Oh Honey Brook Township Liberty Biberty mush mouth Steve-O 🤣 is at it again (must’ve lost his binky and needs attention) and he really shouldn’t give up his day job, but nobody’s really sure what it is right now because he’s doing all this stuff again, right?
It’s all of the same lame arguments that they tried to apply to Valerie Shultz before she beat the pants off of him (frightening mental visual BTW) in the fall election as a Republican.
There is even a pathetic attempt to resurrect the kids are unsafe issue because Scott Stilson as a Republican committeeman asked a school if they would consider being a polling location because the polling location that serves their precinct is outgrown for the most part. That’s common and happens all across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania every year and all across the country, and it doesn’t mean the kids aren’t safe. That is a fear mongering lie, and it’s like the other lies.
You know it’s all being spread thicker than pig manure on a cornfield out there because they are THAT desperate. Note the chart above. It helps with shall we say, the friend groups AKA circles of influence.
And then when blather hoodie wants to talk about his close personal friend, Gary McEwan who’s been on the school board for how many decades at this point (is it like 33 years?) and involved in politics for how many decades at this point like his dad before him and that’s a reason for term limits is it not?
And then Steve mentions John Burdy the toady (his wife is Laura Burdy the toady who is a supervisor and isn’t it all so cozy?) who is running for Republican committeeman who is also just a yes man warm body for the status quo on the Twin Valley School Board along with Sally Dee Gee’s son Baby Nicky (or maybe he still wants to go by his sock puppet account on Facebook called Jack Wilson?) who is a college student, so they want to set him up not only on the school board where he’s just a warm body to say yes to whatever the school board president wants, but then they can set him up to keep the political control going of Tammy Hall in the cornfield in Honey Brook, right?
People, is time for change in Honey Brook and this is a small but important opportunity to keep that mission going.
Be the change you want and don’t vote for any of these people. I mean, come on they’re even slashing political signs and destroying them, which is something that they swear they don’t do right? And then there’s the whole question of debate, this time they asked for it and now apparently they’re not doing it?
Be the change. End Tammany Hall style politics in Honey Brook.
PS to address one of drama hoodie’s erroneous claims of last week was insinuating that there was something wrong with the Honey Brook Township Manager leaving? No state secret, just MONEY…
Gladwyne is a wonderful place with a historic village. The nouveau and uninformed see it as this money-laden Main Line place to be conquered. Yeah, so they have done that enough in general to the Main Line, but there are some places that they should just leave alone. That includes the literally historic village in Gladwyne.
Yesterday was Azalea Day at St. Christopher’s in Gladwyne. It was the 73rd year.
I went to Azalea Day from the time I was 12 pretty much until I moved to Chester County. It was and is a perfect example of the magic of the village and surrounding environs which just don’t need tarting/messing up.
Historic preservation and adaptive reuse YES.
A zoning change and development circus? NO.
Gladwyne doesn’t need to be other than it is. Maybe people can’t stop Lower Merion from approving horrible out of place LEGO infill development McMansions, nor keep predatory development out of Ardmore with BS plans every few years for Schauffele Plaza, etc., but Lower Merion needs to be proactive with stopping the madness in the 19035.
It’s like Groundhog Day in Gladwyne every few years when a bad plan arises. The only thing now is that they neither have a civic association with people willing to protect the historic village, nor elected officials who are willing to do so and did you ever think Gladwyne would be in this predicament? Honestly, I did not because all of my observing prior to this was admiration for Gladwyne sticking up for Gladwyne.
Historic preservation and adaptive reuse YES.
A zoning change and development circus? NO.
Now there are still some people on Gladwyne Civic who were part of the magnificent years where they STOOD UP and fought for Gladwyne and the historic village. But they are the minority and probably tired. And my so much civic “leadership” yet where IS the leading? Oh I am sure they don’t care for my opinions and they even tossed me out of the closed Facebook group started by a friend. They have social climbers from Chester County in the group, but I am a threat. They tried once before this to remove me unsuccessfully.
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So I am out of the group now, which is no great loss as it is quite the insipid government ass kissing shadow of the group it once was….and civic it once was.
They will say that I am talking about this because it is merely sour grapes and no it’s not. If they kept such close tabs on my activity there before the co-prez removed me, they would see that I really did not visit much as the involvement of my friends lessened. That and knowing that I could not keep my mouth shut over the insipid nothingness that was being posted. Gold foil stars for all, and the nerve of that horse for not picking up its poop!
I had posted about what was happening in the historic village district because THEY WERE NOT. And it was and IS important. But now I realize WHY they aren’t and it’s sad that I realized it’s in my opinion a combination of a lack of spine and it would mean actually working for the community, right? For these people it’s easier to have a “greenspace” and gazebo that is not needed and for the historic village district to lose protections with a zoning change and an overlord they can bow and scrape to isn’t it? And if this goes through like this, history in my opinion, will not remember them fondly.
Again, for the cheap people in the expensive seats: historic preservation and continued adaptative reuse is a GREAT thing. Creating a fake narrative and a Peddlers Village/Disneyesque landscape is NOT. Potentially changing the zoning, tearing down houses and undoubtedly trees is also a BIG MISTAKE.
I can indeed have these opinions. My opinion remains the same: yes to historic preservation, tree preservation, and adaptive reuse. No to zoning changes and the ensuing circus. It’s still supposed to be a historic 18th/19th century crossroads village and THAT is ok.
The Gladwyne Civic needs to recover where they left their collective balls.
Lower Merion Commissioners need to not sit on their hands.
Residents can’t depend on either the commissioners or civic association here and they should go to every single meeting possible to save the village.
Historic preservation and adaptive reuse YES.
A zoning change and development circus? NO.
Vanity projects can be useful, this project has many problems. The developers here should use their big money for good….if they are really listening, that is?
The “greenspace” and then shoving parking next to private homes of residents who were there first. Quite disrespectful at a minimum if it matters to these people.
Greenspace is great, but have these people also actually paid attention to Gladwyne?
Right across Youngs Ford Road is a most marvelous park, and some of the best trails and open space anywhere are already existing in Gladwyne and have for many, many years. That “greenspace” is lipstick on the proverbial pig and a vanity thing along with the “water feature” and most of this project. And yes I can have that opinion. (Creeks and a big river are apparently not enough of a NATURAL water feature?)
A lot of people were not around to remember the “water feature” that worked for like ten minutes in Ardmore at the “gateway” on Ardmore Ave by Bryn Mawr Trust (don’t know what it is now). And the water feature was crooked, as in not level.
Today it is an oversized flowerpot that whomever owns the property should care for, but not sure who does?
Gladwyne is a beautiful area with natural water features, not an urban center that needs the calming influence of the sound of water so you don’t hear buses and taxis etc etc.
I am all for historic preservation and adaptive reuse, not Disney.
Gladwyne does not have to be Peddlers Village, there already is one.
Gladwyne does not have to be anything other than the sweet village it already is.
Reading and reciting history to (in part) appease HARB and the public doesn’t mean you get it, and part of the whole they aren’t there yet, is they do not get Gladwyne any more than a lot of the nouveaux who have moved in over the recent past.
What I have sadly observed is I do not think that the commissioner who now serves this ward including Gladwyne gets it, nor do most of the 14 member board of commissioners. The current leadership of Gladwyne Civic either doesn’t get it or they in my opinion have personal agendas and yes, I can offer that opinion. One co-president in particular is a problem and he treats Gladwyne as a gated community, which oh my means he won’t like it in the end if the village turns Disneyesque. The other co-president is nice (and his wife is fabulous.) The civic today seems to not have the same spirit past iterations have had, and a lot of the people willing to get up and fight for Gladwyne have moved and even passed away. Can we send up a prayer that Gladwyne Civic finds it’s lost spine?
BUT (and it’s important) If the commissioners allow that zoning change it will mean eventual disaster for a little, VERY historic crossroads village, which historically is supposed to be just that. Nothing more, nothing less, it doesn’t have to be.
The other thing is this: there are other areas the “developers” AKA new village owners could pour their energies into. Like Narberth, which is no longer a magical small town that I used to call Main Line Glocca Mora, it’s a hot mess with local borough government that acts like they all have had lobotomies or something. (Cue trying to sell Sabine Park for development, right? Or the disgraceful condition of parts of “Main Street” near the old market.)
Look, the bottom line is these people see a PROJECT in Gladwyne, and IMHO it is still a vanity project because I still feel they don’t SEE Gladwyne for who she really is and can remain. Again, I don’t object to restoration and adaptive reuse AT ALL, but as for some of the rest of it, there was something one of my grandmothers said once upon a time: just because you CAN do something, it doesn’t mean you should.
Enjoy the screenshots courtesy of the Lower Merion Historical Society and my photos with many happy memories of the village of Gladwyne.
Here’s hoping they figure it out. Here’s hoping they realize that some places can retain their historical and beloved character and it’s ok just the way it is.
(Also, I had heard that there MIGHT be some kind of a meeting possibly at Waverly Heights on May 19? Is that just a regular civic meeting or a special meeting? And ummm on Election Day? That’s kind of shady isn’t it? And if it is happening, where is it posted so people can verify it? Or can’t the public attend?)
I am also including in the post, proposed changes to historic preservation stuff in Lower Merion and Class I and Class II resources. (It is a draft of a historic preservation plan.) As I know longer live there, doesn’t affect me, but it bears reviewing by the public before the commissioners act upon it in the future. I will note that the LMT employee head of HARB, Greg Pritchard, is a really good dude and incredibly knowledgeable. I came to know him years ago when he was with the Radnor Historical Society. He helped me research the Wayne Natatorium when I was submitting it to the state for the historical marker.
Dude, you lost in NOVEMBER, 2025 so what are you running for today? And what’s with the regurgitation of lawn chair spectaculars? This is very odd obsessive behavior is it not?
Yes, back to Honey Brook Township. Back to the land of the thug politics cabal getting more desperate by the day. So desperate that one of them did this:
Good Afternoon,
This e-mail is intended for DC Mike Hepner. I am writing to you as a member of the Honey Brook community. I am not a Lion, but have a couple of friends who are and there is a continued level of online harassment/trademark infringement by an online blogger who is friends with someone who quit the Lions in Honey Brook a couple years ago.
This person has since been elected as a Honey Brook Township Supervisor and her friend, the blogger, continuously creates disgusting online images (including trademarked images) and “tags” the local Lions club, both during the election last year and as we speak.
I felt this needed attention from more than just the local club, on a district level. Although there is freedom of speech, I have attached a photo posted yesterday that shows obvious trademark infringement.
I am available for any questions you may have and hope you can obtain information to take this harassment down from social media.
Thanks,
Steven Jones
Can we get real? And before that, note although I was under no obligation to redact his information (address, phone, email) it was done anyway, so he cannot say he was doxxed (another issue and definition they struggle with.)
This has nothing as in ZERO to do with the Lion’s Club in Honey Brook and he isn’t a Lion’s Club member, yet he feels compelled to to write to the Lion’s Club to tattle? Like he is defending their honor from a made up situation in his head? Is it not more probable that they wish to use this group to their own twisted gain? They always try to drag all of these people into their games, don’t they? I mean come on, they even try to do this nonsense with the Chester County Republican Party do they not? Now it’s the Lion’s Club, last fall it was the Honey Brook Community Library, the fire company, Chester County Republicans, a minority County Commissioner, and I think even a food pantry? Why do they constantly deflect from the fact that these twisted up inside people are the actual problems, not everyone else? I mean shouldn’t they have simply more respect for these organizations and people instead of trying to drag them into their twisted sandbox of immaturity?
They have also not only tried to disparage and harass Valarie Shultz and others, but me, and literally anyonewho stands up to them. Do they think people don’t know? Do they think people don’t know their constant tattletale harangue tour? It’s what they do isn’t it? Bullying and intimidation?
(That includes mailing things to me when I did not provide them with an address during the election. That was done merely to try to intimidate me, to try to send a message they could get to me but did they? It was Priority Mail, so there is tracking, and to be honest, when you receive things like that, you can go to the US Postal Inspectors who do take thing like that seriously, yes?)
All of these people in his circle have made themselves public figures vis à vis their social media presence which includes public posts. You know, that pesky little globe?
These people are also public figures as elected officials and/or politicians and appointed officials, which makes them fair game. They have been mocked in response to their public behavior, correct?
Anything ever obtained about them that they don’t like on social media has been in the public purview. They posted it publicly and people picked it up.
They also are recorded at public meetings that anyone in the world can see. That includes Mr. Jones’ outbursts at public meetings. One example below.
Here’s a snippet from his handler:
What is his end game here? He puts things out publicly not just on Facebook, but now on YouTube. If his things weren’t public, no one would see them, and anyone can comment on things that are public.
Then also recently another stunning email sent from an outgoing elected Republican committeewoman, Deb Elmer. I found out courtesy of this:
So yesss…the email was sent out while disclosing the information on hundreds of residents. That is akin to a data breach. Oh and here is the email:
Dear Fellow Honey Brook Township Resident,
As a resident of Honey Brook Township and a Republican Committee member in HBT2, Precinct 301, I am writing to strongly support John Burdy and Gary R. McEwen candidacy for Precinct 300 committee member in the May 19, 2026 primary election.
I have known both men for many years and have closely followed their service on the Twin Valley School Board. They have consistently demonstrated strong leadership, sound judgment, and a clear commitment to serving our community with integrity.
Just as important as supporting strong candidates is being honest about the facts and ensuring accountability within our own process. My concern is maintaining fair and consistent standards within our party’s expectations.
Under our local area bylaws, committee members pledge to support only the endorsed republican candidate in all public spheres and limit their political activity to advancing the election of the endorsed candidate.
Based on firsthand involvement in HBT1, Precinct 300, concerns arose regarding adherence to conduct standards following the primary certification. During this period, Scott Stilson supported Valerie Shultz while still active, as a committee member, his exact resignation date is unclear. Lorraine Louie, who remains a committee member, also openly supported Shultz, who appeared on the general election ballot as a Democrat despite being registered as a Republican. This conduct raises questions regarding compliance with applicable party bylaws and standards.
Support included, among other actions, appearing at her Harmony Days table, posting on Facebook, and coordinating a debate. A standard process for a debate or meet-and-greet is to coordinate with the endorsed Republican candidate to ensure fair representation. Public Facebook posts suggest this standard was not followed.
Following formal complaints, supported by documentation I helped provide, party leadership ultimately directed Scott Stilson to step down. He did temporarily.
John Burdy and Gary R. McEwen have demonstrated that they respect both the role and responsibility of serving this community. I strongly encourage voters to consider their proven leadership and commitment when making their decision.
Sincerely,
Debbie Elmer
Gosh she colors the truth so well, yes? (Also spell check is everything.)
Here is a little more from Acid Aunty:
So then there is another bit of amusement. They are running Supervisor Sal’s son for Republican committeeman. They list him as a college student and yet he is on the school board. As is the other guy they are running for Republican committeeman (https://www.tvsd.org/page/school-board). It’s just so obvious what they are doing – shore it all up and try to keep control because they don’t like chinks in the walls of Tammany Hall in the corn field do they? And the current Twin Valley School School Board President? How long has he been on the school board? Since around 2001 right? Makes an interesting case for term limits in a very problematic school district that straddles two counties, yes? And the chair of the school board who is a committeeman is also on the Honey Brook Township Planning Commission?
It’s just so cozy in Honey Brook Township, yes?
So back to the Supervisor’s son being put up for committeeman ok? Why is that? I think that it is about control of the township by the cabal and I can have that opinion. I also have the opinion it is to groom him to be a supervisor candidate since the last choice, Steve Jones, didn’t work out so well, yes? But if they are running one supervisor’s son (Nick son of Sally DeeGee) are they also running his close personal sock puppet Jack Wilson?
And when you are talking about cozy in Honey Brook politics, one also must consider John Burdy listed in that letter as running for committeeman and why? Well his wifey is the other supervisor, Laura Burdy. You can see her sour puss on meetings, can’t you? And Burdy’s lineage is interesting because his late father who passed in 2007 was a secretary and administrator of neighboring Caernarvon Township in Berks County. Think Morgantown. Now someone will scream from the rafters because I mentioned that, but it’s simply part of the local political history, right? Caernarvon Township and Honey Brook Township have I always thought a close-ish relationship here and there over the years and share a school district, right?
This township is politically messy. It’s why I started writing about it. That and they were targeting Valerie Shultz, who is an actual friend of mine, hoping she would go away and not run for supervisor. Well she made it, which is a threat and the meetings have all been some degree of a circus as a result. And interestingly enough the most recent development is the township manager Warren Obenski is leaving so I guess he won’t be doing Sally DeeGee’s requested police and corruption taskforce thingys? There were supposed to be two of this – they came up at the February 11 meeting and they keep trying to pin this on Valerie Shultz who abstained as she felt it was not a kosher vote, correct? Wonder where he is going? His wife is the chair of the Uwchlan Supervisors isn’t she?
And hey whatever happened to that poor woman who fell and got banged up at the Honey Brook Township building on election night 2025 when a certain candidate’s signage seemed to be blocking the light? Why don’t they talk about that?
But back to the odd politician behavior, ok? So one of the most dangerous kinds of politicians are the ones who didn’t get elected, correct? He bubbaficates regularly and there are outbursts at meetings and wow the behavior is concerning isn’t t? His constant public posts still about how Valerie Shultz is a Democrat (she isn’t, we all know this except for the thug politics cabal in Honey Brook Township), etc. Or attempts to get at me or talk smack ablout me…and then he gets all upset if his targets respond with humor, facts and political lampoons? And then he revs up his stuff on his candidate page now renamed with the same types of posts as before? His posts are PUBLIC so no one is breaking any rules sharing screenshots:
Harassed? Umm no, we aren’t the ones doing the harassing, but we have responded to the word salads on occasion.
So what is his obsessive end game here? He puts things out publicly not just on Facebook, but now on YouTube. If his things weren’t public, no one would see them, and anyone can comment on things that are public, so what is the dealio?
It’s not a pattern of continued anything, and in my opinion the fact is that this all started this up again after Valarie was sworn in and that exhibits dangerously obsessive behavior. And as Valarie can point out this wasn’t just directed towards her when he started up again but me, and others. See this:
When he posts publicly like he does and they do, it’s fair game. He doesn’t seem to understand that whole concept of the little globe in the post, none of them do.
It’s a case of perpetual sour grapes. Valerie Schultz is a Republican who beat him and she was written in on the Democrat ballot, but that will never make her a Democrat or me the Tooth Fairy, yes? I seem to recall Jones got a small number of write ins on the Democrat ballot as well, but not enough to beat her to be truly cross filed, correct?
This is all about him and them. Not the Honey Brook Library, food banks, first responders, fire companies, or the Lion’s Club. Every time they don’t like what someone says, they try to deflect to something that isn’t actually reality and why is that? If they deflect, they distract, kind of like not talking about Jeffrey Epstein in Washington, yes?
This is why people want different and better for Honey Brook Township and even that school district out there. The obsessive hoodie and his handler and the rest of them would have you think it’s all unicorns farting rainbows and fuzzy bunnies. It’s not. It’s a beautiful place that people are trying to make better. And that includes breaking the grip of politics as usual. They don’t get that his and others’ odd and often angry behavior flies directly in the face of the “nothing to see here” they so desperately want.
My opinions are cheerfully supplied by my First Amendment Rights.
This isn’t going to be a long post. These are my thoughts based on a conversation I had with a friend in another part of Southeastern PA, who isn’t being targeted by data centers, but happen to be at a meeting talking about other things where data centers came up.
So in Maine and Ohio with regard to data centers, officials are starting to ask companies to have like a security bond – not escrow – with the purpose to cover potential issues – pollution that affects humans and livestock – cover issues with energy/utilities, decommissioning buildings etc.
As of May 2026, both Maine and Ohio have moved to implement rigorous financial and environmental “guardrails” for large-scale data centers.
Legislators in these states are shifting away from simple escrow accounts toward security bonds and comprehensive accountability frameworks to address potential negative impacts on residents, livestock, local infrastructure, etc.
We’re talking about (in Maine) accountability councils/ committees, resource protection (which includes things about noise pollution, discharge of warm contaminated water into waterways which WILL affect livestock and humans and wildlife and potentially domestic pets, water shortages), utility safeguards (energy costs and straining energy grids).
In Ohio (maybe Wisconsin too?) also the things mentioned above about security and infrastructure bonds. These bonds cover all sorts of things like if a data center becomes decommissioned and land use things around these data centers. Also measures about pollution and the reason these things are coming out in these states is to protect residents from having to clean up after data center developers essentially.
Now this is why you’re seeing in some of these states that these developers are walking away because they’re realizing it’s going to be too expensive for them to do what they want isn’t it?
Also in pending (?) legislation in Kentucky (HB 593), Colorado (SB 26-102), and elsewhere aims to ensure that data centers pay for their own energy. As in all of their own energy it seems?
As of April 2026, in addition, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, and Virginia are considering or have filed statewide moratoriums or strict regulations. Now realize in Pennsylvania that there has been similar legislation, but none of it has teeth does it? It’s all still aimed to cater to the data center industry isn’t it? And why is that? Two words: Josh Shapiro.
I think data centers will very well be Josh Shapiro‘s political Waterloo. He will undoubtedly get reelected as governor because Marg Simpson, err Stacey Garrity just isn’t going to beat him. but I have to wonder if this will keep our governor from his loftier political aspirations in the end? 
So why aren’t we doing it here now? I know it was bought up at one of the East Whiteland meetings by the Supervisors Chair Scott Lambert that he wanted some kind of financial measures in place to cover some of these things and the data center developers lawyers basically were like no are you crazy but was he crazy? Because this is what’s being proposed in other states isn’t it?
Some of my biggest concerns and some of these municipalities, including East Whiteland is elected officials don’t realize that they can say no, but do they have the courage to do so? You will get responses like along the lines of they have to do what counsel instructions them, but do they really? These elected officials were elected to represent the people. Therefore, all of these other people, lawyers and township staff included work for them and the residents, don’t they?
It’s finding the courage to say no.
Sorry, not sorry but my humble opinion (which I am allowed to have) is we don’t need these in our communities. Developers want them in our communities and all they are is the new apartment building, the new condo complex, the new kind of warehouse. It’s about their profit and nothing to do with us. F ‘em.
What is going on with Fiorello’s in West Chester? They used to have impeccable service, even just from the person answering the phone at the front of the house. Literally for years we have been going in and enjoying meals and occasionally getting a takeout order via Uber Eats.
Now, we didn’t do takeout/delivery for a while because they use the Slice app and Slice jacks prices and if there’s a problem with your order, it’s very hard to rectify.
However, in late March this year– March 29 to be precise we did an Uber Eats order. I think Uber eats is a probably one of the better food delivery services that exists and the problem wasn’t with them. The problem again was with Fiorillo as it had been a couple of years ago when we ordered through Slice with them.
I contacted them via the email address that they claim they have after being rebuffed by a young woman quite rudely on the phone.
This is what I said:
I placed an order from Uber Eats. It came incomplete.
I ordered the Calamari Mediterranean, which on the Uber Eats menu like your physical restaurant says it comes with linguine.
I am including the description from your page on Uber Eats so you see. It was delivered without linguine there wasn’t even the side salad that used to come with it or even a slice of bread or that skinny pizza slice that would come with it.
I called twice and whoever the young woman is answering the phone is rude. And no, I was not nice in tone to her. I will admit that because I do not respond to rude her response was “what do you want me to do about it” and that’s paraphrasing, but that was the message.
“We don’t deliver.” She says.
I know you don’t deliver. The problem wasn’t the delivery. The problem was the order.
And no, I’m not driving more than half an hour to come pick up a replacement order when I wanted to treat myself to delivery from Fiorello’s.
And her whole attitude of what do I expect her to do about? It is simply not acceptable. That’s what I can’t get past. She could’ve actually just apologized.
Does she want me to explain a restaurant and what front of house does when there’s a problem?
We’ve been customers for years. And every once in a while we order via Uber Eats.
And I don’t understand how your own kitchen doesn’t know that this comes with linguine or any kind of pasta that’s plain that you put the calamari over?
But above all else, I don’t do rude on the phone. And again she would not have gotten an edge in my voice if she had just been polite to me instead of me getting the whole attitude if she doesn’t really want to be there on a Sunday night and talk to anybody on the phone or help people.
I am attaching photos, so you see.
When employees have attitudes like that it makes it less likely that people actually want to come into your restaurant.
Here is the photo of what was delivered:
Here is what I ordered from the menu:
You will note I did NOT ask for a refund. I’m still not asking for a refund. But if someone who’s been a pretty long-term customer, I’d like an apology.
Just a simple “We’re sorry that happened. ”
I have emailed them twice and have not gotten a response. So I’m posting this.
I saw this on social media and felt I should share it here
So a few days ago, a letter was discovered:
That got a very big WTF response out of me. I don’t know maybe they don’t see dead people in this township but they see dead plans don’t they? I was actually seriously disappointed to discover this letter existed. It’s kind of like it makes you wonder if everyone knows what’s going on in East Whiteland Township again and that’s horrible to feel. Makes me sad because they have come so far.
From the beginning, even though I really like two of the supervisors (not Peter Fixler) and the township manager and most of the staff, I felt everything involving this data center was somewhat odd and off.
And I will note in the arena of people I like at East Whiteland Township, people I wish that weren’t here that I do not know and do not care to know is the Assistant Township Manager Catherine Ricardo. Essentially my opinion is they made a mistake when they hired East Vincent’s former mistake of a manager…and yes, she was the manager when the zoning change went in at Pennhurst wasn’t she? As in where they are fighting a giant data center, so how can residents in East Whiteland even begin to trust her? Also isn’t it a bit strange that somebody would go for being a manager to an underling/assistant manager?
But I digress.
This letter that was discovered lends itself to everything that Ginny Kerslake has said.
It’s been an education dealing with data centers. It is even worse in a lot of ways than when people were fighting the pipelines a few years ago.
(State Rep Danielle Otten, I will take this opportunity to politely remind you that that’s why you were elected, remember? To fight for the people, not to capitulate to things like data centers? I won’t bother to remind State Rep Kristine Howard of anything because she does nothing. They apparently share office space and a data center disease or something?)
Anyway, next comes this letter from the special counsel solicitor dude:
What I have to say to that is, predictable. Communities upstate dealing with this guy as a special counsel weren’t enamored of him before East Whiteland rolled up and hired him. It’s like every time something happens to show this township why they are wrong and people tell them how they can correct it, they double down on the wrong part, don’t they? (Yes, I can have that opinion and it took me a long time to verbalize it because I just didn’t want to believe it was happening.)
Now the funny thing is what’s happening now is what I said would happen in East Whiteland when they started this process around 2018.
East Whiteland never should’ve approved this in any way shape or form. They should have sent the stock picker packing back to Willistown. Let him put a data center on his property, not in a neighboring township. (Green Fig’s Charlie Lyddane is from Willistown correct?)
East Whiteland is digging in their heels over their Waterloo. Maybe I should specify their latest Waterloo because things like Bishop Tube aretube are still alive in this township aren’t they how many years later?
I also have to wonder if there were five supervisors on this board if everyone would still be dealing with this? Under the Second Class Township code they can have up to five supervisors so why don’t they? I will note I suggested that yearsago and was told it wasn’t necessary. I don’t know the process, but it is possible to get this on a ballot as a referendum item and if the majority of the people vote in a main election like in the fall, they could get five supervisors.
Again, I said East Whiteland would face a people tsunami over data centers as an issue. And it’s lapping at their proverbial shores. And that is in spite of people feeling like they’re being intimidated at meetings by certain guests of the developers panel, etc. and isn’t that true?
I will note I am pretty much an observer here. I am not driving the people tsunami bus. But I knew it would come. This is too bad and big an issue and it’s a nationwide issue as well.
East Whiteland still can do the right thing and say no. They actually can but will they? Or does more of a tsunami have to lap at the shores?
Allow me to share something from the residents fighting:
Meanwhile, in places like Limerick, residents, planning friendraisers to fight their data center are finding local businesses like MaGerk’s in Royersford I guess it is canceling their events.
This data center flight is getting supremely ugly and I don’t know if places like East Whiteland just don’t get it, but people aren’t backing down.
I leave you with Andrew Schneider‘s presentation from the recent East Whiteland meeting once again. I hope the media keeps following this.
We don’t want data centers around here. And at its most basic that is not a NIMBY statement, it’s practical. We can’t afford it from an energy bill and basic supply perspective. We can’t afford it from a water perspective, and that is separate from the rest of the environmental impacts. Data centers are just about the profits of other people outside our communities. It’s not about residents. I mean, maybe East Whiteland Supervisor Peter Fixler would like a data center in his backyard since he thinks data centers are silent, but who am I but a mere mortal and female to ask that question?
But I have been thinking about this, and many years ago, they told all of us at the Save Ardmore Coalition that we would never stop eminent domain for private gain. As a matter of fact, I had a commissioner at the time (who was also a lawyer/lobbyist in Harrisburg once upon a time) wag a finger in my face for a couple of minutes literally spitting mad in front of a congressman saying they were getting the eminent domain through. That was after a public meeting on eminent domain held at a local college.
Eminent Domain didn’t happen and half of the board of commissioners was replaced as a result.
Tredyffrin Supervisors make one wish to bang one’s head on the table. Sometimes this collective band of bloviators should say less when they have a lack of knowledge on a topic.
Shall we start with the Bhaskar dude who when he is at the meetings seems to be ever so condescending towards people. He explained AI to people. And has he heard about the people in Georgia with a Meta data center?
Yeah soooo they spoke in Tredyffrin about water issues with data centers tonight and where they can’t buy their clue is public or well water is it not true how it sucks up water?
And Tredyffrin glosses over power usage and again they can’t buy a clue there either. It’s astounding to listen to them. Do they not even realize that our electric rates are already affected by data centers? Do they not realize that data centers are not self sufficient with their own power generation?
Tredyffrin’s board chair waxes poetically about how wunderbar the Chester County Planning Commission is on data centers but are they? I think not. Just look at the crappy Penn Futures sample ordinance that they are whacking off to.
Chester County has a Democrat majority who suck up to Shapiro who wants data centers, correct? (I will answer the rhetorical question for you- yes.)
And then there is Hans the Mole, who is looking very much like Violet Beauregard this evening at this meeting. He had to opine about East Whiteland. Now I am less than thrilled about East Whiteland and the data center issue there, but Hans the Mole is factually inaccurate because when the data center issue came to East Whiteland initially is around 2018 (and it started even before that) and nobody knew about them. Even when things started to get busy in 2022 people didn’t know enough about them around the area.
So Hans likes his glass house apparently?
Anyway, if they think what the Chester County Planning Commission put out there is going to save them, they also should be looking to buy the Brooklyn Bridge.
And if Tredyffrin thinks a data center can’t be shoved into a corner of their township, they had better pay attention to a lot of their dying corporate parks, leftover industrial etc. Actually they can look into Montgomery County at Upper Merion, which really doesn’t have much room yet residents are fighting five or is it eight data centers there?
But hey, Tredyffrin tonight was talking about how they could make the building better if there was one? Priorities and maybe get that arts committee on it because do they even do anything?
Tredyffrin has a pretty large list of what’s wrong in their township, and data centers just got plunked on said list. And they really should get rid of that ridiculously dumb woman who does the zoning.
The data center. At this point, people are saying “which data center” because every time you turn around another municipality in Southeastern Pennsylvania, and all across the state are being faced with data centers.
And with few exceptions like our wonderful State Senator Katie Muth, so many elected officials are walking lock step with Josh Shapiro ruining areas one day to center at a time, aren’t they?
This post is primarily focused on the East Whiteland data center. But it’s an insidious problem. I’m going to share a video I found on Instagram from Missouri’s JeffCoHousewife on Instagram- she proved my point about this is just a real estate deal/development meaning data centers.
It’s the new warehouse, it’s the new condo development, it’s the new apartment building. It’s nothing about the good of the community, etc. etc. She also poses an interesting thing about how there the data center operators or want to be developers are packaging their scheme to the Republican majority that is this county in Missouri. That’s exactly what’s being done across the state of Pennsylvania only it’s being packaged for the Democrats, primarily. These data centers are just being packaged to sell, period. You could belong to the purple people eater political party and they would tell you why it was so fabulous for your political party and your constituents.
Let’s get real: they’re bad. Data centers aren’t good for anyone except the developers making money and then the data center operators making money. They suck our resources dry, they pollute our water, our land, our air. And if you want to tell me that it won’t affect real estate values in a community, maybe they should offer the Brooklyn Bridge for sale while they’re at it.
Now I have tons of questions about the data center in East Whiteland, but my voice isn’t the most important one. It’s the thousands of other people.
I will mention, however, that when this first started, I couldn’t understand why people in Malvern Hunt didn’t seem more concerned? I think that’s a question that I would ask board members of the homeowners association at the initial time this surfaced a few years ago, wouldn’t you? Which board members were on the board at the time this was initially proposed? Did the developer at the time a.k.a. Green Fig before Sentinel go meet with them? What was said?
Now, I’ve said before that the Green Fig developer is a glad-hander. His personal career roots are in sales and retail brokerage, correct? He described himself as a stock picker. See here:
Some brokers almost cringe at the term “stock-picker.” It can conjure up visions of reps with frayed nerves and churned accounts.
Not Charlie Lyddane.
“I’m not ashamed to admit that I pick stocks,” says Lyddane, a soloist at Legg Mason in West Chester, Pa. “It’s what a broker is supposed to do. My clients like that kind of help.”
Apparently so. Lyddane reports $1 million in production and $120 million under management. He’s been a broker for 19 years and has never been part of a team….With 400 clients and 1,000 accounts, Lyddane uses discretionary account management as a time-saving technique. “I can’t call everybody when I move stuff around. So I pick investments as I see fit.”
He also wants to tell you he’s a son of the environmentally, friendly, but is he really and remember when he ran for school board as an endorsed Republican?
Here’s an interesting quote from that Patch article years ago when he ran for school board:
Mr. Lyddane has lived in Great Valley School District for 15 years and has graduated two children from the District. A graduate of Union College in Schenectady, NY, Mr. Lyddane has a BA in History and also attended the Business School at Union. He started his career at Xerox. He was Vice President of Merrill Lynch and Legg Mason in West Chester for 23 years. As a real estate developer and investor in Chester County for the past 9 years, Mr. Lyddane has significant experience in budget development and implementation, as well as achieving strategic goals in a timely and cost efficient manner. He also has significant experience in Property Management….According to Mr. Lyddane, “When you are managing shareholder’s money, you must produce a product that is beneficial to those shareholders.
They are not us. They don’t get us and don’t care about us, do they?
Why not simply admit who they are and what they are about except they kind of did that at the meeting last week didn’t they? They were like if you don’t comply, we will make you comply, and if you’re bad, we’ll build a Walmart wasn’t that kind of the gist of it?
Then again, one of these East Whiteland Supervisors also told us who he was last week didn’t he? ⬇️
Nothing about this since at first began has felt normal has it?
Why should we have to deal with this and can we deal with this on an EPA super fund site that was polluted with lithium and more? And what good will the EPA prove in this given the fact that they have been gutted by the Trump administration? And then there is the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection our good old PA DEP? (Somebody explain to me what they do exactly that is substantive because as an adult I’m still wondering.)
I know, I know. The eternal conversation of what do you do with old super fund sites, but is a data center really it?
And neighbors have really worked hard to bring up valid points. And I’m going to turn it over to residents.
Listen to these people who I excerpted out of the whole meeting:
East Whiteland should say no to this giant expansion but will they? I think Peter Fixler the data center apologist will vote yes, I’m not sure about the other two votes just now, and it pains me to say that, but they have to decide whether they’re going to have the balls to say no to something or just capitulate?
And then there are the people that work at the township. My biggest area of concern lies with the assistant township manager. Her name is Catherine Ricardo. I haven’t interacted with her personally, but she always has concerned me. She came to East Whiteland from East Vincent Township where she was the township manager. I’ve always wondered why someone would leave a manager’s job for the underling’s job of assistant manager?
Note what I highlighted. Note her comment as a manager, saying once the zoning hearing board approved something they are locked in to that amount and nothing more. Yes, I’m paraphrasing, but you can read it yourself in the screenshot or the hyperlink by clicking on it. It makes you wonder why she could say that there yet they couldn’t say something similar in East Whiteland when Green Fig kept coming back to the pot for more porridge before even getting a shovel in the ground?
There’s also something about data centers being mentioned in 2022 if you read the same minutes.
There’s this old Parch article from way before then 2011 actually. About Pennhurst before it was sold I guess to the current owners? Read it and tell me if a familiar name shows up, or should I be more specific, a more familiar name sitting on the East Whiteland bench?
I will freely admit I think the Pennhurst site should be cleared of all of those buildings because it was literally a campus of horrors, but that’s not for me to say. What I don’t think should happen there is a giant data center. What I’m eternally curious about is if that land was supposed to be cleaned up because there are toxic issues there as well why hasn’t it been cleaned up and they’re talking about building a data center on top of it?
And whether we like it or not the whole data center issue in East Vincent is something East Whiteland needs to pay attention to in my opinion because East Vincent’s old manager became East Whiteland’s current assistant manager. Actually in the overall scheme of things it might be helpful if East Vincent data center fighters and East Whiteland data center fighters joined forces and then there’s Upper Merion and Limerick also facing giant data centers. And then we move upstate don’t we?
So everyone who says this is a NIMBY issue to people in each community facing this horror show needs to buy a clue. Data centers are being shoved into everyone’s backyard and isn’t that the truth? It’s not NIMBY. It’s everywhere and it doesn’t matter what political persuasion you are if you live in one of these affected areas, we’re all affected.
My final thoughts include still trying to figure out why it is that Green Fig got approved and never did anything except try to change everything after the initial approvals? I will also note that last meeting, Charlie Lyddane was uncharacteristically quiet and why was that?
Above is their proposed Valhalla, but that’s not the residents Valhalla is it? I mean it was former Supervisor Sue Drummond’s idea of Valhalla was it not? Did we ever send her a thank you note?
Aren’t we tired of these discussions of do the opinions of residents matter yet? When do our voices matter here? Do our voices matter?
I think because no one knows enough about data centers, they shouldn’t just be plugged into our communities. Why do we have to havethem? But who am I but a mere mortal and a female?
Along that vein, I will never understand as a plain old ordinary person a site that was a superfund site got approved for a nursing home or whatever that once proposed senior facility was could have the same zoning for a monster data center? Like many other things in involving this topic in East Whiteland, it does not compute.
Here are some links to recent media about the East Whiteland data center issue and other communities somewhat close by and a website that seems to be pure propaganda about data centers in East Whiteland:
