Pattye Benson

Community Matters

Politics & Government Start at the Local Level: Vote For the Person, Not the Political Party

Politics and government start at the local level – Election Day 2017 is tomorrow, Tuesday, November 7.

The local 2017 campaign season has taken a toll. It has been difficult (and disheartening) to watch as friends and neighbors turned on each other; sometimes over important campaign issues and other times with unfounded personal attacks. (From my vantage point, both sides are equally at fault.) Sadly, the political unrest we see at the national level has played out in our own backyard. Regardless of who wins our local supervisor and school board races tomorrow, the difficult task to come together and move forward will remain.

Local elections do matter. Take schools: Neither the president nor Congress can have as much effect on local schools as the school board. In addition to overseeing a $140 million budget, the T/E School Board is tasked with balancing their responsibility to provide quality educational programs with the need to be effective stewards of public resources. The job requires dedication, experience and commitment to the students, parents and residents. (Click here for The Spoke interview podcast of the seven T/E School Board candidates. Thank you to Multimedia Editor Neil Goldenthal for providing the link).

Our local government has much to consider: the adequate funding of fire and safety, our library services, real estate development and redevelopment, preservation of open space and our historic structures, infrastructure improvement needs, etc. With three of the seven Tredyffrin Township Board of Supervisor seats on tomorrow’s ballot, this is an important election. Which candidate’s views best aligns themselves with you? If you are undecided, a quick Google search of the supervisor candidates may provide helpful information.

In addition to the sea of individual candidate signs, the political parties have placed signs suggesting voters “Stop the Madness, Vote Democratic” and “If You Love Chester County, Vote Republican”. As a registered Independent, I never believed that it was the letter of the alphabet next to your name that would determine your success as an elected official. Whom you support on election day is a personal choice but please consider my appeal to “Vote for the Person, Not the Political Party”, before you pull the straight-party handle tomorrow.

To my fellow disenfranchised Independents who were not allowed to vote in the May primary election, our day to be heard has come. The number of registered Republicans and Democrats are about even in Tredyffrin Township, which makes the Independent votes all the more important. Please join me — our votes do matter and can make a difference in the outcome!

Supervisors, school board, County offices and judges are all on the Election Day 2017 ballot. The message is to get out and vote tomorrow! In the words of Napoléon Bonaparte, “Ten people who speak make more noise than ten thousand who are silent.”

If you are a registered voter and don’t know your polling precinct number, use the PA Polling Place Search here.

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Tredyffrin Township Board of Supervisors Candidates

Township Supervisor at Large – Vote for 2

  • Robin Bond (R)
  • Matthew Holt (D)
  • Raffi Terzian (R)
  • Murph Wysocki (D) *

Township Supervisor District 2 (Middle) – Vote for 1

  • Beth Coppola (R)
  • Kevin O’Nell (D)

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TE School District School Board Candidates – Vote for 1 in each region

  • Region 1: Scott Dorsey (D)* unopposed
  • Region 2: Doug Anestad (R)
  • Region 2: Kyle Boyer (D)

TE School District School Board Candidates – Vote for 2

  • Region 3: Doug Carlson (R) *
  • Region 3: Virginia Lastner (R) *
  • Region 3: Heather Ward (D)
  • Region 3: Tina Whitlow (D)

* Incumbent

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6 Comments

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  1. Thanks for your message Pattye. Local elections are very important, and those without major party affiliations play an increasingly critical role in choosing the leaders of our township and our County. We Republicans in Tredyffrin Township and Chester County are running on a decades-long record of successful governance that we believe is hard to match. The TT Democrats are running on the need for change, calling the current governing order “madness”. We consider that an insult to our voters and our leaders, past and present, and maintain that the facts speak for themselves.

    Whatever our differences, however, our hope is for a calm, efficient and civil election day in all of our neighborhoods, and for a productive working relationship among those who are elected to serve.

    Sincerely,

    Neill Kling — TTRC Chair

  2. I feel that a level of nastiness entered the local election this year, that I have not seen before, but consistent with our national politics. We are fortunate to have generally good candidates in both parties. So I’m going to vote for those that have maintained a civil, thoughtful campaign amd I will not vote for anyone who seems to think that lies and nastiness are the way forward.

    1. Don’t you find it interesting that the same people who placed the
      “Stop the Msdness…vote Dem” signs are the same people who
      Stole the “Love” signs the Republicans placed next to the Dem’s signs?

      More importantly, I do hope the person or persons responsible for stealing the
      Republican signs in the middle of the night, get the help they obviously need.

      1. Point taken CTEPTP but this wasn’t about stolen signs. This was about Trump back lash. The Dems swept everywhere.

  3. Thank you Pattye.
    Personally the voters are smart and will sift through political ads.
    Remain positive.
    Smile.
    Tredyffrin schools and township are very sane.
    There will always be unreasonable people.
    Lead by example.
    Protect the vulnerable.
    I personally take offense to discrimination against those
    Referring to madness? Is that a slur towards the mentally ill?

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