Kudos to Rocco Polidoro for writing this letter to the editor, published in the Delco Times on August 6, 2007. Rocco was one of the 6 or 7 candidates who ran in May in the Dem primary race for County Council. With this letter, we can see the Rocco is working for the 3 candidates that won in the primary. I saw Rocco recently and shook his hand, not only for writing such a hard-hitting letter, but for his carrying on the spirit of party unity.
This letter is filled with the facts and figures the tell the story of how corrupt the (currently) Republican-led Delco County Council is wasting our taxpayer money. If you read this and still vote to continue the GOP hegemony, you just aren't paying attention. And you're voting against your own interests. This costs us millions of dollars every year.
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To the Times:
There is a very important election this November.
Three of the five county council seats are up for election. Based on my 25 years of business and political knowledge of Delaware County, I would venture to say that more than 95 percent of the residents do not know the following data.
County council will spend more than $500 million of your federal, state and county taxes in 2007 to run our county government. This county employs more than 3,600 employees.
For the last 32 years, there hasn’t been a Democrat elected to county council. All five council members are Republicans and all five are lawyers. There are 67 counties in Pennsylvania and other than a very small county in the northern part, we are the only county government in the state that does not have two-party representation.
If you view the Web site or the campaign material of the three Republican candidates this year, you would think they are fiscal conservatives and dedicated to smaller government. You would think these candidates — Andy Lewis, Christine Fizanno Cannon and Tom McGarrigle — had something to do with the fact that we haven’t had a county tax increase in three years, although they have all been selected and supported by the same group that has controlled the county in the past, they had nothing to do with that issue.
Not having a tax increase in the last three years is actually a smoke-screen. So if these three are elected this November, we will have “no change” in the way this county spends our taxes. And with the same group in control, we probably will have “no new direction” for this county for years to come.
Some would argue that the majority of the voters have elected these Republicans in the last 32 years. Do you really think a monopoly is good for local government? Who’s looking out for the several hundred thousand residents that are not registered Republican? Where are the checks and balances when our council is spending millions on no-bid contracts? In many cases the recipients of these no-bid contracts are also donors to the Republican Party. Are we getting the lowest and most responsible contract?
There should be a law that prohibits a contractor who bids for county government contracts in Delco from donating to political parties. We’ll never know with all five members from the same political organization if we are spending our taxes wisely.
Why have all five council members been awarded solicitorships on various boards and small government bodies within the county? I think it’s a great conflict of interest for elected council members to accept solicitorships while representing the people of Delaware County. You could only serve one master.
In addition to receiving $50,000 for the part-time position on county council, it is estimated all five members are also paid with more than 20 solicitorships within the county. And guess who’s paying for those positions? Is your town or school board paying any of the current council members?
Now let’s see how Delco’s spending compares to our neighbors. Bucks County has more than 50,000 more residents, according to the Census Bureau, but Delco will spend $112 million more than Bucks. The chairman of Delco council has said our county receives more state and federal grants than Bucks and Montco, and that we spend less on county taxes than our neighbors. Another smoke-screen.
We have to look at the total amount of taxes we are spending if we are to consider how efficient we are compared to our neighboring counties. After all, we are all federal, state and county taxpayers. Regardless of the county chairman’s spin, we are spending millions more than our neighboring counties.
When you look at where most of our taxes are going, you’ll see it’s on county jobs. And that’s what makes the Republican organization strong, patronage jobs. And you pay for it.
Delco employs 1,000 more employees than Bucks. And remember, Bucks has more than 50,000 more residents.
Compared to Montgomery County, Delco has 200,000 fewer residents, but yet spends $103 million more than Montco. Even though Montco is 40 percent larger in population, Delco employs 400 more employees.
Both Montco and Bucks include their prison employees in their total numbers, whereas Delco does not. And if you were to factor the prison employees back into these calculations, it would show that Delco is employing even more than our two neighboring counties. That’s because Delco employs an outside company to run our prison.
And what do Bucks and Montco have that Delco doesn’t? They have a two-party system running their governments.
It appears the organization that has controlled this county for 32 years with no “checks and balances” has taken advantage. The population figures, the number of employees and the budgets of the three counties are all posted online and available under the right-to-know law. The numbers speak for themselves.
This county is riddled with an over-abundance of patronage workers and you are paying big bucks for it. It is my opinion that we will probably get hit with a county tax increase in 2008. Do you want another four to eight years of the same political organization running our county government?
The chairman of council is also heading the election committee of the three Republican candidates, further proof that the same organization will control those candidates if they are elected.
Isn’t 32 years enough? Don’t we deserve to have the checks and balances in our local government that every other county enjoys in the state?
I am not saying replace all five Republicans on county council with five Democrats. But at least consider giving several Democrats a chance. It would be healthy to have a mix on council.
If you want to see change in our county starting in 2008, then please consider David Landau, Anne O’Keefe and John Innelli for county council in November.
ROCCO J. POLIDORO
Springfield
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18 comments:
There are some GREAT letters to the editors hitting the Delco Times these days.
Letter to the Editor: End culture of croynism, ‘one-party rule’ in Delco
To the Times:
David Landau, Ann O’Keefe and John Innelli, Democratic candidates for county council, are making corruption and lack of transparency major themes of their campaigns.
David has put it succinctly: “I am running to end the culture of corruption which wastes millions of our tax dollars every year. Thirty years of one-party rule has led to a system of patronage, no-show jobs, and no-bid contracts reserved for insiders. This activity results in a loss of faith in county government and corrodes the very fabric of our system. As a member of county council, I will demand an end to this wasteful patronage system and a renewed focus on the important issues facing our communities today.”
And from Ann: “I will demand that ‘best business practice’ be the standard for all government contracts. As an example, I recently requested that county council receive constituent input before entering into a final agreement with the Drexel University School of Public Health for a study of Delaware County’s current health-delivery system. Rather than spend $150,000 on questions to which we already know the answers, I want to make sure that the parameters for this study are such that our tax dollars are being spent for a thorough public review of our county health system.”
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The Republican candidates are posing as conservatives dedicated to smaller government. They trumpet the fact that we have not had a county tax increase in three years, while ignoring the fact that we have a budget and payroll which are grossly in excess of those of the surrounding counties.
In fact our county budget has risen over 75 percent in the last 25 years, adjusted for inflation. Most of our taxes are going on county jobs — patronage jobs which help further entrench the Republican oligarchy. And you pay for it. It is little wonder that they want a “positive campaign.”
Thirty-two years of Bush-style lack of accountability have embedded a system of patronage, corruption, nepotism and cronyism. Where are the checks and balances when millions are spent on no-bid contracts? Are we getting the lowest and most responsible contract in each case? Allowing this to continue will further entrench the system of big government and waste.
There are 67 counties in Pennsylvania. With the exception of a very small county in the north, we are the only one that does not have two-party representation. The population figures, the number of employees and the budgets of Delaware and of bipartisan Bucks and Montgomery counties are all posted online. The numbers speak for themselves.
This year, Delaware County Council will spend about $560 million of your federal, state and county taxes. Bucks and Montgomery counties each spend about $100 million less even though they have tens of thousands more residents.
In addition to their part-time positions on county council, the five current Republican members hold more than 20 solicitorships with township administrations and school boards across the county. This is a clear conflict of interest; we are paying for those positions.
How does this relate to our local situation? Cronyism is pervasive in Chadds Ford. Eighty percent of the local Republican Party funds raised this year ($12,500 total) have come from outside the township – with current county council members prominent among the donors.
The members of our local Republican Party are enablers for the county Republican power structure; they are, thereby, also enablers of the entrenched Bush-style lack of accountability.
We need to bring democracy, accountability and transparency to our townships and to the Delaware County governments in November. I urge you to consider your local township Democratic candidates and David Landau, Ann O’Keefe, and John Innelli for county council.
M. LANA SHEER
Chadds Ford
It seems that if you boil this letter down to its essence and cut out some of the verbiage, what Mr. Polidoro is saying is that Delco spends more on County government than do Bucks County and Montgomery County. He also appears to attribute this entirely to patronage.
I am wondering, has anyone really examined this contention?
Mr. Polidoro also states that the main difference between Delco and the other two counties is that they have minority representation on their County governing bodies.
Is he saying that the presence of Democrats thwarts the hiring of thousands of persons?
Does this make any sense?
Also, where are all these thousands of extra people hired by Delco? I have been to the courthouse many times, and I don't see where they could put all those extra bodies.
And I've also spend some considerable time in the courts of Bucks County and Montgomery County, and I can assure you that they are no more leanly-staffed, or efficient, than Delco.
Somehow I think Mr. Polidoro's argument isn't going to hold up to scrutiny, but I'd like to hear if anyone has really examined the issue (as opposed to just repeating what he says).
Pat-
It's not only the patronage jobs, but excess employees to do a job and the no-show jobs (like in Haverford).
The no-bid contracts to GOP contributors are also pumping up the budget.
I realize Republicans like to claim that market competition lowers prices, but that doesn't work if the "competition" is a contest to see who gives the best kick-backs to get expensive no-bid contracts.
Rocco, didn't mention it, but I expect the choices for solicitors aren't cost effective either. (Did you feel Haverford was getting it's money's worth out of Leo Sereni? Scale that up to the county level)
Rocco's been fighting Delco's very own Prince of Darkness in Springfield for years. I think he is well versed on the subject of budgets and how patronage works.
I'll try to track down some supporting documentation for Rocco's claims.
Polidoro's letter is way off base. Think about it: I don't care what size the county budget is, I only care that I receive the services I need and that I have low county taxes. Isn't that the real question -- How do Delco's taxes compare to the other suburban counties?
As I understand the county budget, they receive money from state and federal government to supplement income from county taxes. If the county is able to expand the budget by getting more grants and funding from the state and the feds, that's a good thing in my book.
All I really care about is that the budget is balanced and that my county taxes (not to be confused with your school taxes) are reasonable-- which I think they are. I would also point out that htere hasn't been a county tax increase in three years. That's a pretty good record. This nonsense about budget size is just that: nonsense.
Delco-
If Delco is getting all this money from outside, then maybe they don't really need as much in county taxes to supported a bloated budget. Collecting and spending extra taxes to fund unnecessary patronage jobs doesn't minimize your county taxes.
Considering how budgets are drafted in secret with no public debate, I expect there is plenty of fat to trim. Also, the Democrats have charged that Delco is NOT receiving some money from the State for which it is entitled.
There are also hidden costs associated with the lack of planning, infrastructure improvements and inter-township coordination.
You mean the Democrats claims about Delaware County not receiveing as much money for infrastructure improvements. Using those figures and breaking it down by square mile (a good way to measure infrastructure), Delaware County receives anywhere from two to three times more than other suburban counties. Looks like they are doing their planning and receiving their fair share.
As far as claims of a bloated bureaucracy, say Delaware County receives federal and state funding to run a nursing home that the other Counties do not. While those employees may technically be "county" employees, they are actually employees of a county run nursing home that is funded by state and federal money. I don't consider that "bloated", I consider it a smart way to operate the county.
The same could be said for a host of other programs that receive federal and state grants, such as the Internet Crime Against Children Task Force, the Senior Fraud Unit, etc.
These programs obviously require additional staffers and are funded by outside sources, but I wouldn't label them unnecessary or proof that the county government is bloated.
Delco-
Spending money on infrastructure improvement is not the same as actually making improvements.
Is it "improvement" if you repave roads that don't need it, while ignoring others that do? Or hire more people than is needed to do the job?
How about distributing the "improvement" budget fairly to the East-side of the Blue Route?
How much money is wasted on no-bid contracts?
In the coming weeks, we will research and tackle some of these issues in more depth.
Well, seeing as how the Republican candidates have already pledged to publicly procure all county contracts on the county website, it looks like the Republican candidates want to end no bid contracts on the county level.
Delco-
If the Republicans REALLY wanted to the contracts public, the current Council, under Reilly, would be doing that already.
Up until two months ago, before I sent a letter to the County webmaster, Curt Weldon was STILL listed as the Congressman. It's funny how often "accidents" like this happen.
Try finding the official primary election results on the site (or any other election). How about a list of the polling places?
Open government is a philosophy from top to bottom. The Republicans have not shown initiative on this.
Andy Lewis is part of the majority in Haverford. Yet, we still don't see minutes of Board of Commissioners meeting online, or budgets, meeting agendas. The Republicans had their chance, and didn't take it.
Andy Lewis is part of the majority in Haverford. Yet, we still don't see minutes of Board of Commissioners meeting online, or budgets, meeting agendas. The Republicans had their chance, and didn't take it.
That is an outright irresponsible statement, David, and you know it. You really are getting carried away here.
As you well know, I have been working like a dog researching and then contracting for a new Township website. When it is up and running, which should be in a few months, depending on the vendor's timetable, we will make great strides toward total transparency.
And as you also know, Andy and I have been talking about transparency in government for years, long before you ever jumped on the bandwagon.
We've also done something about it, unlike you and most of the Democrats I know.
Also, David, I researched Rocco Polidoro's allegations and got some facts. Rather than post them in a comment, I am going to email them to you. Let's see if you have the courage to post them!
In the coming weeks, we will research and tackle some of these issues in more depth.
The question is, will you print the results if you don't like them?
David--You're doing a good job here raising the issues that need to be raised, and are doing agreat job engaging Pat.
Pat--see my prior comment to david's 60% solution post. You may be too far gone to be brought back...you know that Andy is nothing but a sell out to judge and mcnichol. something tells me that is not what republican working people want to hear.
Sorry, whynotus, but I have a hard time taking seriously the posts of anyone who posts anonymously.
Yes, David has done a good job of engaging me in this conversation! It's been fun and interesting. But it's also been the dog days of summer, and a holiday weekend, and, alas, this idyll must end. I have to get back to work tomorrow, and will be out of town most of the week, so won't have much time for blogging after this.
Pat-
I'll only had time to glance at your counter-argument email. I think you are off base. Delco's budget is higher than Montco, especially on a per-capita basic. Millage is much higher in Delco (4.45 vs 2.82).
As for Andy and a Haverford Township site, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to put together a site. A few months? Scan in the pages of the minutes, put them in PDF and post them to the site. A high school student could do that.
Maybe I missed a memo. Why are YOU the one researching for a website vendor? Are you an expert in computers or information technology (in addition to your law degree)?
Why don't you ask Larry Chrzan for some help? He may well be the next 7th Ward commissioner and he has quite a few ideas for the township website.
Larry's campaign site for his Ward commissioner's race is more sophisticated then the site for the GOP County Council candidates.
Why Not Us-
Pat's spending so much time here because we are hitting a nerve and exposing the core weaknesses of 30 years of unchecked GOP rule.
The GOP party is fractured. Haverford's GOP has become more dysfunctional than a soap opera family.
My prediction: GOP voters are going to either stay home or vote for change this year.
David: As it happens, I did consult with Larry Chrzan about the website. He was very helpful.
I ended up working on it because the Cable Board came up with the idea of taking it on and paying the start-up costs, and, as often happens in these situations, one person ends up doing all the work.
And it has been a lot of work. It's not as easy as yout think.
Which raises the question: why do you have to take issue with every little thing, including the things that you know nothing about? And why do you think that you do know everything, and think that your speculations and predictions are as good as money in the bank?
Pat-
Glad you talked to Larry Chrzan. I'm not surprised he was helpful, since he has been pushing this issue for years and has some very progressive ideas for a township website.
Once Larry beats McGarrity and becomes commissioner, I'm sure you'll have more help and Larry will be able to offer more than just suggestions.
I just mentioned it because I was curious about your qualifications for such a project, since the overall discussion concerns the qualifications of political operatives consulting on government projects.
As for me knowing everything, I'm not quite there. But, I've probably got as good a track record predicting as paid political consultants that do this for a living. I predicted Weldon's downfall, and even how Sestak might experience staff turnover (and a few behind-the-scenes predictions that are not for public consumption, yet).
Everyone blogging with an opinion "thinks" he is right (even Gil Spencer, who is almost never right). I'll let the readers of this blog form their own opinions and weigh the strengths of my arguments and predictions.
As I said when I started this blog, the GOP posters may want to consider investing in a "cup". The way I blog, it's practically a contact sport. :-)
Omigod. Just when I think you can't get any more arrogant, you do. Amazing.
Pat-
You need to adjust your sarcasm radar and lighten up. :-)
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