Category: Delco

CYS Blacklist Sans Hearing Violates Rights Delco Told — Rael LaPenta of Upper Chichester again told Delaware County (Pa) Council of atrocities and excess by its Children and Youth Services Department.

“The old issues in my personal case are not only still present but unbelievably continuing to escalate due to violations of the law and regulations,” she said, last night, April 3.

Ms. LaPenta, a teacher, was one of three women who told the board, Feb. 7, of the misery inflicted by CYS. The department removed their children and put them on employment blacklists. The actions were based on the word of angry ex’s.

The others speaking were Ashley Green of Ridley Park, a teacher, and Sharon Poole of Glenn Mills, a registered nurse.

Ms. LaPenta and Ms. Green can no longer teach. State law bans from the classroom those deemed child abusers by child protection agencies.

Ms. LaPenta, last night, again asked council to intervene.

“Not only to stop CYS from continuing to violate the laws and regulations but also to rectify the damage they were allowed to reap,” she said.

She noted that a new investigation was opened by the same caseworker who had been tormenting her. She said that it was based on a claim of an injury to her son that other CYS workers had declared unfounded.

Her son, by the way, was with his mom last night. He seemed pretty well adjusted. He certainly wasn’t fearful.

Ms. LaPenta said she updated all County Council members via email and there had been no response.

Councilwoman Christine Reuther had pledged to keep on top of it.

Ms. LaPenta said the that a Pennsylvania court found, July 11, that the law letting CYS blacklist teachers violated the Constitution. A pre-deprivation hearing was required before a teacher could be put on a child abuse registry, the court ruled.

Ms. LaPenta never got one.

“CYS violated this and it has still not been rectified,” she said.

She asked that Council immediately schedule hearings for every teacher on the child abuse registry as of July 11 as well as “any other teacher being indicated without the constitutional right to a hearing.”

She noted that Council has not followed through on a request for more resources and training for CYS.

Delco Woods

County Council officially christened as Delco Woods the 213 acres of the former Don Guanella property acquired from the Catholic Church. Councilman Kevin Madden said he wanted to call it Nation of Immigrants Park. Probably not the most serendipitous declaration.

Councilwoman Christine Reuther wanted it called Lenape Woods but was concerned it might offend the Lenape Indians.

So we get dull Delco Woods.

It’s like naming your dog, Dog.

Council said the naming committee was also pondering what to call parkland acquired near Little Flowers Manor in Darby, along with the former firehouse it acquired in Darby.

Expect “Parkland Near Little Flowers” and “Former Darby Firehouse.”

Other Matters

Health Director Melissa Lyon updated council about health matters. Council also got an update about the libraries from Anny Laepple, who would be appointed director of library services later in the meeting.

Ms. Laepple said that use of the county libraries is dramatically up. WiFi use alone has risen 288 percent.

Also appointed were Karen Wilwol as director of soil conservation; Kathy Arim to the Community Action Agency with a term ending April 30, 2025; Siddiq Kamara to the Immigrant Affairs Board with a term ending Dec. 31; and Niole E. Matteucci and Jacquie L. Jones to the Women’s Commission to terms ending June 30, 2024 and June 30, 2025.

Council approved 30 consent items including a renewal for the Tuberculosis Control Grant; a $62,050 grant to East Lansdowne to demolish 58 Lewis Ave., which was destroyed in a fire; a grant not to exceed $75,000 to expand the Delaware County Law Enforcement Memorial Wall in Rose Tree Park; and a grant not to exceed $42,625 for a contract with Mugo Web to make a new website for Delaware County Libraries.

The consent items also included an extension of the Interim Agreement of the Delaware County Prison Employee Independent Union to May 31.

Also approved was amendment to a contract with the City of Chester that will remove demolition of structures at 427-429 Rose St., 2703-2705 Lehman St and 2709 Lehman St and include for demolition properties at 1722 W. 3rd St. and 550-556 Edgmont Ave.

Council also approved an application for a Transporation & Community Development Initiative study for the Highland Avenue Train Station in Chester.

CYS Blacklist Sans Hearing Violates Rights Delco Told

Delco Woods Immigration Rumors Trigger Delco Councilman — Question about claims that illegal immigrants will be housed at the former Don Guanella School in Marple had Delaware County (Pa) Councilman Kevin Madden in vapors by evening’s end at last night’s, April 3, council meeting.

“We do this because we care,” Madden said regarding councilmembers’ motivations to hold office.

“It’s just depressing,” he said regarding the flak council was getting from the citizenry.

“This sucks,” he said. “This is just really sad.”

He said he had no idea as from whence the rumors sprung regarding the impending fate of “Delco Woods”.

The 213-acre property between Sproul and Reed roads had been officially renamed “Delco Woods” earlier in the night.

The rumors began, March 4, when Chuckles Sports reported that shuttered Springfield and Delaware County Memorial hospitals would be used to house illegals. A couple weeks later the story spread that it would be the Don Guanella buildings that would be used.

Delco bought the property from the Catholic Church in 2021. Boys with mental disability had been housed and taught there. The property is undeveloped woodland but for the school site.

It’s zoned institutional/open space but Marple is considering zoning it all open space. The township commissioners are expected to vote on it April 15.

Chuckles Sports publisher Charles Alexander of Marple spoke during public comments.

He asked if council would pass legislation prohibiting “non-government organizations” or NGOs from moving illegals to Delco. Alexander said that he had informants in the county saying Delco plans to flood the county with illegals.

The county has vehemently denied this.

Alexander also wanted to know why 3.5 acres of the woodland had been cleared near the Blue Route.

Councilwoman Christine Reuther said that parcel belongs to PennDOT. She said she has no idea why PennDOT did it, and that it didn’t need the county’s permission to do it.

Carl Staples asked about plans to house illegals in Don Guanella buildings. He said he was told the county would lie about its plans to get the right zoning.

Scott Thomas of Marple said that Barack Obama signed a pact with the United Nations in 2016 to encourage massive immigration to the United States regardless of our laws. NGOs like Catholic Relief Services bus them around the country, he said.

Sharon Devaney of Haverford Township returned with documents from the 2017 auto accident involving an illegal which left her crippled. Council was dismissive of her concerns March 6 when she asked that Delco end its status as a sanctuary county.

Joy Schwartz of Upper Darby says there are 22 million illegals in the country which is double the claimed number. Democrats want to allow them to vote which would result in a permanent and corrupt rule, she said.

She zinged Ms. Reuther by praising the appointment of Siddiq Kamara to the Immigrant Affairs Board and said he would be a great replacement for Lauren Footman.

On March 6, Ms. Reuther denied that Delco had an immigration commission.

Ms. Footman was just fired as Delco’s first diversity, equity, and inclusion director which meant she also lost her spot on the Immigrant Affairs Board.

Ms. Schwartz sincerely praised Delco for not caving to Ms. Footman’s rather spurious claims about sex discrimination. She also pointed out that cancelling the DEI office would save much money along with avoiding inevitable hate and division.

Another journalist who addressed council was Valerie Dowret of Generocity. She wanted information regarding prison lawsuits, EEOC complaints such as those made by Ms. Footman, and the budget for the DEI office.

Ms. Dowret said that senior citizens eligible to leave George W. Hill Correctional Facility still remain incarcerated.

Council discussed their official plans for the former Don Guanella buildings. They say they want to use them to house those with mental problems along with office space. It was pointed out that if Marple changes its zoning, the county won’t even be able to build a playground on the property.

In council remarks, Councilwoman Reuther dismissed the concerns broached by the residents as “right wing talking points.”

Councilwoman Elaine Paul Schaefer said she was against any institutional use of Delco Woods and wanted the land all open space.

What would be done with the buildings was not something she addressed.

She did say she was proud of the county’s “diversity” and that rhetoric by the audience was “shameful” which led to angry shouts from the concerned citizens.

This was followed by Madden who pointed out that the building are already built on Sproul Road and not in the middle of the park. He said the county desperately needs mental facilities which would alleviate things at the prison.

After which he unfortunately followed with his whinefest.

Richard R. Womack expressed puzzlement about the rumors of housing illegals.

“I was never involved in any conversation about housing immigrants,” he said.

County Executive Director Barbara O’Malley had earlier read a report from auditors praising the county prison. Womack said he and she had walked through the facility and talked to many.

“I hope that’s not the case of anyone being retaliated against,” he said regarding those to whom they talked.

He said he will monitor things.

Dr. Monica Taylor repeated the points that the buildings on Delco Woods already exist and the county desperately needs mental health services.

She said there was no truth to the claims that they would be used to house illegals.

There really is an issue of trust in Delaware County and simple things can be done to address them. The county is strangely unwilling.

Delco Woods Immigration Rumors Trigger Delco Councilman

Delco Says No Illegals At Don Guanella — Delaware County (Pa) Council vehemently denied, last night, March 20, the rumors that unused institutional buildings will soon house illegal immigrants.

The latest involves the former Don Guanella building on Sproul Road in Marple.

The building had been used by the Catholic Church to house and teach boys with mental disabilities. It is zoned residential/industrial.

The county acquired it in 2021 as part of a plan to develop a 213 acre park.

Solicitor Jonathan Lichtenstein said the reports that it will house illegal immigrants are false. He repeated the denials that the shuttered Springfield and Delaware County Memorial hospitals will be used likewise.

While it is possible that the county could be out-of-the-loop regarding plans for the privately owned hospitals, the county is either out-and-out lying regarding Don Guanella or one can be confident there are no plans that it will be used as housing.

Lichtenstein also said the county will not be hiring illegals, a subject that came up regarding its ordinance change allowing for out-of-county workers.

The Don Guanella property was rumored to be on the agenda at last night’s Marple Zoning Hearing Board. It was not, though. We have heard that it will go before the township planners, however.

Sanctuary County

Council also took issues with claims made March 6 that Delaware County was a “sanctuary county”.

Councilwoman Christine Reuther said the county has researched the minutes of council meetings going back several years and has not found a declaration that Delco was a sanctuary county.

Ms. Reuther said the source for the claim was Center for Immigration Studies, which was somehow biased or untrustworthy.

She said the claim is based on a policy that the county prison will not house illegals solely due to their immigration status and that this follows federal law.

This was hotly discussed here in 2016.

The discussion ended when Bryan Griffith of Center for Immigration Studies sent us a now-broken link to a Temple University Study from March 2015 that said Community Education Centers, which then ran the George W. Hill Correctional Facility, instituted a policy on Aug. 5, 2014 that it would not hold individuals based solely on ICE detainers.

At least our county officials are getting warmer to the truth. Last meeting, they said it stemmed from Delco agreeing to join the US Department of States Refugee Resettlement Program in January 2020.

Wikipedia also lists Delco as a sanctuary for illegals for what it’s worth.

And former Philly Major Jim Kenney has also called Delco a sanctuary.

Illegals do seem to go free here after committing serious crime. Consider Sharon Devaney’s testimony about how an illegal speeding through an intersection in Haverford nearly killed her and her daughter.

And then was freed by police.

In public comments, Kathy of Haverford asked if the county was going to use NGOs as cover to house illegals

She also took issue with the semantic games being played regarding the use of illegal immigrant vs the virtue-signalling undocumented worker.

Opioid settlement

Council was told that the county has received $10.6 million of the $63 million it is to get over 18 years from the $1.07 billion that Big Pharma Johnson and Johnson has agreed to surrender to Pennsylvania for its destructive opioid pill pushing.

The county can only spend the money on things relating to opioid remediation and must do it in a limited time.

It will be giving $4.1 to various universities, hospitals and non-profits.

Councilman Kevin Madden noted that four people die each week in Delco from an opioid overdose.

Kathy of Haverford asked if any of the money could be used at the prison.

Zencity

Council approved 27 consent items including a one-year, $60,000 professional services agreement with ZenCity Technologies US Inc.

Zencity is an artificial intelligence-based software claimed to give local governments “true knowledge” about what their communities want rather than having to consider points made by people speaking at their meetings.

Carris Kocher of Concord noted the Zencity is a foreign entity with headquarters in London and Tel Aviv and expressed concern about how it would be used.

Public Comments

Carl Bell (phonetic) took issue with proposed changes to elections. He defended Dominion voting machines and said hand recounts would take forever.

Dean Dreibelbis of Edgmont said our election security systems was not certified for current environment.

Kimberly Brown of Colwyn took issue with council’s public comment policy, and the jail oversight board.

Laura Lewis of Radnor noted that the Dominion Voting Systems documents leaked to Sheriff Dar Leaf of Barry County, MI showed that Serbians could remotely access Dominion voting machines.

She also said that France could hand count its election in a day.

Carl McIntyre (phonetic) of Upper Darby thanked council for a grant for his LGBT organization.

Kathy from Haverford asked why County Council no longer allows comments on its Facebook page. She said that this violated a recent Supreme Court decision banning blocking of comments by government leaders.

Councilwoman Reuther said Delco’s cyber security was more robust than required and that Leaf shouldn’t be trusted because he was a Trump supporter or something.

She said County Council can block comments on its Facebook page because it blocks them from everybody. She said people had been putting too much misinformation on the site.

Delco Says No Illegals At Don Guanella Delco Says No Illegals At Don Guanella

Delco Gets Report On Libraries — Delaware County (Pa) Council, last night, March 20, was told that Marple and Middletown public libraries were among the best in state but there may be as many as 10 that were below average and on their way out.

Council was told that the average cost of a library in a community is $30 per capita and the county’s average is $26 per capita.

Councilman Kevin Madden said community libraries are surprisingly growing in importance in the day of the internet. He said they are not just for books but are becoming community centers.

He noted Delaware County has more municipalities per square mile than any other county in the country. This has led to the county’s old and crowded southeast quadrant to have what might be the high density of community libraries in the county.

Wannabe hipster wine moms have led to some unnecessary controversy, though, regarding the library’s place in the community.

Carris Kocher of Concord said she did not want tax money going to drag queen shows for kids.

Joy Schwartz of Upper Darby said that illegals appear to be camping at the Bywood branch of her township’s library system.

Councilwoman Christine Reuther responded by saying just because they are homeless doesn’t mean they are illegals.

The video of the meeting can be watched here.

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History Was Topic At Delco Council — Delaware County Council, last night, March 20, approved an $85,000 grant to the Delaware County Historical Society for preservation of its collection.

The Society has sold it’s long time headquarters at 408 Avenue of the States in Chester and is looking to move.

In public comments Carris Kocher of Concord said the amount was too late too late.

Councilman Kevin Madden took issue with her. He said that while the building may be sold but the collection is safe.

The vote was 4-0 with Madden abstaining as he is on the Society’s board.

In another matter of history, Janet Lloyd Murphy of Middletown expressed concern that county might have forgotten its promise of help for a project to restore The Old Main building on the Crozer Chester Medical Center campus in Upland into the MLK Center for Peace and Justice.

She said she reached out to county officials in February but had not heard back.

Solicitor Jonathan Lichtenstein said he had gotten her message and would be contacting her.

County Executive Director Barbara O’Malley approached her after the meeting and said the county was fully behind her project.

The Old Main was part of the Crozer Theological Seminary where Martin Luther King Jr. studied. His dorm room was in the Old Main.

Yeadon Mayor Rohan K. Hepkins asked council to give its support for celebrations honoring Flag Day. Yeadon was the home of William T. Kerr who got the event recognized as a national holiday in 1949.

He said he has invited Joe Biden and Gov. Josh Shapiro to a celebration and asked the county to consider providing a grant.

History Was Topic At Delco Council

Delco Passes Movie Making And Residency Changes; Bond Issue — Delaware County Council, last night, March 20, unanimously passed ordinances allowing commercial movies to be filmed in county parks and to allow the issue of general obligation debt of $74.5 billion to pay for infrastructure projects.

It also passed with Dr. Monica Taylor dissenting an ordinance to allow the hiring of non-county residents for all jobs except those requiring local residency by state law.

Carris Kocher of Concord said she had asked courthouse workers if taking an oath was still a requirement. It wasn’t as there were many employees who weren’t citizens. It would be unfair to ask them, she was told.

She asked if at least citizenship would be a requirement.

Joy Schwartz of Upper Darby asked if the county would hire people without permanent addresses.

Carl Bell (phonetic) asked why the need to hire outside the county.

Councilwoman Christine A. Reuther said she would be happy to hire someone without a permanent address. She said the law need changing because of trouble hiring people.

Councilwoman Elaine Paul Schaefer said that Delaware County was the only county in the state besides Philadelphia that had a residency requirement. She supported changing the law.

Councilman Kevin Madden said he has changed his mind over the past few years due to the hiring problems.

Councilman Richard Womack said he also changed his mind. He noted the number of positions the county already exempts from the resident requirement.

“You might as well get rid of (all exemptions},” he said.

Ms. Taylor, the lone dissenter, said it was best to hire from within Delco.

In the second round of public comments, Mrs. Kocher returned and emphasized the need for a citizenship requirement.

She noted that that foreigners are being hired by many counties to help run elections.

Bell also returned and asked if the county could hire from other states. He also wanted to know how the new policy could help get workers if Delco was still paying less than other counties as one council member said.

There was no discussion regarding the bond issue and the change to the movie making rules was greeted positively by all.

Kathy from Haverford said she had relatives in the movie industry and the county would have no problem getting filmmakers to pay a fee for the use of the parks.