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Chester County Press

Rx for the 'new' Kennett Township

11/20/2013 03:35PM ● By Acl

By Uncle Irvin


The last of the despot supervisors, Michael Elling, will be replaced by reformer Richard Leff at the end of the year. All of a sudden, the two-to-one majority has shifted from the despots to the reformers.

Lackey supervisor Robert Hammaker will not matter, and he should do himself and the township a favor and resign. 

The agenda for reform, as Uncle Irvin sees it, is a trinity. In no particular order:

1. The new supervisor should place Police Chief Albert McCarthy on disability.

McCarthy has an illness that resulted in him blacking out when he was driving a township-owned vehicle. He ended up crashing into another motorist, who has sued the township. This suit is pending and probably will be settled -- maybe without township funds. That's this time. What happens if Chief McCarthy has another “blackout”?

Before McCarthy and Elling conspired to drop police coverage from Kennett Square Borough, the use of Kennett Square police protection served the township well. The 24/7 coverage and the opportunity for more than one patrolman, when needed, was much more beneficial than one police officer who is not on duty 24/7. This improvement in police protection may be more costly that the status quo, but what better way to spend the millions in the bank from years of overtaxing?

2. Replace township manager Lisa Moore with an experienced professional with local government experience. Many will say that Moore was just following orders when she went along with Elling's misguided and malicious decisions. However, history has repudiated those who blindly follow misguided orders, and they are far from blameless.

3. The very first order of business for the new Board of Supervisors is to place a referendum question on the 2014 primary ballot to increase the board from three members to five. There isn't one local township the size of Kennett Township that does not have five supervisors. The cost of a supervisor is minuscule, and a larger board protects against the personal idiosyncrasies of supervisors.

Implementing these changes will bode well for township residents who are sick and tired of egocentric mismanagement.

PS. How about giving the taxpayers a break with a $0 property tax bill for 2014?