You know it started out like your basic hotter than hell day in Chester County yesterday. Then it got really hot in a particular township. Westtown Township to be precise.

It started when I was sent this message:

This is the current historic commission:

Now I have to be honest, Westtown Township has an enviable historic commission. They really work their tails off and I know they’ve been desperately trying to save the Darlington Inn.

Let’s chat Darlington for a moment. In 1843, David Taylor, who was a sculptor by hobby and a strong Whig supporter, carved Henry Clay’s face into the stone at Darlington. Henry Clay was the Whig presidential candidate in 1844.

So Taylor bought the house in 1843; he carved the face in 1844. In 1860 he also carved a likeness of his black dog, named “Lincoln” after the 16th president, who was then a presidential candidate. Now this is only part of the fascinating history.

Back to our present in Chester County. As we know, in late April and early May, there was like a big meeting and they put the zoning change for the Darlington Inn on hold.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/pennsylvania/crebilly-farm-darlington-inn-westtown-20260425.html

And before we get to that, there’s the endless curiosity I have with odd politics. So that new supervisor, Jodi whatever her name is? She’s been a supervisor for like six seconds and now she’s the chair? I watched her the other night. She can barely do a meeting. She needed a lot of handholding. Daddy instructs her constantly. Did she even finish that “supervisor school” new elected officials take?

However Jodi Nawrocki (I finally looked up her last name because I figured I really can’t refer to her as supervisor -Jodi -what’s -her -name) sure seems to have loved the Darlington Inn and the serpentine stone when she was running for office, didn’t she? so one would think she would be appreciative of a historic commission that was advocating for its survival and what not? But I do think that’s worth mentioning. So maybe it’s pertinent?

So how did she become instant chair of the supervisors in Westtown after just being elected? Was it like a cup of soup salt barf ramen noodles just add hot water?

Oh wait I forgot to mention something else. It seems like Westtown Township and Tredyffrin share the same solicitor? I find that very interesting if it’s true. I always find that crossover interesting don’t some of you?

Anywhooo….it seems at some point in June a Supervisor named Ed Yost resigned. He was moving out of Westtown so he literally had to. And when I was checking out this most recent meeting there seem to be a lot of contretemps about how a new supervisor was appointed. Someone named Frederick Manger. I also think he came from the historic commission and as the Saturday Night Live Church Lady would famously say “isn’t that special?” Also I have to ask the question is he a buddy of that one supervisor who’s like the cheese stands alone and is in control? So was this all by design even him going on the historic commission in the first place? And the supervisor who never seems to be able to leave Westtown might not like my questions, but there is nothing illegal about them

It is time for an intermission after a fashion before I circle back to what Westtown is actually trying to do to their current historic commission. Kindly allow me to give you a few snippets of the recent July meeting. I found them illuminating, fascinating, and like watching a municipal train wreck. I guarantee watching their meetings will create municipal gaper delay.

I hope you enjoyed the intermission or interlude, now it is time to go back to the whole historical commission thing. I posted the little screen message I got and I started getting other private messages from township cheerleader types:

Then an article came out yesterday afternoon in the Inquirer. A giant a-ha moment. Truly.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/pennsylvania/crebilly-farm-darlington-inn-historical-commission-20260714.html

According to the article, the message I was sent seems kind of true, doesn’t it? And someone else after I posted the message essentially told me that this was about the Darlington Inn. That’s what the article says too, doesn’t it?

According to the article, there’s also an email that went out to this volunteer board, saying basically the supervisors were going to vote on their removal forthwith and they were being told as a courtesy. Apparently this was all stated in some email shared with the paper that was from the township manager Liudmila (Mila) Carter (the one on the meeting recording who sounds like Yvonne from the Bullwinkle cartoon.) It seems as if there will be a public lynching at the next supervisors’ meeting, and that some upcoming historic commission meeting has also been canceled by the Westtown Township.

Oh, but if they really wanted to keep their volunteer positions, they could reapply for it. Needless to say no one in Westtown was available for comment to a regional newspaper. It seems when the article was being written again to quote the Church Lady “isn’t that special?”

And of course, none of this was supposed to get out in the public purview, but it has. Because when things are rotten enough, they can’t be hidden any longer, can they?

Now let’s go to the July meeting that I have the snippets posted up above. I don’t have the whole meeting up, but also with that meeting or maybe it was another one (I’m not really sure) the township solicitor suggested easements to help protect the Darlington Inn. Jodi with an “i” didn’t think that was a great idea. (This is all in the Inquirer article too by the way I’m not making this up.)

Isn’t it kind of fun that Jodi with an “i” had the Darlington in her campaign when she was running for supervisor but now that she is supervisor I guess she doesn’t think it has the same amount of luster because she didn’t want to add what the solicitor suggested?

Here is the entire July meeting- what the heck I will post it and hopefully it doesn’t disappear:

Here are their June meeting recordings:

So now I’ve set the stage right? There’s trouble in paradise in Westtown. In my opinion, it’s a very interesting political scenario over there. You have one supervisor with lots of experience like Wiley Coyote and two novices? (Yes, I can have that opinion. I figure I’ll get that out-of-the-way since I heard that Westtown supervisors can still be rather petty.)

Anyway, it makes you wonder about who really is the puppeteer here and why they really want to get rid of the historic commission? And I have to ask does someone in particular want the Darlington Inn gone in Westtown Township?

I can also tell you how some of the made up stuff that’s floating around and is not true.

My sources tell me that the purported sunshine violations are bunk. Apparently it’s stems from historic commission members who want to go to some historic preservation network dinner? They are being told going to a historic preservation event is a violation of the sunshine laws?

Are. They. Freaking. Kidding. Me?

A social gathering is not violating the sunshine law. Talk about desperados grasping at straws.

Here- think I am making this up? I have emails and this is what you need to see (below in light and dark because I don’t know which is easiest for people to see.)

And it’s something that can be obtained on a right to know it’s not anything privileged. These are emails from the township manager, who apparently is also the head of building and planning and zoning and how can she effectively be a manager of a large enough township and do that as well?

I mean, call me crazy but I have gone to those Westtown Day things at historic Oakbourne and the historic commission people are all always there talking about the history of that township. I mean it was because of them and talking to them about the wonderful history of Oakbourne Mansion that we chose to get married there. So is THAT a violation of sunshine law too?

In my humble opinion the answer to that is no. This isn’t a violation of sunshine laws at all. It’s just bull twaddle.

And appointing a new supervisor in private and having to correct it is kind of wild, right?

This is the kind of crazy town bullshit that causes things to go south in a township. Who will be the fall guy or gal when that happens? You would’ve thought that elected officials in this municipality would have learned when they had to be talked into saving Crebilly in the first place, right?

I hate to say it, but if you live in Westtown or you care about the Darlington Inn, it’s time to start storming the Bastille over there because there’s something really wrong happening. These yahoos don’t have actual cause to divest themselves of their historic commission. It would just be more convenient for them to load up a board full of people they can control, wouldn’t it?

So are people, residents, taxpayers going to allow this to happen or are they going to call bullshit on these supervisors? Maybe the supervisors are the ones who should all be replaced?

I mean it’s getting to the point people that you have to wonder what municipality has not lost its damn mind in Chester County, Pennsylvania.

A recap before I leave you, followed by a delightful array of screenshots.

Westtown Township residents need to get busy. As was the case with Crebilly, in my opinion, rather troubling times once again. Meet your supervisors who wish to cancel your entire historic commission over trumped up BS.

First you have the new gal who ran on putting residents first along with the sentimentality of the history including the Darlington Inn. She is being led around like a puppy in a leash training class by the old timer who is literally on and off of the board and can’t stay away, can he? And then there is number 3. Buds with the old timer, correct? Once on the historic commission (isn’t that special and how’d he come to get there?) they tried to slide him in behind closed doors June-ish, correct? Kind of stealth and why didn’t the solicitor stop it and correct it then? I mean a solicitor should know, right??? So then number 3 was adjusted in during the July 6 meeting, correct? That’s neat shoehorning CYA if politicians can get it, right? Well his bio was up and then it was down right? Caught an important snippet still showing on a Google search that disappears when you click on it.

So now these people wish to magically erase the ENTIRE historic commission on made-up stuff? Hmmmm there’s something rotten in Denmark err Westtown and it seems obvious right? Like it’s 0”politically motivated retaliation or retribution? And what is the township manager actually doing about it? Shouldn’t she and the solicitor stop hiding about this?

Enjoy the screenshots snippets which in my opinion are so illuminating:

A good residents’ to do list should include start filing right to know requests in Westtown again ASAP.

Start with ALL communications between the supervisors (including the one who recently departed), the township manager, and the historic commission.

Ask for everything under the sun surrounding the Darlington Inn.

Talk to those who fought to save Crebilly to see what they might have vis-à-vis information that could be helpful.

Start looking into ways that the State Attorney General’s office could look into this board of supervisors.

Start checking out who would be good to replace all of these people who are currently supervisors with. How are their ethics going with the current supervisors? Are they violating oaths of office?

Stand up and stand with the current Westtown Historic Commission, they deserve your support. Westtown residents you have to stand up and make some noise, and you should want to. This is pure, unmitigated bullsheit.

Stay cool.