By Steven Hoffman, Richard L. Gaw
and John Chambless
Staff Writers

East Nottingham voters protect open-space initiative

On Election Day, East Nottingham voters decided to protect the township’s open-space initiative and also supported Shelley McLeod and Joseph Herlihy in their bids to join the Board of Supervisors.

The referendum asked voters, “Do you favor the continued imposition of the earned income tax in the amount of one-half of one percent by East Nottingham Township to be used for financing of open space acquisition, acquiring agricultural conservation easements, and acquiring recreation or historic lands?”

According to the results posted on the Chester County government’s website, 693 voters answered “yes” to the question, while 550 voted “no.” Consequently, the referendum was approved of by 56 percent of the people who voted on Election Day.

McLeod won election to the township’s board of supervisors by a wide margin, receiving 828 votes. She was also a proponent of continuing the township’s investment in an open-space program because it protects farmland and also serves as a tool for East Nottingham to control residential growth.

In the competition for the second open seat on the board of supervisors, Herlihy, a Republican, earned 628 votes, followed Gary Coates, who earned 453 votes. There were also 248 write-in votes cast in this race, most of them presumably for Joe Raffa, a current supervisor who launched a late write-in campaign.

Thompson, Russell, and Lombardi emerge victorious in Oxford Borough Council race

In a hotly contested race for three seats on Oxford Borough Council, incumbents John Thompson and Sue Lombardi and first-time candidate Peggy Ann Russell emerged victorious in the five-person field.

Thompson, who earned a spot on both the Republican and Democratic ballot with his showing in the Primary Election, was the top overall vote-getter with 384 votes.

Russell earned 330 votes, while Lombardi, a two-term council member, finished with 305 votes to also win seats on council.

Kathy Quillen, a member of the borough’s planning commission, finished with 275 votes. Chauncey Boyd received 272 votes.

Democrats win three open seats on Kennett Square Borough Council

With six candidates vying for three open seats on Kennett Square Borough Council in Tuesday’s election, the three Democrats emerged as winners by wide margins.

Doug Doerfler led the way with 463 votes, Wayne Braffman earned 435 votes, and Jamie Mallon picked up 425 votes to surpass the three Republicans on the ballot. Jennifer MacFarland received 214 votes, John Thomas finished with 201 votes and Mark Krahforst picked up 184 votes.

Doerfler, Braffman, and Mallon will be sworn in during the first borough council meeting in January.

In other borough council races around the area, Brinis Miller, Mark Johnson, Michael Ranieri, and Clyde Jacobs were elected to the four seats that were up-for-grabs in West Grove, while Stephen Cummings and David Besselman were unopposed for two borough council seats in Avondale Borough.

Hoffman narrowly defeats Moxon for third Kennett Township supervisor seat

Whitney Hoffman, who campaigned for the Kennett Township Board of Supervisors on a platform dedicated to development and providing the township with increased Internet capability, will become the third Democrat on the board beginning in January, after her narrow defeat of Republican Ted Moxon in an election held on Nov. 3.

Hoffman beat Moxon by only 146 votes, according to unoffiical results posted on the Chester County website. She deated Moxon by a vote of 316 to 155 in the township's 328th precinct, as well as in the 320th precinct, by a vote of 235 to 217. Moxon, however, fared very well in the township's other two precincts, defeating Hoffman 275 to 261 in the 329th precinct and 261 to 242 in the 325th precinct.

Hoffman, who will replace out-going supervisor Robert Hammaker, will join board chairman Scudder Stevens and Dr. Richard Leff, thus creating an all-Democrat board.

Leaning on her knowledge of as a digital media strategist and consultant, Hoffman believes that the township must expand its communication channels with township residents. She intends to help the township acquire the high-speed community Internet services soon to be made accessible by Comcast and Verizon, which will upgrade the technological infrastructure for the township and allow more residents to work from home, thus reducing traffic and pollution.

New Garden Township re-elects Loftus and Little as supervisors

Michael Loftus and Pat Little were re-elected to their six-year posts as supervisors for New Garden Township, following their narrow defeat of challengers Randy Lieberman

and David Unger in a Nov. 3 election.

Loftus and Little won two of the three precincts in the township, compiling a

total of 652 votes and 619 votes, respectively. Those who voted in the second

precinct, however, were clearly in favor of Lieberman and Unger, as Lieberman

gathered 230 votes and Unger carried 224 votes, compared to 189 for Loftus and

176 for Little.

Loftus and Little will re-join supervisors Randy Geouque, Richard Ayotte and chairman Steve Allaband on the township board.

Kimmel tops Hicks in East Marlborough

Republican Christine Kimmel defeated Democrat Richard Hicks, 939 to 593, in the Township Supervisor race in East Marlborough Township. Kimmel captured 61.17 percent of the vote, as opposed to Hicks, at 38.63 percent. Kimmel will be the first woman supervisor in the township's history. She will take over Cuyler Walker's seat on the board. Walker, the current board chairman, chose not to run for re-election.

County Commissioners all win re-election

The three Chester County Commissioners—Terence Farrell, Michelle Kichline, and Kathi Cozzone—all won re-election on Nov. 3.

As expected, the Republicans picked up the most votes in the county commissioners race, with Farrell tallying 44,678 votes, while Kichline received 44,106 votes for her first full term on the three-member board. Farrell will be serving his third term on the board.

Cozzone, a Democrat, received 38,986 votes and will continue to represent the county’s minority party on the board.

In other county-wide races, District Attorney Tom Hogan won re-election with 50,139 votes, which was approximately 60 percent of all the votes cast. Incumbent sheriff Carolyn Welsh won re-election with very similar numbers.

Republican Matt Holliday was elected prothonotary with 48,234 votes, or 58 percent of the vote. Terri Clark won the race to serve as register of wills with 48,013 votes, or 57 percent. Rick Loughery was re-elected as recorder of deeds with 48,830 votes, or 59 percent of the vote.

School board races tight

Republicans Mark Patterson and Robert Tenga won the two at-large seats on the Oxford School Board, out-polling Democrats Donna Arrowood and Becky Fetterolf for four-year terms.

Three incumbents, Howard Robinson in Region 1, Gary Olson in Region II, and Joseph Tighe in Region III, all earned re-election to the Oxford School Board.

In Avon Grove’s Region I, incumbent Republican Charles Beatty III won re-election with 783 votes, topping democrat Gwen Livingston, who earned 645 votes.

In a Region II race with two open seats, Traci Lisi and Jeff Billig were elected to the school board. Incumbents Bonnie Wolff and Herman Engel won re-election in Region III.

Five incumbents all sought and won re-election to the Kennett School Board in uncontested races. In Region A, Aline Frank and Dominic Perigo were re-elected. Joseph Meola and Rudy Alfonso won four-year terms in Region B, and in Region C Michael Finnegan was re-elected to serve a four-year term.

Lindner, Daniels and Murphy elected to U-CF School Board

A mix of candidates won seats on the Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board. Gregg Lindner – who had run with Kathleen Do and Beverly Brookes – won a seat, along with Carolyn Daniels and John Murphy, who had run against them.

The final count was:

Carolyn Daniels – 1,018

John Murphy: 970

Gregg Lindner – 967

Kathleen Do – 951

Beverly Brookes – 946

Lorraine Ramunno: 905

“As you can see from the election results, there are roughly 20+ votes that separate four of the candidates,” Lindner wrote. “It was a very close election. I am extremely proud of the Brookes, Do, Lindner team for the manner in which we conducted ourselves during the election and for the message we had for the community. … We congratulate all those that will be serving in the upcoming school board from Region C.”

In a statement, Daniels wrote, “I am humbled by the support our community has shown and thank everyone who came out to vote. I would like to wish the best to all the candidates who put forth a great deal of effort to represent our community and hope that they will stay involved with the board and administration. I am excited to serve for the next four years and am fully committed to our students having programs that will guide help them to achieve their personal best, regardless of where they start. I continue to be dedicated to the complete transparency of school board and administrative actions and promise to be mindful of how we use our neighbors tax dollars.”

Seavey re-elected in uncontested race

After winning both the Republican and Democratic nominations in the Primary Election, Matthew Seavey handily won re-election as the district judge of court 15-4-04 with 97 percent of the vote.

In local supervisor races, Estace Walters won the election in Elk Township. Glenn Frederick (London Britain Township), Raymond Schoen (London Grove Township), Dale Lauver (New London Township), Tiffany Bell (West Nottingham Township), Ron Kepler (Lower Oxford Township), and Howard Reyburn (Upper Oxford Township) all earned full terms as supervisors for their townships. John Auerbach and Donna Dea were elected to two seats in Franklin Township, while newcomers Jay Ennis and Radar O’Connell won the two seats up for grabs in Penn Township. Charles Wilmont won an unexpired two-year term in West Nottingham Township. Mary Anne Steele won election to an unexpired four-year term in New London Township.

All of the election results are unofficial until certified by the county.