Video of the Debate

Video is from Delco Times.


Notes: just slide the bar while playing the video, to jump around.
Around 30% to 40% of the way through is a lively discussion on the budget and the lack of openness.

Just before half-way point, watch and compare Innelli vs McGarrigle on who can manage the $560 million budget.

Watch McGarrigle read from script and even turn page, all with his head down, on the Revitalization question (about 2/3 the way through)

It's almost impossible to hear on the tape, but 75% of the way through the tape, Andy Lewis is following up on a question about economic decline in Delaware County. He starts by saying: "By any objective measurement ... Delaware County has been well managed." This is where the audience murmured its objection to the veracity of that statement. Just be glad we don't have "smell-o-vision", because Andy was shoveling some serious BS.

"See Spot Run" and "The Eyes Have It"

Tonight's County Council debate at Riddle Village was a study in contrasts.

The Republican candidates were EXTREMELY scripted. Andy Lewis and especially Tom McGarrigle barely looked up from their talking point notes from which they read verbatim. The Democrats ALL looked the camera and the voters in the audience in the eye and spoke from their knowledge and their philosophy of government.

Ann O'Keefe took a soft spoken approach appealing to voters making a thoughtful choice. David Landau kept up his attack on the cronyism at the courthouse (with the latest stat that 250 out of 255 employees in 12 key department are all Republican). John Innelli was on fire and challenged the GOP fiercely on their made-up numbers.

If you watch the tape, you will notice that McGarrigle rarely glanced up from his notes and was just reading, and with questionable comprehension. Several times I felt that if his time hadn't been cut off, we would have heard: "See Dick and Jane play with the ball. Run Dick. Run Jane. See Spot. Run, Spot. Run." Tom McGarrigle was BY FAR the weakest candidate there.

Andy Lewis's main response to most questions was "current council is doing a great job", or "DA Green is doing a great job". In an amazing bit of irony, Andy talked about having a bi-partisan record in Haverford and claimed how he is for hiring based upon qualifications. However, he failed to mention that township employment in leadership/administrative/key jobs is 100% Republican. Pat Biswanger was nowhere to be seen. There was some speculation that she was under the table, either curled up by Andy's feet or feeding him talking points.

Christine Fizzano-Cannon provided the comedy for the evening with her microphone problems. While she came off as smart/capable (by comparison to Andy and Tom, that is), she was a mass of contradictions. On the one hand, she claims she is for open government, televising council meetings, making meetings more accessible, etc., but on the other hand she had nothing but praise for the current county council which does NONE of those things.

The issue of Open Government generated one of the most lively exchanges. Landau talked about making it easy to get campaign finance records and other information from the courthouse. Fizzano-Cannon claimed that part of the GOP "platform" was open government and, as "proof" the words "open government" could be found on their website.

Suddenly, John Innelli fired back using one the 30-sec "rebuttal cards" to point out how the county budget had a 100 million dollar line item for Federal money with NO DETAILS or breakdown. Fizzano-Cannon threw down with her rebuttal card and claimed the information was readily available at the courthouse.

Well, David Landau was having NONE of that BS. He tossed in his rebuttal card and passionately explained that the Dems had been making requests to the courthouse for SIX months and not only couldn't get the information, but were told it was not on computers, or in different places, or not available, etc. He then pointed out that they made a similar request to Bucks county and got a 700 page answer in 48-hours. John chimed in with the PA number state law that requires the County to keep track of the information that Delaware County claims not to have.

Another highlight was during the debate about a County Health Department. Landau not only advocated for a county health department, but explained why it could occur WITHOUT a tax increase as the State would be picking up half the cost and much of the remain funds were already available. Tom McGarrigle claimed that we couldn't rely on the State, in case the State changed its mind and cut off funding in the future. (Maybe he thought the State wouldn't have the funds if everyone else was as delinquent on paying taxes as he's been.)

John Innelli was quick and decisive on the rebuttal. He pointed out two different State Acts that REQUIRED the state to pay $6 and $1.5 per resident toward health care and environmental health issues. That's $4 million right there that the State has to make available.

On the issue of being able to handle a $560 million budget, Tom McGarrigle talked about his rinky-dink business dealings. The issue was made for John, who mentioned that he has TWO degrees in economics and deals regularly in his law practice with large figures in government fraud and waste cases. John pointed out that he not only knows how to balance the books, but knows from experience how to identify books that appear balanced, but really aren't. While Innelli came off as the most educated candidate, McGarrigle came off as the least. It appears that McGarrigle doesn't have more than a high school education (no mention of college in his thin campaign resume). Managing $560 million should go to the guy with the bigger brain.

In short, the Republicans were ALL about the status quo and how one-party government can be a good thing. The Democrats were about change and cleaning up the one-party side-effects like closed government, waste and stagnation.

The Delco Times also covered the debate. While they didn't declare a winner, they did pick up on some of the same things I saw:

Republicans stuck with their game plan of praising the past efforts of council and committing to continue those efforts in areas like crime prevention, economic redevelopment and open space preservation.

Democrats, meanwhile, pointed to a failure of leadership in health care, population growth, and revitalizing older communities, saying a diverse political spectrum could go a long way to reversing those trends.

• When questioned on handling a large, countywide budget, Democrat John Innelli was able to list his extensive experience in the area of finance, including two degrees from the University of Pennsylvania in economics, a degree from the Wharton Business School in finance, and work-related experience as an attorney handling finance matters.
  
• Landau and Innelli tag-teamed a question on Democrats’ desire for a county health department in light of the unfolding wildfire disaster in California and a recent MRSA outbreak at county schools, beating back calls of a tax increase by citing numerous funding sources from the state and by “cutting the fat” of a bloated county government.
  

When I find out the televising schedule for the debate, I'll post it here.

The Raging Debate

The Delaware County Council Candidates are having a debate Tuesday Oct 23.
(Hey, that's today!!)

at the Riddle Village Retirement Center, 1048 West Baltimore Pike, Media.
(Hey, that's right across from the Granite Run Mall!)

7:30pm Don't be late for the fireworks or ring-side seats.

I hear the GOP candidates are bringing their timepieces for some refurbishing.
(Oh... they're going to get their clocks cleaned!)

The press will be covering the event.
(Press. Pull. Push. Shove. Blog. I'll be there uncovering it. (I'm not just pixels.))

Will we be able to see Pete Peterson and Andy Reilly's lips moving when the GOP candidates speak?
(I suggest requiring them to drink a glass of water while candidates are speaking.)

If you like this posting, wait to see my posting AFTER the debate.

Putting Another GOP Lie to Rest

David Landau, Ann O'Keefe and John Innelli have made their case (very effectively) against the patronage at the Court House. In response, the Delco GOP has tried to twist the work David Landau did for Nether Providence as patronage. While I have related the basic facts as I understood them, Sara Petrosky, (a Nether Providence commissioner from 1994 to 2006) tells the full story and sets the record straight in a Delco Times letter to the editor.

The courthouse political machine repeatedly attacks David Landau for his role in the Nether Providence Township. As usual they have the facts wrong.

I served as a Nether Providence Township commissioner from 1994 until 2006 and was president of the board in 1996 when the Democrats took over.

Under my direction, the board requested proposals for various professional services such as solicitors and engineers. We interviewed candidates, both Republican and Democrat, and had a competitive process for choosing the candidates.

David was not part of the hiring process and neither he nor his firm was selected for these jobs. The board strongly believed that good government involves having a competitive process to hire the best-qualified person with the most favorable rate package. We did that.

The township board later hired David to defend the township against a Republican developer who tried to block the preservation of open space. That was also the result of a competitive process.

David spent countless hours, many of them without pay, to help us achieve our goal. The insurance carrier covered the fees, other than the deductible. Through David’s work, the township won the case at trial and on appeal, and now there are two parcels of open space and a Field of Dreams in Nether Providence.

Money Magazine recently named our community the ninth best in the United States, partly due to this parkland. We would not have received that honor without David’s help.

For decades, David has played a positive role in our community. As a lawyer hired by the township to work on this issue of open space, he delivered positive results. He recognized the need to be efficient and cost-effective. I can think of no one who can better serve our county.

The whole time the Democratic Candidates, particularly Landau, have pointed out the rampant and wide-spread cronyism, patronage and nepotism, the ONLY thing the Delco GOP candidates handlers could come up with is David's work on this one job in Nether Providence that preserved open space.

It was bad enough that Delco GOP's only argument against charges of corruption was that Dems were doing it too at a much smaller scale. Of course, it turns out, that the Dems were awarding contracts in a open bipartisan manner (exactly like the Dems have been advocating) and not engaging in patronage on any scale.

The Delco GOP had one bullet in the chamber and it was a blank. The rest of chambers are empty, like their ideas and their message.

Hey McGarrigle: Failing to Pay Taxes is Not the Same as "Cutting Taxes"

In Today's Delco Times, McGarrigle's Taxing Problems are revealed.

Republican Delaware County Council candidate Thomas McGarrigle once owed thousands of dollars in school taxes and other liens, making his opposition question his stance on fiscal responsibility.
...

For the tax years 1990 and 1991, McGarrigle owed the Southeast Delco School District a total of $15,198, according to county Common Pleas Court records. He also owed $3,203 in sales taxes between September 2000 and June 2001 for a Springfield property; liens of $571 and $412 for sewer rent in 1995 and 1996, respectively, at that property; and $831 for sewer maintenance on a Sharon Hill property.

McGarrigle said the Sharon Hill property was an apartment house he had sold to the county Housing Authority and did not believe he still owned it at the time of the service.

The other sewer liens he attributed to a possible problem with payments through his mortgage company, of which he was not aware. McGarrigle said he is also still wrestling with red tape at the Department of Revenue to clear up the 2000 and 2001 taxes on his record.


So, let's see if I got this right...

McGarrigle wants to control a $560 million dollar County Budget, but he can't even keep track of the taxes and ownership of his own Apartment house?

But, what's worse is that McGarrigle defended his knowing decision not to pay taxes on his gas station in the early 1990's as his best business judgment!
"He added standing in line at the county Tax Claim Bureau with others who were struggling had helped him resolve to get involved in politics." I guess he figured out that cashing in on the the GOP political machine was the way to go.

The article points out that he eventually paid off his taxes and penalties, though he's still "wrestling with red tape at the Department of Revenue to clear up the 2000 and 2001 taxes on his record."

But for a guy that thinks taxes are "optional" when times get tough for himself, his talking point that he never voted for a tax increase doesn't inspire confidence that he can be trusted to make ANY responsible tax decisions.

He forgets that taxes pay for things. Taxes pay to help out people struggling and worse off than he was. Taxes pay for child health care. And, how about all the State revenue that comes into Delco. From where does McGarrigle think it comes? Even the Tooth Fairy expects you to pitch in with a tooth.

From some of the amounts, it seems like he went a while without paying (sort of like having his own private business loan from the state, at the expense of the other business owners that did pay their taxes on time). So, for the honest businessmen out there struggling to make ends meet and able to plan a budget that includes required taxes, everyone of you has demonstrated better business sense.

Does anyone think that a guy that avoided paying his taxes on time will go after fraud and corruption in County government?

We can do better. By voting for David Landau, Ann O'Keefe and John Innelli. you can make it better.

So Much GOP Dishonesty and Corruption. So Little Time.

For those of you wondering... Yes, I'm still here. It's been a busy week for me with helping candidates in Delco and Montgomery County, Haverford Township Day, and recovering from a a cold.

A quick recap:
1) Democratic candidates are kicking ass all over the region as voters have wised up the GOP tactics, poor administration, cronyism, etc. Even Republicans are complaining that the current GOP politicians don't represent them and are more interested in playing GOP politics that helping the voters.

2) Haverford Township Day: The Dems were out in force. Local progressive, Larry Chrzan, made a great showing over Jimmy McGarrity. There was a ton of people wearing (very stylish) "Chrzan for Change" t-shirts. The ghost-town-like Haverford Republican table seems to have more Chrzan supporters than Republicans. In the afternoon, Candidates Larry Abel and Brian Kennedy were also meeting voters and handing out the Haverford Dem newsletter.
I watched as numerous people pushed aside Republican literature, but took our Democratic newsletter. The only thing the GOP was able to 'move' was FREE, cold bottled water from the GOP Council candidates. The think the kids with the Chrzan t-shirts drank a lot them. I guess the GOP candidates took a break from handing out Kool-aid.

3) Thomas McGarrigle is in HOT water over recent disclosures about his past problems paying is school and state taxes. A story that juicy deserves (and will get) its own blog entry. The story got HOTTER with a HEATED exchange with Rocco Polidoro as well.

4) Nether Providence Republican Committee Chairman, Michael Maddren, started up a "LandauFactCheck" site. The site is a single web page of the same tired GOP distortions about Landau that Pete Peterson, Andy Reilly, Michael Puppio and their minions have been spreading to distract voters about the GOP record. This will get its own blog posting as well.

5) John Innelli: John must have done well on some internal GOP polls this week because Pete Peterson put out a hit piece on John. In it he repeated the distortions about John's work for Darby Township. Peterson tries to act like John was the recipient of some political largess. The REAL facts: John acted as a assistant solicitor, worked at 1/5 his normal fee (so, practically pro-bono work), and the work amounted to a few thousand dollars per year and well below amounts required by Darby for any kind of bidding process. As for Paul Brown being in the loop.. she's in her own loop.

6) Gil "The Shill" Spencer does a standard hatchet piece on Landau. Yawn. Sometime I wonder if Spencer has a set of hatchet pieces pre-written years in advance and then just copies/pastes the name of the Democratic candidate. Spencer also tries to minimize Landau's complaints by comparing the corruption in Philly with Delco:
"But, practically speaking, when you look at say the Democratic machine in Philadelphia and you then you look at the Republican machine in Delaware County, one is not just as bad as the other. One is worse. And we all know which one."
I think the differences are that Philly machine is what the Delco GOP machine has tried to emulate and that Philly has more news organization to investigate and uncover corruption. Clearly, the quality of Republican Editorial comment is worse in Delco. (Yea Us!)
Spencer ends with: To win, Landau needs a better argument, better ideas, or a whole lot more real GOP corruption (not just this "appearance of" stuff) to expose before Election Day. I wonder if Spencer can name his closest friend/relative that works at the GOP controlled courthouse? And what percentage of GOP employment above the 54% registration level would be considered too high?

The Republicans are clearly worried. Considering the record they are running away from, they should be.

Dem Candidate Swings. GOP Pitch-Hitters Strike Out

In today's Delco Times, Council candidates come out swinging, we find quotes from a Dem Candidate, but ALL the GOP Candidates let others speak for them.

Democratic Candidate, David Landau, went after yet another ALL Republican department at the courthouse. This time it was the county controller’s office, run by County Controller Cynthia Leitzell. ALL 19 employees of this office are (drumroll please....) REPUBLICAN! Landau also noted that 45 percent of those employees — four of them Republican committee members — also donated to Republican campaigns and committees for a total $55,000 over the last five years.

In the most amazingly blatant and bull***t defense of patronage we've seen this campaign season Leitzell

supposed people working at the courthouse would be registered Republican because they agree with the philosophy of the party in power, but said she has never asked her employees their political bent or where they contribute money. [Um, you don't have to ask, the records are public, and some of them give to your own committee.]
"It may just be … that there are people who are interested in government that work for government," said Leitzell. She added denying anyone the ability to donate as they choose would disenfranchise a segment of the population from participating in democracy. [Apparently, choosing to donate to Republicans is how they get enfranchised.]

As to her also being the treasurer of the Upper Darby Republican Committee, where Landau said some of the contributions from her office went, Leitzell said she saw no conflict of interest. [We've gone from the Three Stooges, to the Three Monkeys: See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil.] The rules for financial disclosure have become so complicated, she said, it’s common to see a Certified Public Accountant such as herself at the financial helm. Leitzell was running finances for that committee before coming to the courthouse. [Gee, I wonder if that committee work got her there?]

Here's a shocker, CURRENT GOP CANDIDATE, District Attorney G. Michael Green also threw his support behind the GOP team. I bet no one everyone saw that coming! And here's another shocker, prosecutor Green was opposed to Landau's work on Civil Liberties 20 years ago.

Civil Liberties laws are meant to prevent over-zealous prosecutions or violations of due process. Landau did co-author a review of a proposed 1981 law during his tenure with the ACLU that "a government right to appeal sentences would conflict with the purpose of the double-jeopardy clause, which is to prevent the government from overreaching by limiting the prosecutor to one opportunity for conviction and sentencing."

Otherwise, prosecutors like Green could go on appealing and "fishing" for a judge/jury that would convict someone that had already been acquitted. This is the same mentality that prosecutors have against re-opening cases when DNA shows they convicted the wrong person. It's apparently more about having a high conviction rate than getting the right person or what a jury of one's peers think.

Even though we talk about the County Council race a lot, there are also TWO seats on the Court of Common Pleas on the ballot and two great Democratic Candidates: Frank Daly and Mike Farrell. I think Delaware County residents deserve some judges that can protect their Constitutional rights.

Delco GOP Ventriloquists Speak without their Dummy Candidates

Aspiring GOP Ventriloquists, Michael Puppio and Pete Peterson were busy working overtime trying to defend Delco GOP hiring practices. They didn't even get a chance to do their routine where they drink a glass of water while their Candidates say: "The GOP Council is doing a great job. So will we. Yea us!". I hear they are planning to install a pull string on the back of each candidate to make them say something different each time.

In today's Delco Times, David Landau vows that a Democratic majority would institute performance audits to eliminate GOP patronage and no-show jobs, and return money saved to taxpayers. Landau also questioned if the revenue from the Harrah's casino was making its way back to the taxpayers.

Responding to Landau's previous attacks on the suspicious GOP hiring practices at the courthouse:
County Councilman Michael Puppio said "The management of county employees is the responsibility of supervisors and department heads. Performance is continually monitored to provide our residents with the most efficient service possible."

I suspect that "performance" may refer to "performance helping the GOP win elections or raising/contributing money" and making sure that when GOP party bosses call, they get quick service. Of course, I have little reason to suspect anything else considering the non-random distribution of GOP jobs.

The Delco Times asked Puppio directly, if there were any no-show jobs at the county courthouse. Puppio smugly responded: "Do you see any no-show employees walking around these empty desks? ... I didn't think so!"
[disclaimer: Puppio's actual quote was "Absolutely not.", but that isn't as funny as my pretend quote. I wonder if Puppio considers coming in to collect a paycheck as a yes-show job.]

Puppio also likes to repeat the mantra that the GOP hasn't raised taxes in three years (which was right after three of current Council got elected 4 years ago). Puppio conveniently ignores that we are already overpaying taxes, so holding the line on tax increases is not that hard.

Landau, O'Keefe and Innelli plan to reduce taxes by eliminating the waste that Puppio is unable to see (or admit).

Pete Peterson, campaign manager for The Three Stooges, was quick to confuse the issue on hiring practices by misstating Landau's history in Nether Providence. The GOP like to misrepresent a BID contract process that the 3D-3R used to select a Democrat for a job in the late nineties. Though Landau was NOT on the Nether Providence board at the time, the Delco GOP tells the story like Landau controlled the board and the GOP had no say. I think Peterson has confused himself with how GOP municipal boards are controlled by non-elected party bosses. An easy mistake to make, if you've never seen it done fairly.

Readers are asked to look at the statements made by the two GOP P's in a pod, and see if they can find ONE new proposal or plan for GOP candidates or a single explanation how departments are "randomly" filled with all Republicans. What readers will find is an attitude of "All is well.. Stay the course... And keeping the same high taxes."

Voters looking for change, now have a choice.

Who Shot Shilled the Sheriff? Did They Also Shill His Deputies?

In this weekend's Delco Times, David Landau put more pressure on his "Case Against the Courthouse", this time going after the Sheriff's Department, headed by Sheriff Joseph McGinn.

Landau "cited employment statistics showing 68 of 70 employees in the Sheriff’s Department are registered Republican, and 41 percent of those have contributed financially to the GOP.".

The Delco Times reported that (county rolls put total employees at 65), but did not dispute the extremely high percentage of Republican employees or of financial contribution to the GOP.

Delco Times: Landau has so far gone after the county Solicitor’s Office, the Election Bureau, Voting Machines and Voter Registration offices, as well as the county Executive Director and Chief Clerk offices for having high levels of employees registered to vote Republican or donating to Republican campaigns and committees.

While the GOP holds a slipping registration advantage, they certainly do NOT represent over 90% of the electorate (actually only 55%). So, why do Republicans hold more than 90% of the jobs in key County Departments (particularly in those that are supposed to be non-partisan)?

County Executive Director Marianne Grace defended the partisan GOP hiring practices by pretending that Landau was making personal attacks on law enforcement personnel. Is she claiming that the Sheriff's department is over 95% Republican by sheer chance? How stupid does she think the voters of Delco are?

In honor of our new local casino, I'll put this in gambling terms: If you had a pile of playing cards that were labeled 55% GOP and 45% non-GOP, what would you think if 68 out of 70 cards came up GOP? How about if next 31 cards for the "Election Bureau, Voting Machines and Voter Registration offices" ALL came up 31 GOP cards in a row?

At this point, any reasonable player would be calling for the Gaming Commission to examine the deck and arrest the dealers and casino owners.

The only way to stop the GOP machine from "stacking the deck" and "dealing from the bottom" is to elect David Landau, Ann O'Keefe and John Innelli to "inspect the cards" and deal with the voters fairly. It's long past time the voters stopped the GOP machine from gambling away our future.

Not So Sage Advice

In today's Delco Times, Gina "not so" Sage's Letter to the Editor repeats various Delco GOP talking points, many of which have been debunked here and elsewhere.

However, a little deconstruction should show how desperate they are becoming and how little they have to offer.

• Gina Sage's letter lacked the disclaimer than she is a Republican on the ALL REPUBLICAN Springfield Planning Commission. Springfield is the home base of Charlie Sexton and GOP Council Candidate Stooge Tom McGarrigle. Gee, no bias there folks!
  
• Gina falsely tries to imply that Ann O'Keefe doesn't either live here or pay her taxes by claiming there is no record.... This is a classic political deception. First of all, any of the thousands of Delco residents living in an apartment or renting a house would not have a record of paying property taxes (even though it is part of their rent). Ann O'Keefe lives in a house and shares in the taxes/bills/etc., however the deed to the house is not in her name. So, of course Ann would not be listed in the County records that Gina Sage is misusing to mislead the voters. (Can anyone explain how/why a Springfield Planning Commission can supposedly "search" every property tax record looking for a name, particularly for a Haverford resident? Is this information freely available to the public?)
  
• The attacks on David Landau are trite. Landau did some work for the ACLU when he was just out of school. Gina says that Landau opposed mandatory sentencing guidelines. Considering that GOP shills like Gina want to impose a life-sentence on people that support civil rights, Delco voters should be wary of GOP candidates opposed to civil rights, due process and Judges actually using their judgment. The point of a guideline is that is it not mandatory (otherwise it would be called a rule, not a guideline).
  
• Landau must really have the GOP worried, because Gina repeats the already debunked claim that: Landau has also received no bid legal work from Nether Providence, where he is a Democrat leader, and the Democrats control the government. The fact of the matter is that Landau won the legal work from a 3-Dem + 3-GOP board, did the work at half his standard rate at the time, the work was paid for by Insurance (not the township) and it was a case on behalf of the township against a GOP developer. Gina deceptively tries to confuse Landau's and the Democrats' current leadership in Nether Providence, with their role in the 1990's.
  
• Gina (through the Republican dis-information machine) keeps referring to John Innelli as solicitor in Darby Township. John is NOT the solicitor but rather the "assistant" solicitor (a position specifically recognized and permitted in the Borough Code).
  Gina disengenuously claims that John Innelli has received extensive legal work as a result of a no bid contract. Well, not only did John work at only 1/5 his normal rate, but his bills to Darby Borough averaged $3,000/year, which is less than the minimum dollar amount for any contract bid process in the county. Seems like the only extensive thing here is Gina's exaggerated claims.
  
• Finally, Gina claims that The candidates being put forth by the Democratic Party simply do not match the ideals and priorities of Delaware County voters.
  This is simply absurd, because 3 of 5 Delco voters picked Clinton, Gore, Kerry, Rendell, Casey and Sestak. Voters can rest assured that Ann O'Keefe, David Landau and John Innelli support those same candidates and beliefs. Those 3 out of 5 voters deserve 3 out of 5 Council members that will look out for the voters' values and priorities, for a change.
  

Nowhere is Gina's letter does she actually list a single specific Democratic proposal, but rather makes false/misleading attacks on the Dem Candidates' background or character. As far as the GOP, the attitude seems to be "stay the course", "all is well" and "nothing to see here folks".
Gina did make one statement with which I do agree: an examination of the facts will not allow voters to be misled [misled by the GOP that is]

BTW, a note to my GOP mortal enemies adversaries friends: This is some pretty weak tea you are brewing. You guys are putting me to sleep with these lame/same attacks. I guess if you have no record to run on, it must be hard to come up with topics.

Case Against the Courthouse: Why is Only One Party Allowed to Count Your Votes?

From today's Delco Times: Landau calls for more changes

In a further indictment of the cronyism at the Delco Court House, Democratic Council Candidate, David Landau, revealed the makeup of the 31 staffers at the Election Bureau, Voting Machines and Voter Registration offices:
Surprise! They are 100% ALL registered Republican. Six of those, including county Election Bureau Director Laureen Hagan, are also Republican party contributors, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State Campaign Finance Reporting Web site.

Can anyone image how a Bush-Gore Florida recount would have gone if only ONE party was doing the counting?

That's right folks, the foxes are not only guarding the hen house, but they are in charge of counting the eggs of the candidates they spent money to support. And, unsurprisingly, Andy Reilly responded that the contributions "are voluntarily made to support good government." That's great, Andy, but we are talking about GOP controlled Delaware County government, not good government. Gee, I wonder if anyone looks at the contribution levels when promotion time comes around?

How can any voter trust the fairness and integrity of an Election or the Voter Registration process, when the all the people in charge work for the party in power? There have been stories told for years of Democratic registrations "gone missing" or returned for minor things like writing outside of a box or supposedly unclear handwriting.

During the 2006 campaign, the Delco Republicans sent out so many Absentee Ballot Forms that there was a shortage when the Delco Democrats came to get their fair share of the forms. Now, who was in charge of figuring out how many to order and keeping track of the available stock? Oh, yeah, the Republicans running the hen house.

Did they set aside a portion in anticipation of the Democrat's needs? Nope. Or even worse, did anyone in an ALL GOP staff conspire with the Republican campaigns or County GOP Party to deny Absentee Ballot Forms to the Democrats? Was it intentional malfeasance or sheer incompetence (or just the amazing GOP luck of the draw that fell their way)? Do you think that based on the makeup of the office, they just plum forgot there even was a Democratic party?

But I digress...
Landau also went after county Solicitor John McBlain. In addition to his duties as Solicitor, the Solicitor is an Associate at the law firm of Council Chairman Andy Reilly.

McBlain, who Landau described as the "chief civil law officer of the county," is also the solicitor for the county Redevelopment Authority; county Economic Development Oversight Board; Millbourne Borough; Sharon Hill Zoning Board; and the Brandywine Conference and Visitors Bureau.
He is also vice president of Aldan Borough Council and Aldan Republican Party chairman.
According to Landau, about 15 employees in the county solicitor’s office have contributed $91,000 to Republican campaigns and committees since 2001. McBlain has donated nearly $6,000, according to the campaign finance Web site.
"Talk about politics infecting the legal department of the county," said Landau. "He's the treasurer and there are $91,000 in political contributions coming out of his office …This is what happens with one-party government in Delaware County."

Note: McBlain is treasurer of the county Republican Executive Committee.

Campaign Stage Stooge manager, Pete Peterson, brought up that Landau has made political contributions to candidates and committees. Hey, Pete, last time I checked, Landau wasn't in charge of running the election or counting the frigging votes. No Democrat was.

Peterson even stooped so low as to dredge up an incident from 20 years ago involving Landau's uncle. The Delco Times corrected Slippery Pete's implication and said that David Landau nothing to do with the operation of his uncle's business.

Just like with the current all GOP five member, voters can't trust the foxes to run the hen house. Voters need to elect Democrats David Landau, Ann O'Keefe and John Innelli to Delco County Council on Nov. 6th.

Spencer coming to the table empty-headed.

Gil Spencer was so desperate to do one of his infamous hatchet pieces on David Landau, that he didn't even give the candidate a change to respond. Landau was celebrating the Jewish holidays and unavailable for a quote. Spencer wouldn't even give the staff at Landau headquarters the opportunity to challenge any Gil's typical false assertions.

I can only hope that the Delco Times will give Landau an equal opportunity to respond.

In the meantime... I'll take a swing or two at Gil (with my blogger-bat).

Landau has correctly pointed out how Delco, presided over by 30 years of GOP Council monopoly, is similar to "Bush-style" government.

Gil, starts off with confusing Bush in Texas-style government (with VERY weak governor powers) to Bush as President and subsequent power grabs. Later, Gil fails to make his point by saying that "millions" of Democrats hold Federal jobs, but then he ignores the fact that Bush cronies hold the key Federal positions and that Bush had solid GOP majority in Congress and the Courts for six years. Then, Gil just gets silly by asking if Delco has invaded another county.
What a wit! (Note to self: replace "w" with "sh")

Gil was so wrapped up in his own imaginary cleverness, that he didn't realize he was making Landau's point. Look at how much the Bush administration has biased the government with partisan politics and personnel in only 6 years. The Delco GOP has controlled council without ANY Democrat for 30 years (they even changed the Charter to deny a guarantee of minority party representation).

The county courthouse is filled with GOP patrons, lackeys and cronies who are then expected to contribute to the party and/or buy tickets to events when "asked" (translation: told). Stories of abuse are common, but so is fear of reprisal and the unlikelihood of GOP prosecutors or judges taking action.

Gil makes the following accusation: As head of the Democratic Party in Nether Providence, Landau helped engineer his wife's nomination and election to a plum district judge position. Gil, how did Landau "help engineer" an election?

Speaking of wives and hypocrisy, can anyone tell me what's ironic in this context about a certain Republican Communications Coordinator?

Gil then goes after the Democrats' plan for a County Health Department. He parrots the GOP talking points about costs, and then dismisses the benefits as not worth it for improving county health. From yesterday's Delco Times: Delaware County has one [state health center], though it only has four employees there, responsible for all 550,000 county residents.

Sound's like Gil's health care is taken care of, so screw everybody else. The Democrats ARE looking out for everybody else.

Gil also claims a health department would create "dozens of new patronage hires", but seems to have forgotten John Innelli's statement (from the previous day's Delco Times): "consolidation of many of the other county offices (into the department) may in fact result in savings, cost savings" to county government. Sounds like Gil is more worried that the GOP may lose a few patronage jobs in the deal.

Open Space: Andy Reilly is on his way out. So, still a good Democratic issue.

Jobs: Trimming the fat and lowering the budget will allow for tax cuts. Infrastructure improvements and revitalization projects will also bring in new business. Better education and job training programs will help Delco residents qualify for better paying jobs. Switching no-bid work from out-of-county businesses to local businesses will not only help those businesses but keep more money from draining out of the region.

If Reilly does manage to open the dog park, I suggest that someone put a leash on Gil and take him for a walk. Maybe he can find somewhere else to urinate besides the editorial pages of the Delco Times.

Democrats: The Healthier Alternative

As reported in the Delco Times: Democrats reiterate health dept. need

The three Democratic Candidates are committed to providing a County Health Department for Delaware County.

At a round table discussion on Wednesday, David Landau and John Innelli explored the issue with researcher and professor of communications Dr. Pamela Poe and pharmacist and Chairwoman of the Board of the Delaware County Pharmacists Association Rosemarie Halt. (Ann O'Keefe was out of town.)

There are many opportunities to save public health costs through disease prevention and education, but you can't get the funding without a county health department.

Under various state laws, said Halt, the department would receive half its budget from the state government, plus additional money back per resident and grants for emergency preparedness....

Halt also cited several major instances wherein a county health department would have been useful over the last few years, such as a three-day loss of water at Riddle Memorial Hospital; a contaminated emergency room at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital; numerous sewer problems; and several contagious outbreaks including syphilis and influenza, and fatal cases of Tuberculosis and Meningitis.

And for those of who remember the flu vaccine shortages a few years ago or are worried about future outbreaks, a county health department is the entity we would need make requests for vaccines.

Pete Peterson, campaign director for the Republican county council candidates, and all around wet-blanket regarding progressive initiatives, claimed in an email (to the Times) that such health departments, at an annual cost of about $12 million, actually drain money from counties. But, later, when confronted with Halt's facts that most of the money would come from the state, Peterson whined [my choice of words] that a county health department could increase the annual budget by $4 million to $6 million.

Hey, Peterson, here are some clues for you:

• The all-GOP Delco council budget is $560 million. ($100 million more than Montco)
• An additional 1% of that for a county health department would amount to only a mere $10 per resident.
• But, said Innelli, "consolidation of many of the other county offices (into the department) may in fact result in savings, cost savings" to county government.
• The Democrats can easily trim more than 1% from the current bloated pork-filled budget you, the Delco GOP and your candidates refer to as "the same common sense approach to county government"

So, if voters are proud of Delaware County as having the third highest number of AIDS cases in the state, increasing rates of sexually transmitted diseases, and death rates from cancer and stroke exceeding those for all other Pennsylvania counties, then they should vote for the GOP's Three Stooges.

However, if Delco residents are interested in responsible Health Care investment and management by County Council, then DEMOCRATS John Innelli, David Landau and Ann O'Keefe are the team to elect in November.

It's Unanimous: GOP Council Shares a Single Brain

At a recent press conference with the three Democratic County Council Candidates, David Landau pointed out the following:

"Since 2003, there have been 2,012 votes cast in council. Every single one was voted for unanimously," said Landau. "Every spending bill approved, every ordinance approved. Not once was a dissenting vote cast."

Has anyone ever heard of FIVE politicians that agreed on 2,012 votes in a row? I certainly haven't.

Since scientists haven't perfected brain-cloning, the most likely explanation is that someone else is calling the shots and that all five council members are little more than puppets doing as they are told. What is the point of having a 5 member council when 4 could leave and nothing would be any different?

Unless you've been a coma for the past 30 years, this scenario will not shock you.

In attempting to clarify why Council has voted unanimously in every vote since 2003, County Executive Director and GOP Spokeswoman, Marianne Grace, informed voters "It's not like council members are debating something that would require the partisan give-and-take found at higher and lower levels of government." Grace cited the War in Iraq and rubbish disposal contracts as two issues which were substantive enough to warrant debate.

"Amazingly Partisan" Grace seems to believe that all issues between "rubbish disposal" and the War in Iraq are not really topics for debate by GOP Council members. Well, it seems to me that this kind of thinking is the kind of rubbish we need to remove from County Council

If multiple contractors are competing for work, wouldn't you expect that at least once a member of Council might disagree with the other four? Oh, wait, I forgot. This is Delaware County where no-bid contracts are the rule, not the exception.

This lack of debate and fresh ideas is symptomatic of the stagnation in Delaware County and the aging GOP political machine that has mismanaged it.

And what of the new crop of GOP hopefuls hopeless hapless? Well, council boss Andy Reilly is running their campaigns (translation: attaching the strings for the next generation of puppets).

Ann O'Keefe, John Innelli and David Landau are diverse individuals, but unified by a real desire for truly open government:

• end No-Bid contracts
  
• disallow members or employees of pension boards to accept any gifts from money managers,
  
• call for a swifter process for making county records available,
  
• broadcast all council meetings on television, and
  
• require the text of all proposed ordinances to be made public before the council considers them for final passage.

Instead of paying FIVE GOP Council people for ONE set of weak ideas, voters can finally get their money's worth.

This November, Voters can end this cycle of monolithic incompetence and vote for change (for a change).

DelcoTimes editorial on Dem upswing

Phil Heron's editorial in today's Delco Times describes the Democratic surge (oops...maybe that's term reserved for GOP initiatives) in Delaware County, focusing on the race for the 3 open seats on County Council. John Innelli, David Landau and Ann O'Keefe are the Dems in this election.

Heron describes the long-running trend in Delco, moving from a completely GOP-dominated area to more balanced representation, saying, "Then something strange started happening. At least here in Delaware County. Democrats started winning elections. ... Now the Democrats have their eyes on the one prize that has eluded them: The Media courthouse."

The trend began from the top down in the 90s with Clinton winning in Delco, starting a long string of strong showings by Democratic Presidential candidates in the area. Of course, Joe Sestak's victory in 2006 set a new high water mark. And of course there are many Democratic local and state representatives with strong followings.

Heron says:

This very well could be a new day in Delco politics. Who would have thought that Democrats would be taken seriously, let alone considered a threat, in a race for county council?

Buckle your seat belts, voters. It’s going to be an interesting couple of months.

And we’ll all likely be better off for it.

It's true that the residents of Delaware County would be better off with 3 Democrats in there to bust up the Tamany Hall den of corruption that have cost the taxpayers of Delaware County millions of dollars in patronage jobs and crony contracts.

Put the Dems in and we get a shot a cleaning things up.

Keep that in mind when you pay that big County tax bill and get next to nothing in return!

Heron thinks this will be an interesting race. We hope the DelcoTimes provides good coverage of the election. But what would really be interesting would be if the DelcoTimes would do some investigative reporting on the issues. It's one thing to publish the accusations of corruption and the GOP rebuttals. It would be a much different (and interesting) story if the Times digs into these accusations.

Tips for the Delco Times: start with the County Prison, move to the contracts for various health care facilities, and see about the no-show jobs. And just for kicks and giggles, interview a few county employees who are directed to report for campaign duties.

That very well could be a new day in Delco political reporting!

Polidoro blasts GOP corruption in Delco County Council

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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