It is amazing as each day that goes by, East Whiteland Supervisor seem to dig their heels in more. They even have a State Senator telling them they need to act and not just contemplate their collective navels pretty much every single meeting.
They have people, including residents who have taken inordinate amount of time to show them where the flaws are, where the problems are, where the danger is and it’s like they’re paralyzed.
Once again last night, it was a lot of well we have things to think about.
I don’t understand the ostriches with their heads in the sand. Because this isn’t the first issue, this has happened over and over. I mean for how many years of people been coming to the Township not just about data centers but Bishop Tube which at last night‘s meeting got extended yet again and how many years is that? And Bishop Tube has no remediation done yet does it?
Anyway, I am going to give you videos of the voices of others. Listen to what they have to say.
Ask yourselves how one township can say they’re listening yet they never hear a thing?
A dad named Ryan Contacted me. He and his wife and family lost a baby at a week old named Cayden. Literally they held him and loved him for 7 days and he was gone. I can’t imagine that feeling, wouldn’t want to, but I have had friends and family experience such losses of children.
This family while working through their grief developed a tribute to their infant son in a West Pikeland Township Park that was a sand lot fo other kids to enjoy. It was named and dedicated “Cayden’s Corner.” Over the past two years, Cayden’s Corner has become both a memorial to their deceased son and a place where who knows how many hundreds of children have played. It was built and dedicated in Pine Creek Park.
So apparently, West Pikeland Township which always seems super secretive (like do they record meetings yet?) and insular in an unhealthy way has been pursuing a larger playground improvement project at Pine Creek Park using grants and donations. A committee was formed to assist with that effort, but despite Ryan Leithead’s involvement in creating Cayden’s Corner and assisting with playground grant efforts, he was not included in those discussions? Like for real? How crass, right?
To add to this, Ryan also learned that the proposed playground redesign may involve relocating Cayden’s Corner and altering or removing the existing memorial signage and dedication that were part of the original project, and for real? Nice way for the township to make this family experience more grief and literally feel shat upon in my humble opinion.
So Ryan went to the Board of Supervisors meeting I guess last evening to speak about his concerns. During the public discussion that followed, it became clear that there are differing opinions regarding the future of Cayden’s Corner and the memorial elements associated with it.
To be very clear, Ryan Leithead is NOT opposed to improving the playground.
He supports investing in Pine Creek Park and creating an even better playground for the families of West Pikeland.
His only request is that every effort be made to preserve the memorial that already exists and that his family be included in discussions affecting something that was built in memory of their son.
Here is video:
Here is Ryan’s written statement:
Good Evening Supervisors, My name is Ryan Leithead. I am a member of the Parks and Recreation Committee, a West Pikeland resident, and most importantly, Cayden’s father. My wife Denise is here with me tonight, and this is her first time attending a Board of Supervisors meeting. In December of 2022, my wife and I experienced every parent’s worst nightmare when our son Cayden passed away just seven days after he was born. Like many families who suffer a loss like that, we struggled to find a way to channel our grief into something positive. Working with the Township, I proposed the creation of a sand play area at Pine Creek Park that would become known as Cayden’s Corner. What was created was far more than a donation. I personally funded the project. I selected the equipment and design with the assistance of a trusted and certified local playground contractor. I helped raise additional funds and secure labor and material donations from members of our community totaling more than $25,000 in value. I personally built much of the project with my own hands over the course of several months, working from plans reviewed by the Township engineer and supported by Township leadership at the time. I also assisted with the original playground grant effort by securing a professional playground design and layout at no cost from the same playground contractor and by providing letters of support and community-impact information for both grant applications. The project was completed and dedicated just before the first anniversary of Cayden’s passing. For my family, Cayden’s Corner is not simply a playground feature. It is a memorial. It represents countless hours of work, healing, remembrance, love, and community support during one of the most difficult periods of our lives. Over the past two years, I have watched hundreds of children enjoy that space. That has brought comfort not only to me, but to my family as well. It was recently brought to my attention that the current playground planning process may significantly alter Cayden’s Corner, including the potential relocation of the entire sand play area and associated equipment, as well as the possible removal of the memorial sign and designation. That is why I am here tonight. I fully support improving Pine Creek Park Playground and I am not asking the township to halt the project. I am asking the Township to preserve Cayden’s Corner as part of that project, consistent with the commitment the Township made in writing when the project was donated, approved, and dedicated to the memory of my son. If there are accessibility improvements that need to be made, I have repeatedly asked to be included in those discussions and would welcome the opportunity to work collaboratively toward solutions that improve accessibility while preserving the memorial. But I am asking that every effort be made to preserve the memorial that already exists before deciding that it must be removed or relocated, particularly when it was created through significant personal effort, community support, and Township partnership. I am also deeply concerned by discussions regarding the potential removal of the Cayden’s Corner memorial sign and designation. For my family, the name, sign, and dedication are an important part of the memorial. After everything that went into creating Cayden’s Corner in the aftermath of our son’s passing, the possibility of removing that dedication feels deeply hurtful and difficult to understand. The name, sign, and dedication are an important part of the memorial and should not be discarded. Before any final decisions are made, I respectfully ask the Board to consider what Cayden’s Corner means to my family, the circumstances under which it was created, and whether there is a path to improve the playground while preserving the memorial that already exists. When most people look at Cayden’s Corner, they see a sandbox. When they hear out story they begin to see what my family sees. We see a memorial built for a little boy whou never had a chance to play there. We see a place where our two living children can play along side their brother in spirit, and where community children can play in Caydens Memory. And I see something I built for my son. Thank you for your time.
Bill Holmes was handing out this flyer to East Whiteland residents 7/29/26
What is the WORST thing a politician desperately seeking continued political relevance can do? Do we want to start with being a misogynistic asshat?
The opening screen shot is a flyer that former East Whiteland Supervisor Bill Holmes was handing out on July 29th, 2026. It was at the Battle of the Clouds Park at the petition signing – 7 PM is what residents who shared this flyer told me and guess what? I believe them for the simple reason that this was when some of them realized how dirty East Whiteland politics was.
So Billy Bully who still wants people to “Get On Board With Bill” doesn’t realize is that Ginny supported East Whiteland residents to get a question on the ballot about increasing the number of supervisors from 3 to 5, but this was initiated by East Whiteland residents. She did not originate the idea, and even if she had, why is it a bad idea? Because Bill Holmes doesn’t like it? Waaaaahhhh!
Point of fact is I also brought this up a few years ago and was told by a supervisor to drop it or they would stand a chance of losing control of the board. I didn’t pursue it then and NOT because of what I was told, but because residents were not into the idea back then.
This topic also was discussed by people when Holmes was actually still on the board. But no one wanted to act on it then at that point in time either.
The whole thing is about representation. Current bad situations like data center plans and other issues have made people think that 3 supervisors is simply not enough representation given how the township has grown. This is any resident’s right to ask for this under the second class township code of the Commonwealth of PA and it IS that simple. Easttown has 5 supervisors, for example. So does Charlestown. So does East Goshen. So does West Goshen. And those are the municipalities that I remember off of the top of my head.
Tredyffrin acts like they are a second class township with a board of 7 but it became a rather messy Home Rule Charter in 1976 and that is a story that needs telling. But that is another day, and not my story. Suffice it to say it’s rather surprising that the media has not picked up on that.
This isn’t something that the status quo in East Whiteland politics wants. They say they can’t get people to run, but the truth of the matter is they can’t get people to run the way they are recruiting them and isn’t that correct? As a matter of fact, it’s not just unique to East Whiteland. It’s countywide. Part of it has to do with the bizarro world of endorsement events for the primary.
The way a primary is supposed to work is water seeks it’s own level, and the people decide who they want as their candidates. Only they totally engineer it and it backfires.
Now back to Bill Holmes. After he and Jerry the diseased Pyne tree were being rather aggressive with residents on that evening where they handed out the assholes delight flyer making crap up about Ginny Kerslake etc we had the next thing: being nasty and a bully to a female resident and small business owner yes?
Well yes, sadly that happened too.
Daddy knows best or daddy will take your Barbies away doesn’t work with grown women not in the Bill cult but umm really Bill? Are we all supposed to be pregnant barefoot and in the kitchen too? Silent unless spoken to, Stepford Wifey in every way?
And then there is that Jerry Pyne email about data centers, right?
Why are they behaving so desperately anyway? What is in it for these particular Democrats? What do they lose if East Whiteland gets 2 more supervisors? What do they lose if a data center doesn’t happen?
Do we see a pattern about what happens if women in particular don’t get on the Papa DOES Preach train of do as you’re told politics? And the favorite targets seem to be women including me at times? Doesn’t that make Democrat politicians like Bill Holmes truly no better than dare I say it, Trump? You know that man that all male Democrat politicians will tell you that they don’t want to be like?
Yet here we are, right?
So Bill Holmes (and Jerry Pyne) and whomever else is on this trash women train? Thug politics never works no matter what side of the aisle. And Bill, we see you. So knock it off.
And East Whiteland residents should also remember who brought Bill Holmes to the supervisors’ table yes? Was it not Michele Vaughn?
Look it’s a petty vicious political circle all the way around in Chester County and neither major political party is innocent. It’s time for this crap to end.
And circling back to East Whiteland for a moment. Who stands to lose what specifically if East Whiteland adds two more supervisors? Who stands to lose what specifically if residents keep fighting the data center and other plans?
Who what where when? And will Bill Holmes ever behave like a gentleman?
Data centers are on the menu, although no agenda or zoom link is out yet. If anything changes this blog will let you know as soon as I know.
It’s an oldie, but goodie that meetings that are crucially important are often held around major holiday times or the dead of summer.
If you are in a neighboring municipality, encourage your elected officials to send representation because this will affect you. This data center is not going to be in a bubble and won’t just affect East Whiteland residents.
East Whiteland Township is located at 209 Conestoga Road, Malvern PA 19355.
But is it really nothing to see here or they got caught with their pants down and don’t realize stuff’s been going on?
Really nothing to see? Are they sure?
Whoever owns this property, you have got to give them an “A” for effort because they’ve been doing something right underneath Newtown Township Delaware County’s noses haven’t they?
I don’t really think this is just something that you can call people Karens about and write off can you?
Hey whatever… it’s just another municipality saying nothing to see here when there’s potentially everything to see, isn’t it?
Soooo we recently learned about certain formerly ranking Great Valley Democrats (one who was actually the former vice chair of the Chesco Dems) were running around having hissy fits about East Whiteland Township residents circulating a petition with signatures to get a ballot question on the ballot.
The question was (and I am paraphrasing) was along the lines of should East Whiteland Township add two more supervisors? Under the Second Class Township code you can increase representation.
Sadly, this hissy fit included basically bullying a female resident who’s also a small business owner, and how is that behavior ok?)
So these men, Bill Holmes and Jerry Pyne, went to where residents were gathering signatures to object. They acted like it was a threat to democracy instead of what it really was, which is democracy in action.
Super sad and misogynistic behavior is so Welcome to Stepford isn’t it?
Anyway, it makes you wonder what the motivation is doesn’t it? I think a lot of it has to do with control. I don’t think it’s as much of fear that a Republican may get back on the board, as a fear of losing control.
Are we all just puppets on this bus of these political toadstools?
I was thinking about it and lo and behold it made me wonder even more when an email reached me from 2023. An email no one was looking for, it showed up in a bulk right to know request response.
Note the highlighted area at the bottom:
This email is a chat discussing the EW and WW data center with backup generation for the data center. I do not want the part to be labeled as against business!
So yeah, who is the author of this email? Wouldn’t that be one Jerry Pyne?
Oh Jerry, it’s not too hard to figure out when this email was written. It was around the time that residents wanted West Whiteland to say no to a hydrogen hub to go with the developers desire for a data center, wasn’t it? (West Whiteland did say no, remember?)
I mean it’s so funny. This email chain started like literally I guess a couple days after that big Inquirer article came out?
Precious.
Let’s review what I have been told by those who were doing RTK requests then:
This was a January 2023 email from Jerry Pyne, an East Whiteland Democratic Committee Person, and at that time, Vice Chair of the county Democrats was included in the response to a RTK request (on an unrelated issue) to the Township. The email comes on the heels of a Philadelphia Inquirer article about Charlie Lyddane’s ongoing attempts to build a hyper scale data center in East Whiteland and his attempt to change zoning in West Whiteland for data centers and power plants.
Jerry Pyne forwarded to Democrat County commissioners Marian and Josh and Township supervisor Scott Lambert (using his township email address ) an email discussion between fellow EW Democrat committee people who were discussing their concerns for impacts to the environment, quality of life and place, energy resources, etc.
But Jerry Pyne’s concern was different: “I do not want the part[y] to be labelled as anti business!” That was his concern. Not the impact this development would have on the community and the environment.
I have heard that the recent Great Valley Democrat meeting held at the East Whiteland Township Building did have some chatter about data centers. But they haven’t taken a position. And they also haven’t taken a position at this point on the desire for East Whiteland residents to get a ballot question out there on the ballot for the fall about increasing the size of the East Whiteland Township Supetvisors’ board.
I have a suggestion for the Great Valley Democrats. My suggestion is simple. They need to distance from these people publicly. They should not even have the optics out there that they might be supporting these efforts on bothering residents about having their opinions on data centers and whether it should be three or five supervisors. And the key words is they need to take a public position. No hiding, no why can’t we all get along. They need to tell people they don’t support misogynistic bullying behavior that is in my opinion anti-democracy.
And oh hell, yes I can have that opinion. And it makes you wonder who Jerry was talking to about what before he decided to contact everybody back then?
So yes, data centers in our communities are uncovering all sorts of interesting issues.
It’s uncovering how nasty these political types are getting if there’s any threat to their power structure or what they think is best at the expense of all the other residents.
Chester County, it is time for a change in both political parties. These political parties need to shut their mouths and need to sit down and listen to what is bothering the plurality.
I’m sure this issue will continue to unfold. But I thought for now this email was simply too precious not to share. Time for Jerry Pyne and Bill Holmes and others to retire.
And darling Jerry and Bill? Remember my opinions are bought to you courtesy of the First Amendment. And other political types out there? Don’t let these issues be your Waterloo. The times they are a changing IMHO.
These issues facing our communities involve everyone. Stop playing party politics (poorly).
Let’s be clear: Business Wire a Berkshire Hathaway company is a press release mill isn’t it? They publish what clients send them don’t they?
So this one sounds like developer fairy tales and new math, eh?
So who is actually going to be Plymouth Township saying NO to a Big Fat Data Center? Not the township, not the residents or the Colonial School District School District right? It’s the developer who will be “hurt” isn’t it? Isn’t this just more bullying like this township pointed out in their presser a week ago?
The press release is issued by a company name very familiar to those in Ardmore from when they were the publicist for a while for Lower Merion Township during eminent domain for private gain, and can we also say we have an Irish lass in particular who is working it once again for her favorite Irish developer?
You know people like this are always getting the band back together aren’t they every time? If it’s not condos, it’s recovery centers and if it’s not any of the above its data centers? Aren’t these people in fact like a well oiled but tired machine?
Are communities in Montgomery County (Pennsylvania) going to let them hit oil this time? I don’t think so do you? Haven’t all of these developers to an extent underestimated the human tsunami against this issue of data centers?
Also very amused to read in this release language that is literally regurgitated from when everybody was furiously sending press releases out about pipelines, correct?
I mean, let’s get real when they did the pipelines out here did most of the jobs go to local people?
Wouldn’t that be a no?
Aren’t local communities still wondering when there’s going to be an effective evacuation plan for pipelines and what is the plan for data centers?
What gives any of these people the right to say they can take all our water and use all our energy and drive people crazy quite literally with the humming of it all?
What gives any of these people the right to say hey no problem we’ll just add more pollution, you’ll never notice a thing?
Data Centers are just the new condo complex and apartment building and warehouse aren’t they?
They can take their fakakta “data analysis” and do what with it?
Isn’t it true that some people are saying that this press release today makes that developer sound a little desperate?
PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP, Pa.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–As Plymouth Township’s zoning board is set to rule on the future of the former Cleveland-Cliffs steel mill at 900 Conshohocken Road, an independent economic and fiscal impact analysis puts a hard number on what is at stake. The study, prepared by 4ward Planning Inc. for 900 Conshohocken Road LLC, finds that converting the vacant 1.95 million-square-foot dormant mill site into a data center would generate $424 million in new tax revenue over 20 years, with the majority flowing directly into Colonial School District classrooms. Blocking the project keeps that revenue at zero…..
…..The study’s own methodology notes the project would add no residential development and no new students, meaning the district receives the full revenue increase without a corresponding rise in service costs.
…….That is not a hypothetical outcome. Elsewhere, in Richland Parish, Louisiana, Meta’s $27 billion Hyperion data center campus generated enough new tax revenue that the local school board paid every vested teacher a $50,935 bonus in June 2026, up from $10,200 the year before, along with a $17,472 bonus for support staff, up from $3,323. In Loudoun County, Virginia, data center tax revenue has allowed the Board of Supervisors to cut the residential property tax rate for 10 consecutive years running, while the county nets an estimated $26 in tax revenue for every $1 spent on services those facilities require.
…….Discovery Data Centers (DDC) acquires and zones land, develops and builds buildings for hyperscale Data Center development and delivers it end-to-end. The leadership team brings 48 years of execution experience redeveloping brownfield sites across biotechnology, food distribution, tier-one operating centers, and Data Centers. Discovery Data Centers “Recycles” existing brown-field sites and buildings, expediting zoning and time to market.
Along the Mississippi Delta in the northeast corner of Louisiana, Meta is building one of the largest artificial intelligence data centers in the world….Behind the scenes, an extraordinary amount of secrecy was necessary to pull it off. Energy company executives, Louisiana’s governor, state and local officials and representatives of Meta worked on the deal over nine months before it was made public….To avoid roadblocks, Meta and state officials worked in secrecy….To keep the project out of the public eye, Meta and Entergy used nondisclosure agreements with state and local officials. Even some officials who helped pass legislation to support the project didn’t know its details.
Next are some articles about Loudon County Virginia. (Now remember East Whiteland Supervisors said they had met or spoken with Loudon County officials so were they told about all the money that they would make? Did they get chapter and verse on how they’re supposed to do their confidentiality agreements or whatever?)
To quote an iconic Dire Straits song:
Now look at them yo-yos, that’s the way you do it You play the guitar on the MTV That ain’t workin’, that’s the way you do it Money for nothin’ and your chicks for free
Now that ain’t workin’, that’s the way you do it Lemme tell ya, them guys ain’t dumb Maybe get a blister on your little finger Maybe get a blister on your thumb
And before we get to those links, a friendly reminder that my opinions and questions are bought to me by the First Amendment.
State Representative Paul Friel has a rather thin skin and doesn’t like being challenged does he? Apparently there was a dust up with a constituent at his town hall in a music hall and bar in Spring City called The Gem Music Hall.
Anyway, one constituent became frustrated and I guess interrupted him. This man is frustrated about hide and seek over data centers with his state representative which is completely understandable because if you live in East Whiteland Township, the residents in State Representative Kristine Howard’s district grow increasingly frustrated because she is literally invisible on everything, including data centers. People feel Kristine Howard is just in it for her lovely state benefits and pension plans, salary, and perks and you have to wonder is State Representative Paul Friel like that too? I ask because don’t know a thing about the guy other than observations that he is egotistical, thin-skinned, obnoxious towards constituents who don’t agree with him, and plays dodge ball over data centers while talking out of both sides of his mouth.
Oh yes State Representative Paul Friel I can have these opinions on your lackluster performance combined with a love of photo ops to publicly post. You are seemingly quite a doofus of a politician these days.
So back to last night….today a man name Chuck posted a note to his fellow residents in a data center group for losing his cool.
I’m anti Meta but made a page so I could apologize to the people in the crowd at the Paul Friel Monologue over at the Gem in Spring City who were patiently waiting. I definitely interrupted the Monologue and the event in general. To the people in the crowd, except the dude upstairs leaning over the glass wall yelling decorum louder than I was speaking, I truly am sorry.
If you know me you know that’s not my style. I like to come prepared, say my peace in a calm cool and collected matter, and then be silent in the background. I’ve done that at every BOS meeting. Tonight, my frustration boiled over. I got legal opinions on the ordinance and brought those to that BOS meeting. I asked questions and provided objective empirical evidence like effectively all of us, yet was painted as bringing a pitchfork. In my opinion Paul Friel quite frankly slandered/defamed every resident of EVT in his capacity as an elected official.
Context: 25 minutes into his monologue, and after Paul telling a woman in the front she can wait to ask her question (at the advertised Q&A), Paul went on a shpiel about how we cares about Main Street, not Wall Street, and about agriculture. How our farmers face uncertain pressure. I wonder how the data center would mitigate the pressure for the adjacent farm? I wonder how the few small businesses on Main Street in Spring City would do?
He then segued into saying how much small things matter in quality of life, and I’m assuming without seeing the irony, goes “so did anyone hear we’re getting a data center”?
I shouted out yea I forgot my pitchfork, that he had an ego, and how gathering legal opinions (from an environmental scholar at Francis King Carey School of Law and Fair Shake) is me bringing a pitchfork. Again, as I asked there, was he there for us or were we there for him? Who is he to say when we can or can’t ask questions at what he advertised as an open forum Q&A?
Paul Friel is at best tone deaf, at worst in the pocket of corporate America, and at most accurate easily intimidated and likely entirely out of his depth. A walking, talking, thin skin sack of ego.
So context on the “pitchfork” comment. That originated in a condescending manner from State Rep. Paul Friel’s lips:
So yes… residents of East Vincent and other areas this elected officials serve are mere peasants under the tread of his shoes? Nice.
So here was his response:
Mr. Baker congratulations on yes yelling out and interrupting the district updates, then running out after I said everyone has an opportunity to ask questions and that I would stay and answer each and everyone of them which I did. When other people in the audience, which you obviously did not respect, asked you for decorum you choose to yell and literally run out. The agenda and time of the meeting was published and printed out as you entered- there was clearly an update section on local, legislative and community issues followed by Q&A which was the majority of the meeting.
Your misrepresentation of my positions is both disingenuous and blatantly false. Your narrative is also disingenuous I respect the people who gave their time to be there tonight even though you chose not to, the only person who acted more important than everyone else was you sir.
As to facts:
My moratorium bill is the only bill to be voted on in both chambers. It provides a path for a one year pause on data center development. My votes on every bill run is to limit or control data center development- 8 bills passed the house – zero in the senate. I cosponsored and voted to repeal and eliminate tax breaks for data centers- there is literally no bill limiting data centers that I did not vote for.
Then this got more interesting and allow me to share an array of screenshots:
Paul Friel is up for re-election this November. Will he ride the Shapiro data center wave? Time will tell. I think he could sadly get re-elected because I think people won’t want the woman on the other side for posing for photos with the likes of Wella Balsam man.
Her name is Samantha Horosky and she is a kindergarten teacher at Owen J. Roberts. How she does as a candidate depends upon her spine. She has an interesting background and people like her. And people from both sides of the aisle don’t like Paul Friel and feel let down by yet another institutional Democrat.
And that is something that the Chester County Democrats don’t seem to get: they didn’t come to current power by being institutional political hacks. They actually came to power thanks to the hard work of individuals like Samuel Stretton, Esq. But do they remember any of their own history of the not so recent past? Nope.
Meanwhile, the Chester County Republicans also have a learning curve they need to pay attention to. They need to field more normal candidates and to stop embracing people like the Wella Balsam guy and types like duplicitous State Senator Tracy Pennycuick who wants to be grandma with the cookies…but what cookies is she selling? The data center kind?
The sad thing is the skunks in Pennsylvania politics live on in both sides of the aisle in Harrisburg. There are few saints, many sinners. Sinners like Paul Friel.
Cheer up Paul, you can always have photo ops with State Representative Danielle Friel Otten. She’s a nice enough woman who has become a giant disappointment. She came to Harrisburg as a pipeline activist. I personally defended her through a couple of her re-election bids because of her now past life as a pipeline activist, but won’t be able to do that again because quite simply put, Danielle needs to be judged by the company she keeps (do-nothing and mute State Representative Kristine Howard) and the Shapiro Kool-Aid she has drunk.
Paul would you like me to lend you my pitchfork? I do use it in my garden so you would have to give it back.
Fellow residents are getting outreach from outraged types past and present over us having the nerve to want additional representation in local government. This tells all of us that we are on the right track.
People this is our right. It’s not political. It’s decidedly non-partisan and it’s about representation.
It is literally our right as residents in a second class township in Pennsylvania to wish to go up to five supervisors from three. Our mechanism for doing this is to get something on the ballot, a referendum. It costs us nothing and it doesn’t increase our taxes, but it does increase our representation and perhaps gives us balance which I think is lacking in a lot of local governments no matter how good the representation is.
People who think it’s a bad idea are people who have something to lose. They’re being narcissistic and selfish, it’s personal to them. We might not ever know why it is personal and frankly, I don’t care.
Keep up the good work. Regardless of political affiliation, we are stronger together than apart. And that residents is what people are really scared of who don’t want two more seats on the East Whiteland Board of Supervisors.
One more day for signatures.
Well allow me to expand upon that with real world experience. Back in the day when I was part of Save Ardmore Coalition and we were fighting eminent domain for private gain in Ardmore, we experienced every dirty trick possible.
We will start with I had a price put on my head by a then publicist doing contract work for Lower Merion Township. You see, we as a group of local community activists were at first fighting an issue that wasn’t sexy enough for media coverage. So we had to get creative. We joined what was anew thing called Twitter (now X.) We also joined a new thing, kind of a grandmother of regional blogging called PhillyFuture.org
PhillyFuture.org was a community blog and aggregator launched in the early 2000s (founded by a wonderful human named Karl Martino) that served as a central hub for the Philadelphia political and local blogosphere. It was early days when I and a couple of friends discovered it. It was the most marvelous thing. We learned about things going on all over the region. Even Natural Lands had a blog on this blog.
PhillyFuture gave us a voice. It was the beginning of blogging. We didn’t have publicists or anything like that. It was just us. So we had to get creative. While we were on this platform fighting for Ardmore’s historic business district, Lower Merion Township which still wanted eminent domain for private gain in Ardmore did not like it. The small group of malcontents or whatever it was they called us was starting to get traction. The township at some point for a while hired an outside publicist for in my opinion damage control of a very unpopular and bad plan. Said publicist put a price on the head to know the identity of the Save Ardmore Coalition blogger. At that point there were a few of us, but I always believed they were after me.
What we went through was the stuff Netflix and Prime series are made for. We were literally targeted as residents for wanting to stop eminent domain. Small businesses were targeted in a most petty manner as well. Back then one of the businesses threatened with eminent domain for private gain was HuNan Restaurant. That was actually WHY I got involved. The family that owned HuNan were dear to me. So when they said no to eminent domain, all of a sudden township folks who always ate lunch at Hunan because it was literally next door to the township building stopped eating lunch there.
Why is this pertinent today? Because everything old is new again and politicians always regurgitate the same old stuff. See this text message screenshot I was sent last night:
Former Supervisor and Chair/Co-Chair of Great Valley Dems has a nasty streak doesn’t he?
Meet Bill Holmes and his charming text message. For the last 10 years or so he and the Great Valley Democrats have eaten lunch together at Dixie Picnic. So he sends this text – to a woman named Tracey who has been a devoted Democrat and supported him as a supervisor AND when he was head of Great Valley Democrats. And she is an owner of Dixie Picnic.
Today none of them showed up. So they all followed daddy to where? Wegmans or Wendy’s?
I first met Tracey not that long after we moved here. I can tell you that she feels such a sense of betrayal by these people. Like literally she’s one of the most devoted Democrats, and always has been. I think she may have even had some sort of gathering for Bill Holmes in the past? I’m a little fuzzy on that detail because that was around the time we were just coming into East Whiteland or before.
But do we see the irony here that she actually lived up to her Democrat and personal values by wanting to put a petition out for people who were interested in enlarging the Board of Supervisors by two that is allowed under the 2nd Class Township code? So she exercised her right as an American and as a resident of this municipality East Whiteland Township and now this guy wants to punish her as a small business owner and a resident? Talk about acting like petty bitch, right?
Also there were signing events for this ballot petition initiative to add two more supervisors and guess what has been reported? Bill Holmes showing up with some unidentified man and one guy named Jerry Pyne whom I believe was the vice chair of the county Democrats and is now on the following committees: Property Committee, Collaborative Planning Committee (WTF is that? The give out gold star stickers committee?), and System Administration Committee? LOL LOL LOL how many committees do they need?
Ok so the fact they showed up is not the problem. The problem was they reportedly showed up with signs to essentially harass other residents into not signing the petition? They literally had “Do Not Sign” signs. Below is a photo taken of him and his cohorts being gently spoken to by the lovely woman who organized the petition. She was a lot nicer than I would have been. Sadly no sign was being held up in that moment.
This was at a petition signing event. Bill Holmes far left in mad for plaid shirt.
This further cements, why change must happen.
If you don’t regularly go to Dixie Picnic in Lincoln Court shopping center I am urging everyone to go and support Tracey because of what is being done to her which is petty, chauvinistic, and misogynistic.
And so we are all clear on who Bill is he is somebody who is a politician. He still plays politics. He’s the past chair of the East Whiteland supervisors as well as a supervisor and he was the past chair or cochair of whatever the Great Valley/East Whiteland Democrats. A man who wants to hurt someone with a small business who’s also a great human is just a tool. Oh and didn’t he come to power thanks to Michele Vaughn? makes you re-think her on county row, doesn’t it?
Here is Dixie Picnic’s website: https://www.dixiepicnic.com/ They are an amazing scratch kitchen and home of the UPcake and nice positive things. You can order through GrubHub and I think Instacart and you can place orders on their website for pick up and they do catering and their hours are your basic lunch hours. This is a restaurant which is also an amazing little community hub.
Now I fully expect the Great Valley Democrats powers that be and think they are still powerful will have a hissy fit over my posting this but they should KNOW that a MAN saying something like this to a woman who owns a small business, lives in East Whiteland, and is a supportive member of their political party is literally indefensible. Is this the only female Democrat he’s had issues with as a perennial politician now without an office?
And so we are clear on how I feel about this bullshit aspect to local politics, allow me to share more of my personal experiences with Great Valley Democrats.
When this all happened to me, I was still a Republican. In 2016 when a certain someone became the presidential nominee, I left the party because as a woman it had already kicked me and my rights as a woman to the curb I felt. I tried on the whole being a democrat but between Chester County Dems and Great Valley Dems it was so institutional, bad corporate and often soulless and that’s being polite. So again, once more I am an Independent.
It doesn’t matter in the big picture but I thought it is good for people to know. Just like it is good for people to know Bill Holmes also ran unsuccessfully for state rep once upon a time. Oh and he only beat his 2013 challenger when he was supervisor by 10 votes. In 2007 he only beat Rich Orlow by 7 votes. Rich Orlow eventually became a Republican supervisor in East Whiteland and then was defeated by Scott Lambert. Then in the true nature of flip floppy politics, Rich Orlow became a Democrat to finish out Bill Holmes term when he stepped down, didn’t he?
Below are some articles about East Whiteland politics and one about East Whiteland population growth. And old blog posts.
Politics is a dirty business and it’s time for people like Bill Holmes to retire and just sit down to begin with. If someone is doing something they believe in personally, don’t you encourage them especially if it is something positive?
These tired ass folks like Bill Holmes think better representation for a community that has grown exponentially is a threat to Democracy and they don’t actually get that it is literally Democracy in action. Behavior like he exhibited is thug politics and it’s time for him to stop.
Also please visit Dixie Picnic. You will be glad you did.
I completely expect I will be targeted with unpleasantness for this post. After all I have never been “on board with Bill” and I have been targeted by unpleasantness before because I believe in growing three person boards to five and I think the data center is a bad plan. Some of those folks should be glad I don’t share their emails calling me what was it? A back stabber? And why? Because I think the three person board in East Whiteland should be five person and I think the East Whiteland data center plan is a bad plan.
East Whiteland your political slip is showing in the most unattractive way possible. Put that in your proverbial pipe and smoke it.
People, if they don’t want this then get out and vote for it in November if t makes the ballot this time. If not, we will do it again.
#ShopLocal and #LoveWhatIsLocal and #ShopSmall and remember that community transcends politics in the end. Always.
