Yes, it’s a dead Rite Aide but if West Goshen has their way TONIGHT they will push to change the zoning and make it a car wash??? Allow me to quote West Goshen Sunshine and Hello West Chester verbatim (I do not think they will mind):
A Sunshine Report heads-up: West Goshen Board of Supervisors will hear a Zoning amendment tied to the former Rite Aid site on Phoenixville Pike at tonight’s annual organizational meeting.
The amendment, if approved, would permit a car wash to open at 1307 Phoenixville Pike. Under the Township’s current Zoning Ordinance, car washes are only permitted by Conditional Use in the C-5 General Highway Commercial Zoning District. This section of Phoenixville Pike is part of the C-1 Neighborhood Commercial Zoning District.
The request is being advanced in connection with a proposed redevelopment by Spotless Car Wash Brands. The site is owned by Peter Kathopoulis, of 92 Victory Investments of Upper Darby, PA.
The meeting is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. at the West Goshen Township building. Approval of this zoning amendment could expand where car washes are allowed township-wide.
No meeting minutes for real for real so trying to sneak it in much West Goshen? There was a blip in November with this but then NOTHING. Can’t find any old minutes or plans and that is anti sunshine (for a change) and sleazy.
I am REALLY familiar with this intersection. Why? Because PECO or AQUA or PENNDOT has had W. King Road Closed for so long between Ship and Boot, I go through there once a week on average. It’s a busy, difficult intersection with others near by that West Goshen because when you cross over it goes towards Fern Hill and the hospital stuff and Greystone development. A spit away is West Whiteland Township and I don’t know any residents who knew about this there!
And let’s talk environmental impacts from car wash runoff?
Oh and look at their traffic study and other comparables …. Maryland AND Virginia??? OH COME ON.
I was asked to be there in person and life got in the way, and I was unable to attend the last Willistown meeting of the year and I am sorry I couldn’t be there. I saw no sewer rats in attendance so it probably would’ve been a nice meeting with the exception of Mrs. Golfball the lone public comment, which I have included. Complete segue but what does one expect when one moves next to a golf club and golf course? And do we really think some golfer meant to hit her with a golf ball? Why doesn’t she just ask them to or put up netting herself near the edges of her property to catch the golf balls so they don’t come onto her property?
Mrs. Golfball was quintessential of the types who move to Willistown and then complain about the color of the sky, the scent of horse and cow manure etc. and don’t get me started about sidewalks on twisty dangerous windy roads that won’t ever work, right?
Sorry, I digress.
Bob Lange gave way more many years than most people ever would to municipality.
He’s done an amazing amount of things for his home community in Willistown, and the meeting this week, reflected that. It was really nice to see some old familiar faces like Andy Dinniman.
I was glad to see that the Willistown Republicans or some Republicans got up to say job well done, especially after the treatment he received for exercising his right to choose his own political candidate to vote for in a presidential election as an American.
Willistown Township social media photo
Again, I noticed that it didn’t seem as if the sewer rats were in attendance, and I will mention them again because in my opinion they are the most horribly rude people consistently in Willistown Township and I would love to know how much money the Township spends per annum on the often frivolous right to know requests that they file? Anyway did they think they were punishing Bob by denying their presence? I am sure they will be back, don’t you?
But back to Bob Lange’s last meeting.
I first met Bob when I came out here to be with my husband. The picture you see in the post above I took in 2012 when I happen to be on the farm one day because he was nice enough to let me take pictures of some of the fields one fall. They were just so beautiful even then getting ready for winter.
Willistown is a beautiful township. A lot of that is down to Bob’s part in the stewardship. For 27 years. People talk about public service, Bob Lange has lived it.
As human beings, we are all flawed. Bob Lange in my estimation has never pretended or pronounced himself to be perfect like a lot of his armchair critics seemingly self-proclaim, but in Willistown you have always known that he cares about the township and acted proactively. And sorry not sorry, the abuse heaped on the supervisors there in general and the manager over the past few years has been astounding and that’s not a positive. (Yes, sewer rats and your motley band of malcontents I am speaking about all of you. You have made yourselves public figures via your antics.)
One of my favorite parts of this meeting was listening to Andy Dinniman. So many pearls of wisdom last night. And he spoke of when we were all still different political persuasions but essentially we behaved better.
Anyway, job well done Bob and thank you and Merry Christmas and we will see you around your farm!
Also Bob? Episcopal Academy has always been a sentimental favorite of mine as a Shipley gal because of some of the amazing friends I still have from there.
I am so angry as an Independent Voter in Chester County right now. According to Chester County Voters services, we don’t count. Yes, for real, for real. Chester County has now acknowledged somewhat insufficiently they ALL poll books at all precincts THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRETY OF CHESTER COUNTY currently do not include the names of “third-party voters”!
First of all we matter. We are not insignificant, and quite frankly the numbers of Chester County Independents is sizable.
This is bullshit and yes I am cursing.
Karen Barsoum has one job: to protect the voters of Chester County. She’s not doing it. She has incredibly high staff turnover for one. Why is that? Well watch this video:
Karen Barsoum has ONE job as head of voter services , to keep voters and their votes safe. To maintain integrity of our elections. This is an inexcusable mistake. It is wreaking havoc county wide.
She needs to GO. Whether she resigns or is let go, it needs to happen.
I mean why in the actual hell are there so many overlords in Chester County Government if they can’t seem to keep tabs on this woman? She isn’t doing her job. Elections and voting are bad enough, we don’t need Karen Barsoum continually making it worse. Period. Full stop.
Talk about limp dicky political marketing right? Who’s your developer daddy, Dicky Ricky? Or should we say daddies? Who’s writing your copy? The illustrious mayor of the mythical Walkable Willistown? Or some other sewer rats?
I mean can we review ?
Willistown kept the sewer system and the sewer system needs work so how do you all propose to pay for repairs?
So what if Matt McCarry works for the Pennsylvania House Office of the Majority Leader (Democratic) AKA Matt Bradford? Do you think that gives him an inside track in Chester County? It doesn’t as the guy he works for is out of Montgomery County. What it does mean, however, is he has a very good idea of how things work, as opposed to Dicky Ricky.
So yeah, in Willistown, they love their nasty mailers. And if they aren’t sending out nasty mailers, they’re taking up time with voluminous right to know requests and basically harassing township staff.
Willistown, you have a chance for different things but if you vote for Dicky Ricky you get what you deserve. And the pathway to eventual true chaos.
The only thing that stinks in Willistown is whatever is emanating from the posteriors of the people sending out these stupid mailers. And the horse they are backing isn’t even a show pony. He never came to meetings or showed interest before being put up to run for supervisor. And his appearances since he announced his candidacy have been cameos at best.
Oh and Dicky Ricky is so bad Bob Lange sent a letter out to some constituents I got a hold of. I have sharpened the photo of it I was sent by a resident and warmed the background so people can read it. If you don’t believe me that Bob sent this, go buy a pumpkin and ask him. And try the salsa if there is any left in the cold case, it’s really good.
Now so you can follow the money here are some Ricky Reports I am fascinated by the often odd donation amounts:
It is no secret that runs for something everything candidates on both side of aisle are individuals I find ridiculous. Usually in Chester County they are Republicans but this year it’s Erica Deuso out of Downingtown. A Democrat.
The 2023 article always amused me because it said (and I quote):
📌A Downingtown resident making her first foray in elective politics in Chester County is hoping to accomplish two challenging goals in the 2024 race for the Pennsylvania state House of Representatives.📌
But it wasn’t her first foray since she ran for Downingtown Borough Council unless a magic mulligan decreed it not to be trying to run for elected office?
So now she is running for mayor? Well good for her except is it just making her a runs for something / anything / everything candidate?
I still have no horse in this race. Downingtown has some unpleasant politics rather regularly, and I haven’t paid attention to the mayoral race since Josh Maxwell was Mayor. I started paying attention then because I respected a younger guy stepping up for his community, which he now does on a county level.
But this race I heard was getting interesting and well I figured it out. SOMEONE put up a FAKE website MISrepresenting Rich Bryant.
So why is Erica Deuso sharing screenshots of a fake website that was taken down because it was fake??
Erica, Erica, Erica. Is this like desperate is as desperate does? Shame on you. You want people to think you are the better candidate? Then be better.
A postscript to all of this are first a handful of screenshots from the defunct website:
Next is a little more unpleasant in my humble opinion. Screenshots of his Twitter feed. This is where this candidate probably now loses me. Why put this on Twitter or X? And why didn’t he clean this up before he announced his candidacy for Downingtown Mayor?
I am glad I do not have to decide between these two candidates. And it’s sad because when I first heard Rich Bryant interviewed a few months ago he seemed like just a regular guy and very pleasant. He seemed real. And I’m not saying he can’t have his First Amendment rights to post however he chooses, but the message in the postings is not pleasant.
Well, we shall see what happens with this race. It ought to be interesting and I think it’s going to get dirtier and uglier before November.
So recently, I expressed my thoughts on the Honey Brook Community Library suddenly deciding no candidate meet and greets would take place at their facility. To my understanding this is not a political party gathering, it’s a community meet and greet of all candidates of various offices and political parties for an upcoming election. What I was also told is the library lady told people on the phone that the library was uncomfortable given the political climate in Honey Brook Township. Yes I am paraphrasing, but anyway, here is what I said:
I think something has to be said about the situation involving the Honey Brook Library of it all and Valerie Shultz for Honey Brook Township Supervisor. The latest thing to fly around this bucolic municipality with the rotten underbelly, is that Val is a hater of libraries and they go further to intimate that she’s somehow “threatening” or “bullying” the library.
The library in Honey Brook historically has done political meet and greets until THIS election.
All of a sudden they were uncomfortable, and people were being told that some were fearful of doing a meet and greet? Val didn’t argue with them, she respected their position, but she like many of us have questioned the timing of it.
Sorry, not sorry the timing is totally suspect and that’s just common sense and if you go back to the most recent meeting for the supervisors, they had to go (and they meeting the library) proverbial hat in hand to ask for money from the municipality.
The way things work with bully or thug politics is often somewhat subversive and behind the scenes whisper down the lane where nobody overtly says an organization won’t get money that they need but they might intimate along the lines of maybe they won’t get as much because the political cabal is uncomfortable with Val running.
It is my belief and my opinion that any organization that needed money from Honey Brook Township would be discouraged this election season to do meet and greets.
This shouldn’t be the way it happens, but am I wrong? It’s bullying pure and simple, of Val AND the library? OK so the talking hoodie doesn’t want to debate, but are they so afraid of both candidates being at a meet and greet with other candidates?
These meet and greets feature all sorts of candidates running, including judicial. Just a little food for thought.
Of course the talking hoodie had to post a screenshot. Not that I care. That is an OPINION and they haven’t revoked the first Amendment yet that I know of.
This is shared because the library director was tagged personally, which is rather inappropriate – NOT her fault, just pointing it out.
Sooo before I get to the meat of the matter, let us address his accusation that Valerie Shultz is being terrible to the library. Honeys, I have it in writing and this is what Valerie said which was calm and measured (much like speaking to Valerie is):
Here is the text of the email in case you have a hard time reading the screenshot:
Jennifer,
First, I would like to thank you for working so well with Aurora, a member of my campaign team, for weeks to make the meet-n-greet candidate night a success. I’m just saddened that your team felt unsafe by hosting the event and had to withdraw your offer to host. Aurora indicated that you had been tagged in a FB post that led to your discomfort with hosting. I want to assure you that at no time did I or a member of my campaign team tag the library in a post. Unfortunately, there has been a pervasive effort by my opponent to intimidate anyone who provides me with a forum to speak to residents. I am sincerely sorry if that indeed was what happened to your team.
Secondly, I wanted to make you aware that I was campaigning in the Township yesterday and when I unknowingly visited a member of the library board, I was accused of spreading lies about the library then had a door slammed in my face. I do not know what lies I am alleged with having spread because she would not explain. I want to make it clear that at the last Supervisors meeting I asked about the latest donation to the library because I was concerned about the impact on the budget. It’s my job to ask those questions and the library is not the only instance where I have asked about expenditures. I want residents to understand how their tax money is being spent. I was in no way implying that I do not support the library. I believe the library is a critical part of our community. I am an elected auditor for the Township and have been carefully watching expenses for the last 2 years to ensure we are not headed for a tax increase. I would ask if you are aware of what was so upsetting to one of your board members that you please inform me so that I can clear up any misconception or misinformation. As a candidate for Supervisor, I want to have a excellent working relationship with you and your board should I be elected. Please feel free to call me if you’d prefer to speak instead of email. My cell is [REDACTED]
Regards,
Valerie Shultz
Here was library lady’s reply:
So all can read:
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.
Aurora, a regular library patron, who has never identified herself as affiliated with any particular organization or team, approached us about hosting a meet-and-greet event. Due to our limited staffing following our recent reopening, and after much insistence, we agreed to provide venue space only, with no involvement in event planning or logistics.
We subsequently removed this event from our schedule based on our standard evaluation process for all programming. We are deeply concerned about false statements suggesting external pressure influenced our decision-making. These claims are categorically untrue. This decision was made independently by library leadership to ensure alignment with our educational mission and community service goals.
As a community institution, we will not tolerate the spread of false information that damages our reputation and undermines public trust. Such misinformation has created legitimate daily security concerns for our staff and patrons due to the inflammatory rhetoric being shared online. The safety of everyone who enters our library is our highest priority. We take these security concerns seriously.
We remain committed to transparent communication with our community. We welcome respectful feedback and constructive dialogue about our programming. Our doors remain open, and we encourage community members to communicate with us directly about any concerns rather than engaging with unverified information online.
The library exists to serve all residents through educational programming, resources, and services. We will continue making decisions that support this mission while maintaining a safe and welcoming environment for everyone in our community. We remain committed to our mission of educating and serving the Honey Brook community with integrity and professionalism.
Jennifer Spade
Library Director
Youth Services Coordinator
Honey Brook Community Library
687 Compass Road, Honey Brook, PA 19344
610-273-3303
I call BS on the library lady and here is why:
So all can read easily:
On Monday, August 18, 2025, 1:37 PM, wrote:
I would like to inform everyone that the Honey Brook Library sent an email they are no longer comfortable hosting our meet and greet. Please see below.
Hi Aurora,
Due to the way this upcoming political election is playing out online on social media, the Honey Brook Community Library will no longer be hosting a meet and greet event at the library on Oct 8. We are concerned about the safety of our staff and building. I hope that you have enough time to find an alternate place for your event.
Thank you,
Jennifer Spade
Library Director
Youth Services Coordinator
Honey Brook Community Library
687 Compass Road, Honey Brook, PA 19344
610-273-3303
And then there is this:
Once again a false narrative…and you’re lying when you say “ I can’t make this stuff up” because that’s all you do!!
I had a phone conversation with Jennifer, the director of the library, and asked her flat out! During our conversation she said that her staff was concerned about their safety and the intimidation tactics that you and Sal employ!
You talk about Honey Brook Twp being a bucolic community. I know it’s a big word. Perhaps you should look up the definition because your contentious behavior doesn’t align. Plain and simple. You’re just an overgrown, adult bully.
So then the trustees of the Honey Brook Community Library released a statement a couple of hours ago:
Here is the verbiage in case the screen capture is blurry:
A Statement from our Board of Trustees:
Honey Brook Community Library exists to serve our entire community through educational programming, resources, and services that enrich the lives of all residents. As a private 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, we are deeply committed to this mission and take seriously our responsibility to create an environment where every community member feels welcome, safe, and able to pursue learning and personal growth.
This commitment requires us to exercise careful judgment in our programming decisions. As a private organization, we maintain full discretion over the events we host, grounded in constitutional protections for freedom of association and our rights as private property owners.
Our Executive Director, supported by the board, makes these decisions independently, guided solely by our institutional mission to educate and serve the community. We are not bound by external pressures or influences that might compromise our primary obligation to maintain the library as a neutral educational resource for all residents.
Libraries have always been sanctuaries of learning, reflection, and peaceful discourse. Our community expects and deserves a space where they can engage with ideas, conduct research, participate in educational programs, and find respite. Libraries, while champions of intellectual freedom, must also maintain environments conducive to their core educational purposes. This means we must sometimes decline to host events that might compromise the peaceful, welcoming atmosphere that defines library spaces or that could create barriers to access for any members of our community.
We value feedback from our community and encourage open discussion. While not everyone will agree, we ask that all comments remain respectful. Our goal is to educate and serve the community, and we’ll continue working toward that with integrity.
Our commitment to community betterment remains unwavering while preserving the neutral, inclusive environment that makes libraries essential community resources.
Respectfully,
I love libraries. Have friends who are and were librarians different places. But to this library I simply ask are you playing politics or bowing to politics? Either way, you are a 501(c)(3) and you best think about that carefully. That is not a threat or anything other than they are a registered non-profit.
Isn’t it true the League of Women Voters meets there? So why can’t they, like their branches in many other areas, host a meet and greet at a library? It’s not one candidate, it’s as many as wish to show up. It’s a community thing and benign. A library should be neutral and neutral ground. But this is Honey Brook and it’s like a corn field Tammany Hall.
That is all I have got but the library lady does in fact need to get her story straight, don’t you think? If they are concerned because of a highly charged political atmosphere, can’t blame them. But the problem is they have done these gatherings before.
If Honey Brook Community Library is not doing this kind of gathering this year, then perhaps they need to issue a policy going forward that they aren’t hosting meet and greets of a political nature period. That way there is no confusion on the topic or suspicions of motivations.
Call me crazy but, meh, an endorsement from the not so pleasant lame duck Mayor of Malvern Borough is akin to il bacio della morte….. AKA the kiss of death.
A segue to Zeyn Uzman…I have said before I am not a fan of Zeyn Uzman who found himself out in the cold and UN-endorsed by the Great Valley Democrats and he was subsequently primaryed. All I know is his wee political machine went all gangbusters to discredit his opponent in the primary, Pete Papadopoulos, who owns Malvern Pizza and is the candidate the Great Valley Democrats chose to endorse. Now we all know I think endorsements should happen AFTER primaries to let water seek it’s own level, but whatever. I also think PA should become an open primary state.
Pete Papadopoulos beat the pants off of him on the Democrat side. Not sure if Zeyn Uzman prevailed as a Republican write in or not, honestly. it has been said he was once a Republican, but hey, lots of people myself included were once Republicans so that is that. So anyway, Joe Lorusso thinks it’s aces to be endorsed by Zeyn Uzman, I think does it matter and why him he’s not so hot? Oh and yes it is like a political il bacio della morte.
Oh and a tip here for Joe, whom I initially liked and like as a person? He pushed and pushed for me to endorse him, and I don’t endorse. He was told by all sorts NOT to do that to me or anyone else, that at its most basic, it makes people uncomfortable.
Sadly the largest impediment to Joe’s campaign is himself. He totally has the acumen and experience for the job, but he can’t stay in his own lane.
I actually find parts of his inner New Yorker and Brooklynite refreshing, but this is NOT New York. You can’t treat Chester County like New York City, they are two different beasts.
Joe also ran for Malvern Borough Council around 2023, and honestly he could have and should have won that race. But he has not learned he can’t just talk, he has to listen. He has to crawl before he can walk.
I never minded his messages until over this past weekend because he behaved like a man child when he didn’t like my thoughts. Honestly, it’s totally OK that didn’t like my answer and I tried to be polite because I don’t think he’s a bad guy. He can be quite charming. But he did the man child response thing and blocked me from replying to his last word and funny I thought we were having a conversation.
But it IS disappointing. He’s just not to me seeming like the guy I first heard interviewed. I think that guy is still in him, I hope he remembers that guy soon.
But then I caught wind of this whole thing where he is targeting the District Attorney’s office.
The Republican candidate for Chester County controller is taking aim at the county commissioners’ administrative team — including its new chief experience officer — as an “unelected” and “unaccountable” executive branch of county government.
In social media posts available from the Republican Committee of Chester County, candidate Joe LoRusso sharply criticizes the three positions that comprise the top tier of county administration as being expensive and not accountable to ordinary residents and voters….In his social media posts, LoRusso has said, provocatively, that the county is becoming “Philadelphia West,” with “crippling taxes, rising crime and broken government.” While it is true that the county’s median property tax bill is among the highest in the region, at $6,191, according to the World Population Review website, it is also true that the county’s median household income of $104,161 is the highest in the state. (LoRusso did not cite sources for his suggestion that the count’s crime rate is rising.)
Now I will be honest, I do not have a problem with questioning the chief executive officer (CEO), the chief operating officer (COO), and the chief experience officer (CXO) of it all. It just seems excessive, especially since I was told county departments were supposed to trim the fat and for what? To pay more executive salaries?
Ok put that aside. What concerns me is he picked a fight with the District Attorney’s office. THAT is not staying in his lane and frankly puzzling and a bit concerning.
So the District Attorney put out a social media post:
So then of course, Joe Lorusso had to reply…well not him directly but that Chester County Moving Forward group:
Overly verbose and did I miss a memo somewhere that the Chester County District Attorney is having a special election this year and Joe Lorusso is also running for District Attorney? Funny I thought the next DA race was 2027?
Joe Lorusso does have the qualifications to be controller, but more and more he doesn’t seem to have the temperament. Joe is from Brooklyn originally, it’s something I liked in him EXCEPT he doesn’t get that he’s not in New York. New York politics is different from here.
I find it offensive that he attacks the DA and then cries foul. The DA isn’t taking anything out of context, Joe needs to stay in his lane. The DA is not deflecting, he’s actually not playing politics, but Joe Lorusso is….and Joe is doing the smearing.
Again, Joe, you aren’t in New York anymore. Please stop throwing all of the spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks. And yes I can say that as half of my DNA is Italian.
Joe Lorusso has the ability to be controller, but he can’t always be a flea on a hot brick. Attacking the District Attorney is just a bad look.
Grow up Joe, and be that person I thought you were when I first heard you interviewed. Stay in your lane. And learn when to push and when NOT to push. And the art of subtlety in politics? That’s better then getting the reputation of attack rat.
I know Joe isn’t going to be happy with me for writing this, and honestly I am sorry. But he can be better than this. It’s not New York. It’s just not.
” WEST CHESTER — Chester County’s fraternal law enforcement organization has announced the list of candidates that it will endorse in the coming November election, including judicial, county row office and local positions….For county row offices, the group endorsed the Republican slate, save for one. It chose Alissa McGrory for clerk of courts, Deana Wang for treasurer, Chris Thomson for prothonotary, and Thomas Hatzidais for coroner. It opted, however, to endorse Democrat Nick Cherubino over Republican Joseph Lorusso….Lorusso has made headlines recently for his criticism of the structure of county government, and has suggested that crime in the county is increasing. That assertion drew pushback from county District Attorney Chris de Barrena-Sarobe, who said that figures show that crime is decreasing in the county.“
Edward R. Murrow was a pioneering television broadcaster who died way too young. He died of lung cancer in 1965 at age 57. Good Night, and Good Luck was a movie about a period in his life that came out in 2005. He is really the guy that shaped the television news. He worked for CBS. he started out in radio and covered things about World War II from London. He was head of the network’s then “European bureau.”
Eventually, his career took him to television news, then in its early days. He was a force for free and uncensored media ergo free speech in the era where he really changed our television news during the nationwide hysteria of the communist hunting McCarthy era the early 1950s. He literally took on the establishment and won.
The movie centers around Edward R. Murrow and essentially the pissing match between him and whom he referred to as the junior senator from Wisconsin, or Joseph McCarthy.
This movie has been translated into a stage play with a limited run on Broadway and tonight, CNN and Max broadcast it live from a Broadway theater called the Winter Garden Theater in New York City.
George Clooney has the starring role of Edward R Murrow, and from the movie to the current stage version this has been his baby and what I saw tonight was nothing short of freaking fabulous.
You’re watching a play set in the 1950s about what happened then, yet it’s a version what we’re experiencing today as in right now in this country. It’s almost eerie.
Also important, this is the first time a Broadway play has been broadcast live on television. I really think CNN was sending this country a message by doing this. George Clooney certainly is and I applaud him for the courage of his convictions.
Clooney showed us the new McCarthyism loud and clear. Will it be a catalyst of popular culture to enact positive change? I don’t have the answer for that question.
What I do know is the show has shown us the importance of free and fair journalism and the First Amendment. This show showed us the importance of why we can’t just allow this country to evolve into a fake monarchy or an unpleasant oligarchy meets a political circus, more accurately.
Now I’ll get to what this post was originally about, so read on.
I saw a gentleman on Lancaster Avenue or Route 30 in Malvern/Frazer on Friday. This is not the scene you expect to see out here. You don’t expect to see an unhoused man with his life in a grocery cart out here. A friend of mine told me they saw him in Thorndale Thursday, so that’s quite a journey on foot if he was passing through Malvern/Frazer Friday.
This kind of visual is something you expect from a more urban setting. Although you don’t expect such a sight out here I am told there are plenty of homeless that you don’t see and a lot of them are probably hiding in plain sight.
What is being done for these people now I’ve heard of tent cities or settlements in Pottstown (Chester County and Montgomery County) and further west along the river.
There was a bigger tent city in Norristown (Montgomery County) that was broken up by their borough council and I don’t know where those people ever went.
We don’t seem to have anything that can help these homeless, many of whom have serious mental issues. We have lousy mental health system in this country. There are too few solidly good practitioners, and there are sorts of levels of other kinds people who call themselves mental health professionals, only they’re not.
We have a healthcare system that is so frustrating that there are no words for most people some days if they even have health insurance. And then there’s just the general economy. It’s supposed to be so fabulous now, so where’s the fabulous? Has fabulous been subjected to a tariff, by chance?
There are people out out of work and there are people can’t afford to have safe and decent places to live. There are people can’t afford groceries or medicine. There are many who are white collar slaves at work.
And most of us are just trying to get through each day, each hour of each day, and each week with our heads down and pray for something better. Do prayers work come? Sometimes I wonder.
To see that man Friday in front of Planet Fitness pushing a shopping cart with his life in it really gave me pause. The simple truth is that could be any of us, you just don’t know. There are people I know who struggle, yeah, most of us ourselves are just getting by. It’s like when you see somebody going through cancer or who has lost a loved one, that also could be any one of us on any given day.
We have elected officials of every level of government who have forgotten why they are in office, or they never really cared in the first place, and we were deceived.
Then we have the good eggs, kind of like the proverbial white hats who bang their head on the wall just trying to do their best to help their constituencies.
And while the fat cats seem to get fatter, our media coverage seems to decrease day by day. Local papers have become eviscerated by soulless, nameless, faceless, hedge fund owners.
Regional newspapers, suffer similar issues and every week another voice who represented us retires or leaves or moves on. Some of the young and new reporters that you find don’t really have the institutional knowledge to get some of what they’re covering, and some of them I wonder if they actually have the intellectual curiosity. And I’m not trying to be unfair, because there are also some who are new and tremendously talented and very good. Only you don’t hear their voice often enough.
And then you go to television news. First of all, I want to know who is instructing half of the women what to wear on air, especially when there broadcasting from the studio. And the men aren’t much better and maybe I’m just showing my age, but it really bothers me when I see male newscasters on air wearing sneakers or similarly walk the dog or go to the farmers market type shoes. Can we also talk about how they don’t know how to correctly pronounce the names of the people they’re interviewing or discussing or the streets or the towns?
Next onto what’s covered. And it’s like a game of bingo to try to get a local issue covered. It’s just as hard as it is to connect with your local TV station as it is to get a live person when your Internet goes down and you can’t and you want to talk to somebody from Verizon or Comcast.
And then you wonder when a local story does get placed that affects so many no matter where they live, do people actually care?
These are all my meandering thoughts for the day. You can like them or not like them, it’s entirely up to you. And if you don’t like what I or any other blogger writes about, you are free to start your own blog and see if you can do it better.
So yo, Narbs and Lower Merion neighbors, did you think this was going away? It is NOT. I wrote about this before and the lawyer fighting to save this park is working hard (Phil Rosenzweig) BUT people? You need to go BACK to meetings and speak. Or speak via zoom. Email. Contact media.
I checked when this all went up on Narberth Borough’s website for this evening and well, can you say shifty? They barely provide notice and that is a TYPICAL SLEZOID move to keep people away from meetings.
Narberth’s Democrats should be ashamed since well.. developing a park is hardly environmentally friendly is it? It’s just greed and laziness.
Where is the clause about shady shit in trying to sell a park for development???
People, you can zoom or go in person. But NOTHING beats bodies in the seats in person.
The Save Sabine Coalition has a website. It does need to be updated, as people have lives and they get busy. But folks? It’s pretty simple: if you don’t take an interest, Narberth Borough Council will continue down this path, which to me is sad and I thought they had grown past it but they haven’t.
I can’t fight this fight for you guys, I can only point it out. And I can say I think it is WRONG because it is wrong. But these people who are Narberth Borough government including lame duck Mayor Andrea Deutsch need to hear it from you guys.
That is kind of all I have got.
Narberth has issues and there are people on this borough council who leave me gobsmacked that they don’t get this.
Downingtown tried this a few years ago and got smacked down all the way to the PA Supremes.
Ok look I have to ask: how can this one remaining supervisor in West Vincent Township sit here this past week at a gathering with bumble the solicitor and everything that is old is new again manager who was exited a bunch of years ago not because he was fab and came back as an interim with straight faces? They literally just held a meeting without a quorum which is really just a gathering right? How can you hold a meeting about the business of a municipality without a quorum? The answer is you’re not supposed to. It’s a second class township. This is the big flaw in the structure of second class townships because although you can have five supervisors too many places only have three like here.
You have one supervisor that I suspect people are not going to see again (Sara Shick) and you have another one also with obvious health issues (Bernie Couris formerly a Republican Borough Council person in West Conshohocken) given the gray pallor at the meeting they were last attending wearing a giant hospital mask and then leaving after 20 minutes. You may not see him again either, right?
Now many things people do not know about Bernie Couris is he was in the papers years ago for a heart transplant. I have never found him to be my type of politician either in West Vincent or West Conshohocken, but he had a heart transplant I want to say 1990-ish, and went on to run marathons etc, and that I do find truly amazing and inspiring. That being said, if he is not well, that could be super serious, right? (And if you don’t believe me check South Jersey papers archives, Inquirer, Daily News, etc.)
And Sara Shick is a breast cancer survivor – used to be a peer counselor at Living Beyond Breast Cancer which is actually one of the few breast cancer charities I believe in. BUT given the way she looked at meetings the past few months (wheelchair, suddenly a hair covering, looking frail, and a very wobbly voice) something is up and hasn’t been to a meeting or part of one since September?
Look, I am not being mean, these people are UNWELL and this township doesn’t have a quorum. So both of them need to put what is rumored to be some sort of competition or not getting along aside for the good of their township, don’t they? It is OK to say you are sick or whatever and step aside and release that stress from your lives if you have a medical condition that requires attention and less stress, correct?
And I realize government in West Vincent can’t escape being Pennsyltucky once in a while, but you can have a meeting and just say you’re getting together so everybody can see literally who’s left! They’re not actually doing anything because legally they can’t do anything without a quorum can they? And that is exactly what the remaining supervisor Dana Allen did. Had a meeting without a quorum and did not know the basics of you can’t post minutes that have not been approved by quorum?
And then you have to wonder if any of the former supervisor(s) that people fought so hard to rid the township of are just waiting in the wings, looking to be placed as the pinch hitter(s)? Now one pinch hitter I would approve of is Mike Schneider, for example. Or even George Dulchinos, right?
I have to ask should the state be stepping in here because I think this is crazy town and if I was living or working in this municipality and they don’t even have like the audit from the prior year finished yet let alone how can they really be talking about 2024 because they can’t really do anything with that either, can they?
Because again…broken record time… there’s not a quorum now, so wouldn’t you be anxious as a resident ? Or even as a township employee? Truthfully residents shouldn’t be just anxious, they should be up in arms. And before anybody jumps down my throat and says I am unsympathetic to people dealing with health issues, that’s not the case at all. This is a broken down system in this municipality once again, and that is not fair to anyone is it???
Again, supervisors who are not at the table and haven’t been at the table now in one case for several meetings, and in another case for a couple of meetings need to do the right thing. It is OK to say their health comes first and they are sorry they cannot serve any longer… but you can’t just pretend nothing is happening here, can you? And should you?
And let’s talk the everything old is new again interim manager? A right to know uncovered he is billing $75 /hour. How is the recruitment going and how can they appoint a manager without a quorum of supervisors anyway?
Here is the job posting for a new West Vincent manager, but again, without a healthy Board of Supervisors HOW do they interview and hire one??? Picking a new manager is not just playing that child’s card game of match, is it?
A resident asked at the meeting asked the question of what if there was no quorum in December and the solicitor basically told her not to worry her pretty little head about it? I mean for real?
And of course because there really is no local journalism anymore you have nothing about this in the Daily Local and I doubt the Inquirer even knows there’s a problem.
West Vincent is careening in my opinion. I am glad I don’t live there but oh hell if this is not a reason for second class townships to go to a five member board everywhere in PA, I don’t know what is.
West Vincent is Crazy Town and not in a good or productive way.
