Pattye Benson

Community Matters

Tredyffrin Township

2016 brings new leadership to Tredyffrin Twp, 4.3% tax increase in preliminary TESD budget and a Chester County Substitute Teacher Job Fair

January 11, 2016
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Belated Happy New Year! Waking up to 23 degree temperatures today reminds us that we are not going to escape the winter after all. Having recently returned from holidays spent in South Carolina with balmy, sunny 83 temperatures makes the arctic cold even harder to take!

Since the start of the New Year, here are a couple of noteworthy items. The 2016 reorganization of Tredyffrin Township’s Board of Supervisors came with two surprises – recently elected at-large supervisors Trip Lukens and Sean Moir were elected chair and vice chair, respectively of the board. Except for, also recently elected, supervisor Heather Greenberg, all other currently serving supervisors had served on the BOS longer than these two newly elected supervisors. But Lukens isn’t new to leadership roles in the township, having served previously as a member and chair of Tredyffrin’s Planning Commission. Congratulations to Lukens and Moir on the vote of confidence from their fellow supervisors and best wishes in their new positions!

The TE School District held their first school board meeting of 2016 last week.The Board unanimously adopted the 2016-17 preliminary budget which contains a 4.3% tax increase. The Board decided to “keep their options open” by approving a preliminary budget with the Act 1 index of 2.4% and allowable exceptions to Act 1 of 1.9% to close the project budget deficit of $4.75 million. It should be noted that Tredyffrin Township recently passed their 2016 budget with a zero percent tax increase.

The following chart shows TESD tax increases over the last twelve years. 2004-05 was the last zero tax increase year.

• 2015-16: 3.81%
• 2014-15: 3.4%
• 2013-14: 1.7%
• 2012-13: 3.3%
• 2011-12: 3.77%
• 2010-11: 2.9%
• 2009-10: 2.95%
• 2008-09: 4.37%
• 2007-08: 3.37%
• 2006-07: 3.90%
• 2005-06: 1.40%
• 2004-05: Zero Tax Increase

Although the adoption of the 2016-17 preliminary budget does not commit the Board to a tax increase, I cannot remember the last time the Board passed a preliminary budget with a tax increase and then decreased the tax increase in the final approved budget. Because the District does not allow the archive of meeting minutes on the website beyond the current year, there is no way to access this type of information, short of a ‘right-to-know’ request. (Here’s a suggestion/request for the Public Information committee – please keep the minutes for all school board meetings on the District website; a RTK should not be a requirement to access public information.)

I want to note that although the Board voted 9-0 to accept the preliminary budget, both Scott Dorsey (D) and Ed Sweeney (R) voiced their objection to the tax increase and do not want to see a 4.3% tax increase in the final budget. It was refreshing that newly elected Board member Robert Hotinski (D) spoke up about the way the budget information is presented — asking for more details on the line items from the District’s business manager Art McDonnell. Finance and Facilities Chair Virginia Lastner (R) encouraged the public to attend upcoming finance meetings and budget workshops and to look for solutions together with the District. 2016 is a new year and maybe the tides are turning …

I received a request from the staff of the Chester County Intermediate Unit to advertise the Chester County Substitute Teacher Job Fair, Thursday, January 14, 4-7 PM. The Job Fair will be held at the CCIU office, 455 Boot Road, Downingtown, PA. Representatives for all the public school districts in Chester County will be on hand to discuss current substitute teacher job openings and to accept applications and resumes. The CCIU press release states, “… According to the PA Department of Education, the current supply of available teachers, including substitutes, is not keeping up with the growing demand.”

Walk-ins are welcome at the job fair, but interested individuals are invited to preregister for the event online: help.thesubservice.com/chester

Although the Chester County Substitute Teacher Job Fair is for candidates seeking positions in all the Chester County public school districts, I post this notice in hopes of helping some of the experienced and educated aides and paraeducators whose jobs were outsourced by Tredyffrin Easttown School District.

Chester County Substitute Teacher Job Fair flyer

Tredyffrin Township 2016 Budget – No Tax Increase! New Steps for Township Building!

December 22, 2015
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Tredyffrin Township supervisors held their last board meeting of 2015. Some of the newsworthy items to report from the meeting:

  1. The supervisors approved the 2016 budget with no tax increase! This is news because the board of supervisors had unanimously approved the 2016 preliminary budget in November with 3.05 percent tax increase. Citing larger than expected dollars from commercial and resident real estate transfer taxes, supervisors will not raise township taxes. (Those same unexpected transfer dollars to the township also affect the economic outlook for the TE School District! I hope that the school board is paying attention.)
  1. The supervisors approved the settlement agreement between Tredyffrin Township and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. Malvern resident Stephen Kline spoke in opposition of this agreement, claiming that it is wrong not to hold the Turnpike Commission to the same stormwater standard as required of residents in Tredyffrin Twp. As a resident on Salem Way whose property (and value?) will be affected by the actions of the turnpike, Kline (himself an attorney) stated he will take legal action against the township, supervisors (current and those serving since 2009), the solicitor, township manager, assistant manager and engineer as a result of the agreement. Kline has been a constant at township meetings regarding the turnpike project. (Click here to read the agreement). *** See comment below for clarification from Mr. Kline ***
  1. The supervisors approved Project #15-05, the township front and rear entrance steps rehabilitation project! These was the third time the township had bid the project for the steps and as township manager Bill Martin said last light, guess that the third time was indeed the charm! (Two earlier RFPs regarding the steps project failed due to technical glitches.) The total cost for the rehabilitation project is less than $400K and here’s hoping that the working will be done in the spring. The steps have long been an eyesore for anyone visiting the township building – am glad for this news!

Last night marked the final meeting for three supervisors, Kristen Mayock, John DiBuonaventuro and chairman Mike Heaberg; newly elected supervisors Trip Lukens, Sean Moir and Heather Greenberg will take office on January 4, 2016. The township will particularly miss the financial expertise and time commitment of Mike Heaberg, whose kindness and patience in his leadership style will be hard to replace. Thank you to all who give of their time to elected service.

Easttown Republican school board members leading the TE School District

December 16, 2015
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We learned last week at the TE School Board meeting that Easttown resident Doug Carlson (R) was elected board president and Tredyffrin resident Scott Dorsey (D) the vice president. On Tuesday, the newly seated school board held their first Finance Committee meeting – Virginia Lastner (R) will continue her role as chair. Although I was unable to attend the Finance Committee meeting, Ray Clarke attended and kindly provides his notes/comments to Community Matters (see below).

Late today, the District posted the committee assignments on their website. After serving as Facilities Chair for many years, it was interesting who would fill the vacated seat of Pete Motel. In addition to chairing the Finance Committee, we learned that Virginia Lastner will chair Facilities in addition to Finance. The two most important school board committee meetings (at least when it comes to tax dollars) is Finance and Facilities committees … and both will be chaired by Easttown resident Virginia Lastner.

With Carlson as Board president and Lastner in charge of the District’s Finance and Facilities committees, it looks like the Easttown Republicans are taking charge of the TE School District! How’s this possible … for the first time in the District’s history, five of the nine school board members are Tredyffrin Democrats!

Beyond the ongoing construction of the District’s maintenance building, looms the final report from the safety consultant on the Valley Forge Middle School fencing project which is due by the end in the next few weeks. Looking at the makeup of the Facilities Committee, it’s unclear if consensus will be reached easily– newly elected school board members Michele Burger (D) and Ed Sweeney (R) publicly campaigned against the VFMS fencing project. Will their opposition to the proposed fencing be sufficient to sway the other two members of Facilities, Lastner and Todd Kantorczyk (D)? The Valley Forge Middle School fencing project will likely be back on the Facilities agenda in early 2016.

It was good to see that the Public Information Committee is listed albeit as ‘Ad Hoc’; meetings held “when needed”. In my opinion, there is always a need for public information. Glad to see that Scott Dorsey is the committee’s chair – hopefully with Rev. Dorsey at the helm, we can look forward to increased transparency and public engagement from the Board.

With all the madness going on in the world, it was disturbing to see there the Diversity Committee was not listed. Former school board member Liz Mercogliano previously chaired the Diversity Committee and would update the public at Board meetings on their important ongoing discussions. Now, more than ever, we all must work together to ensure that we appropriately value the diversity within and among our schools. Promoting and encouraging respect for ethnic and cultural diversity within the school population, staff and community deserves to continue. Suggest that Diversity find a place on the calendar with the other committee assignments.

Here’s the complete list of school board committee assignments:

Facilities Committee

  • Virginia Lastner, Chair
  • Michele Burger
  • Todd Kantorczyk
  • Ed Sweeney

Education Committee

  • Scott Dorsey, Chair
  • Kevin Buraks
  • Roberta Hotinski
  • Kate Murphy

Finance Committee

  • Virginia Lastner, Chair
  • Kevin Buraks
  • Roberta Hotinski
  • Todd Kantorczyk

Legislative Committee

  • Doug Carlson, Chair
  • Michele Burger
  • Kate Murphy
  • Ed Sweeney

Policy Committee

  • Kevin Buraks, chair
  • Todd Kantorczyk
  • Kate Murphy
  • Ed Sweeney

Public Information – Ad Hoc

  • Scott Dorsey, Chair
  • Michele Burger
  • Roberta Hotinski
  • Kate Murphy

I appreciate the following comments/notes from the Finance Committee meeting as provided by Ray Clarke. Ray’s budget point #3 caught my attention – “assumptions about employee out-sourcing”. What?

In a follow-up call, Ray confirmed that there was no details or explanation offered by the Finance chair or the administration regarding this out-sourcing comment. So, the public is left wondering which employees are they talking about — is it the few remaining aides and paras who remain as District employees? Or is the Finance committee and administration thinking ahead to other potential outsourcing opportunities – TENIG’s contract is up in 18 months, so could it be that the District’s kitchen staff, secretaries and custodians will once again find their jobs in jeopardy?

Last night was the first meeting of the new Finance Committee (although the full Board was in attendance). The group seems short on financial management experience, so there will need to be a steep learning curve. Exemplified by the fact that the Committee recommended that the Board vote in January to apply for all eligible Exceptions, totaling a 4.3% tax increase. This is based on just eight numbers from the Administration, two of which are given from the mandated PSERS rate. Two more are the same as the current year (State and Federal subsidies). The bottom line is a scare-inducing $4.65 million deficit.

The four remaining budget lines:

  1. Local Revenues: Is the Board OK with projected revenues just $800,000 more than this year’s budget when this year’s real estate taxes, transfer taxes and interim taxes are already running $1,000,000 better to budget than last year’s rate?
  2. Salaries: Do they understand why salaries are flat despite a contracted TEEA step increase worth maybe 2%, a 5.7 FTE teacher increase, 1.7% salary increases for Admin, etc.? We discovered last night that has something to do with assumptions about employee out-sourcing, but no detail was provided. Nor of course, any detail about the expected staffing increase.
  3. Benefits: Apparently the consultant advised the District to project a 5% healthcare premium cost increase, and the total budgeted benefits increase vs 2015/16 is 5.1%. But the TEEA, for example, is contracted to pay an extra percentage of the premium and there will be fewer employees apparently. How does the math work?
  4. “Other”: This is up nearly $3 million over the current year projection. Presumably the out-sourcing projections have something to do with this, but no explanation was provided.

A couple of other noteworthy points:

– The arithmetic for the Special Ed calculation leads to a $900,000 tax increase, yet this year’s expense increase is less than $400,000 and there was no data on the slides supporting an expense projection for 2016/17.

– The projection for this year is that expenses will be $1.3 million less than Budget.

The response to this will say a lot about our new Board. We were told over and over last night that the tax increase recommendation was just to “preserve our flexibility”, but we know too well how markers like that tend to get cemented in. Are they prepared to lay down that marker with such minimal information provided by the Administration?

TE School District reorganization meeting: Election of Board president and vice president; plus update on Facilities Meeting

December 6, 2015
20 Comments

The five newly elected TESD school board members (Michelle Burger, Ed Sweeney, Roberta Hotinski, Todd Kantorczyk and Kate Murphy) take office on Monday, December 10, at 7:30 PM. The District’s reorganization meeting includes the nomination and election of school board president and vice president.

Some have suggested that former school president Kris Graham’s re-election defeat last month was a message for change from the community – a call for transparency and improved public engagement. Will that message influence the reorganization results?

School board vice president under Kris Graham was Easttown resident Doug Carlson and he looks to want to step up to the board president position. Also seeking the president role on the board is Tredyffrin resident Scott Dorsey.

For the first time in TE School District history, the school board of nine members now has a Democratic majority (5 D’s, 4 R’s). Presumably this should give Dorsey (D) an edge over Carlson (R) but … it is unlikely that all D’s will support Dorsey. However, Dorsey does have the public endorsement of newly elected school board member, Republican Ed Sweeney.

Committed to honoring his campaign promise of improving public information and citizen involvement, Sweeney posted the following on his Facebook page today, “I endorse Scott Dorsey for TE School Board President. My district elected me to fulfill their expectations. Mr. Dorsey is very concerned about the issues that I think Tredyffrin and my district care most about and is well qualified to be President. I was impressed with his ability to outreach in his campaign for Board President. Mr. Dorsey will partner with fellow members, residents, and stakeholders to bring a new spirit of cooperative government to our area.” Here’s hoping that all newly elected school board members will likewise honor their campaign commitments!

For those in the community that are paying attention, the first meeting of the new school board and the nomination/election process for board president should be interesting.

On another note, the final meeting of the ‘old’ school board was held on Friday, December 7. Ray Clarke attended the Facilities Meeting and provided the following update for Community Matters:

The last Facilities Committee meeting of 2015 and of Dr Motel’s 16 year tenure was held on Friday. The meeting was generally routine: discussion of minor change orders, an update on the ongoing New Eagle and Maintenance Building projects with helpful status photos, and an outline of the timetable for bidding next year’s projects. A few items caught my attention:

– Dr. Motel stated that the original rationale for the fences was for “the specific purpose of making sure students do not leave”, “nothing to do with active shooters” and “you can put that on the blog”. So here it is. Others may have different recollections.

– Resident Cindy Marturano tried to engage the Committee in a discussion of protocols for communication to all residents of facilities projects that impact the community, linked with the possibility of extending West Walker Road to Chesterbrook Boulevard to ease the traffic congestion at VFMS. The response to both points came down to: “if it’s a road matter talk to the Township”. However, Tredyffrin Township records show that West Walker Road is “Private”, and the Chester County GIS has the property line between the school and church running right down the middle of the road. On the other hand, the Township included West Walker Road on its list of roads to pave in 2015. Are the maps incorrect? Is Tredyffrin subsidizing the School District? Or is there more opportunity here for the School District to improve the daily nightmare than the District knows about or would like to accept?

– The outgoing Committee spent some time discussing the goals for the 2016 Committee. Since that Committee will have a different composition with likely some newly elected Directors, this seemed rather presumptuous, but the Committee did not take kindly to the idea of including even a “Recommended” modifier, noting that the new Committee can always repeat the same exercise.

– This last point may be related to a gift to the Committee from Daley and Jalboot of a life size “Flat Pete”, with the request that it be used as a reminder of Dr. Motel for future Committees.

Dr. Motel noted that when his parents came to Easttown in the last century it was because TE was a highly rated school district. I think that the Board and staff are fortunate to serve a community that continues to be driven by this value.

Ray proFlat Petevided the following photo of the cardboard cutout of Flat Pete, as presented by the District’s architects, Daley & Jalboot. When asked about the bulls-eye on Dr. Motel’s chest, Ray explained that the necklace had a gold star one side and a bulls-eye on the other, presumably to represent Motel as a target.

I wasn’t at the meeting, but I found this gift rather bizarre. It was unclear if the Flat Pete cutout went home with Dr. Motel after the meeting or if it will continue to haunt the Facilities meetings going forward.

To fence or not to fence — Valley Forge Middle School fencing saga continues

November 19, 2015
44 Comments

Fencing April 2015

On Wednesday, Nov. 18 the public was invited to attend a community meeting at Valley Forge Middle School with the District’s safety consultant from National School Safety and Security Services (consultation fee: $15,500).

Chesterbrook resident Doug Anestad attended the fencing meeting and provided the following update of the meeting for Community Matters:

The Valley Forge Middle School fence safety consultant meeting was quite an event with a very large turnout with over one hundred in attendance.

The meeting started at 7pm and the safety consultant said that he wanted to finish by 9pm. There was a line of people talking the whole two hours at the two microphones that were set up. Each person had a maximum of 5 minutes to speak with many not using their allotted time.

The message was consistent, loud, and clear: the audience did not think that the proposed fencing would increase student safety, are ugly, and the money would be better spent on the students.

The audience seemed to be much more worried about the daily traffic jams at Valley Forge Middle School during drop off and pick up than any supposed safety the fences would add.

It was not just parents of Valley Forge Middle School students that spoke out against the proposed fences. Valley Forge Elementary parents not only spoke out against the proposed fencing at Valley Forge Middle but also stated that they didn’t see the benefit of the fences that have already been installed at Valley Forge Elementary.

Valley Forge Middle School PTO members, including the PTO President Sarah Culbert, spoke out against the proposed fences.

Speaking of the PTO, a parent mentioned that he got a letter from the PTO trying to get raise money to purchase iPads for the students. He pointed out that the $80,000 budgeted for the fences would not only complete the fundraising, but go way beyond it. I just looked it up, and for $80,000 we could purchase 200 iPads for the students at retail cost. The school district gets an educational discount so they could get even more.

The point wasn’t really about buying iPads. The point was that the money could be better spent on the students. The audience wholeheartedly agreed.

In addition to the PTO president, there were presidents of quite a few homeowner associations including David Miller, president of the Chesterbrook Civic Association. They stated that in their communities, everyone they talked to was against the proposed fences and people didn’t see how they helped student safety and were a waste of money.

One of the most telling things that happened was when one person speaking at the end stated that she was uncomfortable publicly speaking and commented that many other people felt the same way and therefore wouldn’t speak. She asked if there could be a show of hands for people who were against the fence. It looked as if every hand in the audience went up. When the safety consultant asked who was in favor of the fences, only one hand from the Tredyffrin community went up.

The bottom line is that the community came out in force yet again to give their input. The input was loud and clear. The community knows fences will not increase student safety. Fences are an eyesore and a waste of money.

If the school board goes ahead with the fences, one has to ask what the point was of even asking the community for their input. The community wants the money spent on students – not useless fences.

As part of the District’s agreement with the safety consultant, a preliminary oral presentation is tomorrow, Friday, Nov. 20, 2 PM at the District’s Facilities Meeting. The safety consultant will provide written report with recommendations following the site visit.

PA State Rep Warren Kampf provides update to constituents on budget compromise

November 18, 2015
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The Pennsylvania budget stalemate has drug into its fifth month but information has now emerged about a possible compromise. State Rep Warren Kampf provided an update via email yesterday which contained the following budget highlights:

  • The plan is reported to contain $350 million in new education funding. What that would mean to Phoenixville, Spring-Ford or Tredyffrin-Easttown is not yet defined. However, each school district would receive some additional funding over last year.
  • There is an historic and significant reform for public employee pensions. The plan that is being offered as a compromise would, among other things, put new hires into a “hybrid” defined benefit/defined contribution plan; this reform is estimated to save $10 billion over time.
  • There is also some form of liquor privatization/reform being offered as part of the plan.
  • Lastly, some of the gaming revenues (approximately $600 million per year as of this writing) could be used to help off-set the spiraling state pension liabilities.

As you may have read there are also significant shifts in tax policy and revenue enhancements:

  • This proposal is said to contain as much as a 21 percent increase in the sales tax (from 6 percent to 7.25 percent) with the revenue raised providing dollar-for-dollar school property tax reductions for all private homeowners (commercial and rental properties will see no relief.) It is reported to reduce property tax bills by 20 percent to 35 percent. Also included will be some kind of a voter referendum requirement for any new school property tax increases.
  • A 75 cent per pack cigarette tax increase is in the plan.

Some of these proposals in the budget compromise need to be supported – increased educational funding for school districts and pension reform. Yes on both accounts.

The state’s pension system is unsustainable and pension reform is essential for the future of school districts statewide. Legislation to reform the state’s two underfunded pension systems has been a focus for Kampf since he took office. Maybe pension reform’s time has finally come and some kind of hybrid plan will be included in the state’s final budget.

The resurrection of legislation to privatize the state’s liquor system has emerged as part of the budget discussion. Rather than closing the state stores, legislators are floating the compromise suggestion to expand the hours of the existing stores as well as permitting wine to be sold by beer distributors, grocery stores, etc. (Allowing Wegmans to sell wine makes this a winner suggestion in my book.)

On the tax and revenue side of the budget, a tax increase for cigarettes has my full support but I cannot imagine any PA school board members supporting the a voter referendum requirement for school property tax increases. It’s obvious what would happen if you left the decision to taxpayers whether or not they wanted a property tax increase.

As for hiking the state’s sales tax from its current 6 percent up to 7.25 percent with the added revenue going toward reducing property taxes — ?? For property owners, a reduction of 20 – 35 percent in the property tax bill is very appealing, but what about the non-property owners, they certainly don’t gain anything. Is the property tax reduction worth the higher retail tax at the cash register? The proposed rise in sales tax would make Pennsylvania the second highest US sales tax, right behind California’s 7.5 percent.

Personally, I’d like to know what happened to the natural gas severance tax in this budget. The drilling continues and yet another year passes without an extraction tax.

According to his email, Kampf states he has “…not made any commitments to vote for or against the framework. Without all the details it would be foolish to make such commitments. “ Kampf says that there’s the proposed budget plan does not contain severance or extraction tax on the natural gas drillers and that he would be open to such a tax.

Rep. Kampf would like to hear from his constituents regarding the proposed budget compromise. There’s a short 15 question online survey – click here for the link. Or you can call his office, 610.251.2876 to offer your views on the proposed budget.

PA volunteer firefighters can now ease funding woes by soliciting drivers on the side of the road – Is this what we want for our first responders in Tredyffrin?

November 16, 2015
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Firefighters fundraising 1PA Governor Wolf signed new legislation last week (Act 57) which allows first responders to solicit donations at stop signs or traffic signals. Fire companies will need to get written permission from the local municipality and the solicitations are to drivers are limited to controlled intersections (stop signs or traffic signals) and are required to have the necessary liability insurance. The new law goes into effect within 60 days.

This new fundraising legislation may be a useful tool for some volunteer fire companies in Pennsylvania; particularly rural or areas suffering severe economic issues. But the question for Tredyffrin residents is whether we want to see our volunteer firefighters soliciting drivers on the side of the road as a way to fill budget gaps.

Representatives from fire companies (Berwyn, Paoli and Radnor) that serve Tredyffrin Township residents have repeatedly voiced concern about the increasing demand for fire and rescue services and the lack of reliable funding. As a result, T-E Fire Companies Funding Coalition comprised of fire companies from Berwyn, Paoli, Radnor and Malvern was formed with a mission to work with government officials to provide sustainable and adequate funding.

The ongoing need for recruitment and retention of volunteer first responders remains a concern. The time demands for volunteers are so severe, both fire-related and otherwise. Because people are spending more time on their ‘day’ jobs – there’s just less discretionary time to do anything else, including being a volunteer. For those who do manage to carve out time for serving as a volunteer firefighter, they want that time to be directed towards firefighting responsibilities not used for fundraising.

The cost to maintain a fire company; its building, equipment, training – continues to increase, with the cost of a new fire truck running in the tens of thousands of dollars. With the growth of both residential and commercial development in the area, the demand for fire and emergency service also continues to escalate.

According to the Berwyn Fire Company, less than 25 percent of fire service funding comes from the government. If the fire companies shuttered its doors, the township would still be responsible for providing fire protection. The old formula is no longer working … there is a need for sustainable funding.

Tis the season for budget discussion, including fire department funding – the Board of Supervisors meeting at 7 PM tongiht includes the ‘2016 Preliminary Budget and on Thursday, November 19, 10 AM – 12 PM, the public is invited to attend the Budget Open House at the township building.

Our volunteer firefighters should not be forced to close budget gaps with car washes, turkey raffles, spaghetti dinners or soliciting drivers on the side of the road. These young men and women need to know they can count on our elected officials to provide adequate and sustainable funding.

The story behind Tredyffrin Township blue & white appreciation signs for police

November 11, 2015
16 Comments

Most of the political campaign signs have now disappeared from lawns and public areas. However, in their place, you may have noticed the blue and white lawns sign which have appeared throughout the township with the words, “Thank You Tredyffrin Police … We Honor You”.

Tredyffrin Township police signs

Without a ‘sponsored by’ indication on the appreciation signs, it was unclear what organization or individual(s) was behind the signs. With a little investigation, I tracked down the background story and can report that the public display of support for our local police department began with the efforts of township resident Rich Sherwin and his wife Donna of Malvern.

I spoke with Rich Sherwin and he explained that the project started over his concern for the negative portrayal of police officers in the country. As a result, Sherwin wanted to show his appreciation for the local Tredyffrin Township Police Department. During a meeting with several Tredyffrin police officers, Sherwin thanked the officers for their service and asked if there was anything the department needed.

Citing township budget cuts and the elimination of two officers, Sherwin was told that the police department was somewhat shorthanded. Sherwin noted that the officers were not complaining and were supportive of the supervisor’s efforts in keeping the tax base low.

Sherwin learned of the following department needs from the Tredyffrin police officers:

  • Drug sniffing dog (cost $10,000) – the police cited the increasing drug situation in the township
  • Motorcycle (cost $25,000) – to help with monitoring the new township trails
  • Video cams (cost $300/ea., 40 officers = total $12,000)

Following the meeting with the township police, Sherwin sent a letter to neighbors and friends, explaining the details (above) and the designation of November 14 – 23 as Tredyffrin Police Appreciation Week.

With the help of State Rep. Warren Kampf, a committee was formed and the Sherwin’s kicked off the program with a $1,000 donation. In hopes of funding a drug sniffing dog as the committee’s first donation to the police, Sherwin’s appeal letter to residents suggested a donation of homeowners of $100 – $1,000 with checks to be made to ‘Tredyffrin Township Police Activity Fund’. According to Sherwin, the fundraising efforts have raised over $11,000 to date and all checks have been turned over the Tredyffrin Township Police Department.

Beyond making a financial contribution or displaying the blue and white support police signs, there are other ways to show your support. The ‘True Blue Community Tree Lighting’ ceremony tree lighting ceremony is set for Saturday, November 14 at Malvern Federal Bank in Paoli to kick off the police appreciation week – all residents are invited to attend. See poster below for other ways to participate:

Tredyffrin Township Appreciation Week

I attended the True Blue Community tree lighting tonight. Well attended by residents and police, State Rep Warren Kampf led the brief ceremony with a moment of silence for the Paris victims and their families. As the US and the world morns together over this latest senseless act of terrorism, there was something very moving to see the blue lights and the American flag tonight.

Thank you to the Tredyffrin Township police officers and first responders the world over … tonight our thoughts are with the victims and their families in Paris.

Police tree lighting

Police tree lighting Giaimo

Republicans win all 4 seats on Tredyffrin Township Board of Supervisors and Democratic candidates win 3 of the 5 seats on TE School Board

November 4, 2015
11 Comments

The results are in for Tredyffrin Township Board of Supervisors and the TE School Board. Four supervisor seats and five school board seats were up for grabs with only one incumbent supervisor candidate, Paul Olson (R) and one incumbent school board candidate Kris Graham (R) seeking reelection. The four open seats on Tredyffrin Township Board of Supervisors went to the Republicans and three of the five seats on the TE School Board were won by Democratic candidates.

For the two at-large supervisor seats, Republicans Sean Moir and Trip Lukens will replace Michael Heaberg (R) and Kristen Mayock (R) who did not seek reelection as at-large supervisors in Tredyffrin. The results are as follows:

TOWNSHIP SUPERVISOR AT-LARGE TREDYFFRIN TOWNSHIP
ELVA BANKINS (DEM) . . . 3,326
LOUIS HORVATH (DEM) . .3,320
SEAN MOIR (REP) . . . . . . 3,786
TRIP LUKENS (REP). . . . . .3,700

In the Tredyffrin West 3rd District supervisor race, Heather Greenberg (R) beat Yolanda Van de Krol (D) by 27 votes and will take the vacated seat of John Buenaventura (R) who did not seek reelection. The results are as follows:

DISTRICT SUPERVISOR 3RD DISTRICT TREDYFFRIN 3RD DISTRICT
YOLANDA VAN DE KROL (DEM) . . . . . 1,186
HEATHER BOYD GREENBERG (REP) . 1,213

Paul Olson (R) retains his seat as Tredyffrin East 1st District supervisor against challenger Tory Snyder (D). This was the second match-up for these two candidates. Four years ago in a close race, Snyder lost by 13 votes to Olson. In the 2015 race, 20 votes separated the two candidates. Olson is the longest serving supervisor in Tredyffrin Township history with more than thirty years of service. The results are as follows:

DISTRICT SUPERVISOR 1ST DISTRICT TREDYFFRIN 1ST DISTRICT
TORY SNYDER (DEM). . . . . . . . 1,233
PAUL W OLSON (REP) . . . . . . . 1,253

On the TE School Board, there were five school board seats available, four from Tredyffrin and one from Easttown.. In the Easttown Region III race, Kate Murphy (R) will fill the seat of Peter Motel (R) who did not seek reelection. The results are as follows:

SCHOOL DIRECTOR TREDYFFRIN EASTTOWN REGION III
FRANCIS M REARDON (DEM). . 829
KATE MURPHY (REP). . . . . . . . 1,420

Democratic candidates Roberta Hotinski and Todd Kantorczyk won the two seats in the Tredyffrin Region 1 race. The results are as follows:

SCHOOL DIRECTOR TREDYFFRIN EASTTOWN REGION I
ROBERTA M HOTINSKI (DEM) . 1,394
TODD KANTORCZYK (DEM) . . . 1,378
NEAL COLLIGAN (REP) . . . . . . . 1,287
NEILL C KLING (REP) . . . . . . . 1,269

The one incumbent TE School Board director Kris Graham (R) finished in last place in the Tredyffrin Region II race. Turnout was high in the precincts close to Valley Forge Middle School so it appears that fencing was an important issue to voters. Stressing transparency and public engagement during the campaign, Michele Burger (D) and Ed Sweeney (R) were the top vote recipients. The race results were as follows:

SCHOOL DIRECTOR TREDYFFRIN EASTTOWN REGION II
MICHELE BURGER (DEM). . . . 2,527
ALAN YOCKEY (DEM). . . . . . . . 2,189
EDWARD C SWEENEY (REP) . 2,310
KRIS GRAHAM (REP). . . . . . . . 2,055

Thank you to all candidates for your time, energy and willingness to serve as township supervisors and school district directors. Congratulations to those candidates who won and we look forward to your service to the community.

All results are from the Chester County Voter Services website.

Tredyffrin Township Police Department brings multiple pornography charges against middle school students in the TE School District

November 3, 2015
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Today the Tredyffrin Township Police Department filed multiple pornography charges against three middle school students at TE Middle School and Valley Forge Middle School for allegedly creating and sending sexually explicit images. According to the police report the images included nudity and child pornography. The ages of those charged range from 11 – 15 years old. Suspects viewed and shared the images while in school. The investigation by the Tredyffrin Township Police began in April 2015.

An excerpt from the Tredyffrin Township Police Department press release of November 3, 2015 is as follows:

The Tredyffrin Township Police Department has announced that Juvenile Allegations have been filed against three (3) juveniles, for different incidents related to the creation and distribution of intimate images and harassment. The distribution of intimate images can range from a charge grading of a summary offense to a felony, depending on the age of the participants, the age of the receiver of the image and circumstances involved in the viewing, storage and distribution of the intimate image.

In this case, those intimate images consisted of pictures or videos of students who attend Tredyffrin-Easttown School District middle schools; Valley Forge Middle School and T/E Middle School, as well as images retrieved from the internet. The age of the juveniles charged ranged from age 11 – 15 at the time the incidents occurred. Additional juveniles are likely to be charged in the near future.

The allegations were a result of investigations which were begun in April of 2015 by Tredyffrin Township Police Department and are continuing. During the investigation it was reported by both victims and participants, that intimate images consisting of child erotica, nudity, child pornography and pornography were created, sent, stored, and viewed by a number of students both at their homes and while at school.

In most cases the images and videos were sent voluntarily by the juveniles to other minors. In some cases intimate images were sent to unknown persons who were met in Cyber Chats conducted with various social networking applications. In another case, a student offered to sell an intimate image of a classmate to another student. The charges connected to this were, Title 18 of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code, Section 6321 (a)(1), Transmission of Sexually Explicit Images by a Minor, a summary offense and a Misdemeanor of the 3rd.

In one case, an intimate image of a sex act was taken off of the World Wide Web by a juvenile male, then distributed and portrayed as being that of a juvenile female student to her class mates. The resulting harassment lead to an assault at the T/E Middle School.

The charges related to this incident, from Title 18 of the Pennsylvania Crime Code included the following: Section 5903, Obscene and other Sexual Materials and Performances, a Felony of the 3rd degree; Section 7512, Criminal Use of a Communications Facility, a Felony of the 3rd degree; Section 6318, Unlawful Contact with a Minor, a Felony of the 3rd degree and Section 2709, Harassment, a Misdemeanor of the 3rd degree. Also charged was Section 3126 Indecent Assault, a Misdemeanor of the 2nd degree; Section 2709.1, Stalking, a Misdemeanor of the 1st degree.

During the investigation the majority of the parents whose children were involved were very concerned and cooperated fully with the investigation. One parent who routinely checked their child’s cell phone and computer usage was surprised to learn that his child was using a cloud based storage service to store and retrieve intimate images and avoid detection by his parents.

Many of the intimate images were found to have been created by the juveniles taking selfies, in their own homes with the location services setting on their phones activated. This action would allow for viewers of the images, including child predators to locate the homes of the juveniles via Meta data stored in the picture file.

Following the release of the Tredyffrin Township Police Department special juvenile report today, the TE School District released the following statement:

The T/E School District has been cooperating with a police investigation related to alleged misconduct by middle school students. We take these matters very seriously and follow up with procedures that promote safety for all students. The incident may also carry school-based discipline. As such, the District cannot comment on specific student discipline matters, as we must do all we can to preserve the privacy rights of all students.

The District has cooperated fully with law enforcement agencies throughout this investigation and will continue to do so. We join with the police and the entire community to emphasize responsible use of technology and to affirm the rights of all individuals to live and thrive in an environment free from harassment. This message is central to our mission and our daily work with students.

Mark Cataldi
Director of Assessment and Accountability
District Safety Coordinator

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