media picks up on smithfield barn

Posted on January 7, 2014 by carla

Yep. The media is onto the Smithfield Barn story. Upper Uwchlan may wish to stop playing possum on this one, huh?

They wait how many years before suddenly deciding to make a move on the Smithfield Barn on Little Conestoga Road? Their employees and employees of local school districts all shop there (I have seen them with my own eyes – always amusing when you see a school bus stop so the driver can go picking). So yes, apparently I am not the only one who finds this move on their part suspect yes? Especially given, shall we say, the “development” of it all next door and across the street from Smithfield Farm?

I wrote a post on December 27th about this and it has now surpassed in readership even the posts about Justice for Argus & Fiona. After I wrote the story a lot of interest cropped up. From media and people all across the country. And I was inundated with comments and messages, including ones that were interpreted by many to be distinctly unpleasant. Makes you wonder if that is how they roll over there in that township of Upper Uwchlan? Sheesh, even those who are not fans of media and bloggers in West Vincent weren’t so bad.

And yes the media is interested. And yes the first media story broke today. It is by Tim Lake of PaNewz.com .

PANewz.com: Pa Picker’s country barn sale shut down by township as McMansions move in

Phil Smith is a self-described ‘Picker’ whose popular Smithfield Farm ‘Barn Sale’ has been shut down by his local Pa government

-1870s-era barn is filled with 30 years of ‘picking’ around old homes, estate sales and farms of Pa

–Antiques, toys, glassware, collectibles, junk all sold in vintage Pa stone barn that drew buyers from eastern Pa, many other states

-Regular barn sales created ‘old timey’ social life in rapidly developing, former farm community now jokingly referred to as ‘McMansionville’

-Upper Uwchlan Township says Smithfield Farm was violating zoning regulations by operating as a business in a residential district, five years after barn sales began

-Timing of notice suspect because new ‘McMansion’ housing development was just approved for across the road from Smithfield Farm

Smithfield Farm has a classic Pa stone barn first constructed around 1841 and later expanded in the 1870s. Smith says many people stopped at his barn sales just to get a glimpse inside the old barn. On sale days, items would fill the front lawn and the doors were flung open to reveal all the antiques, toys, furniture, collectibles, glassware and junk inside. The barn is alongside Little Conestoga Road and the Pa Turnpike in Chester County, Pa.

….Smith says he was a ‘picker’ long before the TV show ‘American Pickers’ made the practice wildly popular. Narrow pathways wind through the large barn, crammed with all kinds of useful antiques and household items and not so useful collectibles too…..Smithfield Barn is so crammed with collectibles that shoppers had to walk through narrow paths throughout the barn to find merchandise. After five years of barn sales, the owners received a letter from Upper Uwchlan Township ordering them to stop the barn sales or face a $500 per day fine. The township cited the barn sales as a zoning violation for operating a business in a residential district. Smithfield Farm contains about 14 acres in an area enclosed by a ‘Farm to Market’ type road and the Pa Turnpike. Timing of the violation letter is suspect because the township had just approved a large new development of what local’s jokingly call ‘McMansions’, across the road. The development of about 60 large homes will bring much needed road improvements, a large sewage treatment facility and a new park….Smithfield Farm is more than just a country barn sale. The original farmhouse was converted to a Victorian-style house that once held a boarding school. The farm was originally in the Abrams-Fetters family, one of the oldest family names in the area formerly known as Uwchland. It’s a vintage landmark among new homes in the former farm community…..Upper Uwchlan Township contains the picturesque village of Eagle that was once home to the iconic Simpson’s Store, a relic of the past with a pot belly coal stove and farm merchandise. It was demolished several years ago to make way for a large shopping center, bank, and retail shops. … Around the village, more than 10,000 housing units have either been built or are scheduled to be built in Upper Uwchlan. With the rapidly changing nature of this once rural farm community, the days of old fashioned barn sales may be gone for good….Without a formal complaint, Smith and Nowak are concerned that the new housing development, which will likely resemble this Toll Brothers community a half mile way, may have spurred the decision to halt the barn sales.

Hmmm file under do not ask for whom the bell “Tolls”, it “Tolls” for thee?

I was waiting for Upper Uwchlan officials to really comment, but all I see are sound bytes from the township inspector Al Gaspari. Guess he is the fall guy and is that penance of a sort? Wasn’t he in the middle of that scandal with the Township Manager being fired, and the missing rent money from the township owned farmhouse debacle not so long ago?

Anyway, Tim Lake is a seasoned journalist and former news anchor of a local affiliate of a major news network, so I would say maybe my suspicions weren’t so unrealistic if he took on the story?

And well there are other media folks nosing around who think something funky is a foot so is everyone wrong? Does Upper Uwchlan have a cut and dry case or cut and dry reasons for doing this? Or is it just more about municipal greed and future development ratables and such? And how can Al Gaspari stretch the truth quite a bit by exaggerating how often the barn is actually open for barn sales? Upper Uwchlan and he would have you THINK they are open like every day and every weekend, but that is not true. I mean it is six shades of creepy and makes you wonder does Upper Uwchlan keep a log of the people who visit the Smiths and their immediate neighbors too? So 1950s cold war era McCarthyism of them, right?

But how would we know exactly what the motivation is? Upper Uwchlan hasn’t exactly been forthcoming have they? But not being forthcoming isn’t exactly new behavior for Upper Uwchlan officials is it?

Yes….Upper Uwchlan is no stranger to strange goings on:

Daily Local: Upper Uwchlan fires its manager

By DANIELLE LYNCH, Staff Writer Posted: 03/06/12, 10:34 PM EST

UPPER UWCHLAN — Township supervisors announced the firing of Township Manager John Roughan Jr. at a standing-room-only meeting Monday night.

Roughan reacted Tuesday by saying he enjoyed his time working for Upper Uwchlan.

“I’m proud of what I accomplished there,” said Roughan, who began working for the township in October 1988. “I met some great people.”

The board’s decision to terminate Roughan falls on the heels of a controversial rental agreement on the Upland Farms property….Controversy over the Upland Farms agreement sparked in early February after township supervisors approved an occupancy agreement that requires Al Gaspari, the township’s code enforcement officer, to pay $400 a month to the township and “perform necessary upkeep and repairs on the property and coordinate capital repairs.”

Then in mid-February, former township Supervisor Don Carlson said there was already a rental agreement in place for the house in the 300 block of Route 100. The previous agreement was signed by Gaspari and Roughan in May 2004.

The farm site is still owned by Pulte Homes and is awaiting formal transfer to the township for use of taxpayer-owned open space….. the 56-acre site has a home, a barn and outbuildings.

Daily Local: Upper Uwchlan officials appoint new manager

By ERIC S. SMITH, Staff Writer Posted: 03/07/12, 12:13

UPPER UWCHLAN — After going more than seven months without a township manager, township supervisors unanimously appointed a new manager Monday night.

The board selected Cary Vargo to fill a spot vacated in March after the board fired John Roughan Jr. His annual salary rate will be $95,000 for a 90-day probationary period, after which his pay rate would jump to $100,000 a year.

Vargo comes to Upper Uwchlan after serving as township manager in Thornbury for more than two years. Prior to that, Vargo served as a Coatesville police corporal. He had served on the force for eight years.

“I was interested in serving a quality community that was a little closer to home,” said Vargo, who resides in Amity Township, Berks County…..In February, the board passed an occupancy agreement allowing Al Gaspari, the township’s code enforcement officer, to stay there as long as he paid $400 a month and performed “necessary upkeep and repairs on the property and coordinate capital repairs.”

After this agreement passed, Don Carlson, who served as a township supervisor from 1994 until 2005, announced that an agreement had already been in place since 2004 for Gaspari to use the residence at a cost of $500 per month. The 2004 agreement was signed by both Gapsari and Roughan.

The 2004 agreement stipulates: “There will be a 10 percent penalty assessed for rent payment received the 10th day of the month.

“This agreement recognizes that the house will cost an average of $300 per month in utilities. The township will review utilities on a semiannual basis. You (Gaspari) may be liable for any utilities above a six-month period ($1,800).”

The board later brought in Bob Bezgin, a certified public accountant, to perform an audit on rent transactions from May 2004 until December 2008. Bezgin found that only $8,000 of the $28,000 owed was paid by Gaspari. But Gaspari and Roughan had amended the agreement to account for the work done on the property by Gaspari.

Therefore, the board required Gaspari pay back $11,085.84 that it deems he owes in back rent.

Daily Local Editorial: Township should clear the air over firing of manager

The Upper Uwchlan Board of Supervisors fired the longtime township manager on Monday. But the action by the three-member member board, instead of bringing to a close the troublesome situation surrounding the house at Upland Farms and its occupancy by a township employee, has had the opposite effect of raising more questions.

John Roughan worked at the township since 1988 and steered it through a period of intense development. Like any government administrator, especially in a “small town” setting such as Upper Uwchlan, Roughan has his supporters and critics. But we think it only fair to the residents of the township and those who do business there that the supervisors lay out a case in public against him if they are to have any hope of putting the crisis behind them.

Transparency is among the functions of government that we value as highly as accountability and responsibility. When pubic officials lay their cards on the table as openly as possible and give the public the ability to make up its own mind, then we have representative democracy in action. When they do not, it works against that goal…..Controversy over the Upland Farms agreement sparked in early February after township supervisors approved an occupancy agreement that requires Al Gaspari, the township’s code enforcement officer, to pay $400 a month to the township and “perform necessary upkeep and repairs on the property and coordinate capital repairs.”

Then in mid-February, former township Supervisor Don Carlson said there was already a rental agreement in place for the house in the 300 block of Route 100. The previous agreement was signed by Gaspari and Roughan in May 2004, but payments appear to have stopped coming into township coffers along the way, and Gaspari seems to have been living on the property rent-free for some months.

So I am of the opinion (once again) that things are not necessarily as they seem in Upper Uwchlan and can’t you agree something is fishy?

Here’s hoping a lot more bog turtles and whatnot are found, right? After all, if this is the future of formerly bucolic parts of Chester County, well I am so sorry but do we all live out here so we can look at plastic houses all crammed together?

Remember my photos taken from the hot air balloon America 1 on Septermber 11, 2012? I took photos of development from the air? The photos I snapped were quite close to the Smithfield Barn of pre-existing development as we took off from a field in Upper Uwchlan. And I remember smelling that rotten septic smell when we landed in a septic field of another development. Is that what we are to be reduced to soon? That the only open space we have left in Chester County are septic fields of plastic mushroom house developments?

In my opinion (which I am entitled to) Upper Uwchlan destroyed the village of Eagle. But they got a nice township building, right? Don’t let them destroy the Smithfield Barn too. This is about development, isn’t it?

Barn sales and yard sales are part of Chester County life and a lot of fun. They should be allowed to continue. And this is a very nice family that I feel is being victimized by local government most unfairly. Please help Save The Barn! Barn Picking hurts no one. And there are a lot of very poor people in that part of Chester County who need places like the Smithfield Barn so they can just get stuff for their homes – you know the basics like a kitchen table and chairs that aren’t over priced?

Upper Uwchlan

Guy A. Donatelli Chairperson 78 Stonehedge Drive Glenmoore, PA 19343

GDonatelli@upperuwchlan-pa.gov

Catherine A. Tomlinson Vice-Chairperson 788 North Reeds Road Downingtown, PA 19335

CTomlinson@upperuwchlan-pa.gov

Kevin C. Kerr Supervisor 16 Heron Hill Drive Downingtown, PA 19335

KKerr@upperuwchlan-pa.gov

140 Pottstown Pike Chester Springs, PA 19425 Phone: (610) 458-9400 Fax: (610) 458-0307

Cary Vargo Township Manager (610) 646-7008

cvargo@upperuwchlan-pa.gov

justice for argus & fiona: court date confusion

Posted on March 26, 2013 by carla

UPDATE 3.27.13 11:33 a.m: *UPDATE* Tom Hickey from DogPAC just called. He says that his sources have told him the hearing is STILL on for Pilotti (Argus & Fiona) 3 pm at 1130 Ridge Rd in Pottstown, PA. He asks that if you are able to come show support, to please do so in a peacable manner. No one expects this hearing to last more than five minutes – it will undoubtedly get waived to county court. But apparently, he does have to appear. This is all we know and what we have been told.

UPDATE 3.27.13 10:08 a.m.: Greetings – this morning greets everyone who want justice for Argus & Fiona with confusion. Some sources say Pilotti has waived his hearing so there is nothing today, other sources say everything is moving dates again. So the long and short of it is, we just don’t know. We will update when we do. Sorry to put folks in a holding pattern. We appreciate your support.

UPDATE 7:40 P.M. (and note this is a moving target so who knows if it will move again or not):

Tom Hickey from DogPAC was kind enough to connect and tell us the hearing date had indeed changed….to TOMORROW. YES ANOTHER CHANGE TOMORROW (Wednesday, March 27th) at 3 p.m . If you can be there to show your support, THANK YOU. You know , they can keep changing it and we will still come, 1130 Ridge Road Pottstown, PA 19465 Justice, Love and Change ~ Argus and Fiona ♥ spread the word! And VERY important – out of respect to the dogs and the Bock family, if you go tomorrow, PLEASE just bear witness quietly and show support. No drama or the dogs will lose out. It is my belief this district justice doesn’t want this in his court, but I could be wrong.

EARLIER:

I feel a bit like a puppy chasing it’s tail this morning. It seems that Justice for Argus & Fiona is not going to be so simple after all. We are hearing that the court date for Commonwealth v. Pilotti has been moved….again….we are hearing 3/28/2013 at 8:30 a.m. (We are waiting for media and other sources to confirm this 100% but that is what a law enforcement source has said.)

If you refer to the official court docket you will see that the date of the hearing in the court room of Magisterial District Judge James V. Deangelo has been moving about like a game of Chinese Checkers. The original hearing was 3/28/13 at 9 am. Then it was 4/4/2013 at 9 a.m. and then it was 4/4/2013 at 1 p.m. However on another docket most people never click on called the Public Court Summary is says “Next Action Date: 03/28/2013”

So we now have ANOTHER change that the court will neither confirm or deny: that the trial is BACK to 3/28/2013 or this THURSDAY as in the day before Good Friday and Easter Weekend.

I have to ask why this court date and the times are moving at such an extraordinary rate. Is this a ploy on the part of the defense, a/k/a Gabe Pilotti’s lawyer? Or is it because the District Justice Court in Pottstown keeps moving the date to avoid a media spotlight and crowds of Justice for Argus & Fiona supporters? Do the officials elected or otherwise in West Vincent have anything to do with this?

I want to remain calm, cool and collected and avoid conspiracy theories, but I have to tell you when you have VERY reliable sources telling you the D.A.’s office in Chester County is telling THEM the date is the 28th of March again or this Thursday as in two days from now, yet when I call out to the court and speak to a lovely woman named Rebecca who asks me how I heard this because (and I quote) “It is not the 28th…nothing formally has been changed…but you can check the docket later.” well it is darn frustrating.

So it seems to me something more is afoot. I can’t help but think someone is trying to sneak something past everyone AND the poor Bock family who have a right to their day in court for their beloved pets.

Here is the address and phone number of D’Angelo’s court:

Magisterial District Judge:James V. DeAngelo
District Court 15-3-01
1130 Ridge Road
Pottstown, PA 19465-8612

Phone:
610-469-1910
Fax:610-469-1913

Townships of Spring City,
North Coventry, South Coventry, East Coventry, Warwick, East Nantmeal, East Vincent, and West Vincent

The Chester County District Attorney’s office telephone number is (610) 344-6801. Feel free to call D.A. Tom Hogan’s office and ask what the CORRECT date is and why the date to a simple hearing in a Magisterial District Court is jumping around quite so much.

Regional and local media, you have been so incredibly generous in your coverage of this issue. We hope you can see all this Tom Foolery over the magically moving court date will encourage you to resume coverage. After all, will justice be so thorough without the eyes of the region upon her?

Supporters of dog issues please watch the court dockets too. Apparently it is going to take more than a village to get justice after all.

carol’s story

Posted on March 18, 2013 by carla

Happy horses grazing somewhere in Chester County

So way back in late October and early November when a friend saw these kooky Craig’s List ads and then I started looking on my own and asking questions about horse rescue, I have said it before, but it is the truth: I had no clue the craziness that would ensue.

Day after day, week after week things just swirled about Off The Track Thoroughbred Rescue in Glenmoore (Oxford too?) and Parx Racing’s Turning for home. I did not seek it out. I even got comments from people as far away as Oklahoma. On and on, and drama swirled. Facebook kamikaze to odd things happening at people’s homes. (Unless you think the state police showing up in full Ninja turtle gear is normal for Chester County mornings?). People getting followed, people feeling generally bothered, and lots of finger-pointing, and how nutty was all of it? Even I received comments and such that could be interpreted as threatening or menacing, and wow, what did I do? Ask questions? Care about animals in rescue?

When would it stop?

No one seemed to know. And all it was to begin with was worry over horses entering rescue and how they were being cared for and where was LAPs in all of this?

Now from my perspective can it be said that Barbara Luna who is with Parx Racing’s non-profit Turning for Home among others has a lot of questions she should be answering versus dodging? After all isn’t it Barbara Luna who helps shift these racehorses who have outlived their track usefulness off the track around here and into local rescue? Still to this day, where is this woman’s accountability? How did these horses end up across state lines without proper paperwork in some cases? And did some end up in that awful New Holland place in line to become god knows what?

Anyway, last week it was noticed that Off The Track Thoroughbred Rescue of Fairview Road in Glenmoore (and elsewhere?) was offline. As in the Facebook page and website suddenly went dark. It had be active in both cases as of March 11, because they were advertising a yard sale to raise money for the rescue sometime this month, so why? Why is the only thing left (probably until this post gets published) a tumblr page? Are they closing their doors or merging with another horse rescue? If either occurs, what happens to the horses in this rescue? And where are they?

So many unanswered questions. But today, I have been asked by someone who says they were duped by Off The Track Thoroughbred Rescue to publish something. It is her story. She wants to go public because she is tired of being painted as a villain in a multi-act play.

Her name is Carol. Below is what she wrote verbatim. She owns her words and takes responsibility for them. If Off The Track Thoroughbred Rescue is indeed done, then perhaps Barbara Luna of Turning for Home can address this? Even apologize?

Click on hyperlink for Carol’s Story. carols story

A lot of this centers around Carol’s special needs daughter. And anyone who knows horses or has worked with say Thorncroft or other horse therapy programs knows the power horses have for good in these situations.

Here is the text (there are photos and other things the author embedded in the document above):

In Jan of 1999 God blessed our family with a beautiful baby girl. Her birthmother loved her so much she actually came to our home with a weapon and ripped her from my arms.

My baby was lost to me for 3 months before authorities were able to bring her home. She came home very lethargic. I had my baby back but, she didn’t laugh, she didn’t coo, she didn’t even cry all that much. She simply laid there, a human baby with no light in her eyes. It was like holding a doll.

Doctors said she’d outgrow it…experts said that severely neglected infants become very withdrawn but love would heal that. I couldn’t just sit by and hope. I quit my job and devoted every minute of my life to bringing her back. She never left my sight during those first nine months. We bonded and slowly I began to see a spark in her eyes.

At 4, we learned she was on the autism spectrum. I watched my child struggle to fit in, to make friends, to be good at something/anything for years. The pain was incredible. Then in 2010 at the age of 11 she discovered horses and her whole world changed. She started taking lessons, she learned to ride and she found her voice. Finally she had friends, she was good at something and she liked her world. For months she saved every penny of her allowance, her birthday money and Christmas money. Her goal was to own a horse of her own.

Day after day she spent hours on dream horse trying to find a horse she could afford until the day she saw an ad placed by Jessica Troxell Basciano. Of course we took her to see the horse. Of course we let her buy him. What parent could say no to a child’s dream?

Never did we think anyone, much less a mother, would take advantage of a handicapped child but that is exactly what Jessica Troxell Basciano did. She said the horse was perfect for my daughter. She said the horse was sound and well trained. Jessica Troxell Basciano stood next to me, watched the tears rolling down my face as my only child lived out her dream on the back of that horse…and she lied.

Instead of a sound, well trained, suitable for a child, horse Jessica Troxell Basciano sold my baby a horse that had only been off the track for three weeks, had been recently gelded and had severe stifle issues.

We returned the horse to Jessica Troxell Basciano within 24 hours of purchase. Two years later we are still fighting to have my daughter’s money returned to her.

This is “Moose’. In the background is my car and the tent we slept in next to Moose because my child refused to leave him that night. Below is Jessica’s response. We did not leave the horse alone at all actually. He never fell during the night and he didn’t have a soft tissue injury anywhere on his body. He was not injured while we had him.

As for the vet bill:

My husband is a well respected, highly intelligent engineer. To suggest he would offer to pay anything more to her is just insulting.

What vet charges $300 to come look at a horse? No x-rays were taken. The vet came at 3:00 pm and Jessica started texting me to say the horse was perfectly fine at 3:05.

She claims to have a bill and a letter. We have yet to see anything of the sort.

Jessica Troxell Basciano “re-homed’ ‘Moose’ to a young woman named Jenn Messner. Jenn is one of many young women who work for Jessica in exchange for free horses. Below is Jenn’s response:

Please note that she says she wouldn’t have put my child on that horse but Jessica did. Also note she says he has stifle issues.

All I want is my daughters money back and for Jessica Troxell Basciano not to be able to do this to any other family. Yes, it IS about the horses but sometimes it’s also about the people who love them.

Carol Linares

post sandy: downed wires in glenmoore, upper uwchland

Posted on October 31, 2012 by carla

I promised that I would post Sandy photos if they were sent to sandysnaps @ spamex . com

Here are a couple from Glenmoore. They come from Dawn and Ed Mourar with the following message:

“As of 2 pm on 10/31, these lines remain untouched and on the ground.”

Now I know PECO is slammed, but I sent the photos to a contact anyway (and of course out that way, it might not be PECO, it might be PPL). What I don’t understand is why Upper Uwchland has not at least hazard taped this area off? They could be live wires, right?

Glenmoore isn’t that big, so hopefully someone knows where this is. The one drawback for me is a location other than Glenmoore did not come with the photos. If anyone knows the exact location, please post a comment.

Remember – PLEASE DON’T TOUCH DOWNED WIRES. Leave it to the professionals.

is east goshen getting rid of police force?

Posted on September 6, 2012 by carla

Life gets busy, and I missed something I should have posted a couple of days ago, and I am truly sorry. And I am torn how to present this, because no matter what is said, this is a very difficult subject. (So if you have a comment or clarification to what I am posting, PLEASE post a comment.)

When I was at East Goshen Day this summer, a friend of mine told me there was a rumor that East Goshen was dissolving their police force. Based on a letter a friend from outside Chester County forwarded to me, I would say it wasn’t just a rumor.

I am going to say that the only criticism I had with East Goshen prior to this was the fact that they neither stream their meetings on their website nor put them on Public Access TV. After getting this letter forwarded to me, I can see there might be a real need for meetings to be televised and/or streamed on their website.

Now as for the whole get rid of the local police department of it all, I find that distressing and this all appears at first look to have roots in some sort of labor dispute . Communities need their police force in addition to other first responders. This police force at present is like a twinned parish – it is shared with a neighboring municipality – Westtown. (Hence their name Westtown-East Goshen Regional Police Department.)

Having a community without a police department in my humble opinion is like trying to walk without legs. Maybe that is overly simplistic, but police aren’t an optional accessory in a community, they are a necessity. They know their residents, the roads, local ordinances, etc.

Additionally, I am always leery of paid consultants who come into a community to tell the community about where they live. My experience is, having seen millions of tax dollars flitter away in consultants’ pockets where I used to live, is ask the residents FIRST. About EVERYTHING.

East Goshen, please do the right thing here. In this economy, spending $65,000 on an outside consultant doesn’t strike me as the best use of taxpayer dollars. Please. It is as much as anything else, a question of public safety. I hope my post isn’t coming after some decision was made. (and hopefully the idea of a pricey outside consultant was tabled for now?) Of course (again), this is why, it would be helpful to stream meetings on the website or utilize public access television and broadcast the meetings.

I am posting what I currently see on East Goshen’s website, and my concern is it won’t reach everyone who lives in the township, so how else is it being distributed? See East Goshen Website:

Latest Township News & Events

The Board of Supervisors will be holding “Police Services Options Workshops” at 7:00 pm on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month. These workshops will be devoted solely to the review and discussion of the police service options available to East Goshen Township. All residents are invited to attend and encouraged to participate in the discussions. Regular Township business will not be conducted at these workshops. By way of background, East Goshen and Westtown Townships jointly created the Westtown East Goshen Regional Police Department (WEGO) in 1981. WEGO is one of 35 regional police departments in Pennsylvania and it provides police service to Thornbury Township on a contract basis. As the current labor agreement with the Police Association is set to expire on December 31, 2013, it is incumbent on the Board of Supervisors to explore all available options moving forward. While WEGO has provided excellent service for over 30 years, the substantial and ever-increasing cost of this service presents a serious challenge for current and future residents of the Township as the financial requirements of the current labor agreement are not sustainable. More information available here

Below my final comments is the letter I received. Please read it. Please let East Goshen know how you feel about this. I find the trend of discussing getting rid of local police forces truly alarming. This is being tossed about in Malvern Borough too. I found online an article Malvern Patch where it was reported August 20th with regard to East Goshen that :

East Whiteland Police Chief Eugene Dooley might soon be spending more time in East Goshen, according to a report in the Daily Local News….

The temporary assignment would come amid broader changes within Westtown-East Goshen Police Department. Thornbury Township has indicated it will not renew its contract with the regional force when it expires at the end of 2012.

Twitter user Leo Sinclair pondered the possible implications of Dooley’s temporary assignment, asking “First indication that East Goshen Twp plans to merge with East Whiteland Twp Police?”

So what is going on? Will our police be merging with yet another municipality as a cost saving measure? Or will East Goshen be served by State Police? Or a professional for hire don’t know what else to call it except rent a cops?

I doubt anything will happen quickly, but I definitely think a pause button is in order.

To be fair, my final comment is to the police force: if this situation has a basis in a contract/labor dispute I have not read up on, but I bet a lot has to do with benefits, as that seems to be a common theme today, where is a middle ground? I mean no disrespect, but we live in a different world than our parents did and probably even different from when we grew up. I am one of the millions of people who is self-pay on healthcare benefits. It just is what it is – after all in the private sector not all companies provide benefits, and it is also the sole option in most cases for the self-employed. My point is I manage. And I managed even with breast cancer.

So as I am posting the letter below, I am going to make a plea to both sides to find a palatable middle point. Because in this kind of tug of war, the ultimate losers are the residents. I hope both sides can resolve this and save the police force.

Again, here is the letter:

September 4, 2012

Dear East Goshen Resident,

As you may know, members of the East Goshen Township Board of Supervisors have rejected a number of proposals to extend the contract for local police service provided by the Westtown – East Goshen Regional Police Department. Now, it appears that the Township is intent on dissolving our local police department. In fact, at tonight’s East Goshen Township Supervisors meeting, supervisors appear prepared to vote to recommend that the township pay a consultant $65,000 in taxpayer funds to study the township’s options with respect to future police services.

This action comes on the heels of a number of local residents speaking out in opposition to the Township’s proposal to eliminate our current regional police force. But our Township Supervisors appear unwilling to listen to the views or wishes of local residents. In fact, last week, supervisors said that the cost of surveying local residents for their opinion on whether to retain our current police force was “too expensive.”

In reality, sending a mailing to every household in the district with a response card would cost less than $6,500. That is less than 10 percent of the $65,000 that supervisors are on the verge of recommending be spent at tonight’s meeting to hire a consultant. Wouldn’t it make sense to determine whether residents support dissolving our police force before spending $65,000 on a consultant to tell them how to do it? Not only is this action fiscally irresponsible, it also seems to indicate that our elected officials do not care what “we the people” who they are elected to represent have to say.

In addition, the Westtown – East Goshen Regional Police Department is not aware of any Request for Proposals or public bidding process for the professional services that this consultant would provide. Failure to solicit proposals from multiple sources – who could potentially provide better value and expertise –raises serious ethical questions and would appear to violate government procurement policies due to the large size of the contract.

Please contact the township and supervisors prior to tonight’s meeting to tell them this $65,000 contract should be rejected until after local residents have been surveyed and the consulting services have been competitively procured through a public procurement process. I would also encourage you to share your concerns publicly at tonight’s meeting at 7 p.m. at the Township Building to help prevent this vote from occurring. They represent us and need to hear from us, so please pass this on to your friends and neighbors as well.

The township’s phone number is 610 692-7171 and the supervisors’ emails are also provided below.

Senya D. Isayeff, Chairman – sisayeff@eastgoshen.org

Thom Clapper, Ph.D., Vice Chairman – tclapper@eastgoshen.org

Carmen R. Battavio – cbattavio@eastgoshen.org

Charles W. Proctor, III, J.D., C.L.T.P. – cproctor@eastgoshen.org E.

Martin Shane – mshane@eastgoshen.org

Tom Haws – thaws@westtown.org

Carol DeWolf- cdewolf@westtown.org

Charles Barber- cbarber@westtown.org

This push to approve a $65,000 consultant contract to examine options for doing away with our police department – which is not supported by local residents –and with no known public procurement process raises serious concerns about our Township’s supervisors commitment to transparency, fiscal responsibility, and a representative government.
Thank you for your ongoing support, and please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Anthony Ruggieri

President

Westtown-East Goshen Police Association

meanwhile, business as usual in west vincent?

Posted on August 26, 2012 by carla

Wow West Vincent.

I mean REALLY? Is this true? Did you think no one would say anything? And truthfully, I have recently heard other West Vincent tales from people I have continued to meet socially who aren’t “active”. They are just ordinary people trying to live their lives. Suffice it to say their tales lend even more credence to everything Chickenman and others say.

I do not understand why the state doesn’t have a corruption squad to come into West Vincent? Silly me, I thought Corbett was a law and order kind of guy?

From Chickenman this evening:

Now, I wondered, why would that sign appear?

It seems there was a “private meeting” between township representatives and the Hilltop Road residents on August 14 about road ‘improvements’ estimated to cost over $100,000.

I discover that no surveying, engineering, or professional planning has been done. It seems, judging by the sign, that the residents don’t actually want the road improvements. They don’t want the bottom part of Hilltop widened and paved.

So I leave you, my dear reader, to ponder over the question over who might benefit from this road improvement scheme? Could it be something to do with money and not to do with local benefits? Could it just be that a local contractor needs the work and a certain local farmer might benefit indirectly? Answers on a postcard please, and there are no prizes.

If you don’t agree your tax monies being spent in this way, please follow the sign, and go to the meeting. Support your neighbors and follow the sign. YOU might be the next. It’s what happens in West Vincent.

Now a tiny little gripe. I only just heard about this. Please tell me earlier, I can often help. I can’t do anything if I don’t know about it.

To see my previous mailings please click on http://tinyurl.com/westvincentinfos
As usual, if you want to be on or off my list, or have some comments or suggestions, or know someone who would like to be on the list, please let me know. Feel free to forward this email on to anyone you think might be interested. Especially though, if you don’t want to continue to receive my mails, please tell me, it will be done. Just hit reply to this email or write to chestercountynews@gmail.com

Best wishes Chickenman

Also don’t forget in addition to Chickenman there is also the group http://www.birchrunvillepeople.com/index.html – they point out how people might want to look at Second Class Township Codes to see how West Vincent follows the basics.

I found something interesting when reading about Second Class Townships:

Section 503. Removal for Failure to Perform Duties.-If any township officer fails to perform the duties of the office, the court of common pleas upon complaint in writing by five percent of the electors of the township may issue a rule upon the officer to show cause why the office should not be declared vacant. The officer shall respond to the rule within thirty days from its date of issue. Upon hearing, the court may declare the office vacant and require the vacancy to be filled under section 407.

Folks, it also wouldn’t hurt to remind Congressman Jim Gerlach the issues have issues in West Vincent. Call his Chester County office or campaign office in Eagle. You also need to write letters to the Daily Local. Go to meetings.

Again, I can write the occasional blog post but I do not live in your community. Small minded petty politicos only have as much power as you allow them to have.

the best kind of summer afternoon

Posted on August 21, 2012 by carla

The best kind of summer afternoon involves sunny skies, low humidity, me and my camera. Today was one of those days and I loved every minute of it!

My friend Pattye Benson asked for my help with the Tredyffrin Historic Preservation Trust’s 8th Annual Historic House Tour that is slated for September 22nd.

So off I went to photograph to my heart’s content. What a glorious afternoon and what a fun tour this will be!

Interested in the tour?

8th ANNUAL HISTORIC HOUSE TOUR
9/22/2012
12 Noon – 5 PM
Ticket Price $35
Prepaid Tickets only, no sales at the door

See Tredyffrin Historic Preservation Trust Website for more details and how/where to buy tickets!

This was much more fun than being packed in like sardines over at the Helicopter Museum to be sandwiched between foaming at the mouth tea partiers and equally foaming at the mouth Obama lovers to listen to V.P. candidate Paul Ryan blather.

Yeah vote in November, but before you have to think about that, buy tickets to the Tredyffrin Historic Preservation Trust’s 8th annual Historic House Tour. It is all for a great cause and historic preservation!

Keep it local, folks. Hearth and home and history will be here long after politicians have come and gone.

mixed nuts: negotiation update for west chester area school district

Posted on August 10, 2012 by carla

Whether you have a kid in the school district or not, if you live within the confines of the West Chester Area School District, you pay.

Within the past couple of days, mailboxes all over the West Chester area received a mailing from the West Chester Area School District titled “Negotiation Update”. (You can also visit them on the web for further information HERE.)

When you look at the Board vs. Union Proposal Analysis , the following really stood out:

For the Board’s contract proposal, total spending on teachers’ salaries and healthcare benefits will increase from $86.2 million in 2011-2012 to $93.4 million in 2014-2015. This will increase the District’s costs by $7.2 million. For the WCAEA’s proposal, total spending on teachers’ salaries and healthcare benefits will increase from $86.2 million in 2011-2012 to $107 million in 2014-2015. This will increase the District’s costs by $20.8 million.

So I have to ask West Chester, what are you willing to pay? This comes out of your pockets, after all.

Of the issues in dispute, as per the mailing, here is some of what you are looking at:

WCASB (West Chester Area School Board) wants as far as Salaries:

under board proposal, teachers will earn raises totalling 3.82% over first 2 years of 3 year contract or average salary will go from $67,800 to $71,200. In the 3rd year the district will offer a one time bonus of $1500 (+ 2.11%) to each teacher if average increase in combined real estate assessment growth in areas served by district exceeds 2.6% between 2012 and 2014.

What Union wants:

Salary increases of 18.3% over course of 3 year contract (intentional so it will exceed annual increases in healthcare contributions rates on the part of its members.) What union is asking for is that teachers receive both a cost of living increase plus a “salary column” increase or + 5.57% year 1, + 5.81% years 2 and 3.

WCASB (West Chester Area School Board) wants as far as Accountability:

If a teacher receives an unsatisfactory performance evaluation, they will not receive a salary increase the following year.

What Union wants:

The union proposal continues to allow members to receive annual raises without regard to performance evaluation.

WCASB (West Chester Area School Board) wants as far as healthcare:

District funds 90% of medical,dental, prescriptions, and vision year 1, 85% year 2, 80% year 3. Also moderate (yes moderate) deductibles.

What Union wants:

In a nutshell an expansion of current healthcare benefits.

There are more sticking points having to do with retirement benefits, course reimbursement, work year/professional development time, work time and on-line course work.

I sort of agree with the teachers’ union as far as the on-line course work, because I have a problem with courses in a box…but as per the district when you compare the cost of the two proposals (and I quote from the flyer which was mailed out):

Comparing the Cost of the Two Proposals:

The cost of paying for a new teachers’ contract should be of particular interest to taxpayers, since they fund approximately 85% of the District’s budget. The chart…indicates the difference between the school board’s proposal and the WCAEA proposal in each of the 3 years:

Year 1 – $4.9 million

Year 2 – $9.4 million

Year 3 – $13.6 million

So in digging around to see what the media is saying I found a blurb on West Chester Patch which says in part:

The following is a press release from the West Chester Area Education Association.

The West Chester Area Education Association (WCAEA) met today with representatives of the West Chester Area School District regarding contract negotiations. While no deal has been finalized, WCAEA President Debbie Fell said the teacher’s union and the school district have agreed to continue talks and have scheduled the next negotiation session for Thursday, August 16.

“We agreed to continue to meet in order to come to a fair and equitable resolution for everyone involved,” Fell said. “The WCAEA is dedicated to providing an excellent education for our children…

Alrighty, so one side mails, the other side press releases, but school begins September 4th and the children of the district are Malcolm in the Middle.

How do you all feel about that?

I found a letter in The Daily Local I would love to share:

Recently, there have been a number of newspaper articles and letters to the editor regarding the current contract negotiations between the West Chester Area School District and its teachers’ union. There have been some key numbers frequently mentioned including an 18 percent average pay increase over the next three years, as well as teachers will receive a 33 percent decrease in the effective compensation over the next three years if the proposed contract is adopted….I find it difficult to believe that the average teacher’s salary will be decreased by 33 percent over the next three years. The most recent letter was from the treasurer of the teachers’ union who again stated the 33 percent decrease concern. I believe it is necessary for that statement to be verified by details showing exactly how the average teacher’s current effective salary would decrease over the next three years from that teacher’s current effective salary.

I would hope that a union representative would respond in writing with this information

Amen to that!

former district attorney wants to help coatesville

Posted on July 10, 2012 by carla

It was a relatively small blip in The Daily Local and worth a conversation. Former District Attorney Joseph Carroll, now of “Of Counsel” at Obermayer, Rebmann, Maxwell & Hippel has announced that he is interested in helping Coatesville.

Former District Attorney Joseph Carroll wants to lead Coatesville

By ERIC S. SMITH esmith@dailylocal.com

COATESVILLE — A former Chester County district attorney has applied with the city to become both a temporary city manager and temporary public safety coordinator for less pay than the last city manager was making.

Former District Attorney Joseph Carroll said Monday during a City Council meeting that he handed his application into the city earlier that day. He said a public safety coordinator would have the same responsibilities as a police chief but would be a civilian.

“I have a lot of fond memories of the way Coatesville was,” Carroll said after the meeting. “The people here now are just as good as the people were when this city was very successful. I would like to help council make that happen again, and I think it’s possible.”

Coatesville to an outsider looking in, has seemed so lost for years. It has also been a

victim of bad municipal management, failed bids for eminent domain for private gain, crime, and so on.

It is home to a lot of people, and is this something to be considered? Look at what Jean Krack and Paul Jannsen did and didn’t do before they moved on to wreak havoc in other municipalities, so why not look at someone who actually has a brain and a spine?

Any thoughts out there on this?

Coatesville deserves better than it has gotten for decades, so is Joseph Carroll the man to get the ball rolling?

Another thing, look at what he is willing to do it for. He has the knowledge base, and would be willing to do this at a reduced rate of pay so isn’t this a good thing to consider?

Now if there was only someone willing to do this for Phoenixville.

stealing from the dead

Posted on June 30, 2012 by carla

I caught this report from NBC10’s Rosemary Connors the other day: Someone Steals From Veterans’ Graves: Police seek the public’s help to locate missing bronze flag holders

….West Goshen Township Police want to know who stole dozens of bronze flag holders from about 60 graves at Saint Agnes Cemetery on Pottstown Pike.

The flag holders, which often mention the war that the veteran served in, were possibly stolen so that the bronze could be scrapped.

Authorities were first alerted to the thefts on Monday after several military families noticed that the flag holders were missing and the flags were simply placed into the ground next to their loved one’s grave, police said Thursday.

Police tell NBC10’s Rosemary Connors that the markers are worth about $3,000.

Graveyards and these markers are all too common easy pickings for thieves looking to trade in scrap metal or even graveyard memorabilia for lack of a better term.

This happens all too often and it is not only a desecration of someone’s final resting place, I just find it despicable to steal from the dead, let alone those who served our country through various conflicts and wars.

I know people who volunteer their time to not only see that these graveyards all over are tidied up, but I know a couple of remarkable women who have even had lost graves marked and recognized.

Please note the photos accompanying this post are not from West Goshen. They are from other at risk cemeteries in South Eastern PA.

It goes without saying that if you know who is pilfering from St. Agnes Cemetery on Pottstown Pike you should contact authorities, or encourage them to turn themselves in. But the other reality is many of these markers are now gone, and if you can help the cemetery replace them, that would be really awesome.

Also note that all over Chester, Montgomery, and Delaware Counties there are abandoned graveyards. Churches closing, development, and life have caused this. It behooves a community to save and preserve these final resting places. People always portray churchyards and cemeteries as macabre places. They are in fact, more often than not, places of great history and worthy of respect and care.

Here is the Daily Local on the thefts:

Vets: grave site thefts ‘a disgrace’

BY MICHAEL N. PRICE mprice@dailylocal.com

WEST GOSHEN — About 60 bronze memorial flag holders were stolen from grave sites at an area cemetery earlier this week, according to the West Goshen Police Department.

chestercountyramblings

meandering through, writing about whatever strikes my fancy

Tag Archives: daily local

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