Tag Archives: good government for west vincent township

NEW! more on justice for argus & fiona: chester county district attorney press release

Posted on by

CHARGES FILED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

argus and fionaNow personally, I think the Chester County District Attorney’s Office should be thanking all of us for bringing the topic to their attention, and to thank the lawyers not involved who suggested that there was more to be looked at, but I will take gladly these baby steps towards justice as per below press release. Someone said to me the political translation loosely was: West Vincent was hog tied and couldn’t make it go away but even I don’t want to be that mean. – they after all have proven cruelty to chickens, right?  (HINT to West Vincent: treat your residents with respect at the upcoming meeting on Monday, they have a right to be heard.)

The charges filed by the DA seem to be animal cruelty and reckless endangerment.

But there is more to do, and laws to be changed.   So can we work together on this so Pennsylvania dogs are safe from harm like this?

Please write or Facebook or call your elected officials today.  Let them know that we want Justice for Argus & Fiona and other dogs who have suffered needlessly and tragically like and before them.

21308714_BG1Chesco sheep owner charged in killing of two dogs

Charges Filed In Shooting Of Neighbors’ 2 Dogs

Prior posts on this blog about Argus & Fiona:

justice for argus & fiona

intolerable cruelty

UPDATE 2.22.2013 8:12 PM – Here is the complaint in native format courtesy of NBCPhiladelphia

sums it up quite nicely (in west vincent)

Posted on by

That whole picture is worth 1000 words thing again….

DSC_0132

 

hint to clare: buy a nespresso machine

Posted on by

http://chestercountyramblings.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/tacie-1.jpgSo a while ago I wrote that West Vincent Supervisor Clare Quinn was going into the cafe-hospitality-bakery business.

Well, apparently Tacie’s is open.  I encourage everyone to go because West Vincent taxpayers are still paying Supervisor Clare’s health benefits, right? (If they aren’t and she is once again self-supporting in that area, by all means leave a comment so I can correct the post!)

Unfortunately for our burgeoning Chester County Barefoot Contessa the first review is *not* so good.  It’s a yelp that yelps alrighty.  ONLY 1 star given? Yikes!

Here is what the Yelp reviewer said:

Tacie’s Cafe and Bakery

Categories: Coffee & Tea, Breakfast & Brunch, Bakeries

11/30/2012

Terribly disapointing…Build up and PR led one to expect a comfortable coffee cafe with free wifi where sitting with your computer, having a cup of fine coffee and a homemade pastry or sandwich would fill a huge void in this area (The only other close spot of this sort is St Peters Cafe and they have very limited hours)
The atmosphere is NO different from the old, dowdy, church-lady style of the former Coventry Tearoom. Coffee was awful—as bad as Wawa and no one even knew what roaster they were using which made it clear that it was just standard Aramark type coffee.
I was given the tiniest cup I’ve ever had in my life for a takeaway. Sticky bun which I took home was ok, nothing special.
But the main disappointment is that this place opened as if we were in 1965 and that the population out here hasn’t changed since then. Not even an attempt in a comfortable decor or even any current great background music.
Completely unsophisticated and mediocre. Youd at least think that with Kimberton Roaster so close by they’d make an effort to have a great coffee if nothing else!!
With all the money being saved on quality/decor and such, the should hire a consultant to bring them into the 21st Century! Being cosy in the country is not the same as being cultural crap…..and according to the review above, obviously no one in the kitchen realizes that we now ( those of us who care in any case) eat with a thought to our heart health. The last thing this area needs is more fat fried in fat disguised as ‘food’.
Really , really a shame…..

Now I won’t ever go to Pottstown just for coffee and a bun, so honestly it is doubtful I would ever darken her door.  Also doubtful because much like Farmer Ken she supported eminent domain for private gain a year ago at Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show. How can I support a business that has an owner who supported even the thought of eminent domain for private gain? It’s a personal thing with me, but it is how I feel.

However, don’t let me stop you from going to Tacie’s because if she makes money she gets off the dole in West Vincent for health benefits, right?  Even if we all know she and some other petty people in West Vincent are not so supportive of fellow West Vincent residents and their businesses, right?  Even if they see magical  chickens behind every bush and tree, right? (I am somewhat disappointed as she has never accused me of being Chickenman – LOL it makes one feel left out of the fowl club!!!)

But Clare, wow, maybe you should just buy a Nespresso machine. They make fabulous coffee.  There are few things worse than a bad cup of coffee in a cafe.

As for the rest of it, you either have style or you don’t.  You can either cook and bake or you can’t. You are either hospitable with a generous spirit or you aren’t.  Maybe you can fake it til you make it? And a Yellowbook coupon? really?

I wish her luck, but the truth is so many people who don’t know boo about running a cafe or restaurant open them up.  I love to cook for example, am very good at it, but I know that doesn’t make me Julia Child.

daily salvo: eye on west vincent….again

Posted on by

This is just excellent!  Feel free to share and to “LIKE”  Daily Salvo on Facebook (and comment there if you like!).  Daily Salvo is on 1180 WFYL.com every day somewhere around 8 a.m. and they have a website too.  Smile West Vincent Township, tales of your escapades are spreading….just as bad news is wont to do….

Daily Salvo has also touched on West Vincent’s issues in two other pieces of commentary:

 

 

when a community needs to get back to basics. and save itself.

Posted on by

When West Vincent Supervisor Ken Miller’s wife, Sue of Birchrun Hills Farm got up at a recent meeting to speak her peace in West Vincent, I watched it as an outsider and counted my lucky stars I did not live in West Vincent Township.  Which truthfully, I hate to say because it is a wonderful community and has a lot of beauty….or it will until the developers all have their way, but I digress.

I received something from Chickenman that has given me pause for thought (you can read it HERE.) As did a letter that was directed towards West Vincent in March.

So this letter from March seems to have something to do with some property that West Vincent used to own?  That has now a commercial use with few or no restrictions?  If this is true and they are so big on preservation, why didn’t they at least sell this land with some sort of conservation stuff to go with? Something about an old township building and whether it is in or out of compliance with use, as in was it too long ago and should prior uses be considered abandoned? And why does anyone need another “office park”?  (I hate that phrase “office park”.) Is there enough business to sustain this?  And something about waivers?  (Maybe it is just me, but as I have watched development in 3 counties in PA I always love when developers come in asking for waivers when sometimes it seems the hardship is not on them, but the community left questioning their own property rights when it comes to saying no to development.)

So back to Sue Miller, the Farmer-Supervisor’s wife.  She spoke up at this meeting, which is cool, don’t have a problem with that, it’s just the bully pulpit of it all and the irony of her words that continue to stick in people’s craw.

Sue Miller has issue with Chickenman, claims the fearless fowl is trying to put her and her hubby out of business.  Seems to me, all he is asking for is for a level playing field and honesty.   That Clare Quinn who used to work for The French and Pickering Conservation Trust while she voted for eminent domain for private gain (because nothing says conservation/preservation like eminent domain) doesn’t like Chickenman, either?  (Clare seems to live off the fat of the community in so many ways, doesn’t she?)

But why is it that any resident or other who speaks up a liar?  There seems to be a lot of residents speaking up, which generally speaking could be a divining rod to major issues, yes?

I am going to have to agree with Chickenman when he said in his e-mail June 6th that like it or not, Ken Miller is not just a private citizen but an elected official.  And as such, indeed subject to the same public scrutiny as a public official, elected or appointed.

The irony of Mrs. Miller claiming all the good people are trying to put her out of business in her township doesn’t escape me.  Since I started to pay attention to this area (they did it themselves with eminent domain), all I hear about is what is done dirty to residents, so what is she talking about?   And she speaks of Chickenman and Chickenman “Posse” (have you heard anything so stupid and paranoid?) retaliating?  Who is actually retaliating?

Mrs. Miller stood on her soapbox for quite a while, and then there were comments from the peanut gallery and this guy in the meeting who seemed like he was threatening another resident in the meeting and no one did anything? This same person also used profanity, and nothing was done?

No I don’t understand.  But I do know that there is too much nastiness in this bucolic community.

What is community?  Defined it is:

noun, plural com·mu·ni·ties.

1.a social group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage.
2.a locality inhabited by such a group.
3.a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists (usually preceded by the ): the business community; the community of scholars.
4.a group of associated nations sharing common interests or a common heritage: the community of Western Europe.
5.Ecclesiastical . a group of men or women leading a common life according to a rule.

Some people would describe West Vincent as merely rural.  The more I read, the more meeting tapes I see and hear about, I think it is positively feudal.

Ahhh yess, feudalism:

Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for structuring society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.

Although derived from the Latin word feodum or feudum (fief),[1] then in use, the term feudalism and the system it describes were not conceived of as a formal political system by the people living in the medieval period. In its classic definition, by François-Louis Ganshof (1944),[2]feudalism describes a set of reciprocal legal and military obligations among the warrior nobility, revolving around the three key concepts of lords, vassals, and fiefs.[2]

There is also a broader definition, as described by Marc Bloch (1939), that includes not only warrior nobility but all three estates of the realm: the nobility, the clerics, and the peasantry bonds of manorialism; this is sometimes referred to as a “feudal society“.

West Vincent residents, you need to be involved where you live.  Even you the McMansion dwellers.  I  can’t believe you aren’t bothered (for example) when the agendas for the meeting aren’t posted or easily found and it is the Friday before a meeting.  I mean LOOK at the website.  Agendas are public documents to be provided in a timely manner prior to a meeting.  When is the last time they posted an agenda and since I don’t live there I can’t say it was timely, but it appears by their own website to have been 4/23/2012:

04/23/12 7:30 PM:  Board of Supervisor Meeting

Written by Tammy Swavely. Posted in Event Dates – Township Meetings

05/14/12 7:30 PM:  Board of Supervisor Meeting

Written by Tammy Swavely. Posted in Event Dates – Township Meetings

Board of Supervisor Meeting at the Township Building

05/29/12 7:30 PM:  Board of Supervisor Meeting

Written by Tammy Swavely. Posted in Event Dates – Township Meetings

Board of Supervisor Meeting at the Township Building

06/04/12 Special Board of Supervisor Meeting

Written by Tammy Swavely. Posted in Event Dates – Township Meetings

06/04/12 Special Board of Supervisor Meeting

One of the oldest dumbing down tricks in the book: don’t post things in a timely fashion and keep taxpayers and residents ignorant and in the dark.  But does that violate Sunshine Laws in PA?  Or will I open a discussion on the letter of the law versus the spirit?  (If you think I do not like eminent domain, I dislike sunshine slayers as well.)

Did you know Pennsylvania has an Open Records website?  With the Right to Know Law and a handy Citizen’s Guide and FAQs?

I also can’t believe you think it’s ok when anyone threatens or bullies a resident in public at a meeting.

None of this is o.k.

It’s not my community, people, I am but a observor.  I am grateful for the community I call home (even if there has been a bit of a reach at me from there to here for my opinions), glad I got out of a community that was a political cesspool on a much larger stage that West Vincent.  (So I have indeed been there and I do get it.)

I would think you all wanted better for yourselves.  I understand how many of you are fearful or intimidation and retaliation, but the truth is these yokels only have as much power as you allow them.  Go above them on a state and federal level if you have to.

Who is your Congressman? Is it Jim Gerlach?  Show up at his town hall meetings or his freaking campaign office and ask for equal time in the community.  No incumbent is completely immune to elections, no outcome is guaranteed.  Gerlach used to be my Congressman, and I found him very easy and fair to deal with.  From a practical standpoint, his elections have also been squeakers.  He was redistricted again, so that might help, but you never know.  Those who write his campaign donation checks are not the only people an elected official will listen to in an election cycle, trust me.  And I say that as someone who does not as a matter of choice, donate to political campaigns.

Who is your state rep?  Your state senator? Get busy with them.

Community is what you make of it.  I can’t do this for you, nor can others.  A community must rally to save itself.  And it is a lot of hard work.  I know it can be frustrating, but if you are not happy with the way things are, you need to change it.

I have said it before,  and I will say it again: you live in a beautiful area.  Please fight to save it, and change the faces of who govern you.  Shine a little sunshine.  Do supervisors have term limits?  Maybe West Vincent is an example of why they should.

And to the person on the meeting tape who referred to Facebook?  I am sorry, will there be a blog burning and banning of Facebook in West Vincent?  Kindly remember what this country is founded on – you know, that little thing called the First Amendment? Just saying.

what is it with west vincent?

Posted on by

As an outsider I marvel that one tiny municipality has so many odd issues.  I don’t understand how residents continue to allow these people to be in office?  I applaud those who speak up at public meetings and encourage those who whisper from the side lines to also get up and speak.

These local yokel government officials like “Queen of Eminent Domain” Clare Quinn, “Shucks the Farmer” Ken Miller (and if Restaurant Alba in Malvern is serving his farm’s meat I won’t be patronizing them any time soon – and I am allowed to make that personal choice), and “Squire” David Brown only have as much power as the residents allow them to have.  If Chickenman can put it out there and others can get up at meetings and speak, then it isn’t just a couple of malcontents as this local government would have you think.  And that is what they want you to think.

It seems apparent to all who peek inside West Vincent that this municipality is run by very ambitious people who seem to do whatever it takes to preserve their fiefdom, but should it remain their fiefdom?

West Vincent used to be this cool little crossroads place full of woods and rolling fields.  People wandered comfortably about in their Wellies and old trucks and it was fine.  Then West Vincent was discovered.  All of a sudden you have McMansion dwellers complaining about skeet shooting. Lordy I bet they complain about the sirens at the fire house too, don’t they?  I guess it can be said shiny nouveau has discovered a pretty part of Chester County, and that is fine, but it doesn’t mean that the place has to be developed into oblivion complete with nine thousand soccer fields and whatever that will not only never get used, but will never be maintained properly.

Look around Chester County, Chester County residents and you will notice if you open your eyes that Chester County is being developed at a pace that needs to pause and think.  Once the land and open space is gone, it’s gone.  And given the economy, I still do not understand how all this development can be justified.  And how many box stores are needed?  Who is paying for all this zoning that often runs contradictory unto itself as well as being rather confusing?  Who REALLY benefits from all these grand plans and zoning changes?  How high will taxes go to compensate for all this?  Who will be a steward for the land and practice true conservation, not just preach about it because it gives good sound bytes?  Once Chester County is all developed where will all the farm critters and horses go?  How can people not try to preserve more of the farmland which is historically quite fine? Who will preserve the historic homes and other structures?  Does the world also really want to live in plastic townhouses perched on the edge of highways?  Do you want that world that loves plastic houses shaping your community that you were born and raised in or do you want to be a real and viable partner in your futures?  Are you content to let petty municipal leaders to pat you on the head and say “good resident, you work for us”?

Sorry, don’t mean to be on a soap box, but what I see happening in Chester County is the same nonsense that has ruined parts of the Main Line.

Whether you are politically liberal or conservative it doesn’t really matter, this is about where you live so everything is local.  Don’t be an ostrich, that is all I am saying.

Chickenman has some interesting updates that I think people should read.  Is it true regional media is still watching West Vincent?  Very interesting if true.

And why is it that West Vincent public meetings do not seem to be televised anywhere?  All municipalities in PA have access to public access channels and the minutes are slow to load on the West Vincent website and quite sanitized when posted and why is that?  Is West Vincent also anti-sunshine? Why can’t they say for example split a channel with their local school district? Shouldn’t people be able to see meetings live on TV like most other municipalities?

5 April Length of meetings:

Hi, Just a couple things for today. I was interested in the length of the meetings since David Brown thinks the meetings take too long and is working on Township legislation to limited public comment. I thought that perhaps if the meetings lasted 2-3 hours, he could have a point. So, in fairness to Mr. Brown,  I   decided to review all of the minutes for the last year (2011). I listed the dates and the lengths of each meeting, per the record…..42 minutes on average. That includes all public comments. 42 minutes. Where’s the problem? Since David Brown became Supervisor, the average has jumped to 1 hour, 7 minutes, an  increase of 30%. I am sure it is an anomaly. Either way, I   cannot find a reason to stop people from voicing their concern.   I would have calculated the other posted years, 2010 and 2009 but the minutes are not there. They are listed, but not there.   They were promised to be posted “soon”, back in the  Fall of 2011, over 4 months ago.

8 April Millers debts.  Again.

Hi  On Monday, April 9, 2012, West Vincent  Township will open bids for the mowing of sprayfields for  Weatherstone and Matthews Meadows, approximately 21 acres. To  review for the new(er) readers and for the long term  subscribers, the award of the mowing bid last year was given to  Ken Miller, Roadmaster and Chairman of the Board of Supervisors   of West Vincent Township. The value of that contract was around $21,500. Last year several sprayheads were damaged. Only AFTER I  did research and exposed the fact the the only person that could        have done the damage was Ken Miller, he was forced into paying. Even then he only took claim for two. The third was left to the   taxpayers, between a $400-$500 bill. Thanks Ken……TOTAL: $114,357.59. Say it out loud. ONE   HUNDRED FOURTEEN THOUSAND, THREE HUNDRED FIFTY SEVEN DOLLARS AND  FIFTY-NINE CENTS. Bigger than ever.   All the Judgments/Liens follow   this submission for review. There are 12 pages.   I urge the readers to look them up in the Chester County Courthouse. It is public information.  Don’t worry. Ken should be able to pay these off once the bond   re-fi comes through because there will be lots of roadwork money     to skim. Your kids can cover it through the year 2031. Or, as Clare Quinn says, “You can move”.

11 April Ken Miller’s Lawyers


 Hi
After posting the most recent Judgments for Ken Miller, Roadmaster and Chairman of the Board of Supervisors of West Vincent Township, I thought I would look into his legal representation. In the Land O’ Lakes lawsuit, Ken is protesting and has a lawyer to defend him. The Attorney’s name is Michael Thomas Taylor and here is what I      discovered. Mr. Thomas works for the firm of Siana, Bellwoar and McAndrew, LLP.  This means that the West Vincent Township attorney Steven Siana is representing Ken Miller. Has this happened before?      In short, yes.

Ken was sued by Eleanor Morris (the co-founder of the French and Pickering Conservation Trust) in 2005 for $118,000 and who represented Mr. Miller at that time? Stephen V Siana and Michael Thomas Taylor.

When Ken was being sued by East Coventry Township in 2011 for not paying rent on ground for 3 years, guess who tried several times to orally negotiate a lower settlement? Steven V  Siana.  In the end, Ken was forced to pay the entire bill.

We all know now that Ken Miller  has less than no money. How does he pay his legal bills? If  the Township attorney is representing him,is there a better than good possibility that the West Vincent taxpayer and voter is paying his bills? ……The legal documents are attached. 

To see my previous mailings please click        on http://tinyurl.com/westvincentinfos        


If everything Chickenman has up is true I guess the old adage is true if you are part of the “in crowd” , huh?  That there is no place like home?  Only if I was Dorothy, I might grab Toto and click my heels three times to escape….wow The Land of Oz indeed.

An end note is that I have been warned not to talk so much about West Vincent because they come after people?  Really?  Freedom of speech and public information and opinion are for other people?  West Vincent is hardly the sole focus of this blog, but it keeps opening itself up to public scrutiny.  When a municipality runs the way it is supposed to and the politics are clean, no one finds it interesting.  It’s when things seem ok in part, but odd in part, or curious in part or residents’ questions and concerns go unlistened to and un answered that people start looking inside the proverbial barn, so how is this my fault????  I mean really.

 

supporting free speech and true good government is not “nonsense”

Posted on by

First of all, when I write an editorial, I sign my name to it.  And that includes in Journal Register publications of which The Daily Local is part of.

I am wondering today about  whomever wrote the editorial on West Vincent Township.  They did not sign their name so Santa Claus with a bad hangover could have scribbled it. And while entitled to their opinion as I am mine, I think they are being misguided and are also perhaps being misled.

The long and short of it is, one would *think* that a newspaper would be supportive of initiatives that preserved freedom of speech and good government, yes?  Well I am thinking this writer today prefers Pravda.  It is tempting to ask them why it is they always seem to go on the offensive with the people in West Vincent who seem to want to get better government and better government best practices in place.

For them to sort of kind of imply that West Vincent’s attempt to not regulate, but in fact, limit the public voice is perhaps not so bad is worrisome indeed.  Because that is what David Brown and the Supervisors of West Vincent want to do.  David Brown in his own words during his campaign said that he wanted more participation, that more people should come to meetings and in essence speak up.  Well they are starting to attend meetings and they are starting to comment, only West Vincent doesn’t like it because it runs contra to the township party line.  The people of West Vincent are trying to take back where they live and have a say in things.

I think a lot of people were happy to go along just to get along until West Vincent attempted eminent domain for private gain on Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show around Christmas.  That woke people up to their government.  Something like eminent domain generally does.

I find it incredulous that The Daily Local would put forth an opinion that the people of West Vincent are in essence wrong for wanting a say in where they live.  And they are criticizing some of the people who have in fact bought stories to them that sell their papers.  And how dumb are they that they can’t see what David Brown refers to as “outshouters” are in fact not.  Why is it o.k. for a female supervisor to be heard cussing at a public meeting and calling a resident a foul name, yet when the public is frustrated by the very government process that is wrong?

The Daily Local in their royal we should be looking at what is upsetting people, not supporting efforts to render them mute or close to it at public meetings.

Just my opinion as an outsider looking in, but I feel *very* strongly about public process, open government, good government and public participation.  The government in West Vincent doesn’t seem like they can follow their rules and structure that they have now, they can’t even manage to not “lose” meeting tapes according to residents can they?   So now they want to give the rules rules so everyone can follow them?  Am I following that correctly?  And *none* of this has anything to do with a small town government that is somewhat out of its depth in a modern world and really just at the end of the day might not want to work so hard?  Lordy if that is what some officials believe, step down, it seems there are more than enough people interested in rolling up their sleeves and doing a good job for the home team, right?

And if I can sign my name to what I write for newspapers, and so can some of the editors I have written under, I think so can the editorial staff of The Daily Local.

Here is the editorial:

We are going to assume that Tom Helwig, a resident of West Vincent and a representative of that township’s Republican Party, was speaking hyperbolically recently when he compared the township’s board of supervisors’ attempt to reasonably regulate the manner in which the public is given the opportunity to speak to the remnants of the failed communist system in Russia.

Helwig accused the supervisors of attempting to hinder the comments of those with opposing viewpoints….“Our purpose is to create a structure within which all West Vincent residents can speak freely at public meetings, rather than to continue permitting a few individuals to outtalk and outshout everyone else,” said newly elected Supervisor David Brown. “Those outshouters complain that our intent is to limit public participation. Nonsense.”

Supporting free speech and true good government is not nonsense.   Making light  of people concerned with true good government in my opinion is also not right.  Enough said, except this is my opinion and I am entitled to it.

it’s not nice to criticize, but…

Posted on by

……It took that reporter from the Daily Local/Mercury almost a month to report on skeet shooting leaving Ludwig’s Corner.  I think that’s a bit ridiculous.

By SARA MOSQUEDA-FERNANDEZ smfernandez@journalregister.com

Posted: 03/05/12 12:57 pm

WEST VINCENT – Ludwigs Corner Horse Show Grounds will no longer be home to the Chester Springs Skeet Shooting Club.

The gun club, which had been established on the grounds for about 60 years, disbanded on Monday, Feb. 6….According to Jacobs, the contract for the gun club’s use of the property as a shooting range allows for a 12 month notice to end the lease, giving them until February 2013 to stop using the site for skeet shooting.

“It’s just amazing that they were thinking of us instead of themselves,” said Jacobs…….Most of the complaints related to the noise [WERE] caused by the sport, however, according to Jacobs, when the neighboring houses are sold, the contracts inform new owners that they will be living next to a gun club.

  Jacobs also said that the club, which was founded primarily by World War II veterans, was not only renter of a portion of the property, but also gave the association significant donations, and provided several volunteers for the events held at the grounds, most notably the Ludwigs Corner Horse Show.

Oh and here’s a lil’ update from the Sainted Chicken (think maybe The Daily Local can check this out?):

Hi
People have asked what happened at the township hearing (Feb 13, 2012) for the Pam Brown Corrective ordinance. The video is on the Township website. In a quick synopsis, there was a resident that asked what the changes were and would the changes be explained. He was told that “the ordinance had been on the website for months and that he should have read it” (paraphrased). Shortly thereafter, several people (Patty Kozac, Michelle Thomas, unidentified others) pointed out that there was change towards INCREASE in density, not reduction. The Supervisors denied the claim for several minutes stating that is was a decrease. It was realized that the wording did INCREASE density. The Supervisors took almost a ONE HOUR executive session while the crowd waited and now will perform further review. Apparently, the Supervisors did not read the ordinance either.Nor do they follow the law, once again. To meet in Executive Session, the subject must meet certain criteria.

http://www.lgc.state.pa.us/deskbook06/Issues_Citizens_Rights_02_Pa_Sunshine_Act.pdf     See page #42

For the density discussion Meeting February 13, Video Part 1, 24.24 minutes to 32.30 minutes. The rest of the hearing is gone. Poof! Disappeared. I understand that the hearing went from 7:30 pm to about 11:00 pm. Only 30 minutes of the hearing is available. Why? ANOTHER video missing. Most likely to prevent the viewer from hearing the Pam Brown discussion. Just like the missing December 16 video which most likely is to keep the viewer from catching Clare Quinn calling a resident a “bitch”, (which Clare Quinn denies).

The hearing has been continued to April 2 for the Pam Brown Corrective Ordinance and will continue to field questions and figure out what has been changed and why. I recommend people be there. I understand the last hearing was well attended.

By the way. In today’s Pottstown Mercury, a sad article on the demise of the Skeet Club in Ludwig’s Corner.
http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20120305/NEWS01/120309793/ludwigs-corner-skeet-shooting-club-disbands&pager=full_story
It is my belief this is the strategy of the township to erode finances from the Horse Show to push them towards a sale of the property to the township. Support the Horse Show. Become a member. Attend the event. Remember those that are still attempting to take it away, albeit subversively.

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

Disappearing public meeting tapes?  Wow that is so Good Government for West Vincent, isn’t it? I mean good lord, I criticize Lower Merion but they make the meeting tapes available and run them on public access television. Radnor is even easier access to things of a sunshiney nature.  Look at West Vincent and their “minutes may be available” of it all.  Seriously?  Aren’t they required to make things like this available, not lose meeting tapes, minutes, etc?  Who are the state reps and state senators that serve in and near West Vincent? I am also curious to know is West Vincent this bass ackwards because they seceded from the rest of the Commonwealth of PA and possibly the U.S.?    Seriously, the more I hear about West Vincent the more I wonder how the State hasn’t looked closely at them and the way they do business at a minimum.  Mayberry politics at their worst. West Vincent needs sunshine and a good broom.

stop eminent domain abuse NOW! urge support and passage of H.R. 1433, the Private Property Rights Protection Act

Posted on by

I cut my activism teeth on fighting eminent domain for private gain in Ardmore, PA as part of  The Save Ardmore Coalition and with the help of the utterly fabulous Institute for Justice in Washington, DC.

My fellow Save Ardmore Coalition members and myself went to Washington and other places to fight side by side with people like Susette Kelo for legislation against eminent domain abuse.  Many of us gave testimony at the time on H.R. 4128. We introduced the author of H.R. 4128, now author of H.R. 1433 James Sensenbrenner to Ardmore to check it all out.

H.R. 4128 got buried, but has been resurrected today as H.R. 1433, the Private Property Rights Protection Act.

I am paying it forward and suggesting you do to.  Check out an e-mail just received from Christina Walsh at IJ:

Friends:
H.R. 1433, the Private Property Rights Protection Act, will likely be considered by the House of Representatives this week.  It was reported out of the House Judiciary Committee earlier this month.  It is critical that you contact your representatives TODAY and tell them to vote for H.R. 1433.  You may remember that this bill passed the House of Representatives overwhelmingly in 2005 by a vote of 376 – 38, but has been stonewalled in the Senate since.

You can find your representative’s contact information here.

This reform is long overdue.  H.R. 1433 will strip any municipality that abuses eminent domain of federal economic development funds for two years.  You can read the text of the bill here.  It’s time that Congress stop being complicit in the abuse of eminent domain.

Read IJ’s op-ed in the Washington Times on federal eminent domain reform efforts here and below.

Please forward this alert onto your friends, colleagues and e-mail lists, and don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Best,

Christina Walsh Director of Activism and Coalitions Institute for Justice 901 N. Glebe Road, Suite 900 Arlington, VA 22203 (703) 682-9320 (703)-682-9321 (fax) www.ij.orgwww.castlecoalition.org

WALSH: Congress can halt eminent domain abuse Politicians must be stopped from using law to reward developer friends

When the U.S. Supreme Court rules, more often than not, that settles the matter.
But not in the case of Kelov. City of NewLondon, where the court sparked a revolt that quickly flared across more than three dozen states. The decision, handed down in 2005, told cities across the country to feel free to take away homes and businesses from property owners and give them to wealthy developers, as long as cities promise they think new developments might generate more tax dollars or jobs, with an emphasis on “think” and “might.”
There is no appeal of Supreme Court decisions and changing the Constitution is hard, but that didn’t stop states from setting more protective standards for their own property owners. Since Kelo, 44 states have enacted laws restricting the power of eminent domain to varying degrees, and more protections are being added. Virginia’s legislature is close to passing expanded protections.
Despite the differences in the reform efforts, the message remains the same: You got it wrong, Supreme Court. Now the nationwide revolt has come to Congress, finally allowing the federal government to join the effort to stop eminent domain abuse.
The power of eminent domain is supposed to be for “public use” so government can build things like roads and schools. Local governments essentially can force homeowners and business owners to sell their land, often at cut-rate prices, so essential services can be built. But starting with the wildly unsuccessful urban renewal efforts of the 1940s and 1950s, “public use” has been stretched to mean anything that possibly could benefit the public, not limited to what the public might actually share in using – shopping malls, fancy housing developments and office towers that could pay those local governments more in property taxes.
It has been demonstrated time and again that eminent domain is routinely used to wipe out black, Hispanic and poorer communities, with less political capital and influence, in favor of developers’ grand plans.
It also has been demonstrated that restrictions on eminent domain in no way inhibit economic growth, as the beneficiaries of eminent domain abuse would like you to believe. Development will continue to happen every day, as it always has, through private negotiation – not government force.
In fact, prohibitions on eminent domain abuse instill confidence in investments, leading to even stronger economic growth.
Groups across the philosophical spectrum have recognized the need to limit this abuse of power to protect those who are defenseless against the seemingly unstoppable alliance of powerful, deep-pocketed developers and their politician friends. The diverse coalition has included the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the National Federation of Independent Business and the Farm Bureau. It’s safe to say that the coalition also includes more than 80 percent of Americans, as demonstrated poll after poll taken after Kelo.
Despite the evidence that Americans are united against the misuse of eminent domain, Congress has yet to to take even a modest step. A bipartisan bill, H.R. 1433, making its way through the House would strip a city of federal economic development funding for two years if the city takes private property to give to someone else for their private use. Cities that want to keep their funding will have to be more circumspect in using eminent domain.
This bill undoubtedly will pass the House as it did in 2005, and likely will get stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee, headed by Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat, where it has gone to die in years past.
It is tragic because this is exactly the kind of centrist reform – uniting minority advocates and small-business interests – where Republicans and Democrats should be able to work together.
Christina Walsh is director of activism and coalitions for the Institute for Justice, which argued the Kelo case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

too much sunshine in west vincent for vampires?

Posted on by

I am on pins and needles waiting for the update of last evening’s Board of Supervisors Meeting in West Vincent where they were discussing controlling the public voice as far as public participation. Or was he there and just really, really tiny wearing his Super Politician Cloak of Invisibility?

What I heard thus far is King of all Goats Supervisor Ken Miller was a no-show?  Now some of my farmer friends are starting to see their mama goats drop new kids on the block, so was he playing midwife?  Or merely playing possum?

And was the Township Manager James Wendelgass really out sick?  Does he need chicken soup from Chickenman? I seem to recall reading/hearing about absences like this when eminent domain was heating up to try to be the Christmas gift that keeps on giving?  So is this a small government tactic to make sure there are no quorums, etc when decisions have to be made?

My largest amusement factor of meeting tidbits thus far is Supervisor David Brown having an apparent case of selective male Alzheimer’s and having zero recall on how meetings, etc go in Lower Merion Township? Where he spent many years, as in decades before becoming a reinvented country gent? REALLY?

Ok so if he can’t remember, wow, if I were him I would worry about being effective as a West Vincent Supervisor.  Here are some choice activities from his own political resume posted on his own website (one will asume the website will stay up of course?) He posted this info, to show you the good people of West Vincent his qualifications.  So pardon me if I do not believe he doesn’t know anything about “how Lower Merion does things, and that’s where I’m from”.   See (partial posting):

CIVIC

  • Gladwyne Fire Company Director 1982 – 2005 Member Executive Committee 1990 – 2005 Solicitor 1980 – present
  • Gladwyne Civic Association Former Director

POLITICAL ACTIVITY

  • Republican Committee of Lower Merion & Narberth Committeeman 1976 – 1990
  • Counsel to Committee 1990 – 2004
  • Member Executive Committee 1990 – 2004
  • Former Solicitor to Montgomery County Controller

Mr. Brown, with all due respect to your many years of service in Lower Merion, but in my humble opinion, you know exactly how things are done now and were done then in Lower Merion.

As an outsider looking in, I do not get any of this.  Why so many issues that skirt transparency and sunshine let alone public participation in the government residents are paying for?  They want public participation, but only if they control it? Welcome to Pravda or what? How is West Vincent supposed to know and listen to its citizens if it muzzles them?

Is it true when it got around to this public participation on the agenda that Supervisor Brown said there was nothing to the issue other than to tell people that it was “still being worked on”?  Magna Carta anyone?

Maybe as a helpful outsider I can remind Mr. Brown of his own words from when he was a candidate?

Thus far West Vincent has left me alone.  I do feel, however, that they need to be reminded of freedom of speech and opinion….and that political satire is as old as dirt.