetent administration at Delaware County’s (PA) George W. Hill Prison has caused deaths including that of Elliot Funkhouse, April 23, 2022, who was transferred to a cell that held an notably violent inmate ordered to be housed alone.

Read the article here:

Council Caves On Mental Facility For Delco Woods — Delaware County (Pa) Council announced, yesterday, June 12, that it won’t put a mental health facility in Delco Woods Park.

They said the building being considered for an “long-term structured residence” was in poor physical condition and would have cost too much to renovate.

The county acquired the 213-acre tract by from the Catholic Church in 2021 via eminent domain for $22 million with the promise that it would be used solely for recreation.

Marple Township, April 15, rezoned the entire park to open space when county’s plan to place a mental facility there and use two other buildings for offices was revealed.

The 40 acres containing the buildings had been zoned institutional with the rest zoned residential.

The county is suing the township to keep the institutional zoning for the 40 acres.

The Catholic Church is suing the county, by the way, saying the price they paid is only half of the property’s value on the open market.

There is widespread suspicion that the building’s are being used to house illegal immigrants. In fairness, council was told at their June 5 meeting that apparent jihadist graffiti has been found in one of them.

Kudos to the county for caving to the public will. Now, try and figure out how to stop the rumors of illegals. It really shouldn’t be hard.

Council Caves On Mental Facility For Delco Woods

Delco Creates Right To Know Officer Slot

By Sharon Devaney

Delaware County (PA) Council, June 5, unanimously passed 28 items including the position of a “right to know officer” for the Solicitor’s Office:

The salary will be between $22.91 and $33.46 per hour.

Delco is getting heat for hiding public records. We suspect the new post is to help with the hiding rather than to help the public.

Also approved was an additional detective position with a salary of $111.000.

Also approved was $235,650 in Next Generation grants for the Delaware County Interactive Gaming Authority. Next Generation grants are earmarked for youth groups.

Other items approved included a $392,689 Immunization Grant Award and $53,500 for a 2024 Chevrolet Tahoe for the Medical Examiner to be purchased from the Whitemoyer Auto Group; acceptance of $839,666.30 in supplementally available funds from an agreement between the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Delaware County Health Department.

In other matters, Council appointed Joseph B Lockley to the Delaware County Workforce Development Board.

Also, the County’s 2024 Annual Action plan includes $16,057 to rehabilitate a home in Haverford Township.

Delco Creates Right To Know Officer Slot