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the 19035: they can’t just let *anyone* in…

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I’ve written about Gladwyne, PA before. It was the first place we lived when we moved to the Main Line many years ago when I was a kid.

When I was a kid, it was truly a magical unique place. Then like the rest of the communities on and off and adjacent to the Main Line who suffered from Main Line-itis or wanna be status, they believe their own press releases at this point and it’s time for them to go talk to Vanna and buy an overpriced clue.

As an adult, I have been in and out of Gladwyne for years because my parish church was there growing up, and I have had many friends who have lived there and still live there.

It has only in the recent past come to pass that not very many of my friends are either involved with the civic association there or in leadership positions. I mean, I can’t think of how many years in a row dear friends were either president or a vice president or on the board of that civic association. As a matter of fact, I was around when they started their Facebook group and was one of the early people invited to join it.

So as the people whom I knew moved on and new people filtered in, you started to notice a big difference in Gladwyne Civic Association, and even in their Facebook group. I noticed that in spite of big issues going on there locally with different things the page was getting dumbed down and seemingly sanitized?

For example posts about the 19035 Madoff types (convicted and jailed felons Josh Verne and Scott Mason) although news for right there were removed. I mean they couldn’t possibly admit they were taken in by their schtick, right? And what about Christopher Hogg from a couple of years ago?

Then other posts would also appear that made me laugh literally. One of my favorites was the person who posted an outrage about why wasn’t someone picking up their horse’s poop when they went down the road? When I saw that post I instantly flashed back to when the sound of horses on the roads of Gladwyne was the rule rather than the exception.

And gosh how would these current 19035-ers have reacted to the mid 1970s burglar nicknamed the “Fat Cat Burglar”? Yup look it up. 1974 and 1975. Victims included Ruth Junkin, J. Permar Richards, Walter Pew, E.R. Fenimore Johnson.

Does the Junkin name ring a bell to any of these people? Or do they realize that was the last name of the little old lady who sold her estates that would become a lot of what became Waverly Heights and once we used to visit the horses on her property? Were they aware of the crazy battle that ensued over the former estate of the late Ruth Rea Junkin circa 1983 to build Wobbly Heights? It was known as the “Junkin Tract” although the property had originally belonged to her late father, Samuel Rea, who had been the president of the Pennsylvania Railroad and built the mansion still part of the property today in 1914? Did they know about all of the crazy accusations of all sorts of things like political lobbying and the criticism of the late Commissioner Howard West whom as the Realtor brokered the deal I guess? And that was definitely true because he was my parents’ next door neighbor back then. (FYI you can read about this in the archives of the Main Line Times and Philadelphia Inquirer.) The initial 53 acres that would become Waverly Heights was approved by Lower Merion in May of 1984.

Or remember Kurt Davidyan who went from social butterfly and having the Real Estate firm Davidyan and Nichols in the basement level of the building that housed PNC Bank and Gladwyne Pharmacy to umm his 2004 fall from grace having to do with fraud charges?

Are people allowed to remember the house that blew up on Dodds Lane in 2019?

Of course, the latest scandal in the 19035 that they definitely don’t want discussed is what will happen with the historic village of Gladwyne? Will it be Yasswyned? So as related to that, I posted a couple of weeks ago a simple question in the Gladwyne Civic Association Facebook page: I wanted to know if there was a link to the Zoom recording of the recent Lower Merion HARB meeting that people could watch? I got a roundabout non-answer answer from the new commissioner who used to be involved with the civic association Facebook page and the civic before he was elected commissioner for Gladwyne.

And then came a message:

Ahh I see.

I responded back to him that I didn’t understand his message basically because I’d always been a member of this group and I lived in Gladwyne as a child.

It was utterly ridiculous to receive such a message. Also worth noting is I am hardly the only one in that group who doesn’t live in Gladwyne. They’re quite a few people who never lived in the 19035 including a woman from upstate New York who now lives in Malvern, who will never live in Gladwyne.

I still think it is because I asked an uncomfortable question for some. Of course that question shouldn’t have been uncomfortable because it was pretty basic. I mean, what’s the big deal about the HARB meeting? It’s like when someone had posed a question months ago about who bought the buildings, and I didn’t actually know who was behind the limited partnership or whatever it is, but I posted the public real estate record showing the transaction and that comment was removed and why? It wasn’t even posted with particular comment. It was just the public record so what was the big deal? Was it a secret?

So after I responded to the guy, I never heard anything for I guess more than a week. I’d forgotten about it because I just thought the whole thing was stupid and then came the messages I received yesterday:

Oh my gosh, oh golly, he threw me out of the gated community of 19035! Yet he wants my support? Huh?

He is one of the new co-presidents of the watered down Gladwyne Civic Association has thrown me out of the Gladwyne Civic Association Facebook group, which again I’ve literally been in since it was started. At the end of the day I’m amused by this. He’s a jackass. Yes, that is an opinion.

Yes, I told him off. And it’s not because I am in one less Facebook group. It’s the principle of the matter. And I did mention to him that I’ve been contacted by lots of people who currently live in the 19035 because they feel that the Civic Association is doing a whole lot of nothing when it comes to protecting the community and it’s historic character. I think that’s worrisome. Also worrisome? They’re so concerned with their appearance in a Facebook group that they are not actually encouraging public discourse on anything meaningful and why?

So essentially he is like treating Gladwyne like it’s a big HOA and I’ve been tossed out of the gated community 🤣

So yes, I’m apparently banned from the 19035. Whatever. Better lock up the gates right?

The last word is most simply put keeping me out of a Facebook group because I asked a question that made some people uncomfortable for God knows what reason isn’t going to stem the tide of questions or concerns about a modern day robber baron coming to the historic village center will it?

And at the end of the day, my opinion remains the same. I have zero objections to adaptive reuse of historic structures and restoration. It’s the whole make it like a stilted nouveau Main Line Peddler’s Village and messing with the zoning that raises concerns and why is it bad to show concern? And they haven’t revoked the First Amendment yet so I can have those opinions.

It’s not just about opportunity, it’s about community. Community means many voices, not just what some want scripted.

r.i.p. pennsylvania state police corporal timothy o’connor

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Photo courtesy of
Honey Brook Township Supervisor
Valerie Shultz

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

May God be with you and bless you;
May you see your children’s children.
May you be poor in misfortune,
Rich in blessings,
May you know nothing but happiness
From this day forward.

May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home
And may the hand of a friend always be near.

May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.

wcu frat rats: give the bricks back

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Screenshots from Daily Local

So if you were part of Greek life in college, and I was, you know that pledge classes of fraternities have certain rituals they are responsible for completing. And that is not necessarily one and the same, but can be part of things that people would categorize as hazing…. especially if the task at hand is not completed.

According to Bill Rettew of the Daily Local, fraternity members are stealing bricks out of the historic sidewalks of West Chester University. This is based upon an interview with local residents:

Bricks mysteriously missing from West Chester’s sidewalks

Here is an excerpt:

Why are the historic bricks from the borough’s brick sidewalks disappearing?

Are they wearing out and not being replaced, stolen to replace those bad bricks by neighbors, or according to one neighbor, part of a long-time West Chester University fraternity hazing ritual, or is something else happening?

Sean Barry lives in the Southeast region of the borough where most of the students who rent live, and the fraternity houses are located. His bricks mysteriously started disappearing from his sidewalk.

He returned from his honeymoon to learn from the borough that he was responsible to repair and replace the bricks or face a fine…..The damage was widespread and the sidewalk bricks or pavers are no longer made. Barry sought an estimate and was told by a professional contractor that the bill would come to between $10,000 and $13,000 to repair his sidewalk. A simple Google search shows that several contractors will repair or replace brick or paver sidewalks for thousands of dollars.

Barry spent 11 hours repairing the sidewalk himself, with the aid of a friend. The thefts continue and bricks are currently missing from Barry’s sidewalk.

Barry witnessed a young male removing a brick from his sidewalk. He confronted him and asked the youth why he was removing the brick and was told that he was a member of a West Chester University fraternity and it was part of the pledging process and he had to collect a number of sidewalk bricks to fulfill a “quota.” The alleged student would not give his name or the name of a fraternity to Barry….Elizabeth Nebel lives on South Walnut Street. She sees some neighbors paving the bricks over with concrete and wonders if it is because of the thefts, and if consequently, West Chester will lose some of its charm.

Barry agrees.

“The bricks are a big part of the town,” he said. “It’s part of the charm.

“But brick by brick we’re losing what makes West Chester special.”

Barry said that he’s happy to live in the Southeast.

“We know it’s a select few and most are good neighbors,” he said. “I’m good to have students as neighbors, but the density comes with unique challenges.”

Now, when I read through the article, I noticed that West Chester University was kind of playing Pontius Pilate. Look that’s somewhat typical for schools with a big off-campus population. They say they can’t be responsible for their kids, yet they are, aren’t they?

And the fraternities’ national organizations are also responsible for their charges. It doesn’t take much to look up the fraternities currently active at West Chester, and not even includes ones that aren’t officially recognized. Sometimes fraternities are also suspended, I don’t know if they list them on West Chester‘s website or not. West Chester also maintains documentation of recent or relatively recent issues within their Greek community so to speak as far as hazing and what not. I also found this report- https://cm.maxient.com/chtr.php?WestChesterUniv

So these bricks levitating from sidewalks around the Borough of West Chester near the fraternities isn’t like typical hazing per se, but I am sure it is part of some initiation process. Now it’s relatively harmless if you take it at its face, except it’s destroying historic sidewalks.

As a historic town, West Chester will have lots of visitors, undoubtedly during America’s 250 celebration this summer. If you were “Greek” in college, please look at the attached list of organizations pertaining to Greek life with chapters on this college campus please contact your national organization an please ask them to ask the students to just knock it off and return what they’ve taken.

All of these organizations have service projects that they generally do, and a lot of times they do it right in their local communities where their chapters are located. It would be really nice to return the bricks.

sometimes a no thank you means no…

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So I am what you call a BloomBox OG. I have literally been their customer since they started, which off the top of my head was around 2016.

https://lancasteronline.com/business/local_business/bloombox-launches-in-lancaster-with-subscription-based-plant-delivery-service/article_bf41f6fa-632b-11e6-b4f7-8fc67e2a9618.html

Chase and David the owners who are now friends literally started with a small hoop house that I am pretty sure they made themselves. They delivered all the plants themselves at first. That’s actually how I met their dogs.

I want to say up front I have been a devoted and regular customer. I am not ever compensated in any way, shape, or form. Quality plants- annuals, perennials, shrubs, trees, herbs, fruit plants, vegetables and more.

I love to garden, they have great plants at fair prices. And they deliver. I do know some of the wholesale nurseries in multiple states that they use, so I know what I am buying and it’s quality plant material not all juiced up with Miracle Gro. Have I lost a few plants over the years? Yes, due to deer, not them!

I have bought so many wonderful things from them. I have introduced friends and family in multiple states now to them. I have watched them grow from a one hoop house and a couple of vans operation to a multi-state business where they have a hub up in Lancaster County and another in Maryland. They are even growing some of their own plants now.

Last year they added a new arm of their business called Second Chance Plants. It’s an overstock and discount concept put into pop-up locations. They tried it out last year and it was such an enormous hit that this year. They have the regular Bloombox business and like a dozen of these seasonal pop-ups stretching through PA and MD.

I went to the one in Exton on Saturday because I was jonesing to look for plants. Gardening is a definite passion of mine, and I put a lot into my garden every year. So the Exton location is that the Exton Square, Mall in one of the parking lot. And since it’s essentially a dead ghost mall, there’s plenty of space. Of course if those developers would actually pay attention it shows you what people want and it’s not more condos townhouses and apartments is it? It’s things like this and a hospital isn’t it? (But I digress.)

This additional arm of their business is freaking amazing and the prices are amazing and the plant quality is literally like Terrain, but not the Molly Markup. I bought three trees and they had so much stuff and it was just the soft opening. They even had a tremendous selection of beautiful ceramic planters. They have the grand opening next weekend. I think it starts on March 20. You have to look on the website or their social media.

I never had the time to visit any of the pop-ups last year. And I’m really glad they moved them into so many areas this year.

One of the things that we are lacking around here now with the constant march no stampede of big box stores and the cost of renting space and what not is there aren’t as many plant nurseries. There used to be so many gorgeous plant nurseries around so to me this is welcome. I’m not saying there aren’t any nurseries, but they aren’t nearly as many as there used to be.

The guys from Bloombox have worked hard and they have done this on their own. They drive all their own social media. They have wonderful people who work for them I and all of their other happy customers celebrate their success. Their success means our gardens look better and better every year.

However, their success means people want to make a buck off of it, doesn’t it?

Enter my favorite fauxblicist and some shall we say rather pushy or interesting unsolicited now not so private messages to the BloomBox guys:

Good lord. Does this woman not understand not being freaking rapid fire pushy? Yes fauxblicist, no thank you after trying to ignore the ping ping ping of unsolicited messages is a no means no situation is it not? Or does she think that is a maybe?

Welp….it’s a no. I spoke with them.

You see they don’t need her mailing list.

They don’t need whoever she thinks are her followers.

They do their own work. And trust me when I tell you, they work hard.

Social media also isn’t something a small business needs to necessarily hire someone for. A lot of this can be done by yourself for your business or for yourself personally with just a little effort. And that doesn’t mean buying followers. It means connecting with your audience. It means posting about your business. It starts with baby steps.

And if your business needs more, then you hire a real professional, which in my humble opinion which I am allowed to have it isn’t someone who only shares on their own channels.

I would also like everyone to look at the timestamp. It’s really not polite to message strangers later in an evening is it, or do people simply not have boundaries anymore as far as social norms? Just like it’s rude to message too late (especially someone you don’t know), it’s also equally rude to message them so early isn’t it?

And all of this goes into the context of if she wanted a shot at their business and this is what she’s doing? Would you also message someone early in the morning as they’re getting ready to launch a soft opening of multiple pop-up locations over a couple of different states?

A more prudent person might’ve sent an initial message to say hi but then you let it sit and maybe follow up with another brief message a few days later, right? Kind of the wrong situation to lack impulse control wouldn’t you say?

But then again this is the woman who even made a write up and Bitchy Waiter once upon a time:

Worlds’s Most Desperate Blogger (and It’s Not Me)

And Philadelphia Magazine:

https://www.phillymag.com/foobooz/2013/12/10/heres-get-restaurant-publicity-aroundmainline-com/

https://www.phillymag.com/foobooz/2014/01/14/gawker-five-pr-tragedies-sarah-lockard/

Eater:

https://www.eater.com/2013/12/11/6315909/philly-blog-publisher-asks-restaurants-for-a-free-dinner

And Crossing Broad:

The Worst Blogger in Philly

I’m surprised she didn’t offer Bloombox boudoir?

And then there was the time when she went a little Rambo on a restaurant:

And another restaurant:

And then, of course she does this Easter bunny thing with this creepy costume. And she’s a made herself a public figure so I can have an opinion about the creepy, flat faced rabbit outfit. And no she’s not a furry, just seasonally a bunny. But then she post this recently about that jam:

Yeah….ummm… if somebody’s possibly bringing you somewhere to possibly be around their small children to entertain, they want to know you’re OK, right?

And when we’re talking about the email, I never signed up for her emails and I’ve been trying for I don’t know how many years to not get her emails yet there she is along with the other junk mail that covers nice topics like erectile dysfunction etc.

She’s a peach. A frenetic one….and that is being kind.

meet the milk carton gang.

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A reminder of some of the political boot lickers when it comes to data centers.

A reminder that while Senator Katie Muth shows up every time East Whiteland residents need her, Rep. Kristine Howard tells people she will show up if she can squeeze it into her busy schedule doing nothing for constituents and nothing to upset her handlers.

State Representative Lisa Borowski has knee pads with the guvvie’s face on it.

State Representative Chris Pielli is only ever about himself and let his constituents down, abandoning them as a West Goshen Stupidvisor over pipelines and Rep. Paul Friel? He’s hustling his pussy angle it seems.

Keep calling.

allow me to share some snippets from the data center meeting in east whiteland.

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Is the developer not having fun?

It was a packed house at Penn State in Great Valley. Quite literally standing room only and hundreds of residents turn out to tell the East Whiteland Planning Commission they didn’t want this data center.

It was a crazy contentious meeting and in the last 20 minutes one member of the planning commission learn not to mess with State Senator Katie Muth when she was defending her constituents.

One of my favorite speakers was the line man. He was freaking awesome.

And so was Ginny Kerslake and so were so many people.

https://videopress.com/v/4svxZfU8?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

Be proud East Whiteland residents and keep up the good work. Next stop supervisors.

And I know that the developer said at the meeting that he was doing this for the benefit of residents or something like that I’m paraphrasing. I don’t recall any residents requesting a data center so we’ll leave it at that.

it’s like a bitchy canary is singing in chester county, right?

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So the other day, David Byerman Chester County CEO was fired, let go, made redundant… so Byerman is now airing shall we say selective dirty laundry? Really? Why?

There was this bombshell article in the Philadelphia Inquirer yesterday that I didn’t actually read until this morning when my phone started blowing up about it.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/pennsylvania/chester-county-ceo-david-byerman-20260305.html

Chester County’s former CEO says an ‘administrative decision’ to allow access to sports betting sites led to his sudden exit from the job

David Byerman found it “surprising and disappointing” he was removed over the infraction.

by Brooke Schultz
Published March 5, 2026, 6:16 p.m. ET

OK, you have to subscribe to read the article unless it shows up on the AP somehow or MSN or one of those other alternatives that some articles hit.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/chester-county-s-former-ceo-says-an-administrative-decision-to-allow-access-to-sports-betting-sites-led-to-his-sudden-exit-from-the-job/ar-AA1XCkMf

But allow me to give a summary.

So it sounds like Byerman contacted the Inquirer after the last article came out. (https://www.inquirer.com/news/pennsylvania/chester-county-ceo-david-byerman-20260302.html or see Daily Local https://www.dailylocal.com/2026/03/03/david-byerman-out-as-chief-executive-officer-of-chester-county/)

Before I get into this, I’m going to set the stage and say this guy is a complete 100% political operative and bare knuckles political brawler in my humble opinion. But I’m also going to ask is selective disclosure of certain information pertaining to termination of employment the whole story? I mean that is executive session and human resources stuff so what is the end game?

Anyway, apparently the Nevada native allowed website access I guess some kind of gambling or sports betting or however you want to categorize fantasy sports leagues?

So he told the Inquirer he made an “administrative decision” (that’s a direct quote from the article from him) to allow…wait for it…online betting etc sites to be accessed by employees? Huh?

Say what? Dude, it’s Pennsylvania not Nevada. Was legalizing brothels next? To me that means he allowed changes to whatever the Internet and web permissions are countywide to allow websites that often aren’t necessarily particularly secure?

I mean, think about it —-every time you watch a crime procedural or you pick up a paper every now and again you hear about how people gain access for hacks and even to talk below the radar of law-enforcement and it’s like gaming platforms, etc. so this isn’t like a video game platform or whatever, but it’s still a big deal, yes?

It is also a really big deal perhaps that the county wouldn’t have picked this up ASAP because it sounds like it went on for a while? As CEO, he was a paid employee of the county which meant he worked under the commissioners, etc. and I hate to say it but where was county commissioner leadership?

I came out of the financial services industry, and the thing about that is regarding the Internet and stuff they didn’t allow certain things, because things are supposed to be seriously regulated so there’s no wiggle room for impropriety and poor behavior, correct? So it would be similarly expected one would hope in government? Especially since if you think about it, at its most simplistic, government sets regulations for financial institutions right?

Exactly how would this Byerman think that allowing websites like that are OK? I mean websites like that are things that should only be viewable in county offices perhaps by like the district attorney’s office because they have to investigate cases etc. and can we all agree on that?

But this guy kind of said it was no big deal and he admitted to visiting these websites to update some fantasy league or whatever during office hours? Does he have any covered bridges or anything he wants to sell us while he’s at it?

So technically, that means potentially if you were in the courthouse using their Wi-Fi when you had jury duty, you could access online gambling or whatever? Does no one remember the judge that kind of lost his job for this kind of stuff?

Former Chester County judge guilty of theft, election code violations

From 2021:

WEST CHESTER — A former Chester County judge charged with using campaign contributions to gamble has pleaded guilty to theft and election code violations.

Former Magisterial District Judge Michael Cabry III had been charged by authorities with using money from his campaign finance account to feed a six-figure gambling habit at various casinos in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

And the thing I also can’t get past is he allowed employees to access some of these websites and aren’t also a lot of county employees responsible for shall we say sensitive or personal information of residents as well?

Gambling in any form is considered an addiction for some, so that’s like having a bar cart being wheeled through the halls of the county offices at 4 PM on Fridays isn’t it?

Also to be considered, which I thought of this morning before I got distracted from writing this post, is in the article no matter how innocuous a reference it is he admitted to personally using one of these websites while at work right?

So in his role as CEO of Chester County he handled budget stuff correct? Other money things? It doesn’t matter how innocuous what he did or says he did might have been. It’s the appearance isn’t it? And he’s a grown-up so shouldn’t he have known better?

Now to be crystal freaking clear, I’m not implying anyone stole anything, but given the nature of this new Inquirer article and the comments by this man, will they now have to do a forensic auditing of sorts in the county for his tenure?

Also, in the article there’s the kissy face back-and-forth from a county response to his response and they wish him well blah blah blah, and he says he has this profound appreciation or something for the commissioners, etc.? To that I say really? People with “profound appreciation” don’t try to throw shade at their former employer to try to make themselves look better, do they?

And then I have to ask is this article a precursor to a shoe yet to drop?

Obviously, Byerman is politically experienced, yes? A political operative? So let’s go to another thing in this article and it was something I bought up in one of my posts. It was about him being head of the Democrats of Chester County in the late 90s. (1997 or so?)

In the Inquirer article this morning he says he disclosed that fact to the commissioners during the process I guess of hiring him and/or interviewing him? I have to ask timing is everything so when specifically during the process did he disclose that information and to whom precisely?

I have some thoughts about that. I think Commissioner Moskowitz knew exactly who she who he was, and why I have that opinion is like she’s been involved in Democrat politics out here for a donkey’s age correct? Josh and Maxwell and Eric Roe would’ve been like a guess about 10 or 11 when he was in Chester County given their age?

Byerman put Chester County in his rear view like for a couple of decades plus before he returned. So what made him want to return? I mean he had had this job with the state of Kentucky most recently before this correct? I think that’s what was in the article so why wasn’t his contract renewed there because that’s what my research indicated? Did he get a political knifing from a more Republican state or something as a Democrat? And what about his jobs in Nevada? How was he received in his home state when they were all done?

He ends the article with he wanted taxpayers to know how hard he worked for everyone or something, but did he? I mean, for example Karen Barsoum is still employed and if he is the CEO and he watched all those problems in voter services why does she still have a job as of today?

But I also have to wonder if this is the whole story? After all, isn’t it kind of unusual for someone who will now be entering the job market to kind of fall on his sword in a way and say along the lines that he was a bad boy, but I’m not sure it was justified to make him lose that job?

Also, he wasn’t here very long this position so how could he have had so many performance reviews? Because isn’t that what the article implies?

So now, as I’m starting to wrap up this article late this afternoon an article came out from the Daily Local.

David Byerman, former CEO of Chester County, shares his story after being ousted

Here is an excerpt from that article because it’s also very interesting just like the Inquirer article:

WEST CHESTER — Life is full of surprises.

In the 1990s David Byerman was the chairman of the Chester County Democratic Committee.

And on Monday, as reported by Daily Local News, he was unexpectedly let go from the county government’s top position….On November 20, 2024, during a public commissioners’ meeting at 313 W. Market St. in West Chester, commissioners voted 2-1 to hire Byerman, with Roe, a Republican, casting the only “no” vote per the HR agenda adoption….Byerman said a CEO should be judged on that person’s ability to sell the county as a great place to work, and to build a great team.

He spoke to the the Daily Local News on the record from Philadelphia on Thursday….

Byerman said he had to kind of feel his way in the dark to figure out what the parameters were.

He said there was no manual on what decisions he could make versus what needed to be brought back to the commissions.

“This was a situation where I was told on Monday that the commissioners felt like I had overstepped my bounds and had made this decision on behalf of the commissioners and that was inappropriate,” he recalled.

Yeah, is this his PR fixer tour or something?

I just don’t necessarily believe that the whole gambling fantasy website stuff being allowed is the only thing and none of us will probably ever know because it’s quite literally an HR issue. Let’s face it we wouldn’t have known any of this unless he chose to disclose it so I’m circling back as to why?

Politics is a funny creature, isn’t it?

confusing in honey brook: 287(g) or no 287(g) constable jones?

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The other day so many of us saw the Claudia Vargas’ report on NBC10 on 287(g) contracts:

So one of the subjects is PA Constable David Jones, Sr. f Honey Brook Township.

Yesterday Mayor Matt Halvorsen (and is this the same guy from West Goshen Sewer Authority?) released a statement:

So the NBC10 reports states Constable Jones hasn’t heard from the Feds? So why is there still a contract?

HoneyBrookConstablePrecinct1_PA_TFM_MOA_10172025.pdfDownload

I wouldn’t have asked the question were it not for some online commentary including from one of the Thug Life of Honey Brook Township:

And then that conversation got picked up by Patch:

1 Chester Co. Law Enforcement Agency Has Entered Into ICE Agreement
It’s one of the only ICE agreements signed by a local law enforcement agency in eastern Pennsylvania.
Justin Heinze, Patch Staff
Posted Tue, Mar 3, 2026 at 12:41 pm ET
Updated Wed, Mar 4, 2026 at 11:06 am ET

HONEY BROOK, PA — A Pennsylvania State Constable’s office based in Chester County is one of the only law enforcement agencies in eastern Pennsylvania who has signed an agreement to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

State Constable David Jones, located in Honey Brook, has signed the 287g agreement, a voluntary partnership with ICE that gives him the ability to identify and arrest individuals for immigrations offenses.

Jones represents one of only two law enforcement agencies in the five-county Philadelphia region to sign on to the agreement….Jones has faced recent intense scrutiny for the agreement.

“Does everyone here know that you signed an agreement with ICE and that it has been approved for Honey Brook Area?” Honey Brook Township Democratic Committee Person Marion Perez wrote on his Facebook page. “Do people also know that you can dissolve the agreement at anytime, if you choose to do so? What I would like to know, since you have been vague with me, is can there be some transparency about what you are doing and who is supporting you in the Honey Brook area, concerning turning our town into a circus?”

Jones responded, but did not address her questions.

“Mrs. Perez if we need to have a conversation you can email or direct message me to discuss further,” he wrote. “I am not sure what you’re implying when you stated ‘you have been vague with me.’ I don’t believe we have ever met before.”

Patch has reached out to Jones for comment on the 287g agreement.

Well dayummmn is he a little bit country or a little bit rock and roll?

Lordy is he doing a contract or not? If he isn’t, why is the contract online?

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/investigations/two-pennsylvania-law-enforcement-agencies-signed-on-to-help-ice/4361694

swatting is not funny.

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What is “swatting”?

Swatting is a hoax where people make fake emergency 911 reports—such as bomb threats, murders, or hostage situations—to dispatch police to a victim’s address.

This is not only dangerous but is also illegal and it uses caller ID spoofing to trigger a massive, armed response, creating severe risks of injury or death, while wasting law enforcement resources and ultimately taxpayer dollars.

These things can also often trigger eight real life SWAT team. As in not the TV show.

Yesterday I’m told there was one in Bucks County. I also know there was one in Gladwyne, and then last night as people were getting ready to go to sleep in Easttown it happened there.

So imagine if you’re over in that part of Easttown last night and all of a sudden there are police everywhere? That’s not funny, that’s scary.

I don’t know if there’s some stupid ass teenager trend again or what but why would anyone think this is funny?

A friend of mine verified with Lower Merion police that this was a swatting incident yesterday. I have not verified anything with Easttown, but I did take the time to put together a recording of most of the scanner stuff last night involving this.

I started getting messages late last night into this morning about the Easttown incident. I think it is incumbent upon that township to talk about this. I think it is incumbent upon any municipalities dealing with this to talk about this. And if they find who’s done it, then they also need to prosecute them.

chester county is eternally curious isn’t it?

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Screenshot of a screenshot I
received yesterday,

Politics is often very interesting. And I’m not talking about what political persuasion someone is, but literally the political history of an area.

So like a year ago, we were all herded with the news that David Berman was the new CEO of Chester County. If anyone recalls my comments at the time, it was most simply put “why does Chester County need a CEO?”

So now I have another question based on curiosity research about a man I didn’t know anything much about. And the newspaper archives? They tele fascinating tale. This guy is literally a political survivor and has had quite a long career in the political spectrum starting in Chester County. In the late 90s, and according to an article on June 13, 1997 as the start date, he was the head of the Chester County Democrats for a while.

Yeah, for real. Why did nobody talk about this when he came to Chester County?

According to an archive article found that was written by Nancy Petersen for The Philadelphia Inquirer Chester County Neighbors Section when they had their wonderful Chester County Bureau on June 13, 1997 Byerman was elected head of the Chester County Democrats, defeating at that time a woman named Barbara Cooper. He was apparently elected to complete an unexpired term of someone named Shawn March. March was described at the time then as a single dad who had a new business who realized he didn’t have the proper amount of time to devote to being leader of the Chester County Democrats.

I will further note that the Inquirer article refers to the woman he defeated by the diminutive of “Bunny.” Yes, that of course means each major political party in Chester county has had a Bunny at one point in time. Bunny Cooper for the Democrats and former Sheriff Bunny Welsh for the Republicans. That has nothing to do with this, it’s just a Segway and the way my mind works about things. I just find interesting/amusing about politics in this county.

Anyway, given the historic shift in democratic politics for Chester County between the time Byerman was here last and recent past, why wouldn’t they say he was once ahead of the Democratic Party for Chester County? I mean when he left Democrats had little toehold basically, and when he came back, they’re running county row, right?

Chester County restructures administrative government, appoints first-ever CEO and COO

Seriously here’s the press release from the county in late 2024:

https://www.chesco.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1599&ARC=2315

Here are the screenshots of said press release in case it disappears off the county website like any information pertaining to him did yesterday:

I’m sorry I have a weird mind maybe but I don’t understand why they didn’t disclose to the public what he did in Chester County in the 1990s? Isn’t it important and isn’t it perhaps politically germane?

And yesterday they couldn’t get his information off the government website fast enough. One person I know remarked well you know this is interesting because you know how slow government works and they had him off the website lickety split, so what really happened?

Screenshot

And oh by the way, thank goodness for Internet archives because here’s his old bio page thing from the Chester County website:

So seriously, what happened? Speculation is running rampant across the county and neither the county, nor Mr. Byerman, would really comment to the Philadelphia Inquirer yesterday- I think the phrase they used in the paper was that Mr. Byerman didn’t return a phone call for comment or something like that?

https://www.inquirer.com/news/pennsylvania/chester-county-ceo-david-byerman-20260302.html

Now what I said specifically, when he was first appointed is as follows (and I am quoting myself as of April, 2025):

So this David Byerman is the Chief Executive Officer of Chester County. Honestly, I’m still waiting for the explanation as to why a county government needs a CEO? I think it’s kind of silly and wasteful. There I said it out loud and NOW in addition to this they want to hire a CXO somebody told me that and I said what the F is a CXO so they sent me to Byerman‘s LinkedIn page. It’s a Chief Experience Officer. I mean talk about WTF. I have to ask is that an updated job title for Julie McCoy the Cruise Director from the love boat? is Disney opening a theme park in Chester County?

Doesn’t Chester County already have someone that does marketing and tourism etc.?

I have to be honest I think we need more money to go into certain services not fluff positions.

~ April 25, 2025

So I’m still waiting. And how did he come to be chosen by Chester County? and again if he was head of the Chester County Democrats, why didn’t they say so when he was hired? Sorry not sorry I’m just a little bit stuck on that because among other things it would’ve shown people a year ago that he had some experience here and he didn’t just merely live here for a while and go to grad school at Penn, right? Or, would that have raised other questions?

this is where I wish the Daily Local’s Michael Rellehan was still alive. He was obviously covering Chester County back then and he might’ve had answers to some of these questions, right?

And speaking of our local paper, there is no mention of this momentous thing that happened yesterday in our county as of yet. I imagine it’s probably because of the county is probably trying to figure out how they’re going to talk about this? And in my humble opinion, it’s always easier to stonewall the local paper versus a regional paper.

The last county centric article actually appeared yesterday morning:

Commissioner Josh Maxwell: Chester County is in a state of ‘transition’

Well, considering the date on this article was like 7 AM March 2 meaning yesterday, indeed Chester County is in a state of transition, yes?

So does that mean Chester county employees are going to get cost of living increases? Does that mean we will see money again for things like open space because have you heard it mentioned this year yet? Does this mean that voter services is going to get a new department head and Karen Barsoum will go back from once she came?

I will also point out an editorial that Byerman wrote for the Daily Local in August 2025:

Guest commentary: Chester County’s executive leadership team – built to ensure effective local government

An excerpt:

Taxpayers deserve a government that minimizes costs and maximizes efficiency. The surest way to achieve that is through strong, capable leadership. This week, as we welcome our new Chief Experience Officer (CXO), Megan Moser, Chester County has a fully staffed executive leadership team ready to deliver results.

Some have questioned whether adding a second deputy is necessary. In truth, Chester County is a $730 million organization with 2,600 employees. For an operation of this size, a CEO and two deputies is not a luxury, it is a responsible structure that ensures the job gets done.

When I was hired as a result of the county administrator recruitment last year, my application was for the same job title held by my predecessor. At the commissioners’ direction, my title was modernized upon my hire to chief executive officer, and the former deputy administrator title became chief operating officer….The title “CEO” may sound corporate, but in a government context I believe it simply means accountability. In business, CEOs maximize profits. In government, our “profits” are measured in impact: better services, more effective operations, and stronger communities. If we define success by the outcomes we deliver for residents, the analogy fits.

As CEO, I will lead with discipline, integrity, and a steadfast commitment to responsible stewardship of public funds. We all know that Chester County faces real challenges, fiscal and otherwise. Meeting them will require professionalism, expertise, and the ability to work across political lines. Whether we lean conservative, liberal, or somewhere in between, we should agree on this: a well-run county government, led by skilled professionals, benefits everyone.  As a nonpartisan CEO, I will work every day to realize this vision.

Found on Newspapers.com

It’s a pretty big editorial, but those are the things that stuck out to me. And yes, those are screenshots from a Nevada paper when he headed back there for work after being the leader of the Chester County Democrats. but I think context is important here, because I didn’t know he was ahead of the Chester County Democrats until I decided to look in newspaper archives to see if he was mentioned anywhere in the 1990s. and that was solely out of my own curiosity because it had said when he came back here that he and his wife had lived here in the 90s, but what did he do besides go to grad school? And that’s when I discovered what he had done… and more. He had also worked for a nonprofit. It looks like. Something called the Greater Philadelphia Clean Cities Program.

Found on Newspapers.com

Then I found some things he must’ve done while he was doing the whole Chester County Democrats thing :

Found on Newspapers.com

The Lancaster New Era doesn’t really exist today. It was one of two papers that merged to become the current paper out of Lancaster, PA. This paper operated in Lancaster, PA between 1923 and 2009.

Anyway, that article is about a Republican becoming a Democrat to challenge now retired Congressman Joe Pitts who was extremely popular and a Congressman between 1997 and 2017. When he retired, he was succeeded by Lloyd Smuckler who is sort of Trumpy.

Anyway, I just found that an interesting footnote in Byerman’s career and what once was part of Chester County politics. That congressional seat got redistricted. It was once known as the 16th I believe and it covered part of Chester County and now it’s the 11th and it has nothing to do with Chester County but back then it did. The other reason I found that interesting is another mention of someone who was a Republican, who didn’t necessarily want to become a Democrat, but did for political expediency if that makes any sense? That Robert Yorczyk, who is described as owning a printing business in Exton PA had been an unsuccessful Republican congressional candidate back when GOP was boss in the county, yes? Robert Yorczyk served as a member of the Downingtown Area School Board for 14 years until 2017 according to The Daily Local. He also served on the Uwchlan Planning Commission between 1993 and 2003, and around 2011 ran for Supervisor in Uwchlan. It appears that he was a Republican school board member, I don’t know that he was elected supervisor or not. These days he has Chester county in his rearview mirror and is enjoying. I hope a happy retirement in Georgia. Honestly, he seemed quite interesting so maybe he would have made a really interesting congressman back then?

Sorry, didn’t mean to go on the giant segue and down a rabbit hole. It’s just political history is very interesting and it forms a community at large.

So I guess my whole point is Mr. Byerman was part of that political history why wasn’t it brought up when he came back to Chester County?

After being ahead of the Democrats for Chester county, Byerman seems to have been in Nevada again for a bunch of years, which is apparently his home state. Then he seemed to pop up in Kentucky for a bunch of years. His tenure with his work in Kentucky ended when whatever contract he had wasn’t renewed.

Found on Newspapers.com

Then there was really nothing for a couple of years and then he popped up here in Chester County?

And now I mean, I think people naturally want to know why he and the county parted ways after a relatively brief tenure and kind of removed his whole presence from the county website save for some press releases so fast?

Will we ever know ? Will he ever give that interview? it’s all very curious. But then again a lot of things in Chester county these days are curious like why is Karen Barsoum still employed as the head of voter services? And who will be replacing the county solicitor everyone has heard is leaving? And I don’t recall the county saying why she was leaving do you?

Anyway, it’s a right regular Nancy Drew mystery once again, isn’t it?

it’s like project runway in chester county, right?