Thanks, But No Thanks

At any given time, there are residents who have a bone to pick with our elected township supervisors. Disgruntled residents file into the township building for any number of reasons, large and small, some legitimate concerns, others from people who complain about everything under the sun in general. That comes with trying to govern a community the size of, say, Lower Providence, with approximately 26,000 residents. There are bound to be problems, disagreements and mistakes made that need to be fixed. But, overall, I think Lower Providence is well managed by a terrific township manager in Joe Dunbar, an excellent staff of professionals at the top of their game, and five supervisors that more often than not make good decisions. We have, over the past few years, become a benchmark against which other townships measure themselves, progressive, proactive, and a leader among our local communities. We are, usually, at least a step ahead of everyone else.

 Imagine, for a moment, if that entity were gone or, worse, overruled and hamstrung by politics and government at the county level. We all read the paper. We know how dysfunctional that’s turned out to be. Think that’ll never happen?

Think again. It is a real possibility. Democrat Rep. Tom Caltagirone of Berks County recently introduced HB 2431 (link: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sessYr=2009&sessInd=0&billBody=H&billTyp=B&billNbr=2431&pn=3570), which calls for a constitutional amendment to make the county the basic level of government. This radical plan would drastically change how we are governed, as it calls for elimination of townships, cities and boroughs, leaving the county to oversee all municipal functions such as land use and zoning, trash removal, police, park maintenance, road repairs etc. that townships like Lower Providence perform now. It would also determine what if any duties local municipal officials would perform.

And, counties would presumably be in charge of determining and reaping the rewards of all municipalities’ property and local taxes, including earned income tax, water and sewage fees and, also presumably, disbursement of same back into the communities within its borders. But what’s to say it would be disbursed equitably or fairly?

 Given the 3-ring circus that constitutes the Montgomery County commissioners’ office these days, about the scariest thing I can think of is the ‘dynamic duo’ of Jim Matthews and Joe Hoeffel calling the shots that affect us, and running the day-to-day operations of Lower Providence. It’s tough enough to weigh the concerns of Audubon versus those of the residents of Trooper, but just imagine where we might fall in the bigger picture, as commissioners weigh the concerns of a Lower Providence against those of Narberth, Worcester, Abington, or any of the other of the 62 municipalities that comprise Montgomery County.

 How would we like it if the county planned to put a sewage treatment plant in your neighborhood, and you had no local government to seek recourse from? Oh, wait, we’re already sort of ‘there’, what with a regional authority, the Lower Perkiomen Valley Regional Sewer Authority, trying to jam a sewer interceptor project here, but at least residents have been able to get their local supervisors engaged to fight it. I can’t imagine where something like this would fall on the County’s list of “things to do”.

 As much as I dislike the whole idea, I think a municipality should, at least, be given the option of voting on a referendum to eliminate their local government and ‘opt in’ to this county option if they desire. To have it forced on local governments and their residents doesn’t make sense. I mean, where would it stop? Why not dissolve the states? Why not let the UN govern everything and dissolve countries? Absurd, of course, and this is, too.

 I hope that Rep. Caltagirone meant well. Certainly there are likely duplications of service and the potential for savings and efficiencies due to economies of scale in areas like sourcing and human resources, for example. Not that consolidating power is any guarantee that those efficiencies will be realized. All you have to do is look at any Federal government agency to see how bigger = waste and inefficiency. No, this seems much more like a blatant power grab by Democrats, especially when you consider that all of the bill’s sponsors are Democrats, and one is from Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) and another is from Philadelphia. Philadelphia, by the way, is listed as an exception to this bill. It would not have to worry about being governed by Philadelphia County.

 In my opinion, consolidating power is not necessary, especially when our local County government seems to be a never-ending episode of a bad soap opera, rife with obvious conflicts of interest and violating its own rules such as those governing how contracts are bid and awarded. The more local the government, the greater the opportunity of having an impact in your own community. Only local governments such as what exists already are the most accountable to their constituents and most committed to keeping the spending and taxation of their constituents – many of whom they know personally, and run into regularly at the gas station or grocery store – in check.

Consider contacting your local state rep (Rep. Vereb or Drucker, depending on where you live in Lower Providence) to tell them how you feel about HB 2431.

Primary Colors

On Tuesday, May 18, Pennsylvania gets to make its contribution to this year's big political litmus test, otherwise known as the primary election. I for one cannot wait to see how our  most hotly contested race turns out. Will Arlen Specter join Utah's former 3-term Republican senator Bob Bennett in the unemployed-politican line, along with recently dispatched 28-year Democratic Rep. Alan Mollohan of West Virginia?  Or will he survive the spring to advance to the next round, the general election in November, where strong Republican candidate Pat Toomey, the guy who chased Specter out of the Republican party in the first place, awaits?

Today's polls suggest the race is too close to call, with Joe Sestak making a late rally to pull up even with the venerable former Republican senator Specter.  I for one kind of hope Specter makes it through the primary if for no other reason than so his former constituency, the Republicans in this part of the state, can have the privilege of properly send him packing after the betrayal of his defection to the Democrats.

Along with all the gubernatorial ousters of outright liberals or not-conservative-enough conservatives last year, and Scott Brown's unpredictable victory to the Senate in Massachusetts, all bets are off this year.  Anti-establishment and anti-incumbent fever is indeed raging. I'm hearing it loud and clear when I'm knocking on doors in my own race for Republican committee here in the Trooper area. The tea party candidate for governor, Sam Rohrer, has a respectable following, and I know a number of people who will vote for him over the endorsed Tom Corbett. 

But that's on the state and national level.  There are also local races, some contested, for Republican committee people. I don't believe any of the Democrat local committee races are contested.

If you live in Trooper (2-1, 2-3), Audubon (3-3) or Collegeville (1-1) you have a choice as to whom your local Republican party representatives will be. The county's party bylaws were changed in 2009 so that voters no longer have to vote for a committeeMAN and a committeeWOMAN. You can vote for any two candidates - two men, two women, or one of each. This will eliminate the infrequent and somewhat comical situation that sometimes occurred where a man would run as a committeewoman.

The other change was that the term of office was changed from two years to four years. So, choose carefully, because whomever you vote for now as your local party grassroots folks will be around for the next presidential election.

And, those of you in  3-3 have a new (temporary) polling place. Instead of voting at Arcola Middle School, you'll be voting at Valley View Church.

I have to say, considering how many candidates for everything there are right now (something like a dozen for Lt. Governor alone) I'm surprised there aren't more campaign yard signs out by now. Even the amount of campaign mail seems to be lighter (I'm not complaining, and now that I said this, I'll probably get an avalanche tomorrow).  As for me, I decided not to get a sign war going in my own district, and just put them out on the perimeter of my district. I mean, nobody really wants yard signs, right?

Whatever your party, and whoever your candidates are, assuming you're registered in the party in which you want to vote, be sure you get up off your duff and come out and vote. The weatherman is calling for rain on Tuesday, but it only takes a few minutes. And, you're seeing what all this voter apathy is getting us, so I think if you want to have the right to complain, you should at least try to make a difference by putting your two cents in the ballot box.

Don't Rain on My Parade

Yesterday I had the opportunity to do something I've wanted to do for a long time, but due to scheduling conflicts never did...I attended the Conshohocken St. Patrick's Day parade (because it had been rained out on its original date and rescheduled to yesterday probably helped make this happen). Aside from my pride in celebrating my Irish heritage, I enjoyed it as  a wonderfully executed event and recognized that it spoke volumes about that community's commitment and unity. A community parade is as much a part of Americana as are Chevrolets and apple pie.

It reminded me of the time back in 2005 when Lower Providence held a parade as part of its yearlong Bicentennial activities. As I was on the Board of Supervisors at the time, filling in for a member who'd had to resign mid-term due to health issues, I had the privilege and pleasure of participating in that parade, riding in a convertible with one of the other supervisors at the time, Jim Dougherty. Passing by and waiving to residents who'd parked their lawn chairs and blankets along the parade route to watch, I distinctly remember how  proud I felt of our township  that day and how amazing it was that everyone had come together for an event whose sole purpose was to celebrate our beginnings all those years ago and our two hundred years worth of history since.


There was talk at the time of making it an annual event, but nothing ever came of that. While I recognize it's a lot of time and effort to put something like this on, I suspect that if you know you're going to do it every year, some things become easier. We could tie it to the Fourth of July fireworks and do it the same day, leading up to it. Corporate sponsors would likely be willing to underwrite some or all of the costs, which would primarily involve traffic control and public works - and they already do cover the costs of the fireworks event.

It would be a great opportunity for our civic groups, athletic associations and other local organizations to promote themselves and maybe do a little fundraising while they're at it. Think about it: we could have Methacton's reigning homecoming king and queen and marching band participate. Float entries from ARA, the Wolverines, the Cougars (and other sports organizations). School organizations, such as Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD). Perhaps the Optimists Club, the Lower Providence Historical Society, Mill Grove and Daughters of the American Revolution would participate.

Institutions such as Visitation, Lower Providence Presybterian Church or St. James Episcopal might want to celebrate their longtime presence in this community. Veterans' organizations. Ethnic organizations. Classic cars. Horse-drawn wagons. And of course, our fire department, public works and police departments could show off their latest equipment and units (K-9, motorcyle etc.). Neighboring community organizations in Worcester, West Norriton, Skippack and Collegeville would be welcome to have entries too. Last but not least, it would be yet another opportunity for our elected officials to be seen in public and available to those that elected them.

To make it even more interesting, perhaps their could be a competition for the most creative float design. And, since in my opinion there are really two 'main drags' through the township - one being Ridge Pike and the other along Egypt Road in Audubon - perhaps we could alternate parade routes between the two every year.

I think a community like Lower Providence could especially benefit from something like this. Too often, it seems to me that the residents here tend to be concerned only with what's going on only in their part of the township - Trooper or Audubon or Collegeville - and forget that people in other parts might think differently. It can become easy to forget that we all share the same government, school district, and community. 

Possibly, an annual parade might bring us all together and remind us that outside of our own neighborhoods, Lower Providence is populated with people from all over its boundaries, people with different concerns, priorities and perspectives that also need to be weighed when decisions are made that affect all of us. An event such as this can, I think, go a long way toward helping to unify us when we are presented with issues that threaten to divide us.

And yes, I realize that when one proposes something like this, one is essentially volunteering to coordinate it. I have no problem with that, but it's really up to our elected officials whether we do it or not. Let them know your thoughts.