East Whiteland residents and registered Chester County voters we have a very important task this week: to rock the petition to get 2 supervisors added under the second class township code of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania!
We. Can. Do. This!!!!!
Years ago when this township was founded and they formed a Township government there were far fewer people. Over the last 15 years I would say, this township has grown exponentially. It is time to add two more supervisors to the three so we have better representation as residents and taxpayers.
Five supervisors is perfectly attainable and normal. If I am completely honest, I wanted to do this a few years ago and I was talked out of it. I was told it was a mistake. I should have listened to my inner voice because I knew it was right and I believe it’s right for residents now.
We need more representation in our 3 board member municipalities. More representation does not create chaos, in fact, it helps restore order and balance, and we should want that.
And in East Whiteland there are already people who are interested in running for office!
Here is the Google doc where you can sign up to be contacted for an in person visit. The important thing about this petition is you have to sign in person, you cannot do it online so to speak.
This petition can only be signed by legal residents of East Whiteland Township who are registered to vote. If you are not registered to vote, you cannot sign this petition.
“Should two additional supervisors be added to the board of 3 supervisors, creating a board of 5 in East Whiteland Township?”
There’s no hidden message. It’s not like playing the Beatles White album backwards. It is what it is. It is as it is stated.
So come on East Whiteland let’s do this for ourselves. 
3 to 5 supervisors. It’s time to modernize.
Git’ R Done… we can do this this week! It literally takes like a minute and a half to sign and fill in your address. Again, you read the ballot question as presented to you in person and you sign your name like you do your signature for all legal documents. Then you print your name so it is legible along with your legal mailing address in East Whiteland Township as in the physical mailing address no PO Box. And the last thing you do is you date when you’re doing it.
It’s easy and it’s important. We get the government we deserve, and our vote is our most powerful tool. Some people will get very up in arms about this and the thing is it’s not a threat to democracy, it’s about democracy and our right to do this.
So would somebody please tell this baby Trumpophile that I might not be enamored of Kristine Howard but why am I being quoted on his freaking flyers he’s handing out in Malvern Hunt about data centers?
I mean one minute with Chester County Republicans I am literally the devil incarnate and the next minute they are quoting ME?
FFS so we are crystal clear: I don’t know him and I’m certainly not endorsing him. Let him do his own damn work.
Literally, I have never met this person. He has not reached out and now he can stuff it.
He’s just using my words.
Literally I did not know this guy existed until this afternoon.
And I guess that’s what politicians do, correct? They use the words of others because they can’t find their own?
And if he’s running around town with the likes of Melissa what’s her name who seems to run for something every season and ran her teenage daughter once for school board? Yeah no desire to meet him for that reason either.
Sometimes it is better to ask for permission than to beg for forgiveness.
But I do have to kind of laugh at the idea of anyone quoting me to get elected public office. I guess I must only be an evil blogger on alternate Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Sign of the times taken by someone NOT trespassing.Not my photo, saw it on social media. Corporate welfare bought to you by Governor Josh Shapiro. Residents are always optional in his equations.
East Whiteland Township, Chester County is just a place where most honestly feel government pays lip service for every shitty thing that happens. Well not everyone. Some just ignore us altogether like State Representative Kristine Howard. She literally does nothing and says nothing. Never shows up for anything in her district. But she is BFFs now with neighboring State Representative Danielle Friel Otten whom people elected as a pipeline activist and that didn’t last long as she just wanted to sit at the popular kids table in Harrisburg and is a sell out.
Governor Josh Shapiro is everywhere as he is up for re-election. But he is busy having his literal neighbors dislike him and handing out corporate welfare as that sign in East Whiteland indicates. Yes I can have that opinion while I say I told you so. Shapiro has always been exactly who he is.
If anyone had been paying attention except for some of us, they would have seen it back when he was former Congressman Joe Hoeffel’s Chief of Staff (1999-2003). We certainly saw it when we were starting to fight eminent domain for private gain in Ardmore, PA. It was literally his job to help and/or at least listen to Hoeffel’s constituents. He didn’t and I can distinctly remember him avoiding residents in Ardmore at a town hall meeting in early eminent domain days. The meeting was at a senior center in Ardmore.
Now we don’t really have a viable choice on the other side of the aisle, just Marge Simpson, err Stacy Garrity. That woman was pro-data center until a lightbulb went off and she thought she could maybe get two extra votes and she flip flopped to being sort of against them.
There is one person whom we know cares 100%: State Senator Katie Muth. She is a fierce mama bear for all of us. She cares. She shows up.
I guess I just don’t understand how anyone thinks this data center or any data centers are OK. I also don’t understand one of the East Whiteland Supervisors after finding this video:
Now he is only one of three supervisors. But like with many other municipalities, you have at least one who thinks data centers are wonderful and the hypocrite tree hugger in that video from NBC 10 above that’s on YouTube is the one in East Whiteland. According to this media report and subsequent research, he apparently works for Morris Arboretum owned by the University of Pennsylvania so does that mean Morris Arboretum and Penn are pro data centers?
But the rest of the East Whiteland board? It’s like they are doing fear based governance. They are so afraid of what might happen to them that they’re not thinking about what will happen to the all of us and aren’t I allowed to have that opinion? Shouldn’t the courage of your convictions mean something when you’re an elected official? I mean, if you can’t stand up for the people who elected you why are you in office? What are you getting out of it?
Today, as I was standing outside in my garden, looking into my woods, I was pondering all of this. I will share my thoughts next in a little video, and then I will share some video snippets from the most recent East Whiteland meeting and some other stuff.
I’m sad. I am sad that we don’t matter. I’m sad that our local environment doesn’t matter. And I am fearful we will run out of water and not be able to afford our power. No one has been able to allay these fears and I don’t think they really can and I’m allowed to have that opinion too.
Resident photo, East Whiteland Data Center Site NOT TRESPASSING!
The Sword of Damocles. I think that’s a good and applicable metaphor for those of us in any community throughout Pennsylvania dealing with the issue of data centers. We live in a state of eventual peril, and our elected officials don’t really seem to get it and or really care. Or if they care at all, do they care enough?
East Whiteland in particular I’m beginning to find especially frustrating. With everything it’s no we couldn’t possibly, it’s never maybe we can investigate that as a solution.
Every time you turn around yet another community is being faced with a potential data center, or inadequate bad pablum smeared data center ordinance language developed by people who are really in it to get data centers in communities. And yes, I can have that opinion because it’s the truth in my opinion.
The developers are your typical developers and this could be a warehouse or an apartment building or condominium complex or bad stick frame townhouse development. They don’t really care, they’re just in it to make money. and like typical developers they will build their build and move on to the next community whose lives they are going to impact negatively.
There seems to be a couple of court cases pending, so there’s no actual data center building going on at the moment in East Whiteland, but it never should’ve gotten this far. This township had the ability when this first started to say no, but they lost their balls along the way.
This started in 2018. I know because I was following it and so was Ginny Kerslake. It was around the same time that the developer tried unsuccessfully to get a hydrogen hub in West Whiteland next to where he wanted the data center in East Whiteland.
When I asked about this then and asked them if they had ever heard of Loudon County Virginia or how bad this could be the response was along the lines of (and I’m paraphrasing), “It couldn’t be that bad.”
I warned officials in this township then that a human tsunami would arrive when they least expected it about this data center. And the human tsunami is here and the residents are not backing down, which is something this township is not used to because there isn’t a lot of staying power on certain issues. But with this the issue of data centers, residents are united.
And it’s not just the residents of East Whiteland. It’s the surrounding communities who would be affected by this data center or who are going to be affected by another data center. This issue is non-partisan. People just don’t want them, and if you study the fine print in our electric bills, we’re already paying for data centers. We’re paying for what we didn’t ask to have dumped on us. That’s just classic isn’t it?
Resident photo no trespassing involved
A truthfully, we shouldn’t have to have it. There’s an opportunity right now in Harrisburg thanks to State Senator Katie Muth to pass a bill that would allow for a moratorium on data centers. It wouldn’t be forever, but it would give people breathing room, but of course the lobbyists and the politicians, who have swallowed the Emperor’s new clothes as being spun by Governor Josh Shapiro, just don’t get it, and their ignorance (or deliberate obdurance) could cost us our communities, our health, our environment, our home values, and more.
State Senator Katie Muth is the only elected official who seems to give a damn most days.
Who is going to take care of us when our wells run dry? Who is going to take care of us when we don’t have enough energy for our use because it’s being hogged by a data center? Who is going to keep us from literally losing our minds from the noise of a data center which will also affect our children, our pets, our wildlife?
Resident photo no trespassing involved
I’m tired of being Sister Mary Sunshine on this issue. It’s wrong and when did our government become people who didn’t protect the people who elected them in the first place? Do any of them have courage? That remains to be seen.
Now there’s this narrative being spun in East Whiteland that Foote Mineral really isn’t a super fund/EPA site any longer. Don’t know what they’re smoking, but it really must be good, huh?
Yes. It. Is.
That Foote Mineral site is a bad site and this is a greed driven bad plan. Data centers are not good for any community. And yes I can have that opinion.
And a brief segue to Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, and Salem Township. Does anyone really believe that the data center land owners give a crap about the cats living on one particular parcel I mean, where are they going with them? Are they just making them disappear? Doesn’t the potential for animal cruelty matter either?
My greatest fear with these data centers is the reality that our local governments and our state government is creating a Logan‘s Run scenario for the future. And that’s not as crazy as it sounds if you look at what’s happening with the negative effects of data centers in other states already.
It’s hard NOT to think about data centers. We are living this nightmare, just like pipelines. It is a very crazy thing to realize not enough people in positions of power give a shit about residents in the equation of data centers.
In East Whiteland they never, ever should have said “yes”. The could have IMHO said freaking NO.
In East Whiteland if the supervisors would only find where exactly they left their collective balls, they could still say “no”. But will they? So far it’s the residents are wrong and Papa Government is right.
I am not buying it. It’s like living in a parallel universe, but then again this is the township who few years ago also thought pipelines were nothing to bother about. Of course it doesn’t matter apparently that their residents are still in blast zones.
But the other thing is this: the zoning officer guy for the township (not the zoning hearing board lawyer) was disappeared…in MAY. And WHY? Did he retire? Was he ill? We would have heard right? So what actually happened? And OMG they did NOT like being asked why he was gone and why the current assistant manager was chosen? She was the former manager of East Vincent when the zoning change went through for PENNHURST, correct? What are some of the concerns with how the East Whiteland data center came about? The ZONING. Sorry not sorry. This is how conspiracy theories start and have some actual justification don’t they?
This is exhausting. How do our elected officials except for people like State Senator Katie Muth NOT get data centers? They are getting it in Luzerne County. Look what they just did:
There is no law on the books that precludes the East Whiteland from saying no to this or anything else but it just has to be legal, right? The supervisors need to believe what they are doing is right and tell the solicitor and staff to find a way but they don’t, do they? Why don’t they argue the supremacy clause to the US Constitution, for example? They are the government and protecting the residents is the right side of this issue, right? Hows about procedural due process right?
Now Judge Verwey bounced an East Whiteland residents’ case yesterday (just one of them) but that is not bad I think because is it quite possibly not merely a procedural bounce but what lawyers will call a complex jurisdictional? Will this not result in a de novo hearing in Commonwealth Court? De novo means a fresh look, doesn’t it? So this was a move on a chess board, not the end of the story. (Maybe just my opinion, but I am allowed it.)
The entry way for Commonwealth Court is Common Pleas Court, correct?
If this was a bad case it would have gotten bounced at preliminary objections. A hearing was had, briefed, argued, yes?
Based on this, this is not a case you consider on the outset, you do it based upon the hearing, correct? Off it goes to be heard elsewhere.
This is why I think this has legs. Maybe just my opinion, but those are some thoughts. This was a case of first impression yes? And it wasn’t immediately bounced in the hearing was it? Verwey chewed on it, and then decided.
The government is an adverse party to the citizenry because they should have looked after the residents, right?
It makes me sad. I was thinking about all of this the other day. I actually drove out to the developments the other day to sit on their road and look across Swedesford at the location for the data center. How can they not see this is most simply put a bad plan? Here are some photos. A few were taken by the neighbor of the permits.
If you would like to donate to the legal fund for the data center group, no donation is too small. Here is a link: https://venmo.com/u/communityfriends
Stay cool, it’s hot outside and try to conserve water as we are in a drought warning. Last thought? How would we survive serious drought warnings with data center around here? In my humble opinion, we wouldn’t.
From a RTK request results Ginny Kerslake received
Put that in your proverbial pipe and smoke it. The devil is in the details East Whiteland residents (and neighbors.) Keep fighting.
Courtesy of those amazing East Whiteland residents protesting data centers
Welllllpppp…the litigation trains have left contemplation station. Residents have filed against East Whiteland Township. The topic? DATA CENTER planned for Swedesford.
Can’t say I am surprised but I bet the township is. Wake up over there on Conestoga Road in the township building. It’s never too late to do the right thing for residents is it? Mebbe Captain Green Fig can move the data center to his back yard in Willistown?
Sarcastically yours while telling East Whiteland I told them so. I told them this was a bad plan…..around 2018 for the first time….and continually since….
I saw this on social media and felt I should share it here
So a few days ago, a letter was discovered:
That got a very big WTF response out of me. I don’t know maybe they don’t see dead people in this township but they see dead plans don’t they? I was actually seriously disappointed to discover this letter existed. It’s kind of like it makes you wonder if everyone knows what’s going on in East Whiteland Township again and that’s horrible to feel. Makes me sad because they have come so far.
From the beginning, even though I really like two of the supervisors (not Peter Fixler) and the township manager and most of the staff, I felt everything involving this data center was somewhat odd and off.
And I will note in the arena of people I like at East Whiteland Township, people I wish that weren’t here that I do not know and do not care to know is the Assistant Township Manager Catherine Ricardo. Essentially my opinion is they made a mistake when they hired East Vincent’s former mistake of a manager…and yes, she was the manager when the zoning change went in at Pennhurst wasn’t she? As in where they are fighting a giant data center, so how can residents in East Whiteland even begin to trust her? Also isn’t it a bit strange that somebody would go for being a manager to an underling/assistant manager?
But I digress.
This letter that was discovered lends itself to everything that Ginny Kerslake has said.
It’s been an education dealing with data centers. It is even worse in a lot of ways than when people were fighting the pipelines a few years ago.
(State Rep Danielle Otten, I will take this opportunity to politely remind you that that’s why you were elected, remember? To fight for the people, not to capitulate to things like data centers? I won’t bother to remind State Rep Kristine Howard of anything because she does nothing. They apparently share office space and a data center disease or something?)
Anyway, next comes this letter from the special counsel solicitor dude:
What I have to say to that is, predictable. Communities upstate dealing with this guy as a special counsel weren’t enamored of him before East Whiteland rolled up and hired him. It’s like every time something happens to show this township why they are wrong and people tell them how they can correct it, they double down on the wrong part, don’t they? (Yes, I can have that opinion and it took me a long time to verbalize it because I just didn’t want to believe it was happening.)
Now the funny thing is what’s happening now is what I said would happen in East Whiteland when they started this process around 2018.
East Whiteland never should’ve approved this in any way shape or form. They should have sent the stock picker packing back to Willistown. Let him put a data center on his property, not in a neighboring township. (Green Fig’s Charlie Lyddane is from Willistown correct?)
East Whiteland is digging in their heels over their Waterloo. Maybe I should specify their latest Waterloo because things like Bishop Tube aretube are still alive in this township aren’t they how many years later?
I also have to wonder if there were five supervisors on this board if everyone would still be dealing with this? Under the Second Class Township code they can have up to five supervisors so why don’t they? I will note I suggested that yearsago and was told it wasn’t necessary. I don’t know the process, but it is possible to get this on a ballot as a referendum item and if the majority of the people vote in a main election like in the fall, they could get five supervisors.
Again, I said East Whiteland would face a people tsunami over data centers as an issue. And it’s lapping at their proverbial shores. And that is in spite of people feeling like they’re being intimidated at meetings by certain guests of the developers panel, etc. and isn’t that true?
I will note I am pretty much an observer here. I am not driving the people tsunami bus. But I knew it would come. This is too bad and big an issue and it’s a nationwide issue as well.
East Whiteland still can do the right thing and say no. They actually can but will they? Or does more of a tsunami have to lap at the shores?
Allow me to share something from the residents fighting:
Meanwhile, in places like Limerick, residents, planning friendraisers to fight their data center are finding local businesses like MaGerk’s in Royersford I guess it is canceling their events.
This data center flight is getting supremely ugly and I don’t know if places like East Whiteland just don’t get it, but people aren’t backing down.
I leave you with Andrew Schneider‘s presentation from the recent East Whiteland meeting once again. I hope the media keeps following this.
We don’t want data centers around here. And at its most basic that is not a NIMBY statement, it’s practical. We can’t afford it from an energy bill and basic supply perspective. We can’t afford it from a water perspective, and that is separate from the rest of the environmental impacts. Data centers are just about the profits of other people outside our communities. It’s not about residents. I mean, maybe East Whiteland Supervisor Peter Fixler would like a data center in his backyard since he thinks data centers are silent, but who am I but a mere mortal and female to ask that question?
But I have been thinking about this, and many years ago, they told all of us at the Save Ardmore Coalition that we would never stop eminent domain for private gain. As a matter of fact, I had a commissioner at the time (who was also a lawyer/lobbyist in Harrisburg once upon a time) wag a finger in my face for a couple of minutes literally spitting mad in front of a congressman saying they were getting the eminent domain through. That was after a public meeting on eminent domain held at a local college.
Eminent Domain didn’t happen and half of the board of commissioners was replaced as a result.
Tredyffrin Supervisors make one wish to bang one’s head on the table. Sometimes this collective band of bloviators should say less when they have a lack of knowledge on a topic.
Shall we start with the Bhaskar dude who when he is at the meetings seems to be ever so condescending towards people. He explained AI to people. And has he heard about the people in Georgia with a Meta data center?
Yeah soooo they spoke in Tredyffrin about water issues with data centers tonight and where they can’t buy their clue is public or well water is it not true how it sucks up water?
And Tredyffrin glosses over power usage and again they can’t buy a clue there either. It’s astounding to listen to them. Do they not even realize that our electric rates are already affected by data centers? Do they not realize that data centers are not self sufficient with their own power generation?
Tredyffrin’s board chair waxes poetically about how wunderbar the Chester County Planning Commission is on data centers but are they? I think not. Just look at the crappy Penn Futures sample ordinance that they are whacking off to.
Chester County has a Democrat majority who suck up to Shapiro who wants data centers, correct? (I will answer the rhetorical question for you- yes.)
And then there is Hans the Mole, who is looking very much like Violet Beauregard this evening at this meeting. He had to opine about East Whiteland. Now I am less than thrilled about East Whiteland and the data center issue there, but Hans the Mole is factually inaccurate because when the data center issue came to East Whiteland initially is around 2018 (and it started even before that) and nobody knew about them. Even when things started to get busy in 2022 people didn’t know enough about them around the area.
So Hans likes his glass house apparently?
Anyway, if they think what the Chester County Planning Commission put out there is going to save them, they also should be looking to buy the Brooklyn Bridge.
And if Tredyffrin thinks a data center can’t be shoved into a corner of their township, they had better pay attention to a lot of their dying corporate parks, leftover industrial etc. Actually they can look into Montgomery County at Upper Merion, which really doesn’t have much room yet residents are fighting five or is it eight data centers there?
But hey, Tredyffrin tonight was talking about how they could make the building better if there was one? Priorities and maybe get that arts committee on it because do they even do anything?
Tredyffrin has a pretty large list of what’s wrong in their township, and data centers just got plunked on said list. And they really should get rid of that ridiculously dumb woman who does the zoning.
