Category Archives: government

oh goody another billboard application for east whiteland said NO resident ever….

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Too much? I don’t think so. How many of these GIANT ELECTRONIC OUTDOOR TV’s are supposed to light up our nights? We aren’t I-95. But now Outfront Advertising wants us to think so.

Yes, that is right, ANOTHER billboard application has been filed in East Whiteland Township. Another kill the trees for the Route 202 billboard. The application says 103 Feet East of Mill Lane.

To be clear, because I may not be being clear, this M-700 Application by Outfront Advertising AKA BILLBOARD COMPANY is to REMOVE and potentially unnaturally trim 150 year old sycamore trees not a brand new billboard per se. It FEELS like a new billboard because they are the successor owners to Catalyst. Catalyst had previously filed an M-700 with PennDOT after killing a slew of trees and then there was serious community uproar, and then before a decision was ultimately made if I recall correctly, the application was withdrawn and then the site flipped from Catalyst to Outfront.

This is next to a PARK and residents, as in real affected people. Like last time, it would be a heinous act with environmental, highway, and residential impacts. We are an area that floods now and badly with every heavy storm. Tree removal = more erosion and other impacts with stormwater impact. Overall environmentally this is bad and these are OUR heritage trees. Why do we have to lose more heritage trees in our communities for billboards? Scenic highways, would that be so bad? Less distractions, being more environmentally friendly?

East Whiteland Township is OPPOSED to this new application.

But East Whiteland needs your help, especially but not limited to residents. If you travel this stretch of Route 202 regularly, PLEASE take the time to contact PennDOT and CC: Scott Lambert, Chair of the East Whiteland Township Supervisors. I will provide some lovely email address I have looked up in a moment, but you can also report your concern via their Customer Care Center: https://customercare.penndot.gov/eCCC/eCCC.nsf

YOU MUST BE POLITE AND PROFESSIONAL, NO PROFANITY PLEASE.

Email addresses:

Scott Lambert, Chair East Whiteland Supervisors: slambert@eastwhiteland.org

Slifer, Joanne: joslifer@pa.gov

Altemose, Darren: daaltemose@pa.gov

Wilcox, Owen: owilcox@pa.gov

At the end I will embed the actual documents I received on a Right to Know. But now a word about billboards as an issue. EVERY SINGLE TIME the issue comes up, the knee jerk response is “get rid of all of the elected officials.”

It’s not that simple, people, and neither should any of you be when it comes to this.

And you know, as well as I do that things with development are not always so simplistic because of the municipalities planning code. Billboards also come in to play with that, because if Pennsylvania had a more strict or defined policy about billboards as a state, it would have a trickle down effect to local zoning, and Pennsylvania kind of looks the other way which is why I am FOR different State Representative representation here for example. State Representative Kristine Howard does not do much of anything and does not have a voice for her constituents. We now have Katie Muth as our State Senator and I don’t know enough about her to have an informed opinion. At this point other than from what I have seen, she does stand up for her constituency, depending upon the issue. Maybe she will show an interest in helping save communities against billboards, or one can only hope.


You all know how I feel about billboards. I’ve never made a secret of it and I’ve been parts of groups fighting billboards since billboards were first proposed around 2010 in Bryn Mawr on Lancaster Avenue.

When billboards first became an issue in East Whiteland, some of the community were all gung ho, and formed a no billboards group. But those people soon fizzled out and didn’t go to meetings they weren’t speaking up and it was just left to a few people. People are not consistent with participating where they live. And everybody has a different reason, but the thing is people have to pay attention to the meetings and the schedules and what’s being submitted and it’s all there as public information. With regard to township meetings you can also attend them on zoom from the comfort of your home. You don’t have to be in person anymore and if you can’t attend them on zoom, you can watch them after on YouTube but people have to participate. Consistently.

Part of the problem is that more residents need to get involved where they live — as in East Whiteland and elsewhere. We can’t blame government for our lack of participation where we live.


When these billboards first came up the threat of the expense of prolonged litigation was real (look at Haverford Township and Lower Merion for real world examples.) This was like the one billboard that the billboard guy really wanted, but he had proposed three, so it was either they were going to accept this one billboard and the other billboards would go away or there would’ve been three like this within a mile and a half to 2 miles. People will have to go back and look at the original submissions. (http://www.eastwhiteland.org/418/E-Whiteland-Outdoor-LLC-Off-Premises-Sig )

Now I will admit that I think they could have said no, but the township felt compromise was in everyone’s best interest. Of course we now know how obnoxious that sign is, so perhaps that sign can be revisited by PennDOT and East Whiteland?

Once again, I ask people to start bombarding state elected officials, including the freaking governor to update the Municipalities Planning Code to protect where we live. It requires them to enact an act of the state constitution to do this, and they’re all too damn lazy to do it and this has to be done in Harrisburg. We need a top down STATE law solution to SAVING our communities from billboard blight.

I just don’t want people throwing the baby out with the bathwater because not all elected officials are bad. And we need to come together on this issue for real. Again.

From 2020: Billboard Battle Rages in Bryn Mawr

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/billboard-battle-rages-in-bryn-mawr/2272642/

Here are the documents I have to share below. I am also sharing something from Scenic America. I don’t pretend to have the answers but please contact PennDOT. Time is of the essence. If you have media contacts, please impress upon them to cover this.

Saying NO to billboards IS possible. It doesn’t happen often enough, but it does happen. Phoenixville did it in 2012, remember? And a Chester County Judge upheld that decision in 2014. And special counsel to Phoenixville then is now a judge…Anthony Verwey. And Tredyffrin won their case this year saying NO to a billboard on Lancaster Avenue in Paoli.

https://law.justia.com/cases/pennsylvania/commonwealth-court/2023/1305-c-d-2021.html

Stronger together, people. Fighting billboards is not the purview of any political party. This is a non-partisan we live here but the billboard companies don’t live here kind of an issue. This is purely a We The People thing. Please stand up and be heard.

Together we can save 150 year old trees. Hopefully we can someday save our communities completely from billboard blight. But we can only do that as unified communities across Pennsylvania.

#billboards=blight

#nomorebillboards

#savethetrees

Phoenixville Says NO To Billboards
Judge-rules-for-Phoenixville-in-billboard-case-2014-–-Daily-LocalDownload
Letter-RE.-OAD-Permit-06-4133-03652775x9DAE0Download

9-13-23-email-from-Outfront-with-attached-M700-Application-03652749x9DAE0-1Download
scenic20america20billboard20fact20sheet1Download

the ultimate nancy drew mystery is ALWAYS politics

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Well it’s a good thing they can’t take away my choice for political party in Chester County, I suppose. Because I am of a mind to “tease out” some more…..it’s generally speaking not helpful for a woman to be a tease, but when it comes to politics, perhaps there are exceptions?

Let’s start with by laws. Local chapters of political parties are supposed to post them. The current Chester County Democratic Committee Secretary is Alex Teplyakov, right? This is the officer responsible for producing the by laws, correct? The NEW CCDC website does NOT post them, as a matter of fact the new website is so dumbed down third graders might take offense, but hey maybe that is me just taking issue with assuming the Democrats at large in Chester County are sheeple and will all do as their told. (Didn’t work so well for the Chester County Republicans when they were leading the county, did it?)

Anyway, anyway, there is the OLD website buried within the new website. I find that both sloppy and a goldmine. Let’s begin with the last publicly published by laws I can find from I guess 2019?

CCDC-Bylaws-April232019Download

So has young Alex Teplyakov ever actually published the current by laws? Are there current by laws? I mean what are the current by laws? I hear that is a burning question often asked all over Chester County by Democrats in various areas? Is it is a state secret? Are the by laws in witness protection?

So since the by laws are not posted any longer on the sparkly new dumbed down website is this a consciousness of guilt to REMOVE the by laws if they were already and previously posted? I am telling you this is indeed a Nancy Drew Mystery – The Mystery of The Disappearing By Laws

So was no longer having by laws on the new website voted on? Or were new by laws never actually voted on or approved? I got my paws on proposed 2023 by laws, but what did the state actually say and is the Chester County Democratic Committee actually adhering to what the state committee actually dictates? I mean isn’t this a case of what the state says goes? I ask because I do not know, hence the questions. So what did the state Dems actually say??

Here is this draft by laws thing from at some point this year I guess it was?

CCDC-2023-Proposed-BylawsDownload

Can we talk a smidge about these new proposed 2023 by laws that no one is quite sure are approved?

SECTION 3. General Disqualification. No person shall be eligible to hold any CCDC position who:

….b) has entered into an agreement with an opponent or opponent(s) of the Democratic Party to support such opponents;

….“ The County Chair and County Vice-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer need not be members of the County committee at the time of their election”

SECTION 3. County Chair. …… shall see that all orders, resolutions and the Bylaws are carried into effect and performed in a lawful manner…

….SECTION 6. Conflicts with Endorsed Candidate. Where an elected or appointed Zone Leader or Assistant Zone Leader believes that they cannot support a duly endorsed Democratic candidate for personal or professional reasons, that Zone Leader or Assistant Zone Leader shall resign their leadership position upon submitting a letter of resignation to the County Chair within ten (10) days after the Nomination Endorsement Convention where the candidate was endorsed. The Zone shall elect replacements of Zone Leader or Assistant Zone Leader in accordance with Article XI, Section 2.

~2023 draft CCDC By LAWS

Truck to drive through these, anyone? Go through entire document. One thing that is astounding is NO definition of “opponent”. Opponent could be the garbage collector. Ambiguities in this construed against the drafter, right? Could we not hypothesize then that some of the emails that have leaked out penned by Grandma Charlotte violates things and makes HER an “opponent” of the CCDC who needs replacing? (Hey kids, have at it, right?) So to my mind that charming excerpt in Section 6 basically means if you don’t endorse or campaign for who we want you to endorse you’re a goner? How is that legit, legal, ok with state Democrats?

Soooo…for the proposed by laws whom is the author? Is it the current CCDC Solicitor Elizabeth Swain?

I am of course wondering as are many how Ms. Swain can be the solicitor of the Chester County Democrats AND a committee chair? Shouldn’t it be she is either ONE or the OTHER but NOT BOTH? I am not a lawyer, and I don’t play one on the Internet BUT one I know said a lawyer can’t represent the client and also be a potential witness and what do people who know election law think or whom are lawyers? I mean isn’t that just kinda sorta an untenable conflict that doesn’t work?

One of the things bugging me is although the CCDC proclaimed THIS below on their old website, which kind of flies in the face of Grandma Charlotte’s new world order doesn’t it?

Chesco Dems are always looking for passionate, committed people to seek public positions. We recruit and train the highest caliber candidates and provide logistic support to their campaigns. As a Democrat, have you ever considered running for office? Or do you have a Democratic friend, family member, or neighbor who you think would be GREAT for one of the positions on this year’s ballot? We look forward to hearing from you.

Or at the municipal level, contact your local zone. Remember that municipal and school board positions often open up due to resignations, and then the seats are filled by appointment and/or at the next election, so it is good to be prepared.

OLD CCDC website https://ccdcdev.wpengine.com/how-do-i/run-for-office/

I mean they SAY they want people to run, but if you aren’t decreed okay by the controlling cabal then where are you? Example number one is a woman who SHOULD be on November’s ballot, Magisterial District Justice Paige Simmons. Ginny Kerslake also comes to mind, who is an amazing woman. She literally has everything they say they want, only she terrifies them essentially for having a brain and a spine and isn’t afraid to show it. Danielle Friel Otten also comes to mind, which is why they are perennially passive aggressive with her and always trying to primary her with temporarily bright shiny objects…err candidates. Or another recent example would be when Libby Madarasz was going to primary Theresa Hogan Santalucia in West Whiteland. No one else had stepped up, and it was enough to make Saint Theresa of West Whiteland come up with “health reasons” to not run again didn’t it? She would not have survived being primaried by ANYONE including Jo Ann Kelton who MAGICALLY popped up seeming like minutes after Libby Madarasz was going to run and said SHE was going to run for Supervisor in West Whiteland? Are we all that naiive that Ms. Kelton popping up was just a coincidence? I think not. I think that was contrived and I am allowed to have that OPINION, yes? Mrs. Madarasz yielded gracefully to Ms. Kelton who does have experience as a current Zoning Hearing Board, a former Planning Commission member, and a long-time committee person for the West Whiteland Democrats. But Ms. Kelton is in her 70s so will she have the stamina for being a Supervisor? Not my township, and hopefully she will be better that Saint Theresa, right?

Other things I am curious about are the values documents on old website, but not new. Is the committee in it’s current executive iteration actually living their espoused values?

2017-Chesco-Dem-Values-IssuesDownload
Values-Issues-summary-9-27-17Download

And why is there a new treasurer? I thought Ms. Baxter was doing such a wonderful job?

Look at this point, people could sit with a magnifying glass to Sherlock Holmes the Chester County Democratic Committee. It seems fraught with issues, doesn’t it? Kind of sad since they worked so hard to attain their majority?

Final thoughts? People are correct that politics did not cause Danelo Cavalcante to escape from prison. However, there are indeed potential political consequences.

I am but one woman, one voice. The Chester County Democratic Committe and their they can do no wrong cheerleaders have fingernails all poised to claw at me at every turn and why is it so bad to ask questions?

People, I do not pretend to know everything, but I am perennially curious about the inner machinations of politics. That is as American as Apple Pie. That’s how this country was founded.

Inconvenient Democrat, signing off.

oh charlotte, please…..

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Nothing like a good e-mail to get the juices flowing. I will leave this as it is. Y’all can decide if you will be Dumbocrats and sheeple and dig CCDC Chair Charlotte Valyo’s pretzel logic or will you stand up, look at your by-laws and ease your Grandma and her flying monkeys into party retirement?

What does the email say? I am including verbiage in case screen shot is not clear and Chesco Dems? “Bubble” well….:

From: Marcy Cornell office@chescodems.org
Date: Fri, Sep 22, 2023 at 3:35 PM
Subject: Retention Explanation
To: Marcy Cornell office@chescodems.org
Cc: Charlotte Valyo chair@chescodems.org

Dear CCDC,

I apologize for yet another email. I am receiving questions regarding retentions. Some information is being shared that is not complete nor necessarily factual.

1) Retention is not an election. Court of Common Pleas Judges are elected once, for a ten-year term. After ten years, they are placed on the ballot for retention. The purpose of retention rather than running again is to remove politics from the judiciary. Once elected, judges are to make decisions based on the law and facts, not on political affiliation or political views. There is no red or blue, they are to think black (robes). This process was written into the Pennsylvania Constitution to ensure the independence of our courts.

2) Judge Carmody and Judge Hall will both age out before their next term ends, which will open up two seats for us to elect our candidates. This also makes it unlikely either would run for a higher Court seat.

3) Judge Carmody and Judge Hall are not extremists but are moderates and have earned the respect of their fellow judges and the legal community. I have spoken with our Democratic Court of Common Pleas Judges, most of our judicial and county candidates, and Democratic attorneys in Chester County. All unanimously support both judges and have only positive things to say about both.

4) If these judges were not retained what would happen?

a. The Chester County Court of Common Pleas would lose 2 judges, burdening an already overburdened Court.

b. Governor Shapiro can appoint attorneys to fill judicial vacancies, but this requires approval by the Republican controlled State Senate. The likelihood that the Republican controlled Senate would vote to approve Democratic judges is very low. Therefore, we will either have no appointments or two Republican judges who could be and probably would be younger and much more conservative.

c. If two Republican judges were appointed, both would be running as incumbents in the next election.

5) Bubbling “No” for these moderate and respected judges diminishes the effect of our bubbling “No” in the future when more extreme judges are up for retention.

6) For statewide judicial retentions, the Pennsylvania State Committee is bubbling the Democrat up for retention as a “Yes” and the Republican blank.

7) Based on the information above and following the lead of the Pennsylvania State Committee, CCDC will not be bubbling in a recommendation for retention for the Court of Common Pleas.

Regards,

Charlotte

to be a democrat in chester county is like a game of project runway: you’re either in or you’re out

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Things I learned from the Prison Board Meeting yesterday: If you can’t be a rah-rah Democrat, keep your mouth shut.

News flash: I was an inconvenient Republican before this and you all liked me well enough most of the time except when you decided once in 2013 I was a Tea Partier.

I am who I am. So now the Chester County Democrats perceive me as public enemy number one for being essentially an inconvenient Democrat. Like I said before it takes me back to 2013 when it was declared I was a tea partier.

not my tea party

Yesterday I offered public comment at the beginning of the Prison Board Meeting in West Chester:

Well then when the rest of public comment rolled around up popped two ride or die Democrats who not only seemingly leave no room for independent thought as well as no room for anyone to challenge the machine, which was rather ironic considering who one of the speakers was and how she was treated in the past by this very county party and I supported her. That is kind of sad, right? I think so.

Now while I respect these women for speaking on what they believe to be true even if people disagree, I don’t respect misquoting me from the same meeting barely an hour before if that. And the passive aggressive “teased out” of it all made me laugh out loud and if I open my mouth for public comment anything, I do my homework ahead of time.

So I offered rebuttal. I do not like being misquoted or a victim of a sniper attack from other Democrats because they think people owe abject loyalty to political parties at all times no matter what even if that kind of makes something more of a cult instead of a functioning political party:

So I have been thinking about this. What does it mean to be a Democrat in Chester County if they attack you for being independent minded? Doesn’t that make them everything they said they wouldn’t be when they took majority in Chester County?

I point you back to JudgeGate from the spring 2023 primaries.

BREAKING NEWS: does the chester county democratic committee also eat their own young? or is this just vote how mommy told you?
grab your popcorn and meet the sacrificial lambs of the chesco dems, the “filing 5”

And speaking of JudgeGate will we have StateRepGate again next primary season? Seems like Grandma Charlotte erstwhile head of the Chester County Democrats is at it again? Just visit this website to see. Now this is a person who ran unsuccessfully for Downingtown Borough Council in 2015. She’s part of Mid Chesco Dems, AKA where some of Grandma Charlotte’s filing five came from when they did Paige Simmons dirty in May. (Which was withdrawn in June.)

CCDEM-thing-withdrawnDownload

So unlike others, I pay attention to whom decides to follow me on socials, especially if they are very chirpy. All of a sudden this new Chesco Dem was following. So I kept an eye peeled. And she is running for State Rep. She is a Democrat. She has headshots out there and then there is her Twitter handle and her friends announcing on message boards that she is running for State Rep. That would put her in Legislative District 155, or Danielle Friel Otten’s district.

It doesn’t take new math to figure out this chick has her eyeballs focused on Danielle’s seat, does it? It also doesn’t take much of a reach to figure Grandma Charlotte Valyo of the Chesco Dems must have her paws in this somewhere, does it? So they are gearing up for more Dirty Dems Primary Tricks Done Dirt Cheap, eh? And it’s not like they haven’t done this before, right? I will say sorry if I am wrong, but past being prologue and all say I am right, doesn’t it? We have recent shenanigans and then the others they have primaried against Danielle Otten like Rose Hogan Danese.

Oh and I mentioned JudgeGate in the spring primary, but there was another JudgeGate this summer wasn’t there? Something about just endorsing current sitting GOP judges? Kind of funny after they went after a fellow Democrat who is a Magisterial District Justice who was looking to run for Common Pleas in the spring?

And now this other thing related to that – a rumor of planning to do the sample ballot to the entire county on behalf of CCDC leaving judicial retention question blank? Supposedly local areas/zones are losing their minds because they want to vote NO on the Republican and Indie candidates there, because well Democrats are supposed to elect Democrats, and Republicans wouldn’t support a Democrat, etc? But Grandma Charlotte supposedly thinks this might still achieve retaining the Republican judges? Now to be honest, I have Republican judges I will vote for, but I don’t run the party and that is my personal choice as an inveterate ticket splitter, so Grandma Charlotte are you all there? Je ne comprends pas.

All this strife and controversy from within the Chester County Democrats since Grandma Charlotte Valyo took the wheel, isn’t there? Does she think it’s Phoenixville Country Club or something? She and her hubs were on the board during that whole space oddity of the bailout of that club once upon a time, right? I mean for what the bailout was, isn’t it still surprising that is not a public course since government monies from Schuylkill Township bailed them out? We the people and all that jazz?

The Chester County Democrats always SAY they are different from the GOP but when they do the same stupid tricks now that they are in power are they actually different? Inquiring minds want to know. Want to know what I think?

I think power always corrupts and political power is no different. I think with every leadership change with the Chester County Democrats there is not enough cleaning house of deadwood and the past people who made local paper headlines are still too involved in the running of the party and I am allowed that opinion. I think independent thinking is discouraged and everyone is supposed to walk lock step with whatever leadership is word salading that day, week, hour.

So am I surprised that the claws came out at me at the meeting yesterday? Nope. The Chester County Democratic Committee is like Project Runway: one day you are in, the next day you are out.

Obviously I am out. I was ok to Democrats as an inconvenient Republican, but I am not ok as an inconvenient Democrat. Thanks kids, duly noted, and perhaps Independent is in my future except then I lose right to primary voting.

But their nasty Project Runway behavior seems to be constant and can it be said only pet committee people and zone folks aren’t harangued? I point you to the pet squad of Mid Chester County Dems in particular. Freedom, fairness, opportunity is somewhat subjective with Grandma Charlotte, yes?

I am beginning to feel like the Chester County Democratic Committee want us to be like 1950s housewives: obedient and silent. Sorry doesn’t work for me. And aeresol hairspray isn’t environmentally friendly and went out with Barbara Hafer circa late 1980s- 1990s.

I have a theory. I think there needs to be new leadership with Chesco Dems and a housecleaning of old leadership hanging about. They have become so much like what they criticized and replaced that if that doesn’t happen, mediocrity will reign supreme. Without change there will not be growth. And Chester County Democrats need to grow away from all the current petty bullshit. And there is too much petty bullshit which comes from the top as acceptable behavior. They will have kittens over my opinions on this and I will get nasty comments, but so what? I became a Democrat because I thought they would actually live their mission and they are not. It’s that simple.

All Democrats are not welcomed equally is the clear message. Individuality is not welcome. And they tell their committee people whom they want endorsed. There really is no natural selection, it is pre-ordained.

And I am not letting the Republicans of Chester County off of the hook, either. Most of what CCDC is playing at is out of the age old playbook of the RCCC. It’s all stupid, kind of like their QAnon Princess West Goshen Republican Committeeperson Ada Nestor and her latest obsession: saying Chester County is a Sanctuary County. And also saying that Chester County Prison doesn’t work with ICE. The prison follows the law, they work with federal officials…they have to. And then there is the latest fakakta lawsuit. And the fact that they try to hide it, but still very much cater to extremism groups including those poorly disguised as suburban moms like it is totally normal for a soccer mom to show up at school board meetings in a gas mask, right?

I guess I am waiting for Chester County Democratic Committee and the Republican Committee of Chester County to stop acting like teenage mutant ninja turtles with vertigo and blindfolds. Both parties need work. But the Chester County Democratic Committee should be ashamed of themselves for becoming exactly what they said they wouldn’t when they attained their historic majority. Here’s an idea Chesco Dems: ditch current leadership and their gross and continual stupidity and try to keep your majority because after all, elections are also like Project Runway: one day you’re in, the next day you’re out.

Those who want to tell me how wrong I am? Save your breath. You will need it when I can say told you so, and that day is coming if you don’t get it together.

Ciao for now sports fans.

hey east whiteland residents are you aware the weston development on w. king road in west whiteland is marching forward?

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Hi it’s me, the development critic. Weston is selling on West King Road across from Johnson Matthey. This is in West Whiteland, JUST over the East Whiteland border quite literally. I have written about this before:

oh west whiteland, what is up with weston property on west king road?
oh no…. in west whiteland along w. king road

So there was a meeting last night in West Whiteland. Planning. The Weston Development came up again. If it wasn’t for a West Whiteland resident looking at the agenda because they were at another meeting last night, I would not have known Weston was up again and with a zoning change going to zoning with I presume planning approval.

weston-overdevelopmentDownload

Now I have not seen the property change hands as of yet, but there is the possibility the sale is through since Chester County seems behind in what they record almost always.

I am kind of pissy about this. Right or wrong.

One reason WHY I am pissed is I have been on zoom calls of other meetings involving this property in the past. I even contacted them in writing as did many others from EAST WHITELAND. As a COURTESY, you all should have let East Whiteland residents know. I know full well they know how to reach me, and if not me the peo in East Whiteland Township.

This plan will drastically impact residents of East Whiteland who live on roads off of W. King or who are in the many houses that pepper W. King Road in East and West Whiteland.

It would be common courtesy to let your neighbors know when ANYTHING happens with this property because ANYTHING that happens with this property or the acreage across the road being sold by Johnson Matthey WILL AFFECT MORE THAN WEST WHITELAND, correct?

There is quite the eco system on that property. Has a property search been done as to any special special like bog turtles which might reside there? How many and what trees will be removed and how large will the trees be? And any tree planting should NOT be developer specials lined up like for a firing squad (what Toll brothers does) and left to die.

Also, the neighbors want a traffic signal as in yes a light right there at the mouth of that development at King and Weston Way. Otherwise, NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO GET OUT. And speaking of not getting out, has West Whiteland been monitoring the intersection of Ship and King lately? They should. And the guy who zips around on W. King in the motorized wheelchair in the lanes of traffic with nothing reflective? They should pay attention to him as well, and get him like those big reflective triangles Amish buggies have. It’s terrifying to be on W. King with traffic with him zipping around like he is driving a car.

West Whiteland approving a development of this size is going to affect the neighbors in more than one municipality. I saw a reference in old materials about a neighbors’ meeting in 2022. I don’t recall hearing about that. Thankfully this development will only overload West Chester Area School District.

I feel East Whiteland is completely out of the loop on projects that they border with West Whiteland and other municipalities and this has to stop. Soon we will not be able to navigate around the area with the development approved in West Whiteland on Route 30 from the Laborers past but including Ship Road and east on Lancaster to the municipal border with East Whiteland. Oh and this latest developer seeking big bucks at the expense of Chester County residents has a very similar plan to this brewing in Willistown. They are from Blue Bell which I sadly remember the farms and open space there before the developers moved in.

I am pretty tuned in to what happens around here, and I was a little distressed to see this all moving forward without us lowly East Whiteland folks being clued in.

Also has West Whiteland forgotten the pipelines that run through this property? Still want people running uphill or whatever?

I go out of my way to try to get East and West Whiteland to communicate. It’s only COMMON SENSE. Yet here we are.

Like I said, I can’t stop this development but I will talk about it. West Whiteland will have conditions of approval on this project and respectfully, one of those needs to include A TRAFFIC SIGNAL as well as answers to environmental questions.

It’s nice they are saving the historic structures, but as is the case with a lot of these things, seeing will be believing.

When I lived in Lower Merion they would create resident email lists for development projects. Someone in planning and/or zoning would notify residents of actions on a particular plan. A lot of your projects don’t just affect residents of just ONE municipality, they also affect residents of bordering municipalities.

It drives me CRAZY that no one in Harrisburg wants to get off of their asses and do a comprehensive non-Band-Aid update to the Municipalities Planning Code (MPC), since hello the MPC drives our zoning. The last comprehensive update circa 1969 is what cause the first monster project to tear apart Chester County and blow up a school district: Chesterbrook.

It drives me CRAZY that municipalities that border each other and often have similar issues act like independent island nations. When there is collaboration there is often greater success. And West Whiteland and East Whiteland had success, great success years ago over what Rouse had planned for Church Farm. More recently, residents banned together to stop a hydrogen plant.

Development rant over. For now.

warehouses proposed at a historic site…in limerick, montgomery county…crucial public meeting tuesday, september 19.

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Limerick Township and mega freaking warehouses.

It’s an epidemic. This is being proposed on a historic site in Montgomery County in Limerick and there’s a meeting tomorrow and I guess they broadcast live on Facebook as well.

https://www.limerickpa.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_09192023-534

Just a crazy idea, but perhaps people should tune in to this meeting, because apparently a lot of us across Southeastern PA have a similar issue, and the more people who object to these warehouses the better off, we will all be.

It’s on the agenda as the Limerick Commerce Center (#23-05) Possum Hollow Rd

And I quote…

Location: Possum Hollow Road 
Review Phase: Preliminary Plan

CB Limerick LLC proposes to subdivide the 117.9 Acre tract fronting W. Lightcap Road into five lots and construct four storage facilities totaling 1 Mil SF and one 30,000 SF and one retail space with associated loading, parking and stormwater facilities. The project also proposes to construct private road connecting W. Lightcap Road (at the light at the Philadelphia Premium Outlets) to Sanatoga Road. Project will be serviced by public water and sewer.

This is being proposed by I think some people from New York. A subsidiary of the Iconic Group (whomever they are.) I will note as a related aside to Chester County residents that apparently the old Saint Gabriel’s Hall is something Audubon has their paws in.

And Limerick isn’t that far from the Chester County border and there is a lot of development being planned there. It’s pretty frightening but it’s also Montgomery County, which is where the head of Chester County Planning Commission hails from – and you know I think Brian O’Leary is a carpet bagger and too pro development.

So back to Limerick. What is so atrocious is once again a historic property is at risk because of a mega warehouse plan.

Eastern Pennsylvania
Preservation Society: Hood Mansion

Hood Mansion located in Limerick, PA was built in 1834 by John M. Hood, an Irish immigrant.  He built it as a summer home for his wife and his thirteen children.

The Hood’s son, Washington, was the 500th graduate of West Point in 1827. He then went on to become Captain of the Corps of Topographical Engineers in the US Army and mapped out most of the Oregon Territory and Northwest. After he died at the age of 32 of Yellow Fever, his father erected a monument in his honor. The monument is still located on the estate, as well as the original family crypt.

The Hood Mansion would be demolished. It would be replaced with mega warehouses. So this beautiful historic structure with ties to national, local, and cultural significance with a retaining pond would be lost forever along with more open space. Please note the Hood family also advocated and helped enslaved persons reach freedom during the Underground Railroad. So there is that too.


This is not a structure to just be bulldozed and forgotten…. this is just as horrible and egregious as what’s being proposed for Lionville Station Farm and Happy Days Farm in Chester County.

All of these pieces of land have historic import. And while we can’t save every old house, there are some we should just save. And the way Hood is being left at present to rot is just as bad as Lloyd Farm in Caln. Why can’t we ever have adaptive reuse in part with any of these proposals? It’s just demolish and build and it’s like mega warehouses have become the new apartment building plans. They’re all bad. They all suck. They’re not anything to do with our communities or the people that live there let alone our history.

In Southeastern, Pennsylvania is seems any open space with serious history that isn’t being turned into ugly ass apartment buildings and townhouse developments is being proposed for mega warehouses now.

I swear I used to think it was just Chester county where we had to band together. I think we have to band together in multiple counties.

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
PUBLIC MEETING
19 SEPTEMBER 2023, 7:00 P.M. – LIMERICK TOWNSHIP MUNICIPAL BUILDING

646 West Ridge Pike, Limerick, PA 19468

I don’t usually curse in my posts but this is bullsh🤬t. Just like Lionville Station Farm and Happy Days Farm.

Proposal for Limerick Commerce Center on Possum Hollow Road Advances

And I have seen zero real media coverage of Hood Mansion. There was something on Patch and a rah rah on Montco Today.

Proposal for Limerick Commerce Center on Possum Hollow Road Advances

#saveHood #savethishouse #savethisoldhouse #thisplacematters

just. too. much. development.

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Development in West Whiteland – Route 30 to Ship Road and down both sides of Ship Road. Bad, dense, not even particularly affordable- just another bunch of Tyvec wrapped cram plans.

The development from various predatory developers in this area heads east until it practically hits East Whiteland. Then you proceed to Easttown and Tredyffrin all the way down to Radnor Township.

Too much, too dense, cheap, fast build and rather pricey. Nothing affordable. This is stressing our infrastructure including the human variety, and squeezing our school districts to a breaking point.

Wherever you live get active in your community. Make elections have a focus on all this overdevelopment from local to state to federal elections. Start talking about the Municipalities Planning Code of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It hasn’t been updated comprehensively since 1969…and one of the things that first got built THEN was Chesterbrook.

I put together a small reel. Pictures speak louder than words. Be horrified because progress shouldn’t hurt our communities and that’s what is happening.

Thanks for stopping by.

monday thoughts

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I can’t take credit for this. I was having a conversation with a friend of mine this morning, and this came up.

Elections are coming and we get the government we deserve.

What does that mean? It’s pretty simple actually.

There are plenty of bad candidates on both sides of the aisle that shouldn’t be elected to any level of elected office. But people talk a good game, and then they don’t go to the polls. Or they vote how they are told by their particular political party.

If you want better government, we need balance. And in order to get balance, it means you can’t depend on political parties (and candidates) shoving sample ballots, even illegal sample ballots under your nose, you have to do your own research.

So do your own research. And if a politician sounds too good to be true a lot of the time they are and then there are the charlatans. I won’t mention any specific charlatans, but you know I have a couple in mind. (They are Chester County Republicans.)

And if you are a Democrat in Chester County one of my favorite charlatans is named Charlotte. Charlotte Valyo who is the current bad chair of The Chester County Democratic Committee. Now the irony is that they have this thing on their website:

We’re fired up and ready to go! We’re your friends, family and neighbors who are empowering voters and grassroots supporters. We’re fighting for a brighter future for all Americans, and organizing in every corner of our great county. Join us!

~ Chester County Democratic Committee

And yes, at present I am a registered Democrat. However, that above is a large load of happy horse shit. They only want you to do what they want you to do. They don’t want grass roots. They don’t want independent candidates they don’t even want current elected officials who are independent minded ….and yes Charlotte we KNOW what you’re up to.

The Chester County Democratic Committee also now that they are the party in control of the county seems to specialize in dirty tricks, especially in primary season, but you have to pay attention all year long. And I think what needs to happen is you need to cut off the head of the snake and get rid of the deadwood that is still hanging around that are former snakeheads that have been cut off. So Charlotte and others need to go.

And I’m not letting the Republican Committee of Chester County off the hook either. On their website they proclaim:

Making the rights of life, liberty and 
the pursuit of happiness a reality for all.
~ Republican Committee of Chester County

So the Chesco GOP is all for rights, but they support the rights of people who think our rights are subjective. They have committee people who are constantly promoting incorrect conspiracy theories on the Internet. They cater to extremism groups and they don’t vet their candidates and they can’t even find good candidates. So half of the reason I can’t support a lot of their candidates even if I was a Republican, is I do not feel that my inalienable rights are subjective.

INALIENABLE RIGHTS. All persons are born free and have certain inalienable rights which include the right of pursuing life’s basic necessities, of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties, of acquiring, possessing and protecting property and of seeking their safety, health and happiness in all lawful ways.

We are a country designed on a two party system. This whomever gets all the toys wins is not working for anyone. And the way the Chesco Dems are acting while in control is the way the Chesco GOP acted when they were in control.

So how do we the literal people win? Do your homework. Check out candidates on your own and remember off year election cycles are important because it lets starter politicians you don’t want in office anywhere get in the door of local school districts via school boards…you know like the fake professor in the DASD? (Gosh what pejorative term will he attempt to attach to me this week for mentioning but not mentioning him? Can’t wait!)

Don’t be afraid to split your ticket because as a country, we were designed as a two party system and until we achieve balance, we are going to continue to achieve free fall.

Do your homework. If any of us continue to vote the way we are “told“ we all get what we deserve. Dare to be different. You don’t have to tell anyone. They don’t have hidden cameras watching you fill out your ballot or when you’re in the booth.

Happy Monday.

the obstacle course survived the zoning stuff in west vincent for non-profit events?

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Trying this again. THIS is a share of a public post from a public Facebook group or page. I can SEE this is a nonprofit event. What I do NOT understand is why events are still happening here? I thought this site was not wanted by residents and went to court etc?

West Vincent has such inept and incompetent supervisors it is worth asking, isn’t it?

People who left comments, Facebook removed the post although I was sharing from a PUBLIC post etc. I did not remove the post. I can’t figure out why since it was certainly not controversial.

https://casetext.com/case/martin-v-zoning-hearing-bd-of-w-vincent-twp

https://www.facebook.com/groups/AllThingsChesco/permalink/3129382780696767/?mibextid=S66gvF

And while we are at it can we ask why Facebook is on crack this morning? A public post was shared, and comments were not deleted OR heated. People were telling me how non-profit events were allowed. I was trying to understand how this happened because last time I heard about this place, neighbors were up in arms and packing meetings.

The question was in the area of follow-up on a place and issue I forgot about. So according to people who have been to non-profit events there in recent past, it seems that those kind of events are somehow allowed?

I was curious hence the question. Can’t see the place from my house but when you remember how upset neighbors were and then after a long time you see the place pop up it’s natural to ask how did that happen.

But because we couldn’t have a normal and civil conversation on Facebook, I decided to post it here. Their algorithms are fakakta.

post cavalcante: all that remains is arm chair quarterbacking and a need for answers

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Source unknown but thank you for the photo.

Danelo Cavalcante is now in custody. 14 days later. Finally. Thankfully. I have included this morning’s press conference. The AP has a great video, with other footage before the presser.

I will start with Governor Josh Shapiro. It was right for him to be here for this. But he mentioned in his remarks Chairwoman of the Chester County Commissioners Marian Moscowitz. But where has Marian been during all of this? We didn’t hear from her. We didn’t even hear from Congresswoman Chrissie Houlahan on this situation until yesterday because of this. State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens however is kind of a cool dude I think. Talk about consistent grace under pressure and unwavering faith. I would totally like to shake his hand. And I say that as someone who was critical because this was insane.

The press conference begins at the 14 minutes and 8 seconds mark there abouts.
Earlier AP footage here also interesting.

Sorry not sorry, it still bothers me whom we didn’t see and didn’t really hear from. Disappoints me. Makes me question things. Someone said to me today that they were not sure how well the Governor thought of county leadership after this. Interesting perspective, no?

And when we are talking law enforcement, Chester County Sheriff Fredda Maddox who is also on the board of the Chester County Prison was noticeably absent. We saw sheriff candidate in the presser line up today. Not impressed by him. Fired from DA’s office, he sues Deb Ryan and DA’s office, and goes across the hall or whatever in like a couple of weeks to the Sheriff’s office and now he wants to be Sheriff?

It’s one of those pretzel logic things with Chester County Democrats and Grandma Charlotte’s merry band of whatevers: they endorse District Attorney Deb Ryan for Judge, she becomes a candidate after the primary, yet the guy who sued her and her office is the candidate for Sheriff? Like I said: Pretzel Logic. Which of course is another reason why it’s time for Grandma Charlotte to retire. The CCDC has become kind of what they replaced, which is well, ironic.

As far as “county row” and who is on the prison board we heard from Josh Maxwell and Deb Ryan. And frankly I think the Chesco Democrats kind of left Deb Ryan twisting in the wind during this and I think that was wrong.

I took MAJOR crap from some connected depending upon how the wind blows Democrats. I mention the wind because that is kind of how I see the Chester County Democrats leadership these days. It’s like they lick their fingers and hold them up to see which direction the wind is blowing. I got this whole lecture about how the sheriff serves on the prison board and the county runs the prison and the chief deputy sheriff does neither.

Why my goodness Watson, I never knew. (Yes heavy sarcasm.)

BUT the prison board has a lot to answer for here. People on the prison board are up for re-election, and new elected positions. It would have been *HELPFUL* if we had seen the literal whites of their eyes for REASSURANCE while this was going on. That’s not to say I want someone like Republican Candidate Dave Sommers as a Chester County Commissioner. I do not. He is not qualified and is a guy who likes to run for things and right or wrong gives off Eau de Smarmy. He is kind of like the “Professor” running for DASD school board who called me a racist for mocking him as a person also of Italian heritage. Ick factor runs high. Sorry not sorry. For digressing. Not for my opinion.

Then I was told as a currently registered Democrat I essentially shouldn’t question leadership etc etc. EVER. That I shouldn’t point fingers in a “heightened political atmosphere.” I mean REALLY? Escaped murderers are inconvenient for Chester County politics much? The only people you ever saw occasionally making comments during the past 14 days were indeed IMHO kind of being left to hang out and blow around. I don’t think that is right. Suffice it to say, politically this is interesting because it could actually cost Chester County Democrats their leadership. I think that is why we had governor sightings.

I am entitled to this opinion. Tough noogies. And I am not alone.

And win or lose in any situation, there is a thing called accountability. Something quite a few Chester County politicians from both parties and CCDC party leadership in particular need to embrace. A friend said along those lines, a chair of any organization has to lead by example. It isn’t about purity, it’s about walking the walk, not just talking the talk. It can’t always be oops we did it again, right? And win or lose in situations like this or elections, be accountable. You have all these county row folks and more in he middle of this prison mess. And a lot were invisible to the residents of Chester County while this was going on. And how about those who have received the CCDC nod, AKA endorsements? Why don’t endorsements require the quid pro quo of serving at least a full term before seeking the next office?

Now there are LOTS of questions now about Chester County Prison. And the problems here obviously didn’t just begin, so then is it fair to say, there is plenty of political blame to go around? So Republicans past and present, you are not off of the hook, either, are you? Does Chester County need to talk about the LAST two wardens? And how will they conduct a search for the next warden? Or will it be the interim guy? Here is the last prison Board Meeting August 30, 2023…you know the day BEFORE Cavalcante escaped:

Prison-Board-Meeting-08.30.2023Download

The NEXT Prison Board Meeting is coming up. Wednesday, September 20, 2:30 PM. Location is given as the prison. I would *HOPE* this would be a zoom available meeting but I don’t know.

With regard to the prison, escape should be topic #1, right? And will we get answers to May escape as well? Because let us not forget, the May escapee, escaped another time in 2019, right?

so chester county prison, is it new math with the igor bolte escapes?

Of course in Brazil, Danelo Cavalcante is apparently a folk hero to some who don’t like Americans. (Read this article.) That irritates me as much as the ridiculous immigration political wars on social media the past 14 days. Not to be a bitch (but I will be), Cavalcante entered the US in 2018 under the watch of Donald Trump the great border bore.

Yoda is awesome! Unknown source for photo.

And the people who have taken issue with the law enforcement posing for a photo when Cavalcante was captured. Get over yourselves.

They worked their asses off. They kept us safe. Those guys from Texas were the bomb and the others from all other areas of state, local, and Federal law enforcement. You think this was terrible to take a damn photo of something they will remember for years to come? Personally what I think is unforgivable is you all can’t sit down and say THANK YOU.

Video courtesy of Deanna Durante

I will not lie, I lost faith in this process many times while it was occurring. It took a long time. In every area he was sighted, I have friends. I have family in law enforcement and friends. None that were on this detail, but undoubtedly they knew folks who were. This was like every FBI series or SWAT series we have ever watched on TV ….. only it was in our back yards. I found myself frustrated a lot because every damn night we went to sleep hoping tonight was the night, and we woke up and nope he was still on the run.

My husband was one of the ones who helped me see it differently. He said to me day 1 that Danelo Cavalcante was like a feral animal. Not trained in anything other than survival. He rested mostly during the day, and moved around at night. The heat made thermal imaging stuff difficult. Thunderstorms made it difficult for helicopters and planes.

Another issue is we were starved for information. We were not getting a lot at times from the normal channels. The notification systems were spotty until the call and text today that said he was apprehended. Then we had almost oversaturation when we had the convict chasers, who are like storm chasers. Then we had people glued to their You Tube broadcasts, who would simultaneously chide me for sharing and then tell me every bad thing they could dig up on these guys. It was kind of exhausting.

We will all sleep well tonight. Say thank you to those men and women who patrolled and searched and hunted for 14 days. Yoda the dog deserves a big old steak. As a matter of fact, the reward money? Can it go towards the K-9s who were on the job these past two weeks? And speaking of K-9s, one of the things I liked about Governor Shapiro’s remarks were his comments about the value of K-9 units.

Now I will share the GoGundMe someone established for the children of the poor woman murdered by Danelo Cavalcante. Her name was Déborah Evangelista Brandão. (FOLLOW THIS LINK TO REACH GoFundMe.)

I will note the person who sent me the link was rather passive aggressive in their chiding that I did not share the GoFundMe immediately. I did not wish to do it while they were hunting Cavalcante. I wanted to wait until he was back inside. But you know with some people I am just supposed to do what they want when they want or whatever like I am their damn employee.

The one sad thing is this manhunt and situation brought out is the missing common sense in people and those who need to be in the spotlight for stupidity. People joy riding around all of the police check points. One of the best things was watching people decide to just do what they wanted at police check points and road blocks and the police stopping them….all while the You Tube guys were recording. You know them, the ones who think “road closed” is for other people. This time they got their asses turned around and/or slowed down for their misplaced sense of entitlement.

I get it, nerves are still frayed after this. But seriously people, now that it is over can we concentrate what needs fixing politically and in that prison so this never happens again? More people could have died, and didn’t and we should be grateful. And I say that as someone who was over this by like day 3.

Last words? Cavalcante is now PA Inmate QP8931. Here’s hoping his public defender sits the freak down and doesn’t appeal what is not appealable. The Office of the PA Attorney General will investigate and prosecute the escape as per a press release. Can we HOPE he will BE IN JAIL IN A STATE PRISON when they do the whole escape charge preliminary hearing? Can we hope the investigation into the prison will not be a fluffy thing but a real hard look into what goes on there and what has gone on in the past and answers as to WHY the prior warden was put on administrative leave in the first place and more? That is what is important people, not being a bunch of little bitches about a law enforcement photo this morning.

And Yoda the dog? You rock can I buy you a nice steak or bully bone?

Good night folks.

Another wonderful photo, origin unknown but thank you for taking it.